From the Heart by Mississippi Hands

It has been written that folk art describes a wide range of objects that often reflects the craft traditions and social values of various social groups. To me, pieces of such art are simply treasured gifts from the heart. Itawamba County, Mississippi has produced folk artisans for generations. From basket making, pottery and painting to weaving, wood carving and quilting, those artists who produced such work were simply living treasures.

Over the years while visiting the different parts of the county, I have collected such items made from the heart and the hand. In many instances these items served not only as an artistic expression, but a utilitarian purpose as well.

Years ago I was photographing an old log pioneer structure in the hills of eastern Itawamba County and noticed at a house nearby, an elderly man was busily whittling on a piece of wood. Upon closer inspection I realized he was carving a cypress knee from the nearby swamplands. His workspace was covered with cypress knees yet to be transformed. Sitting in the shade, it was a remarkable experience listening to him talk and watching his hands carve away at the cypress wood transforming the raw wood into his carved characters as the wood shavings fell to the ground like confetti at a party. Upon leaving, he gave me one of his completed pieces – a colorful character in a green dress.

Back years ago I always enjoyed visiting an elderly gentleman who repaired ladder-back chairs in his community. It was a craft that had been handed down from grandfather to father to grandson. In addition to caning chairs, he also produced the most beautiful baskets from the split oak strips. I would watch as he tediously wove the oak strips into baskets of all sizes and listen to his stories of the olden days. Today I cherish several of his baskets and they are just as strong today as they were the day they were given to me – more than thirty years ago.

Itawamba County has always been known for her folk potters. Since the 1800’s the countryside boasted scores of small pottery operations. As a child I remember the Harris Pottery works atop River Hill at Peppertown. I was always amazed watching the potter produce beautiful churns, crocks, and flower pots from the raw clay of Itawamba County’s hills as he sat at the potter’s wheel. Today I cherish a little flower pot my mom bought from Harris Pottery nearly fifty years ago.

There have always been wood carvers in the county producing all types of wooden wares including trays, sculptures, bowls and vases. One of my prized possessions is a wooden vase that was given to me during my youth by a local wood carver. The rich colored rings of the wooden vase is a testament to the artistic ability of the craftsman.

Today many of those self-taught artisans I have had the pleasure to know and bond a friendship with are gone, but their works remain. I treasure all those folk art items I have from the beautiful hills of Itawamba County, Mississippi. They are more than just pieces to admire. To me they represent genuine gifts from the heart and hand, and each little item tells a story that thousands of words simply cannot tell.

Written for the 55th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Creative Gene.
 

An Old Road From Antebellum Times

Pictured above is an old road in western Itawamba County traveling through the dense forest. Over the years, such old roads became recessed into the landscape, a product of years of travel. This old road connected Woodlawn to Plantersville during antebellum times. Woodlawn was a voting precinct with the postmaster being Richard Borum. The post office served the big agricultural district west of the Tombigbee River and north of the Boguefala Creek area. Plantersville was created during the early 1850's and was a center of trade for some of the county's larger plantations. Early field survey notes from the 1830's of the Chickasaw Cession show several trails in this area of the county basically following this old road.
 

Fields of Yellow

Sunflowers have been enhancing the Itawamba County landscape recently with rich hues of yellow. Holley Farms planted 125 acres of sunflowers this summer and the crops are currently blooming. The above scene is of the Tilden field south of Fulton west of Highway 25 South. Other fields of sunflowers belonging to Holley Farms are along Highway 23 north of Tremont and along old Highway 78 east of Tremont. The sunflower seed will be used for bio-fuel and sunflower oil.
 

Self-Publishing With Blurb

Earlier this month I read an interesting article called Blurb! Excuse Me! at footnoteMaven discussing a company called Blurb that offers self-publishing. I decided to give it a try as I always wanted to produce a book of Itawamba County scenic photographs. As I enjoy layout and design, I downloaded the company’s software from their website and played around with it for a few days. The software is extremely easy to use and features many templates for different types of books. You can use the templates or be creative designing your own pages. Before long I had compiled a little 40-page book of photography I titled A Place Called Home: Itawamba County, Mississippi. I uploaded the book’s layout to the company, placed an order for two paper-back editions for proofing and they immediately gave me an expected date of shipping.

About two weeks later I was pleasantly surprised when my two paperback editions were delivered to my home. The company definitely delivered on what they advertise on their website – bookstore-quality books that look professional and polished. And I am simply amazed at the short turnaround time from submission of the completed layout to delivery of the finished product.

After designing a dust jacket, replacing a few photographs and changing the typeface of the book I have now ordered two hardbound copies of the little coffee table book.

The potential is great for such online self-publishing companies in the area of family history. With companies like these, researchers can easily self-publish quality books relating to their genealogical studies or local history. And such personal books can make wonderful family gifts.
 

Country Fields Along Briar Creek

Peaceful fields are located along Briar Creek in the eastern portion of Itawamba County.
 

Itawamba Agricultural High School Senior Class of 1930

I had an enjoyable visit yesterday with Calvin Ritter of Amory in neighboring Monroe County. He brought along with hm to Fulton an old senior class photograph of Itawamba Agricultural High School from 1930 (portion of the photograph above) to share with the readers of Itawamba Settlers magazine and Itawamba History Review. Some county students in the photograph include Mildred Moore (Sheffield), Jessie Greene, Allen Lindsey, Ruby Sheffield, Evelyn Wiygul (Ridings), Marrah Boozer (Ritter), Virginia Greene (Boozer), Crafton Gray, Irma Patterson (Estes), Opal Williams, Johnny Bethay, Omer Wiygul and Glen Loden. (see high resolution photo of entire group).

Calvin Ritter descends from one of the early Itawamba settlers, Anderson Ritter of the old Carolina community. He is also a direct descendant of the Boozer family of the same area.
 

Looking South on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

Looking south on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway from the John E. Rankin Memorial Bridge at Fulton on a rainy and breezy day compliments of former tropical storm Faye. In the distance is the old Beans Ferry area. Beans Ferry was a landing on the Tombigbee River during antebellum times and connected eastern Itawamba County with the old river port town of Van Buren.