130 MISSISSIPPI FACTS

"Memory believes before knowing remembers."

William Faulkner

Did you know...

101. Jackson County is famed worldwide for its development of nine of the ten most successful varieties of "paper-shell" pecans: Stuart, Success, Schley, Alley, Delmas, Papst, Russell, Hall and Lewis.

102. Resin Bowie, the famous inventor of the "Bowie Knife, " is buried in the Catholic cemetery in Port Gibson. The knife, fashioned by a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cutter from a blacksmith's rasp after Resin Bowie's model, was made famous by Resin's younger brother Jim Bowie, in a duel on a sandbar near Natchez.

103. Joe Newman, a professional inventor from Lucedale, holds patents on plastic-covered barbell sets, an orange picker and several other unusual devices. Mr. Newman has also invented an "energy machine" which, according to several well known physicists and engineers actually produces more energy than it consumes.

104. The first Southerner to use Negro dialect in poetry was Mississippian, Irwin Russell, born in Port Gibson in 1853. His long poem, Christmas Night In The Quarters, earned for him the stamp of genius.

105. During the period between 1824-47, Joseph Holt Ingraham, of Natchez, wrote and published 80 novels - approximately 10 percent of all novels published in the U.S. during that period. Included in this literary feat was the first successful Biblical novel ever published, Prince of The House Of David.

106. Will Price, of McComb, was the script consultant for the movie GONE WITH THE WIND, and later married actress Maureen O'Hara.

107. In 1871, Liberty became the first town in the U.S. to erect a Confederate monument.

108. Throughout the Civil War General U.S. Grant rode a horse called Cincinnatis. However, in his memoirs he admitted that while near Vicksburg, he stole a small horse from Brierfield Plantation, which was then owned by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. What did he name this horse? Jeff Davis, of course.

109. Mississippi's original soft drink, Barqs Root Beer, was invented in 1898 by Edward Barq, Sr. of Biloxi. The building in which this drink was made and bottled still stands and is located at 224 Keller Avenue, one block off U.S. Highway 90 in Biloxi. The secret formula is mixed by Edward "Sonny" Barq IV, the quality control specialist, and is sold to Barq's franchises in every state in the nation.

110. The world's largest hardboard manufacturing plant is Masonite Corporation, located in Laurel.

111. The Pass Christian Yacht Club, formed in Pass Christian during 1849, holds the distinction of being the second oldest yacht club in North America. The oldest is the New York Yacht Club in New York City, organized in 1844.

112. The world's only cactus plantation is located near Edwards, and grows more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.

113. The rarest of North American cranes lives in Mississippi in the grassy savannas of Jackson County. The Mississippi Sandhill Crane stands about 44 inches tall and has an eight-foot wing-span.

114. Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was known as the "Black Swan, " and was America's first African-American singer of classical music. She was born in Natchez, in 1809.

115. In 1978, during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was restored to U.S. citizenship.

116. In 1839, the Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws in the English speaking world protecting the property rights of married women.

117. The Natchez Trace Parkway begins its 450 mile scenic route in Natchez, and extends upward across Mississippi into Alabama and ends near Nashville, Tennessee. The original Trace began as a buffalo and Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago. Today's traveller is invited to stop and enjoy living history exhibits, picnic areas, nature trails and history markers.

118. Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state, according to the American Forest Institute.

119. Mississippian, W. A. Scott, founded the first African-American owned newspaper, The Atlanta Daily World.

120. National parks in Mississippi include: Vicksburg National Military Park; Natchez Trace Parkway; Gulf Islands National Seashore; Natchez National Historic Park; Brice's Crossroads National Battlefield Site, and the Tupelo National Battlefield.

121. The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of Blues music, the only music recognized as truly original to America.

122. In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union. It was during this time, the Reconstruction Period, that Hiram Revels was elected as the first African-American to the U.S. Senate.

123. The Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) was founded in Mississippi in 1909.

124. Mississippi is the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star.

125. Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges.

126. Since the 1930's Mississippi has been known as the Magnolia State.  But few people know that it was also once called the Bayou State. From a speech by Seargent Smith Prentiss in 1841, it is recorded that he told of the mound builders, the earliest Mississippians, who had connected all of the Delta area by way of an intricate pattern of waterways or "bayous."

127. The Choctaw Indians are the largest tribe to live in Mississippi, and at one time encompassed more than 50 villages. Their warriors were said to number 25,000. What does the name Choctaw mean? "Charming Voice. "

128. What does the word Mississippi mean? Mississippi is Choctaw for "Father of Waters, " and refers, of course, to the Mississippi River, from which the State takes its name.

129. In 1942, During World War II, the Mississippi River's approaches were mined with explosives by Germany.

130. During the Civil War some 78,000 Mississippians entered the Confederate military. Of those taking up the cause of Johnny Reb, 59,000 were either dead or wounded by War's end.

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