Itawamba Historical Society October Meeting

Mississippi Hill Country Music on Stage at Society's October Meeting

On Tuesday evening, October 16, the Itamingo Strummers will be the special program at the regular monthly program meeting of the Itawamba Historical Society. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. with refreshments, and the special musical program will begin at 6:30. The meeting will be held in the Gordon McFerrin Auditorium of the George Poteet History Center, headquarters of the society at the corner of Church Street and Museum Drive in Mantachie.

The program will include approximately 15 musicians and singers with special emphasis on the musical heritage of southern Appalachia featuring the mountain dulcimer, the mandolin, bass and guitar. Songs performed will include old mountain ballads, standards and religious selections.

The mountain dulcimer has an important part in the musical heritage of Itawamba County, one of Mississippi's northeastern hill counties, nestled in the foothills of southern Appalachia.

The public is invited to attend this special program. For further information, contact the society at 662-282-7664.

Itawamba Historical Society Program - September 18

Itawamba Historical Society has announced its September 18 program on the society's blog. Buddy Palmer will be speaking about the Battle of Ackia, a fascinating chapter out of the life of the area back when the area was occupied by the Chickasaw. The society also included a summary of the battle on the blog entry.

Burial Customs of the Hill Country

Terry Thornton will be speaking at the Lamar County (Alabama) Historical Society meeting on September 10 on Burial Customs of the Hill Country. The area includes Monroe and Itawamba Counties in Mississippi, so if you are in the area, I'm sure you'll enjoy Terry's presentation. The meeting will be held in Vernon, Alabama.

Sisters to Write History of Suggs Pottery

Two sisters, descendants of the founders of Suggs Pottery, plan to write a history of the family business. The pottery on Jug Shop Road near the Monroe-Itawamba county line was founded in the early 1900s.

Historic Photographs Online

Itawamba Historical Society is very busy adding content to its website. They are placing their archival photographs online.

New Itawamba Resource Available Online

Thanks to the indexing of Terry Thornton, a new index of chancery court records for Itawamba County from 1836-1900 is available online via Itawamba Historical Society's website. [Estate and probate proceedings are handled via the chancery court in Mississippi.] A previous index had been published that was by packet number and printed over several issues of Itawamba Settlers; however, this one is arranged alphabetically. You may also wish to read Terry's acknowledgements.

Carolina Heritage Day

The Carolina Community is planning to celebrate 174 years of community history on Sunday, September 30, 2007, from 9:30 a.m. – until. Carolina Heritage Day organizers are excited about hosting past and present residents, former students, historians, and friends at the Carolina Community Center. Admission to the event is free; donations will be accepted for community center restoration.

The community was established around 1833 when pioneers from North and South Carolina began to settle in the newly opened Mississippi territory. Because the foothills of North Mississippi strongly resembled the settlers’ original home, the community became known as Carolina.

Many of those original pioneers’ descendants call the community home today. It is hoped that the Carolina Heritage Day will generate interest in the community’s rich history. You can discover more about Carolina’s past at http://www.roadtocarolina.com.

Everyone attending the event is invited to dress ‘old fashioned’ as way of participating in the community’s celebration. There will be a covered dish lunch at noon.

Activities will include a grist mill demonstration, Carolina classroom re-enactment, wagon train, story time, dulcimer music, quilting, and others. Displays will include Chickasaw artifacts, Carolina School day photos, family photos, and more. A time schedule of these activities will be published prior to the event, but most of the historical activities will occur in the afternoon.

Nearby cemeteries contain the graves of many of the area’s first residents. These cemeteries include the Carolina Cemetery, Wiygul Cemetery, Conwill-Goodwin Cemetery, Myers-Shumpert Cemetery, New Chapel Cemetery, Elliot Cemetery, Boozer Cemetery, and Bean Cemetery. Local genealogists will be able to assist visitors in locating the graves of these first settlers.

For more information, please call Thomas Conwill (963-3756), Mike Bethay (963-3783), Patsy Pettit (963-2748), or Curtis Hall (963-2478). The Carolina Community Center is located on Carolina Road in Itawamba County, Mississippi.

New Blog on Itawamba County

The Itawamba Historical Society has created its own blog. Be sure to check it out!

Judge Senter

The Senter family is important to Itawamba County's history. His branch of the family moved to Monroe County. There is an excellent article on Judge L. T. Senter, Jr. in today's Sun Herald.

A Google Books Find

I was googling for a piece of information and came across a book that deals with Mississippi families. Barbara Dane's Crossin' the River deals with the Gilmore, Fooshee, and Tutor families of Pontotoc, Monroe, and Itawamba counties.

Itawamba Historical Society

LINK - The Daily Journal has a great feature article on this group's efforts to preserve the county's history.