Mississippi Folk and the Tales They Tell

Myths, Legends and Bald-Faced Lies

Diane Williams

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2014
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9781625847386
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

From the hills to the coast, the people of Mississippi have stories to tell. Most would never guess that Raleigh, Mississippi, once played host to the National Tobacco Spitting Contest. Over in Okolona, children are told of the man who lived--and died--deep down in a hole and scared passersby. From the gandy dancers who built the first train tracks in Mississippi to the eight-foot-tall man who lived in the woods of Columbia, read tales that range from common myth to a good bit of righteous gossip. Author and storyteller Diane Williams traveled across the Magnolia State to gather these local legends and has compiled them into an inquisitive, laugh-out-loud collection.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers in Madison County
• For Whom the Bell Tolls in Rural Madison County
• Frog Gigging in Rolling Fork
• Old Jim Gordon’s Gold in Willoughby, by Ralph E. Gordon
• The Gunfight at Willoughby Crossing, by Ralph E. Gordon
• The Ghost Train of Little Rock, by Ralph E. Gordon
• How Poplarville Got Its Name
• Poplarville Has a Haunted House
• Marijuana and Moonshine in Poplarville
• The Big Chicken Fight in Wiggins
• Bill Restor’s Childhood Possum in Wiggins
• Murder Creek, the County Crossroad: Stone, Forest and Pearl River Counties
• The Turpentine Shack in Pearl River County
• Milking Cows in Carnes
• The Wiggins Pickle Factory
• The Two-Dollar Mule in Aberdeen
• Midwifery in Sandy Hook
• The John Ford House of Sandy Hook
• Keep Okolona Hummin’
• Love Is Like Cornbread: A Story of Unconditional Love in Columbia
• The Corinth Railroad Story
• Natchez: Back in the Day
• Outhouses in Rural Mississippi
• The Canton Graveyard Chase
• Pretending to Be Grown in Canton
• Cooking and Eating Turtles in Rural Madison County
• Raleigh, Mississippi: Home of the National Tobacco Spitting Contest
• Places Around Mississippi: What’s in a Name?
• Rocky Springs: A Place Called Home
• Windsor Ruins of Claiborne County
• Mississippi Hoodoo, by Phoenix Savage
• The Belzoni Lady Who Kept the Hog Hooves
• The Power of the Conjurer in Belzoni
• The Tale of the Talking Frog and the Little Slave Boy Who Sat by the Pond
• The Rabbit and the Turtle
• A Feast Tonight!
• Acknowledgements and Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Author