Tombigbee Tales

The Ghosts in the Cicero Lincoln Home in Columbus, MS

The Lincoln Home is one of the earlier homes built in Columbus. It is a raised cottage style Gothic/Greek Revival Home. It also is haunted by at least four different former residents. 

Tennessee Williams Birthplace in Total Disrepair

Nancy Luke Carpenter and the Board of the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation have allowed the birthplace of Tennessee Williams to fall in utter disrepair. Please email the board and tell them to remove Carpenter as CEO and to do the right thing to repair the building and to be transparent in their actions.
Board President Brenda Willis: willisbw66@aol.comTreasurer Sonic Johnson: sonic.johnson77@gmail.com

The Tombigbee River and the Underground Railroad: Follow the Drinkin' Gourd

The Tombigbee River was the path to freedom for many escaped enslaved people. Their directions were found in a folk song: 
Follow the drinkin' gourdFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is comin' just to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
When the sun comes back, and the first quail callsFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is waiting just to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourdFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is waiting to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
Well the river bank makes a mighty good roadDead trees will show you the wayLeft foot, peg foot, travelin' onFollow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourdFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is waiting to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
Well the river ends, between two hillsFollow the drinkin' gourdThere's another river on the other sideFollow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourdFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is waiting to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
Well, where the great big river meets the little riverFollow the drinkin' gourdThe old man is waiting to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
Follow the drinkin' gourdFollow the drinkin' gourdFor the old man is waiting to carry you to freedomFollow the drinkin' gourd
For the old man is waiting just to carry you to freedomIf you follow the drinkin' gourd

Mississippi Black Belt Prairie Blues

It was in this Black Belt Prairie impoverished environment that many great Blues musicians rose to prominence.

Hickory Sticks and the Valentine's Day Ghost - Columbus, MS

Hickory Sticks is one of the oldest homes if not the oldest home still in existence in Columbus, MS. Built between 1815-1820, the home has a spectral visitor during Valentines each year. Who is it and why is he insistent on going upstairs to bed every year?

The Ghost Rider of Wisteria Place in Columbus, MS

Wisteria Place has a man who walks up the road out of the foggy mist of early morning leading a horse carrying a man in confederate gray bent over the saddle. They disappear once they turn in the back drive. Who are they? 

Ghost Hunting at the Princess Theatre in Columbus, MS

The Princess Theatre in Columbus, MS is known for significant paranormal activity. It is thought to be Mr. Kuykendal, the former president of the Motion Pictures Theater Owners of America from 1932 until his death in 1946. 

The Ghost of Henry Betts at the Lowndes County Courthouse

Henry Betts' execution at the Lowndes County Courthouse was botched. He was a large Black man who was accused of murder. He weighed over 300 lbs and stood 6'6" tall. He was most probably railroaded into a conviction. He "confessed" to save his brother. 

Charles Baskerville - Columbus Born Discoverer of Carolinium and Berzelium

Charles Baskerville, chemist and college professor, was born (1870) at Deerbrook, Noxubee County, Mississippi, the son of Charles Baskerville, a physician and former CSA captain, and his wife, Augusta Johnson. He was educated in Columbus, MS. and raised by his paternal grandparents. Charles would lay claim to the discovery of two chemical elements. 

Reverend Pleasant Bowler and the First All African American Male Jury

Pleasant Bowler was a scam artist and flim flam man who posed as a Baptist minister and helped found the Shiloh Baptist Church in Burns Bottom in Columbus, Mississippi after the Civil War. He murdered Sheriff Cline in a struggle and was brought before a Reconstruction Era Judge from Ohio and an all Black male jury in the Lowndes County Courthouse in 1869. This jury is alleged to be the first all Black jury in US history.