Ask Rufus: The Lost World of Plymouth Bluff
I have often written about John Pitchlynn and Fort Smith at Plymouth Bluff during the Creek Indian War of 1813-14 and the French army that camped there in 1736, but what fascinated me about the bluff when I was a child was fossils.
Ask Rufus: The Story a Picture Tells
Cherry Dunn came by my house a couple of months ago and showed me an interesting photo that she had. It was a tintype photo that had been passed down through her family from 150 years ago.
Ask Rufus: Marking A Pathway To Freedom
I’ve written before about how the Riverwalk is not only a touch of natural beauty at the edge of downtown but also a place steeped in history. Much of that history is the Black history of Columbus.
Ask Rufus: Franklin Academy Turns 200
The origin of Franklin Academy goes back to the chartering of Columbus as a Mississippi town.
Columbus was first officially recognized as a town on Dec. 6, 1819, but as the Town of Columbus, Alabama.
Ask Rufus: The Great Freshet of 1847
I’ve written before about the Tombigbee flood of 1847.
It is considered the worst flood ever recorded along the upper Tombigbee. It washed away almost the entire towns of Colbert, West Port and Nashville in what was then Lowndes County.
Ask Rufus: Rooting Hogs and Courting Frogs
I recently gave an 1882 book, “Minstrel Songs Old and New,” to the Black Prairie Blues Museum in West Point. The book contains a fascinating collection of popular music from the mid-1800s.
Ask Rufus: ‘No River for Steamboats’
It began in the late fall of 1854 and extended through the summer of 1856. Before it was over several Tombigbee steamboats sank, and one caught fire and burned.
Ask Rufus: Columbus becomes Mississippi
Today is the 200th anniversary of the town of Columbus, Alabama, being officially recognized as part of the state of Mississippi and not Alabama.
Ask Rufus: Columbus 200 years ago
Recently, several people have asked me whether Columbus will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2021. My response of “but the bicentennial was last year” always seems to draw perplexed looks.
Ask Rufus: Santa Claus
Before the 1800s Christmas was a mostly religious celebration. Then in 1823, Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published.
Ask Rufus: A Christmas Barbecue
With Christmas fast approaching, it is interesting to consider the traditional foods of a Christmas meal. They may not all be what you think.
Ask Rufus: The Influenza of 1918
Acting on the recommendation of the State Board of Health, the mayor of Columbus after a Friday meeting of the Columbus board of health has announced that “All schools, churches, theatres, pool rooms, motion picture shows and all public gatherings be closed and suspended until further notice.”
No, that was not Mayor Robert Smith last week. It was Columbus Mayor D. S. McClanahan on Oct. 2, 1918. It was the great Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
Ask Rufus: The First Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with history, tradition and food.
Ask Rufus: A Machine Gun’s Tale
Sometimes an unusual inanimate object can tell a most interesting story.
Ask Rufus: The Double Fire of 1854
n September 1854 much of downtown Columbus was destroyed by two absolutely devastating fires that occurred within a period of a little more than 24 hours.
Ask Rufus: An 1854 Window on Columbus
I had planned on writing my Sunday column on the devastating fire of 1854 that burned much of downtown Columbus. As I was researching it, I came across an 1854 Southern Business Directory and General Commercial Advertiser description of Columbus that I had copied years ago.
Ask Rufus: The Strange Story of the W.H. Gardner
One of my favorite ghost stories is that of the phantom steamboat, the Eliza Battle. It is a story based on the actual horrific loss of the steamer on the Tombigbee River in 1858. Almost forgotten, though, is the almost as deadly burning in 1887 of another Columbus-Mobile steamboat, the W.H. Gardner.
Ask Rufus: The tradition behind Halloween
For 800 years, Halloween has been an important, meaningful and fun celebration. However, a look today at Halloween around the country would lead one to believe that it’s a time to commercially exploit pagan themes and children. What is being lost is that it actually reflects an almost 2,000-year-old Christian tradition.
Ask Rufus: Union Academy
I planned for today’s column to be a history of Union Academy in Columbus, but the scope of the column narrowed as I became fascinated by the trials of its first few years.
Ask Rufus: Art, Hurricanes and French Explorers
It is amazing how people, places and events are so interconnected.