By 1884, Artesia was a boomtown. It sat on the M&O Railroad and was a busy center for business. Mississippi was a bit of a wild frontier in many ways, and Artesia embraced that image fully. It was known for all its saloons and the blind eye the town fathers appeared to turn to the rules of Prohibition. The Prohibition Presidential Platform was ignored, and the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union were not active or remotely influential in the town. Artesia was riding high on the coattails of the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans and the prosperity of the price of cotton. Cash began to flow again after a post-Reconstruction depression, and the businesses in Artesia benefited. Beyond the gin and the cotton warehouses, the town had saloons, restaurants, and businesses on a busy main street.

While the town had grown affluent, whites were worried as they were outnumbered by their Black neighbors, whom they distrusted.

 Jake Doss was an African American living in the Black Belt prairie about six miles from Artesia, Mississippi. Doss and his wife, Anne, were listed as sharing a household with their three children in the Lowndes County, 1880 Census. Doss is listed as roughly 27 years old with three children living at home with him and his wife.

In the heart of Columbus, Mississippi, stands a testament to the grandeur and complexity of antebellum architecture. The Colonnade, built circa 1860, offers a unique glimpse into the rich tapestry of Southern history and architectural innovation. This magnificent structure serves as a living museum, bridging the gap between the Old South and the present day, inviting visitors to step back in time and experience the opulence and craftsmanship of a bygone era.

The story of The Colonnade begins with William T. Baldwin, a Georgia planter who saw opportunity in the fertile Black Belt Prairie along the Tombigbee River in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Baldwin, drawn by the promise of rich farmland ideal for cotton cultivation, constructed this magnificent home in 1860, marking the twilight of the antebellum era.

In the tumultuous spring of 1862, the entire town of Columbus, Mississippi, found itself unexpectedly thrust into a pivotal role during the American Civil War. As the devastating battles of Shiloh and Corinth raged nearby, Columbus transformed practically overnight into an impromptu hospital town. Its citizens, both white and black, free and enslaved, rose to meet the monumental challenge of caring for thousands of wounded and dying soldiers from both sides of the conflict.

On April 6-7, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh erupted in southwestern Tennessee, marking a turning point in the Western Theater of the Civil War. This devastating engagement resulted in over 23,000 casualties, shocking both the Union and Confederacy with its unprecedented violence.

I sat down with my friend Keith Johnson, the grand nephew of famed Blues musician Muddy Waters. Keith is a talented musician, a teacher, a composer, and a published author.

He plays at the Columbus, MS Catfish in the Alley Festival Friday April 11th from 12:00-2:00 . He will play Muddy Waters tribute songs and some of Keith's originals.

In literature, sermons, and in news articles before and after Reconstruction, Black males were portrayed as over-sexualized predatory men who lived to prey on innocent white girls and women. Whites feared a loss of racial purity and miscegenation of their women. It was not an issue for the white man to father children with Black women, but white females were only to produce white children.

During the Reconstruction Era, Mississippi’s white population realized their second greatest fear: they were outnumbered by their former enslaved population. Freemen began to run for and win elected office at the local and state levels. Then, Black elected officials in the Mississippi legislature began to propose and pass anti-miscegenation laws.

In the decades following the American Civil War, a disturbing phenomenon gripped the Deep South - the practice of lynching. This extrajudicial killing of individuals, predominantly African Americans, served as a brutal method of racial control and intimidation. This narrative explores this dark chapter in Southern history, examining its causes, patterns, and lasting impact on American society.

 The story of James Williams Sykes CSA and his family is more than just a tale of one man or one family. It's a microcosm of the Antebellum South. And it captures the complexities, the contradictions, and the ultimate tragedy of a society on the brink of monumental change.