Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tchula, MS


This photo was taken in June 1953. This shows me at age 5. With me is my father. We are at an old plantation in the Mississippi delta where my Aunt Reno lived with her husband, Brown Russell. This is just one of several places where Reno and Brown lived.
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The house in this picture dates from before the Civil War. In the back of the house was a bell about 12 inches in diameter, which was rung to call to slaves in for feeding. There was also a large pot in the back yard in which food was boiled for the slaves.
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The house was two, maybe three, stories tall. It was constructed in the shotgun style, meaning you could fire a shotgun through the front door and the shot would most likly pass through the house and out the back door without interference.
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Up from the stairs in this picture, you enter the central hallway. All the rooms of this house would be on either side of the hallway. The central hallway was as tall as the house. This area might have served as a dance floor.
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Only certain rooms of this house were heated in winter. I can remember spending some cold nights in this house. The kitchen was always warm. We only went there to visit, though.
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The grounds were large and were next to a large field with pecan trees. I can remember picking up pecans there as a child.
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I believe I heard some time ago that the house had been torn down. I wonder if the pecan trees still stand?

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