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December 18, 2025
Serving Columbus & Starkville, Mississippi

Articles by Rufus Ward

Ask Rufus: 117 Years of Letters to Santa

It’s once again time for children to write letters to Santa Claus.

Ask Rufus: Searching for Thomas Thomas

One of, if not the biggest, mysteries surrounding the founding of Columbus is who was Thomas Thomas.

Ask Rufus: ​​Columbus 1852

I was recently given an 1852 Mississippi Almanac which I will be placing in the Billups Garth Archives at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.

Ask Rufus: The origins of Thanksgiving

I have recently had several people mention the Pilgrims and the origin of the American celebration of Thanksgiving.

Ask Rufus: Mr. Hooper’s Choctaw Dinner in 1822

Seven years ago, I wrote a column about a missionary from Mayhew having dinner with Moshulitubbee, a Choctaw chief, at his house northeast of present-day Brooksville.

Ask Rufus: John Murphy, a veteran of the revolution

Today’s column continues the stories of veterans of the American Revolution who resided in Lowndes County.

Ask Rufus: Lowndes County oil boom, oops bust of 1920

It’s been called everything from black gold to Texas tea, and since the mid-1800s oil oozing from the ground has meant an economic bonanza.

Ask Rufus: Ghosts and apparitions along the Tombigbee

It is the season for ghosts and haunted houses, but not all area ghosts are found on land.

Ask Rufus: Anna Burnham, pioneer Starkville teacher

I recently came across a map published in the December 1832 issue of the Missionary Herald that showed the location of all the Indian missions and schools that were in Mississippi.

Ask Rufus: Rescuing the white horses

I recently watched the 1963 Disney movie “Miracle of the White Stallions.” The movie was a fascinating and fairly accurate though condensed depiction of the saving of the Lipizzaner horses from the German SS and the Red Army at the end of World War II. It was based on one of the strangest military operations of the war.

Ask Rufus: William Cocke and the founding of Columbus

The entire direction of William Cocke’s life changed with the outbreak of the War of 1812. A phase of that war in the South was the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814.

Ask Rufus: William Cocke, from the founding of America to the founding of Columbus

One of the most interesting and significant figures in Columbus history was William Cocke.

Ask Rufus: The most frequent questions

I often have people ask me about different topics or stories and many times I have previously written about those topics. Over the 16 years I have been writing this column, these are the questions I am most often asked.

Ask Rufus: Lt. John Daves of Gen. ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne’s Forlorn Hope

Last May in a column on celebrating “America 250,” I mentioned three Revolutionary veterans with ties to Columbus: William Cocke and Silas McBee, who lived in Columbus, and Capt. John Daves whose great-great-granddaughter, Mary Govan Billups, lived at Snowdoun and was a regent at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon for more than 40 years.

Ask Rufus: Ancient landscapes and an ancient cavern

Work to make the Dr. John “Jack” Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park at Propst Park a reality has begun, and already it is making news.

Ask Rufus: The Dr. John M ‘Jack’ Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park

At the Columbus City Council meeting last Tuesday, the Columbus fossil park being developed in Propst Park was officially named The Dr. John “Jack” Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park.

Ask Rufus: The theft of the Steamboat Alice

One of the more interesting river stories out of Columbus was the theft in 1880 of the steamboat Alice from under the nose of the Lowndes County sheriff.

Ask Rufus: ‘Veritably a howling wilderness’

Lately there have been a lot of news reports of increasing bear sightings in Mississippi and occasionally someone still mentions black panthers too.

Ask Rufus: The Davis Clock Company of Columbus

I recently had several people ask me if I had ever heard of a company that made clocks in Columbus back in the 1800s.

Ask Rufus: Buccaneers of the Black Prairie

When you hear the term “buccaneers,” visions of swashbuckling pirates of the Caribbean come to mind. However, that term is rooted in barbecue. Few people realize how close history and barbecue are tied.