I was trying to work on some genealogy, like you do, when I came across quite a few interesting items that aren't even related. My parents have faux leather bags containing pedigree paperwork forms in triplicate and honestly it's a big mess. But I was rooting around in my dads bag and apparently my mom was using it for a time as well because there's all sorts of random things shoved in there. I found her drivers license that would expire in 1990, stamps she wanted to save, a first day of issue Locomotives stamp from 1987, an Argentinian Cinco Australes ($5, which was used from 1985 - 1991), a paper I was writing when I was 12, and a photocopy of an article on stamps related to The Magnolia State. I also found a few really great pieces of genealogy items that related to my dad's side of the family, but I'll talk about those in a completely different post. This one, though, I wanted to relate the stamp article. I'm just going to type the article out, the reason I am doing so, is because it's all about Mississippi through stamps, and well being from Mississippi, this is a pretty nifty find. I'll also be combining paragraphs so that it reads better here versus the layout used for print. I have not edited any content or grammar. Magnolia State related stamps are plentiful By Frank Willment (Linns' Stamp News | March 18, 1991) The state of Mississippi boasts a strong number of United States stamps that somehow have tie-ins with the Magnolia State. Mississippi can claim just one president as native son, but not as president of the United States. Jefferson Davis, senator from Mississippi, served as president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. He appears on Scott 1408, the 6 cent Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial stamp, as well as several Confederate issues. A Mississippi collection could begin with the 5 cent Statehood stamp (Scott 1337) featuring the Magnolia, the state's official tree and flower. The 13 cent Mississippi Flag (Scott 1652) and 20 center State Bird and Flower (Scott 1976) should also be included in a basic Mississippi collection, along with the 3 cent Mississippi Territory Stamp (Scott 955). A number of men who achieved the presidency have strong connections with "Old Mississippi". Andrew Jackson was married in Natchez and led troops in the state while preparing for the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson is featured on several stamps, including Scott Nos. 73, 812, and 2216g. President James K. Polk (Scott 816 and 2217b) owned a farm near Coffeeville, Miss., and Zachary Taylor (Scott 178, 817, and 2217c) was also a Mississippi landowner. His daughter married Jefferson Davis against his wishes. Ulysses S. Grant, who appears on numerous stamps including Scott Nos. 223, 560, 823, 2271i, and others is the president most closely connected to the state of Mississippi. His defeat of the Confederates in Vicksburg opened the Mississippi River to the Union forces and was one of the turning points of the Civil War. In 1880, former President Grant revisited Vicksburg. Seventeen years after his siege of Vicksburg, Grant spoke at the Old Court House, which he had shelled during the war. He received an enthusiastic reception from his former enemies. Gen. William T. Sherman (Scott 225, 257, and 787) fought in the state during his march to the sea. The naval forces during the siege of Vicksburg were commanded by Adms. David Farragut and David Porter (Scott 792). Farragut also appears on Scott 311. The Battle of Shiloh (Scott 1179), while waged on the Tennessee-Mississippi border, spilled over into "Old Miss." The Great River Road stamp (Scott 1319) should be part of a Mississippi Collection since it shows the river that forms the boundary between "Old Miss," Louisiana and Arkansas. Mississippi's most famous literary son is William Faulkner (Scott 2350) of Oxford. Jimmie Rodgers (Scott 1755), known as the father of country music, came from Meridian. Ida B. Wells (Scott 4471), the civil rights leader, was born in Holly Springs. W.C. Handy (Scott 1372), the great musician and composer, came from Clarksdale. Booker T. Washington (Scott 873), the famous black educator, addressed crowds in Vicksburg. Mark Twait (Scott 863) visited Mississippi River ports as a steamboat pilot. Stephen Douglas (Scott 1115) owned a Mississippi planation with slaves. Eli Whitney (Scott 889) gave one of his first cotton gins to a Dr. Nutt of Rodney, Miss,. who was the first to use steam to power the gin. James Audubon (Scott 1241 and 1863) lived and taught in the Magnolia State, and Dorothea Dix (Scott 1844), the mental health reformer, had a home on the Mississippi gulf coast. Another visitor to the gulf coast was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Scott 864), the beloved poet. The house where he stayed is known as the Longfellow House. Lafayette (Scott 1010, 1097, and 1716) reviewed troops at Jefferson Academy during his tour of the state. Casey Jones (Scott 993) wrecked a train at Vaughn, Miss. The 3 cent Indian Centennial issue (Scott (972) honors the Choctaws and Chickasaws, two of the tribes that inhabited Mississippi. The 3 cent 4-H clubs (Scott 1005) were an outgrowth of the earlier Corn clubs of Mississippi. The USS Mississippi, Adm. Perry's flagship, is pictured on Scott 1021, which commemorates the opening of Japan to trade. Marquette (Scott 1356) explored the Mississippi River. Among the presidents who have visited Mississippi and who are pictured on the 1938 Presidential set and the 1986 Ameripex set, among others, are William Howard Taft, who visited Jackson and Columbus in 1909; Woodrow Wilson, who had a vacation "White House" on the gulf coast for one season; Harry Truman, who spent a winter on the gulf coast for Margaret's health; Dwight Eisenhower, who visited Vicksburg; and John F. Kennedy, who was a guest in the governor's mansion. William McKinley and Franklin D. Roosevelt were also guests of the state while serving as president. Carl McIntire of Clinton, Miss., who has an extensive collection of stamps relating to Old Miss, says that Theodore Roosevelt received his nickname "Teddy" while hunting bears in the Mississippi delta region. Carl also includes in his Mississippi collection the Kansas Sunflower (Scott 1183) for a curious reason. Mississippi ordered magnolia slabs for the facade of the state office building. Kansas ordered sunflower designs at the same time, but the sunflowers were sent to Mississippi and installed before the error was discovered. They are still there. Although Mississippi is one of our smaller states, with aproximately 2.5 million residents, it is rich in philatelic connections. These mentioned here are a few. You may well be able to find others for your collection. Honestly, that article was all over the freaking place and his insertion of Scott numbers was inconsistent; inside parenthesis brackets and also outside. But besides the stamps that can be connected to Mississippi besides the obvious it was interesting for other reasons. For one, in 1991, Miss was still being used as the abbreviation for Mississippi, instead of the MS you see today. I actually still use Miss, because if I use that, my packages actually arrive to me; whereas if I use the official MS, everything ends up being shipped to Missouri. Explain that one to me, right?. Etsy sellers, Ebayers, Postcrossers... it doesn't matter. They see MS and think Missouri. However, they see Miss and don't think Missouri, but Mississippi. And well, it's just weird. Plus, it's old fashioned and no one uses it anymore, which is another reason I like to have my return address say this. Another reason is that it's typed out they way newspaper columns and magazine articles used to be written up. No one uses Nos. as an abbreviation for numbers anymore; nor do they shorten Admiral/Admirals to Adms. or as Adm. Also Gulf Coast is always capitalized now. It's also interesting to see the state of thought in 1991. Willment had no problem writing, as I'm sure no one had a problem reading about Mississippi's native son Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. That no Mississippi collection would be complete without the 13 cent Mississippi Flag (Scott 1652), the mentions of "Old Miss" as in the former 'glories' of the state, the use of black to denote Booker T. Washington's race, mentioning Stephen Douglas... who "owned a plantation with slaves". Sure he mentions that Zachary Taylor was against the marriage between his daughter and Jefferson Davis, and he mentions the Battle of Vicksburg and the Confederates defeat there, or that Grants "old enemies" gave an enthusiastic reception. But it was a little too 'Old Dixie' for me. But in 1991, I'm sure no one batted an eyelash towards it. As far as the term black goes, in the south, amongst whites and blacks, it is still an acceptable term. For the most part, no one really cares. It does depend on where you are and to with whom you are speaking, but black seems to be the general preferred term. The black people refer to themselves and black and you, as a white person, are allowed to refer to them as black as well (in a general sense and of course with no hate behind it, because well, that's just wrong). You can not say coloured unless you are saying the full name of the NAACP. African American is acceptable, but most black people find it too hoity-toity. But I have no idea if Willment is from the south, or from Mississippi even; he doesn't really seem like it. Black was the general term in 1991, so I can understand that. But why call out Booker T. Washington as black, but not Ida B. Wells or W.C. Handy? That was weird. There are some stamps I would like to own, but they are certainly nothing to do with our state flag or Jefferson Davis. I could care less about those things. I also do not like Andrew Jackson and am very picky about Presidents. The stamps listed in the article (or referred to) that I'd like to own:
The one's I do have are as follows:
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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