Personal Narrative: My First Visit To Poplar Hill Farm In Jefferson County

Excited, nervous, and ready for this new adventure to make my first visit to Poplar Hill Farm, in Jefferson County, Mississippi. Who knew that this place in the backwoods of Jefferson County and I would have a love affair and that in a few years I would be asked to collaborate on a research project for the Poplar Hill School. Armed with hundreds of questions, anticipation and youthful curiosity, I was ready for this journey into the past. Open and receptive to all the stories, they were willing to share, trying to understand their life and the lives of their ancestors, what I did not know was the men I was about to interview over the next few days were the last two men to have known Delaney Jackson. October is usually the time of year when the intense heat of Mississippi is waning and cooler conditions are welcomed, but the heat of the summer was still intense. Arriving, at the Fayette Chancery Clerks Office in downtown Fayette, greeted by Dr. Samuel White we had become friends from our long phone conversations and letters of inquiry about …show more content…
Our visit was filled with a bit of fear, much laughter, and by the time I was ready to leave, a friendship between to unlikely cousins (cousins by marriage) emerged. He taught me so much more than I could teach him. I must say that his stories were wonderful but what I think we both shared was the love of Poplar Hill. The feelings that I have for Poplar Hill and the history that exists about the families that lived in this place, for it can only be called sacred. This place called Poplar Hill, Jefferson County, (the first established county in the State of Mississippi) is a living history for our family. Love, You Cousin Willie for teaching me so much more than any history book