Dr. Jennifer Ford, great granddaughter of Governor Dennis Murphree, presented a Bicentennial Program November 12 at the Courthouse in Pittsboro.
Members of three county historical organizations, Murphree descendants, and those interested in MS history were in attendance.
Mississippi has been celebrating bicentennial events throughout 2017. Ten cities were selected for displaying an original 20-star flag acquired by the state and the 1817 MS State Constitution for students and the general public to view. Final events will be held this weekend.
Angie Newlin, Dr. Jennifer Ford and her father, Dennis Ford. Photo by Larry Hellums
Ford’s presentation focused on celebrating the state’s heritage and the MS Bicentennial Exhibit she and her staff set up in the Falkner Room at the J.D. Williams Library on the University of MS campus.
She is head of the Archives Department and Special Collections at the university and has been on the faculty since 1998. She has a Masters in History and Library Science from the University of Southern, and she received her Ph.D. in history from Ole Miss.
At the end of her presentation she showed slides on her great grandfather and spoke about his contributions to Mississippi.
As Ford has a passion for her work, he also had a passion for history.
He recorded his family’s past for his children and was updating a history of Calhoun County his father wrote at the time of his death in 1949.
Murphree was born in Pittsboro and was not disabled, but walked with a limp due to a horse riding accident. During his recovery, he learned to play the fiddle.
His political career began in 1911 with his election to the state legislature, where he served 12 years. In 1923 he was elected lieutenant governor and became governor before his term ended due to the death of Gov. Henry Whitfield. He was lieutenant governor again in 1931 and 1939. He made three unsuccessful runs for governor, but again served when Paul B. Johnson Sr. died before his term ended in 1944.
He was successful in helping the state’s economy with the running of the Know MS Better Train, which began in the summer of 1925 and continued, with the exception of the World War II years, until 1948. He encouraged the legislature to put state finances on the pay as you go plan, and also oversaw the recovery of the MS Delta during the Flood of 1927.
He eventually moved to Jackson, but built a summer home in Pittsboro for his family to use when visiting. His summer home is now used by the Calhoun County Historical and Genealogical Society for storing important books and papers.
He died in 1949 and his funeral was in Jackson, but he was buried in Pittsboro Cemetery. The highway running through Pittsboro was named in his honor.
Following Ford’s talk, Bruce High School history teacher Janae Winter and Bruce music teacher Linda Ward performed a song composed by the first band director of Ole Miss, Hiram Oates. The song was used on tours made by the Know MS Better train tours.