MEMORIES IN MISSISSIPPI

I mentioned yesterday that the sisters and I have been discussing a lot of memories and one of them that came up was the house that belonged to one of our uncles. Uncle Andrew (pronounced Andra, I don't know why) at one time lived in Oxford just off the square in a very interesting house. We three girls were fascinated because of its unusual qualities.

From the outside it looked like a two story mansion with columns and a front porch. Then when you walked inside there was a big hall that went all the way to the back. On each side of the hall were big rooms and as I recall the kitchen was at the back of the house. The house was nice and roomy and airy too with the breeze coming in the tall windows and blowing through the house.

It was the upstairs that was so unlike other houses because it housed the town jail. Enclosed steps led up off of the back porch up to the second level and there you could walk in and see the cells. I barely remember that, but the sisters both had more memories than I and could supply more details.

They remember when our aunt would take up plates full of food to the prisoners three times a day. Sometimes she would even let them help!! Virtually all of the prisoners were men and they were usually brought in for being drunk. MA also recalled playing in the yard and looking up and seeing faces at the window watching them. She said it was a creepy feeling.

We realized at the time what a novelty it was to visit someone who lived in a jailhouse, but amazingly we were never afraid. We probably realized that the prisoners were pretty harmless or Uncle Andrew wouldn't have let us stay.

In the fifties Hollywood made a movie from one of William Falkner's books entitled Intruder in the Dust. In it the house was featured because someone was arrested and brought to the jailhouse. We all went to see it, of course, and were enthralled to see our uncle's house shown off in such a prominent way. The movie also starred Nashville's own Claude Jarman when he was a teenager so that added to the excitement. As I recall, Intruder was not that big a hit and I don't remember being all that enthralled with the plot. But I do remember the thrill of seeing the familiar places that we knew so well in Oxford being shown on the big screen for all the world to see.

I've been trying and trying to imagine this sort of thing taking place today, but those were the fifties (before drugs came on the scene) and the worst crime in a small town like that was usually having one too many in a back alley.