Wordless Wednesday

"White Arches"

Columbus, Mississippi

Photograph by Judy Howles

 Southern Exposures

http://southernexposure.zenfolio.com

Wordless Wednesday

Rosedale (c.1856)
Columbus, Mississippi
Photograph by Judy Howle
Southern Exposure

Wordless Wednesday - "Southern Exposures"

"Riverview"
Columbus, Mississippi

Photographed by Judy Howles

 Southern Exposures

http://southernexposure.zenfolio.com

T. Carlton Billups IV - April 18, 1915 - April 19, 2009

Mississippians who are old enough to remember pumping gasoline at Billups gas stations may be interested to know that T. Carlton Billups IV, an independent oil operator in Mississippi and Texas, died on April 22, 2009, at the age of 94.

The obituary reprinted here was published in the Dallas Morning News on April 22, 2009. The photograph is a reprint from an abbreviated version of the notice published on the same date in the Tyler (TX) Morning Telegraph.

"T. Carleton Billups IV died peacefully on April 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas. He was ninety- four years old. Graveside services will be at Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi on May 5, 2009 at 1:30 PM with The Very Reverend James F. Carlyle of St. Paul's Episcopal Church officiating. Mr. Billups was born in Columbus, Mississippi, April 18, 1915 to Thomas Carleton and Lenore Hardy Billups. After attending Packard Business School in New York, he had a seat in 1934 on the foreign exchange desk of Termini and Company at 30 Wall Street. He lived in Manhattan with his aunt and uncle, Columbus natives Dr. John D. Richards and Marcella Billups Richards. Dr. Richards taught him the game of polo, and in the years before World War II he enjoyed the sport along the eastern seaboard during one of the game's historic periods. At the onset of World War II, he joined the United States Air Force and served as an instructor pilot in Greenville, South Carolina. He taught student pilots to fly B-25s and was the only pilot at the base to hold a green instrument card. In 1944 his squadron delivered the first A-26 fighter bombers to Belgium via Puerto Rico, Brazil, the Ascension Islands and Africa. Stationed in France and Belgium he flew seven combat missions with the 9th Air Force, 391st Bombardment Group, 575th Squadron. In 1943 he married Betty Wilder of Tyler, Texas and in 1945 joined his father-in-law, Hugh J. Wilder, in the oil business. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career as an independent oil operator in Texas and Mississippi. He was instrumental in establishing the Norphlet as a productive formation in Mississippi and remained active in the industry until his death. He lived in Tyler, Texas until 1985 when he and his wife moved to Columbus, Mississippi where they lived on a plantation of his childhood. They moved to Dallas, Texas in 2007. He is survived by his wife of sixty-five years, Betty Wilder Billups; son, Thomas Carleton Billups V and wife Debra Huchel Billups of Artesia, Mississippi; daughter, Susan Billups Underwood and husband Dr. Ronald Howell Underwood of Dallas; granddaughters, Anna Underwood Small and husband Dr. Andrew Buchanan Small IV of Dallas, Catherine Evan Underwood of Dallas, and Jacqueline Cameron Billups of Washington D.C.; greatgranddaughters, Annabelle Carleton Small and Sarah Margaret Small of Dallas; sister Ida Billups Ward of Columbus, Mississippi; and nephew Rufus Alexander Ward of West Point, Mississippi. If desired, memorials may be made to the charity of one's choice."

Froggie's Friday Book Review

Today, I would like to introduce you to my new blogger helper, "Froggie," pictured here, who will assist me in writing a book review on Friday of each week. All books reviewed will be those written either by a Mississippian or those written about Mississippi or things Mississippi-related.

Although Froggie's choice today is not a newly written book, or one that is on a hot best-seller list, it is one that presents a story about Mississippi that is important enough that it should not be overlooked. The book, "Historic Architecture in Mississippi," was written by Mary Wallace Crocker and was published by the University Press of Mississippi in Jackson, in 1973. The book I own is a result of a third printing in 1977. One of the purposes of the 191-page book, as stated by its author, was to stimulate interest in historic buildings within the State of Mississippi.

The book is a large, coffee table size book that has a beautiful picture on its dust jacket of the lovely plantation house of octagonal design, Waverly Plantation, located in Columbus, Mississippi. This picture offers both a glimpse of what the book contains and a pictorial invitation to peruse its pages. Once the cover has been opened, a treasure trove of photographs, both old and more recent, provide the reader with pictures of "representative historic buildings from various sections of the state." The contents of the book are divided into five distinct sections of the state, and homes, churches, and other historically significant buildings profiled are located in Natchez, Vicksburg, Jackson, Canton, Sandy Hook, the Gulf Coast area, Macon, Columbus, Aberdeen, Pontotoc, Oxford, Holly Springs, Horn Lake, Carrollton, and Washington County. The location of the area featured is shown on a simple state map placed at the beginning of each of the five sections.

The author's intent was not to present photographs of every historical structure in Mississippi, but to offer up a significant book that would stimulate an interest in historic architecture throughout the state. And by the use of specific facts and details about the various types of architectural designs employed in Mississippi during a period that spans almost two centuries, Ms. Crocker seems to have accomplished her purpose. It is within these details about the building's owner, the purpose and planning that went into its specific construction, and the architect's work to accomplish the owner's mission, that the author seems to breath life into these grand and unique old structures. Floor plans and other architectural drawings frequently included serve to aptly guide the reader through the actual building process.

By the end of the book, those who read this fine account of historical architectural design in Mississippi can only be amazed by the works of art that were built during a time and in a place where construction was painstakingly manual by nature.