MISSISSIPPI ROADS
SHOW #2706

Mississippi Roads travels to east central Mississippi along the Alabama border we visit the Clarke County town of Quitman .

http://www.ci.quitman.ms.us/

http://www.netpathway.com/~clarkech/

http://www.visitclarkecounty.com

Quitman was named for John A. Quitman Brigadier General of the Mississippi Militia in the Mexican War. He later served as Governor of Mississippi in 1850 and 1851. The town significantly changed when rail service was established in the area in the mid-1850's. During the Civil War, Quitman was ransacked and burned as Sherman lead his Union troops on the march to the sea. But Today, Quitman has risen from the ashes and serves as the County seat of Clarke County and is a modern day rural town.  

A float trip down the Chickasawhay River in Quitman will transport you back to the days when the Choctaws and Chickasaw Indians used to fish and hunt along this tranquil stream that runs 143 miles from Enterprise to the north of here on down to the Gulf of Mexico .

Today, the river provides a glimpse back in time with its powder white sandbars and moss covered trees overhang this waterway that is mainly unchanged since the Native Americans once inhabited the land. It is a great place for you to go fishing, canoeing, rafting, or sightseeing on this scenic river. A number of boat ramps are provided along the river for public convenience.

And speaking of scenic, in our first story we travel a few miles outside of town, where the fruit is ripe and falling off the vine at Breckenridge Farms.

Take a quick look around the office and you'll see all types of jobs that didn't exist 50 years ago or even 30 years ago. This one didn't. Oh, vineyards have been around about as long as people have, I guess. But this particular type vineyard didn't come around until sometime in the 1970s. This Muscadine farm is one of the biggest in the world. The South is perfectly suited to grow Muscadines. With an extra couple of chromosomes that regular grapes DON'T have, are perfectly satisfied in our hot, steamy summers.

The Trotter Byrd House in Quitman stands as a stately reminder of 1800's life. In 1864 Elizabeth Terrell of Virginia married William Trotter of Quitman. She was the great granddaughter of Katherine Washington, George Washington's first cousin.

This beautiful two-story Greek Revival home was spared when union troops stormed the town during the Civil War. Legend has it that Elizabeth invited the soldiers in to dine with the family. Maybe it was this gesture of hospitality or her family ties to the countries first president that cooled down Sherman 's raging desire to burn every structure in the town of Quitman .

And speaking of burning, in our next story we meet some youths who are burning up the show choir circuit. They are the Attache' Show Choir from Clinton High School .

Beginning in 1980, the show choir at Clinton High School began teaching students how to sing, dance, and most importantly, to work as a team to achieve a common goal. The lessons have been taught so well that the group has been honored with no less than eighteen Grand Championships in as many years.

Recently, Clinton High School held an Attache' 25 th anniversary reception and program to honor former students and teachers. The celebration brought back great memories, but, also served to inspire a new generation of students to see what great things can happen when goals are realized.

http://www.attache.org/home/

As the Civil War spread across the south; the Quitman depot became the final destination for many wounded and dying Confederate soldiers ho were mainly from Texas . People in the Houston/Galveston area donated funds and supplies to build the Texas Hospital to help care for these ailing young men. But when Sherman marched through town the Hospital was not spared his fiery wrath.

Today, the Confederate Memorial Cemetery outside Quitman is all that remains of the Texas Hospital and the young men's lives they were trying to have.

And speaking of hospitals and saving lives, in our next story we meet a doctor who goes that extra mile to make sure his patients are treated with the best of care. No matter the cost.

Dr. Howard Clark is devoted to the town and people of Morton and he has been for over fifty years. What attracted us to him was that he still made house calls but there is so much more to this dedicated medicine man.

We could do a whole story about how he single handedly kept the hospital open; did nearly a month of emergency room duty himself. And at 80, still works his two 12-hour night shifts a week there, and then his 48-hour weekend shift every month, or how he never missed a Friday night football game for 50 years serving as the team hysician, or how he is the consulting physician at the nursing home, making rounds there twice a day at no charge.

He averages about 90 hours a week between his practice, the nursing home, the emergency room and then just seeing patients who wait for him outside his back door or in the parking lot at church. And he doesn't mind.