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Three state historic markers point to Holcomb's history, recalling the
founding of the Eliot Mission, the first Protestant mission to the Choctaw Nation; the
vanished village of Chocchuma, from which Indian lands were sold to white settlers; and
finally the founding of the town of Holcomb itself. But there also have been human guides to Holcomb's history who have cared enough to keep the past alive and share it with those of us who follow them. |
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J.C. "Happy" Hathorn, a much-loved superintendent of Grenada County schools, privately published "A History of Grenada County" in 1967. It has vivid descriptions of the county's early history, including the area that now is Holcomb. Although it is long out of print, copies are available at the Grenada County Library. |
Henry Watterson Heggie in 1989 gathered a wealth of information on the Choctaws and Eliot Mission in his "Indians and Pioneer of Old Eliot," published by Tuscahoma Press in Grenada. This book included previously unpublished journals of Henry Sale Halbert, who lived and taught in the Choctaw Nation in this area of Mississippi. |
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But history is never perfectly told. There's
always more to find out. Archives, memories rich in information are waiting for new
researchers to bring them to light. Oral history is there to be recorded. You never know
till you look. You never hear till you ask. Some of history's best researchers haven't
been scholars, they've been children asking their parents and grandparents questions,
keeping family and community traditions and memories alive. Giving future generations a
sense of place and meaning in a fast-changing world. If you can add to Holcomb's history, message history@holcomb.org. |