TALKING 'PILLAR OF TRUTH' WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

CHARLESTON -- Among attractions in Mississippi County to visit while in the area for the annual Charleston Dogwood-Azalea Festival is the Pillar of Truth.

Standing in the county for nearly 70 years, the six-foot pillar, also known as a Teddy Bennett of the James Bayou Cookers in East Prairie, is a veritable fountain of county history.

Dubbed "the Pillar of Truth" by Jim Anderson of the East Prairie Eagle newspaper some time ago, Bennett assured visitors that "everything I tell you will be based on true facts." If you ask, he can tell you about the days in Mississippi County before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dug the massive drainage ditch system and the land was drained naturally by bayous.

"I was born and raised in Mississippi County," said Bennett, 70. "I'm right out of the swamps. I was delivered by a midwife in my home. Back then the river ran wild."

Bennett said when he was young he lived on the east side of the James Bayou, where things could be much different than on the west side: "One year they all had an itch; I just had a rash," recalled Bennett. "But we all scratched alike."

His family, according to Bennett, came over to Dorena after being run out of Tennessee in 1905 for bootlegging whiskey a sourmash recipe still used until 1947 when the big distilleries made production at small levels unprofitable.

If you think some of the landmark names are colorful in Mississippi County, you ought to hear the stories behind them.

Wolf Hole Ditch, for example, goes all the way back to the Indians who used to share the water source with all sorts of animals.

"They had to run the wolves away from it to get a drink," said Bennett. "That's what I was told."

Snd then there is Lickskillet Ridge where his brother, Ruben "Brother" Bennett, was born.

Bennett explained that back then every ridge had a name and a one-room schoolhouse on it. The Dorena Ridge school he attended had 109 students and one teacher when he started school in 1935.

He heard the story of how this ridge was named from the "liars bench." "All grocery stores had their liars bench' out front where folks could hear the latest happenings," explained Bennett.

The story goes that folks living on that particular ridge were so lazy they wouldn't even make the trip down to get water to wash their cooking utensils.

Asked how they washed them, it was explained they just had the dogs lick them clean.

Not only a repository of county history, Bennett is also a collector of historical artifacts.

He confirmed that he owned the bullet the killed General Ulysses S. Grant's horse during the 1861 battle at Belmont. His proof is irrefutable: The .51 caliber smooth bore bullet, Bennett explained, has hair from Grant's horse on it.

Asked how he could be sure the hair was from Grant's horse Bennett replied: "Well, that's easy it's on the bullet that killed Grant's horse." He did acknowledge that there is someone in Atlanta, Ga., who also claims to have the bullet that killed Grant's horse, but dismisses the claim outright. "How could a horse run all the way down to Atlanta, Ga., with a bullet in him?

"Had this lady who wanted to buy it," he added, but the artifact is not for sale. However, he does have for sale the six bullets that missed Grant's horse if anyone is interested.

Although he is likely to "try to stay hid," Bennett and the not-for-profit James Bayou Cookers will be at the Dogwood-Azalea Festival for the Historical Society Fish Fry 4-7 p.m. Saturday.