Ford’s Encampment set for Feb. 24
The 19th century will come alive next weekend at the John Ford Home in Sandy Hook.
The fifth annual Ford’s Encampment is set to run from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Feb. 24.
Highlights include a special historical designation from the Methodist church, a re-enactment of Gen. Andrew Jackson’s arrival there during the War of 1812 and a dramatization of an infamous Mississippi duel.
Throughout the day, historic presentations and demonstrations will be given including Civil War camps, War of 1812 camps, hourly artillery demonstrations, period cooking demonstrations, John Ford Home tours, wagon rides, an arts and literature area, frontiersman camp, presentation by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, blacksmithing demonstrations, a 19th-century physician demonstration, flag display and much more.
Food and snacks will be available for purchase.
Admission to the event is $5 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under. Kelly Roberts, vice president of the Marion County Historical Society, said the money raised will be put to good use to develop Fordsville and preserve the home.
A special presentation will open the day at 9 a.m. as the Mississippi Conference Commission on Archives and History for the United Methodist Church will officially mark the home as a Methodist registrar of historic places.
“The Rev. John Ford was a Methodist preacher from the Carolinas. Around 1808, he settled in what is now known as Sandy Hook,” Roberts said in a news release. “He was a leader in the Methodist Church and held the first Methodist conference at his home in 1814. The second Methodist conference was also held here in 1818. At this conference, it was decided that one of John Ford’s sons would be sent further north and he formed the first church in Jackson.”
The day also includes other snippets of history. At 9:30 a.m., the opening ceremony will be held with a re-enactment of Gen. Andrew Jackson and his men arriving at Fordsville.
A reenactment of a duel involving the “Black Knight of the South” is set for noon. It was between Alexander McClung and Gen. Augustus Allen in 1834 on the banks of the Pearl River in Jackson, Roberts said.
“The resulting death of Gen. Allen was so gruesome that legislators outlawed the dueling practice in Mississippi a few years later. McClung was a lawyer from Kentucky that settled in Jackson and was most feared as an impulsive antagonist and duelist. McClung was reputed to have fought in as many as 14 duels, killing 10 men,” she said. “Allen and McClung had opposing political views. In 1834, both men clashed with a challenge to the field of honor. The duel drew hundreds of spectators including more than 150 state legislators who watched McClung kill Allen with a single shot to the mouth and throat.”
At 2 p.m., a recreation of a Civil War battle will take place featuring soldiers from North and South. The battle always draws a huge crowd.
The event will also feature Native American dances at 3 p.m. as well as a Civil War ladies’ afternoon tea. Historian and author Grady Howell’s presentation on Mississippi history will close the events at 4 p.m.
Fordsville is located in Sandy Hook, about 16 miles south of Columbia on Mississippi 35 South. Visitors to the reenactment are asked to park at the Sandy Hook Methodist Church or Sandy Hook Baptist Church. Free shuttle buses will be provided throughout the day.
Pictured Above: Reenactors from across the region will take part in events at the John Ford Home on Feb. 24, including a Civil War battle. Reenactors will also take part in observations from the Andrew Jackson era. | File Photo
