Author Description

Vardaman is a small town in Calhoun county in north central Mississippi, named after James K. Vardaman, the governor of the state when the town was organized in 1904. Vardaman made a big impression during his campaign speeches in that area and most of the residents were his firm supporters. The long-awaited railroad into the eastern part of Calhoun county was finally being built and it crossed one of the few main north-south roads in a wooded area a few miles south of the community of Ellzey. This is where the new town sprang up, and it killed Ellzey. Because James K. Vardaman was a hated foe of President Theodore Roosevelt, the Post Office Department refused to name the post office in the new town after Vardaman and, instead, called it Timberville. For 12 years, the residents of the town of Vardaman endured having a post office address different from the name of the town where they lived. The railroad which caused the town to form was torn up in 1939 after the virgin hardwood forests in the area had been harvested, the Great Depression had taken its toll, and improved highways began to make truck travel practical. The town struggled on through World War II and eventually become well-known, even famous, for the superb quality of sweet potatoes increasingly marketed from there. This book was written and complied from contemporary accounts and from the memories of living citizens. Detailed information about the surrounding communities from which the original settlers of Vardaman came and genealogical information about many of the local families makes this a useful reference for those with family roots in this area. The book also includes 162 photographs and the original obituaries of nearly 250 of the older area residents.