On November 30, 2022, Jack D. Elliott Jr. discussed his new book To the Ramparts of Infinity: Colonel W. C. Falkner and the Ripley Railroad as part of the History Is Lunch series.
William C. Falkner (1825–1889) was the great-grandfather of the author William Faulkner. Due to his influence on the younger writer’s work, Faulkner scholars have touched on his life—although no biography of the colonel has been produced since a 1961 dissertation. To the Ramparts of Infinity is the first book-length treatment of Falkner, and it also sketches out the cultural landscape of Ripley, Mississippi, and explores Falkner’s influence on his great-grandson’s Yoknapatawpha cycle of stories.
“Colonel Falkner is a fascinating character who has long deserved to have the facts of his life accurately told,” Elliott said. “But place plays an important role in this story as well, and a big part of this project was to identify sites in Ripley that were associated with the family.”
Faulkner, Writer of Disability author Taylor Hagood wrote: “William Faulkner may not have had much use for historical facts, but they most certainly have their place. Jack D. Elliot Jr. has done a marvelous job of bringing a historian’s eye to bear upon those facts. This impeccably researched biography of Colonel William C. Falkner is a tremendous achievement that provides a corrective on the many distortions and misconceptions of this dynamic and influential man. Elliott takes Falkner and his time and place on their own terms, the result being not only an invaluable resource for Faulkner readers and scholars but also an excellent account of a remarkable life and an important book on north Mississippi history.”
Jack D. Elliott Jr. earned his BA in anthropology and his MS in geography, both from Mississippi State University, where he was adjunct professor of archaeology, geography, and religion at the Meridian campus from 1988 to 2016. From 1985 to 2010 Elliott was a historical archaeologist with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, where he performed a study of Fort Rosalie in Natchez that identified the site and initiated an effort to preserve and promote it that led to the creation of the Natchez National Historical Park. He is the co-author of Cotton Gin Port: A Frontier Settlement on the Upper Tombigbee with Mary Ann Wells, and West Point and Clay County in the Images of America Series with Elizabeth A. Calvert and Rebecca M Riley. Elliott is a five-time winner of the Mississippi Historical Society’s award for best article in the Journal of Mississippi History and is a past president of the Mississippi Association of Professional Archaeologists.
History Is Lunch is sponsored by the John and Lucy Shackelford Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for Mississippi. The weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History explores different aspects of the state's past. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North Street in Jackson and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebo
