It is early morning and you jump in the shower, turn on the faucet and enjoy the gushing of hot, calming water. Today we accept this convenience nonchalant and as matter-of-fact, ho-hum.

What about the McLemore family? They were the first Meridian settlers, after the signing of Dancing Rabbit Treaty. Could they enjoy a hot shower in the 1830s? Perhaps, if someone hitched the wagon, maneuvered down to Sowashee Creek, filled buckets with water and returned to the homestead, then built a big fire and heated the water. Yes, it was possible to rig a makeshift type water fall off the side of a barn, not really a shower but by that time, the water was cold, anyway.

If You Go

If You Go

• What: Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit: Water/Ways.

• When: Saturday, Sept. 29, 12-1 p.m.

• Where: Soulé Steam Works Museum, 808 4th St., Meridian.

Free and open to the public.

On Saturday, I will portray Mrs. Nancy McLemore at The Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum, better known in Meridian as Soulé Steam Works’ Museum. Mrs. McLemore and her family were true pioneers, when life was hard; however the McLemore family persevered and began what is now known as the City of Meridian.

Mrs. McLemore birthed nine children – seven girls and two boys. She outlived four of her children. Nancy’s husband, Richard McLemore, out lived his wife by nearly thirty years. He remarried and out lived his second wife but the third wife lived to bury him. Mr. McLemore died at the lusty age of 82; this extended age was almost unheard of when living in the Western Frontier now known as Mississippi.

History has recorded that the McLemore family migrated to this area in 1831, shortly after the Sept. 28, 1830, signing of Dancing Rabbit Treaty, when the great Choctaw Indian Nation agreed to vacate its territories in Mississippi. He purchased seven hundred acres and built his first home made of hewed logs. The cabin was located near what is now 11th Street and 18th Avenue, located near a stream that flowed for several miles into the Sowashee Creek.

The McLemore family’s live-horse-power cotton gin was located where the Lauderdale County Court House is today and according to great, great, great, granddaughter, Elizabeth Kahlmus, there was a big corn patch where MSU Riley is located.

It is noted that with McLemore’s growing family, he wanted a community of good people, with churches and schools, therefore he advertised free land. With that offer several families moved into the area and in 1839 Oaky Valley Baptist Church began. It was built by McLemore at Bonita Lakes, near what was then known as Bonita Branch.

The great Choctaw Chief, Pushmataha, settled his tribe on a bluff overlooking Lost Horse Creek. The center of Choctaw government was at this site, known as Coosa. The village thrived into the 1800s with population upwards of 1,200 people. It was said to be a beautiful place located in northeastern Lauderdale County. There were orchards of peaches and plums plus vegetable and corn patches. The creek abounded with fish.

As good hardworking families arrived and the population increased, an observation was made by a traveler when he passed through during the early years of the formation of Lauderdale County, “… lived farmers, Scotch-Irish families from the hills of the Carolinas, and they did not farm cotton, nor own slaves, nor import china, nor drink Madeira.”

What was the common denominator? Yes, a great deal of land was available and young families with hardworking backs were buying land and building cabins. What else was needed? Yes, water.

There were streams and creeks to supply water desperately needed in order to survive in the rough and tumble Western Frontier. Today you can see the many exhibits portraying the importance of water throughout history and read my favorite poster at Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, Water-Ways, which states, Home is where the water is.

Yes, Mrs. Nancy McLemore was happy to hitch up the wagon, travel to Bonita Branch or Sowashee Creek and fill buckets with water. Then she could cook, wash clothes and maybe even have a hot shower or at least a Saturday night bath in the old washtub.

Come and hear more of her story as well as stories about the early beginnings of Meridian. It is good stuff.

Anne McKee is a Mississippi historian, writer and storyteller. She is listed on the Mississippi Humanities Speakers Bureau and Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist and Teaching Artist Rosters. See her website: www.annemckeestoryteller.com.