The body of Col. C.H. Mott of the 19th Miss. Regt. was carried by his long-time servant, “Uncle Wash,” down the Duke of Gloucester Street and on to Richmond after the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862. In 1867, Wash was honored for his service. Mott’s Widow later married John Billups and lived in Snowdoun in Columbus. Photo by: Courtesy photo

We recently spent four days in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was their Grand Illumination with all of its lights, fireworks and Christmas decorations. The history to be experienced there can be a lot closer to home than we realize. Many of the early Anglo-American families that settled around Columbus in its early days were from Virginia.

Within my own family the roots run deep in the Williamsburg area. One of my family’s ancestral homes from c.1652 still stands only about 20 miles outside of town. The oldest surviving family cookbook we have is the 1825 Virginia Housewife. A surprising number of the decorative arts we saw in Williamsburg, I have also seen in Columbus homes. One of the Colonial Williamsburg reproduction china patterns — blue shell edge — was one of the most popular patterns in 1820s-1830s Columbus.

I wandered down Duke of Gloucester Street to “Merchants Square” while in Williamsburg. There, the street became the “Richmond Road.” That immediately brought thought of Col. Christopher Mott, the first husband of Sally Billups, of Holly Springs and Columbus, to mind. She had lived in Snowdoun in Columbus.

Mott, a Holly Springs resident, was one of four brigadier generals of the Mississippi State troops when the Civil War erupted. He resigned that commission to become Colonel of the 19th Mississippi Regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia with L.Q.C Lamar as Lt. Colonel.

Jefferson Davis learned that Mott was a Colonel in Virginia and, in the same order promoting A.P. Hill to brigadier general, also authorized Mott’s promotion to brigadier general. However, on May 5, 1862, Col. Mott was killed at the Battle of Williamsburg before the promotion could be effected. When Mott fell mortally wounded, his friend and law partner L.Q.C. Lamar took command of the regiment. The wooded area where Mott fell is along a walking path on the now preserved battlefield.

Mott’s wife, Sallie, had told “Uncle Wash,” Mott’s long-time servant, Washington Martin, that he must take good care of him and bring his body home if he were killed. When Mott fell, “Uncle Wash” went onto the battlefield to retrieve Mott’s body and carry it to Richmond. Wash first rode to the head of the 19th Miss. Regt. with Mott’s body across his saddle. The column of battle-hardened soldiers was said to be in tears as the body of their former leader passed. Wash, who was also described as crying profusely, then proceeded down the Richmond Road, Williamsburg’s Duke of Gloucester Street, to find Mrs. Mott.

On March 20, 1867, the Memphis Daily Appeal reported that the Masons of Holly Springs had presented to “Washington Martin the freedman, who was Col. Mott’s army servant, for his faithful and affectionate devotion (to Mott) a fine double-cased silver watch.”

Karen and I had earlier gone to the DeWitt Wallace Williamsburg Decorative Arts Museum. I was amazed to see a sampler there made by Christeen Baker in 1830. Not much was known about her, except she was a 13-year-old Choctaw, and she made the sampler while attending the Choctaw Mission school at Mayhew, Mississippi. It was a beautiful piece of work from the old Mission that was located northeast of Starkville.

Colonial Williamsburg had a little for everyone. Even Sykes and Harper, my 2- and 5-year-old grandchildren, were entertained — most of the time. I was surprised, though, by the links to Columbus that I stumbled across as I wandered about. Even in the bookstore, there was a book that included information on John Pitchlynn who settled at Plymouth bluff in 1810 and a biography of Horace King, the African-American engineer who built the first bridge over the Tombigbee at Columbus in 1842. I even came across a reprint of The Virginia Housewife in the bookstore. It can be surprising what you encounter in a trip back in time.