One of the most remarkable of the early settlers of Simpson Co. was Mrs. Lottie Williamson. She was a native of South Carolina and was probably born about the year 1803, and came to Simpson Co. at an early age. I do not know in what year, but she and her husband were living in the county in 1824, and she remembered riding through Westville before the courthouse was built, and seeing the streets being opened and the grounds cleared off for the courthouse.

She and her husband located a few miles north of Rials Creek Mill and near the capital of the Six Towns Nation. Indians were very numerous at that time and she soon learned to speak the Indian language as well as she did her own.

When a very young woman she became much interested in the treatment of diseases, and always said that if she had been a man she would have been a doctor. She learned all of the Indian remedies for treating diseases, learned how to dress and treat wounds, set broken bones and stop the flow of blood. There were no physicians in the country at that time, so it became common for neighbors to send for her when sick. Even when some so- called doctor was called in, people would send for her also. More often than not the local doctors were drunk or absent when called and women preferred Miss Lottie, as they called her, at all times. She became so skillful in obstetrics that she was often called to Westville and a few times to Osceola on Pearl River.

She sometimes assisted the Indian Medicine Men in treating knife and gunshot wounds and kept on good terms with them. By this means she learned their methods of preparing medicines, and the value of different herbs they used. The Indians had a very high regard for her and often went to her for help or advice. She often used Indian remedies in treatment of her own family, but was always afraid to use their remedy for pneumonia, which was to wrap the patient in blankets when the disease had reached a certain stage and throw him, or her, into the creek; then after being well soaked and thoroughly chilled lay the sick person by a fire, changing the position every now and then until dry. Strange to say, that treatment cured more than it killed.

After the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, the Indians began moving West, and small groups passed her house from time to time for two or three years, often in bitter cold weather. Many would stop to barter such things as they had, for something to eat. She never could turn them away.

To show the misery the poor Indians endured, she used to tell of an incident that occurred in the winter of 1830, which was terribly cold. One morning just after daybreak she looked across the road in front of her house and saw an Indian woman sitting on a small log, under a clump of pines. The ground was frozen and there was ice everywhere, and she was sure the Indian woman was sick, or in great distress. She walked across the road to where the woman was and saw that she had an old, coarse blanket around her and appeared to be holding something. She asked the woman what she had under the blanket and she said, "Me got Pusscuss." That was the Indian name for baby. Sure enough it was an Indian baby only a few hours old and perfectly naked.

The woman kept it from freezing by holding it against her body. She had the woman get up and come into the house where she could sit by the fire. Then sent her children to the kitchen to prepare something for the woman to eat. While they were gone she heated some water and washed the baby, then put some of her own baby’s clothes on it. She then fed the poor woman and fixed her a bed in the corner near the fire where she could sleep.

On the fourth day, while she and her children were after some cattle, the woman took her baby and left. Nobody saw her leave, and never knew whether she went West or returned to her old home.

In her early years everybody called her "Miss Lottie", but then in her later years nearly everybody called her "Aunt Lottie". She was loved and revered by all. She lived a life of Helpfulness and unselfishness, and many a person is in the world today, because somewhere and at sometime, she was present in a time of need.

She lived to a great age, and in the serenity of peace she died as she whispered the words. "In my Father’s house there are many Mansions." Her life was a benediction and she was a blessing to those among whom she lived.

One of the early settlers of Simpson County was John Welch. He and his wife, patsy, were both Irish. Their only child was a small boy about two years old. They located a mile or more east of Rials Creek Mill. John’s principal occupation was ditching. He was large and strong, did good work and secured many contracts in the southern part of the county.

After he had selected a location, neighbors came and offered their assistance in building a comfortable log house, and with their help he soon had as good a house as anybody in the neighborhood. John was witty, and good-natured, and was very popular with his neighbors. He was always invited to the quiltings and social gatherings.

John and Patsy were pleased with their location and often gave quilting parties and log rollings to which their neighbors were invited. Then almost suddenly they noticed that the quilting and other entertainments would be given to which they were not invited. John also noticed that his company was not wanted by anybody except those he worked for. He and Patsy wondered what the cause was.

Then one day at the mill (Gideon Rials mill), a foolish young fellow walked up to John and said to him "Is you a Catholic?" John, somewhat nettled, said, "Of course I am, what else should I be?" John then realized that he and Patsy were almost ostracized. They worried about it a great deal. They loved the company and liked their neighbors. They did not want to move away. John had many contracts and wanted to carry them out. It was very hard on Patsy.

Then the hardest blow of all fell. Their little boy became very sick and soon died. Nobody came about them though they knew that his death was known in the area. John’s brave heart almost up and Patsy could hardly bear up against these calamities. John went to the mill and bought a few planks from a man who was building a house. He did not say what he wanted with the planks, but carried them home and made a coffin for his child. When it was finished he said to Patsy. " We will go to the little graveyard and I will dig a little grave for our dear, sweet boy." He had no wagon, but had a ground slide, and then placed the little coffin on it. Patsy led the mule and John walked beside the slide with his spade on his shoulder. They passed the mill and saw several men standing on the mill dam, but no one spoke to them.

When about half way from the mill to the graveyard they met Mrs. (Bee King wrote "Polly") Lottie Williamson, then a young and very spirited woman. She was returning from Westville and was riding a good horse. She knew John and Patsy and she immediately stopped and asked them about their troubles. She had heard of the death of the little boy. She as once said, "This won’t do; this is a shame. Wait at the grave till I get there."

She rode away at full speed till she reached the mill. Then she called to some of the men who were there and asked them what they meant by letting a man bury his own child. One shiftless fellow spoke up and said," I don’t have no truck with Catholics." She then said," You don’t have no truck with anything else that looks like work.

In the meantime, Mr. Rials shut down the mill and came out. When he heard what "Miss Lottie", as she was called, said, he said, " Men, this want do. We must go and see about this." Nearly all of the men went at once and when they reached the graveyard, found John digging the little grave. Mr. Rials said, "Stop John, we will do this for you." When the little boy was buried, all apologized for the way they had treated John and Patsy, and more than ever tried to make them happy and contented.

Other children were born to John and Patsy and they lived long and happy years, always true to their faith.

Old man Dan Tedder and his wife, Jane, came to Rials Creek mill sometime in the early fall of about 1827. They came from the East and brought all they possessed on a slide drawn by an old gray horse. Tedder wore a coonskin cap and homemade cloths, all badly worn and no shoes. He wore a full beard, already about half gray. His wife, Jane, was a frail looking woman and was dressed in black cloth which appeared to be some kind of Lindsey, also home woven. She wore a black bonnet held in shape by splints, as was the custom in those days.

Dan & Jane stopped by Gideon Rials mill and inquired about housing in the area and Mr. Rials told them of an old tumbled - down vacant log shack about 1/2 mile from the mill. Dan & Jane moved in and fixed the place up very little.

It became known that Dan's wife was a mind reader and fortuneteller. Some considered her to be a witch but many others considered her to be a good witch because she helped them recover their slaves, cattle, horses and other stolen goods. She also could cure ailments.

Together with Miss Lottie Williamson, they took care of lots of people (white, Indian and colored) who contacted smallpox. Was said if it hadn't been for Mrs. Jane Tedder and Miss Lottie Williamson, lots more people in the area would have died. So in all, we the descendants of the people of Simpson County, owe our very existence to these two remarkable women.

A great many people enjoy practical jokes and them a source of much merriment, regardless of how much they humiliate the innocent victim. One of the oldest and most persistent of the jokes is the snipe hunting joke. It was largely indulged by young men of the South before the Civil War, when visited by their cousins from the North, and later by college boys in various colleges of the country.

The plan of snipe hunting is very simple. Several boys or young men find someone who knows nothing of snipes and proposes a snipe hunt. If they succeed in getting their victim to go, they secure a large sack, usually a "gunny sack", and a barrel hoop and go to some place they have selected near a ditch. When they reach the ditch the hoop is fastened in the mouth of the sack and the boy who is to catch the snipes gets in the ditch at some narrow place and presses the hoop down between the walls of the ditch until it reaches the bottom. When the others have gotten him placed, they tell him to stand and hold the sack while they drive the snipe down the ditch, where they can catch them. They tell him they may be gone for several hours before they can round up the snipes and drive them to the ditch. They then go home or elsewhere and leave him to get back the best way he can.

(Bee King writes) My good friend, Lish May, (son of John L. May & Francis Brown) was once the victim of one of those snipe jokes. Usually country boys know the nature and habits of snipes, but Lish didn't live near a marsh or big pond he probably knew nothing about them. He only knew there was a bird known as a snipe. Then, too, he was only 12 years old, and so never thought of a joke being "pulled" on him.

Late one Saturday afternoon he had gone over to his Uncle Robin Williamson's to spend the night with his cousin, Ranson Williamson. Some neighbor boys had come in after supper, and it was suggested that they go snipe hunting. They asked Lish if he had ever gone snipe hunting and he told them they had not. They told him it was great fun and that he could catch a sack full of snipes in "no time. He agreed to go and they soon procured a big gunnysack and barrel hoop, and then they set out for a long ditch on a hillside.

When they reached the ditch, they fixed the hoop in the sack with the mouth pointing towards the head of the ditch. Then they left and went to the house of one of the neighbors. He was getting cold as it was late in the fall and he was getting lonesome for he heard owls hooting in the swamp. Soon he saw a little spotted dog further up the ditch, and saw it was slowly coming towards him. Then in a few minutes he noticed a slight rustling in the ditch, like birds approaching. So, pressing the sack down on the bottom of the ditch he waited and soon saw they were birds and they were going into the sack. When all had gone in he closed the sack and got out of the ditch.

He reached his uncle's house just as he was getting up, and left the sack on the front porch. His uncle asked him where he had been and he told him he had been snipe hunting. His uncle was astounded and told him that the boys had made a joke of him. His Uncle said, " You say you caught the snipes?" Lish said, "Yes Sir," "Well bring them in here." he brought the sack and his uncle saw there was something in the sack. Reaching in the sack, he brought out a Partridge. He kept taking them out until he had taken out nineteen.

The family all got up in about an hour and they had a grand breakfast of the fine partridge. When Ransom came home the joke was on him.