Good morning, people!

Have you ever wanted to stand in a courtroom and sneer that infamous phrase “… and that’s when I killed him, your honor?”

You can do just that, and more, at the WARREN COUNTY OLD COURT HOUSE MUSEUM- 1008 Cherry St., Vicksburg, MS.

Most cities and counties have local museums like this one, and you may assume that they are only going to have artifacts of interest to the locals. Most of the time, you would be wrong. There are usually hidden treasures of widespread interest in these places.

The Warren County Old Court House Museum has several exhibits spanning a variety of eras in Vicksburg and the surround area’s history, mostly focusing on the Civil War (there MIGHT have been an important  Civil War battle or two in Vicksburg, check your history book to confirm). Some of these exhibits are significant even to non-Vicksburgians.

… Vicksburgers? Vicksburgonians?

Such as:

… just to name a few. There is also one of my favorite stories from this museum, which is told in this cabinet.

Did you spot the weird title? “The Minie Ball Pregnancy?”

A Minie Ball is a bullet. What does this have to do with pregnancy?

According to the story… In 1863, during the Battle of Raymond, MS, a minie ball bullet (this bullet) shot through a Confederate soldier’s family jewels and into the stomach of a woman standing on her porch nearby. Both parties survived and then some. The woman had somehow become pregnant. The conclusion was that this bullet pick up some of the… residual… of the Confederate soldier and impregnated it into the woman. The soldier later married the woman and they had two more children the normal way.

As the display says, “we don’t ask you to believe the story- just enjoy it!”

Another fun part is the old court room, which looks as it would have in its heyday.

Many towns have these local museums, and you never know what treasures you might find in them. Better get going, you’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

Until next time, dahlings…