James L. Cummins
Father of Conservation by James L. Cummins
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus (L.Q.C.) Lamar was born near Eatonton, in Putnam County, Georgia, in 1825. His father, a lawyer, committed suicide when Lucius was only 9 years old. He attended schools in Baldwin and Newton Counties, graduating from Emory College, Oxford, Georgia, in 1845. Like his father, Lamar studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He married Virginia Longstreet, daughter of Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, president of Emory College near Atlanta. When Judge Longstreet became president of the University of Mississippi, he hired his new son‑in‑law as a mathematics professor. In 1849, Lamar moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where he also practiced law. In 1857, Lamar won his first race for Congress. Mississippians developed a fondness for Lamar due to his courtly Southern manners, his devotion to duty, and his profound intelligence.
During the first years of Reconstruction, Lamar stayed out of the spotlight and painfully watched as Mississippi struggled under inadequate rule and military occupation. When he could stand it no longer, and believing he could make a difference, he ran for and won a seat in the U.S. Congress despite a ban on former Confederate officers holding federal office. Congress passed a special bill in December 1872 permitting him to take his seat in 1873, making Lamar the first Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi since the end of the Civil War.
Lamar's abilities to promote reconciliation and compromise played a pivotal role in the presidential election of 1876. Democrat Samuel Tilden lost to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes despite having more popular votes and seemingly more electoral votes. Mississippi voted overwhelmingly for Tilden. Congressman Lamar, soon to be Senator Lamar, helped to resolve the dispute by promoting the establishment of a nonpartisan Election Commission, which then chose Hayes as president. Mississippi voters became outraged over his supposed betrayal.
Lamar’s accomplishments are many, so take the time to research this dignified, fair-minded gentleman who represented Mississippi and America.
In January 1893, while still serving as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Lamar died of a heart attack while visiting family in Georgia. He was buried in Macon, Georgia, but his body was later moved to Oxford, Mississippi. He was buried with a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his right hand–the same copy he had carried with him for many years.
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Squirrels by James L. Cummins
I suppose squirrel hunting was one of the first types of hunting our parents or grandparents showed us how to do. I remember seeing a photo of me and my brother hunting when I was about 7. I was holding my Savage .410 and a big fox squirrel. I had shot it in a tall pine tree on my great uncle's place–the Jefferson Davis Herring place in Montgomery County. This place is still in our family–as it has been since 1833; that is something I am very proud of and am now the owner of.
At that age, I did not know a lot about the biology of the animal I was pursuing. For the record, I was more interested in bringing my grandfather back a mess of squirrels and outshooting my father. Nevertheless, one should gain not only more appreciation for the species, but also understand what is needed for better management of the species (i.e. seasons, bag limits, and other issues) and the habitat, such as upland and bottomland hardwoods, that supports the species.
From mid-October until deer season in late-November, the squirrel is the ruler of Mississippi's vast amount of upland and bottomland forests. The two types of squirrels in Mississippi are the eastern gray squirrel and the fox squirrel.
The gray squirrel or cat squirrel, as it is sometimes called for its cat-like cry, weighs about a pound and is 15 to 20 inches in length. The unique development of the tail in the gray squirrel allows the animal to direct its flight as it searches for food. It also serves as a parachute and a signaling device in times of danger. Usually 4 to 6 gray squirrels are born in a litter. The gray squirrel prefers mature bottomland hardwoods such as oak, hickory, beech, and other mast-producing trees. The fox squirrel can weigh up to 3 pounds and reach a length of 19 to 25 inches. Its color is reddish-yellow with alternate bands of black and orange on the tail. However, it is the fox squirrel that has a black color phase that is found in parts of Mississippi.
Fox squirrels are late risers. This is one way they are unlike grays, which rise at daylight. The fox squirrel doesn't get up until about the second hour of daylight, but they sometimes feed until noon. Two to five squirrels are born in each litter (two litters per year) of the fox squirrel.
Like my father and grandfather, squirrel hunting is one of my favorite types of hunting. If you have the opportunity to go squirrel hunting in quality habitat, do it. So why don't you head for the nearest tract of bottomland hardwoods or upland mixed hardwoods and pine? It is sure to be productive. And remember, carry a kid squirrel hunting. He or she needs to learn too.
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