County of statue: Lafayette
Location of statue: Courthouse Square & Jackson Ave., city hall lawn, Oxford
Artist: William N. Beckwith
Date of statue: September 25, 1997
Plaque text:
WILLIAM FAULKNER
1897 - 1962
We the citizens of Yoknapatawpha hereby acknowledge our debt to his genius and dedicate this statue to his memory.
This statue and plaque also celebrate 100 years from his birth on Sept. 25, 1897
The gentleman sitting with Billy Faulkner is a friend and student at Ole Miss
Faulkner's grave site as listed on
Find-A-Grave
"William Faulkner is recognized as one of America’s greatest novelists and short story writers of the 20th century. Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September, 25, 1897. His great-grandfather had moved from Tennessee to Mississippi, where he was a plantation owner, colonel in the Confederate army, railroad builder, and author of the popular novel The White Rose of Memphis.
"Faulkner’s family moved from New Albany to Oxford, Mississippi, when Faulkner was five. Oxford, the home of the University of Mississippi, was to be his home for most of his life. In school Faulkner was a mediocre student, and he quit high school in tenth grade. However, he read widely and wrote poetry. At the outbreak of World War I Faulkner was rejected by the American Air Force because he did not meet the height and weight requirements so Faulkner enlisted in the Canadian Air Force. Although he did not see combat, he was made an honorary second lieutenant in December, 1918." ~ Toyin Larinde in Mississippi Writers and Musicians
"Neilson's Department Store, 119 S. Lamar Blvd. Single-story twelve-bay brick commercial building with stuccoed-and-wood-faced front (west) facade. Prominent roof parapet features garlanded frieze and projecting central block surmounted by a segmental arch and finial. Shed-roof canopy wraps around chamfered street corner
entrance. Cast-iron columns along storefront. Prominent street corner location. Colonial Revival, 1897; south end of building with compatible design features incorporating the two sections, 1970." ~ NRHP Nomination form
"Neilson’s store was founded by William Smith Neilson, born in 1812 in the mountains of Green County in East Tennessee. He was the oldest son of a widowed mother with a large family, poor, and no school advantages. He began his career as a merchant by working for an uncle in a store that was later sold to him.
"In 1838, William Smith Neilson decided to migrate to new land being opened by the U. S. government. He loaded his goods on two ox-wagons and set forth. He considered locating his store in Memphis, but decided to continue to Oxford, Mississippi, where the University of Mississippi had recently been established. His first store was a small log cabin on the North side of the Courthouse Square. He stocked groceries, hardware, drugs, even coffins- everything in a store a pioneer family might need.
"William Smith Neilson prospered along with the town. He improved his store, moving it several times, always upgrading. He located first on the North side of the square, then on the South side, and finally on the West side." ~ Neilson's