A William Faulkner Sighting

Note: This article was previously published in The Oxford SO & SO.

The year was 1945 when my father saw an ad in the Memphis Commercial Appeal for a large farm for sale near Oxford.

He decided to drive down from our home in Booneville and have a look at it. So, Mother and I, thinking it sounded like a nice outing, decided to go with him. When we drove up the curving high-to the historic old plantation home, named “Sunset Hill,” it was love at first sight. “Please buy it,” Mother and I urged Dad, and buy it, he did.
The property consisted of over 700 acres and included a fairly large lake hidden away in a grove of trees about half a mile from the house. Several times we had noticed a dusty old Jeep parked at the edge of the woods, so one day Dad decided to investigate. He found a rather scruffy looking fellow sitting by the lake, and in no uncertain terms, informed him that this was “posted” property and he was to leave at once. Without returning a word, the man got up, climbed in his Jeep and left.
Several days later Dad reported the incident to Mrs. Lucille Shaw, who ran one of the two local stores there in College Hill. She informed him that his mystery visitor was none other than William Faulkner. It seemed that Mr. Faulkner had visited the lake for years and often brought his troop of Scouts out there to camp when he served as Scoutmaster. Mr. Faulkner probably found the peace and tranquility of this isolated lake conducive to working out the plots to some of his books. Who knows?
I’m sure that Dad had never read any of Faulkner’s books, but he knew that he was an esteemed author and lost no time calling the Faulkner home and apologizing to Mrs. Faulkner, who answered the phone. He told her that Mr. Faulkner was welcome there any time he wished. After that, his Jeep was frequently seen turning in the dirt track which led to the lake. We respected his privacy and never bothered them.
Note: We later learned from the neighbors that William Faulkner and Estelle Oldham Franklin were married in front of the mantelpiece of our parlor. However, this is disputed. Others report that they came to “Sunset Hill” and walked with Dr. David Hedleston (who then owned “Sunset Hill” and was a Presbyterian minister and professor at Ole Miss) to the local, historic College Hill Presbyterian Church, where they were married by Dr. Hedleston.