history SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 20
The Milton Whitworth family.
Whitworth College Historic Brookhaven icon has a story to tell Story By Brianna Moore-Christa Art Courtesy of Lincoln County Public Library
The history of Whitworth College is much more colorful than many would assume for a small Methodist girl’s school. Over its long era, the college that has become an icon in Brookhaven history was host to an array of fascinating happenings and beginnings, linking Brookhaven to the American Civil War, the founding of 20 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
Millsaps and Belhaven Colleges, and even the outlaw Jesse James. The College was founded in either 1858 or 1859, depending on which historical marker you read on which side of the campus. In actuality, the college was probably founded in a nearby parlor. Mr. Milton Whitworth, originally of Tennessee, had
been leading a team of horses to New Orleans when he stopped to rest in Port Gibson. That night he was awakened early in the morning and witnessed a phenomenal occurrence: the Leonides Meteor shower of 1833, in which hundreds of thousands of fireballs scoured the sky in every direction over several hours.
