Around Oxford, we called him “Bill.” Around the world the same “Bill” is called one of America’s greatest writers.
Part of the beauty of William Faulkner’s stories is in the beginning — the very beginning in fact — when this self proclaimed “country man” and “farmer” was born in the quaint Southern town of New Albany, Miss. Just as many other treasures followed the expanding railroad lines across the country, the Falkner family transported home to Union County while Col. W.C. Falkner built the first east-west railroad line in 1887.
Ten years later, Murry and Maud Falkner gave birth to William Cuthbert Falkner (Faulkner added the “u” to the spelling of his last name) on September 25, 1897. Just a few blocks from the railroad, on the corner of Jefferson and Cleveland Streets, sits a simply framed house, the first home of William Faulkner. –– Hillary Houston, Associate Editor, HottyToddy.com
Email Hillary Houston at hrhousto@hottytoddy.com
