The History of Sessums
You can hardly throw a rock in a restaurant nowadays without hitting something that is at least influenced by
French cooking. (Disclaimer: I am not advocating throwing rocks in restaurants. Food fights in school cafeterias have their place, and
“throwed rolls” at Lamberts are generally acceptable. But no rocks, please.)
French cooking, even if it’s just technique, pervades so many other styles. Consider Julia Child, the American lady who taught the rest of us how to cook like the French. Cajun cooking, though heavy with other flavors, has it’s roots in France. I have even been to restaurants that claim to be Southern-French fusion.
My first real introduction to French food was in high school. A group of us took three years of French, and in that class I was known as Jeremie. We all went by the French equivalents of our names, and I guess that was as close to mine as we could get. I’ll never forget it, because I heard it a lot - usually it got louder as Mrs. J. got to the third syllable, her eye cocked in such a way that I knew it was time to settle down.
We dreamed aloud of a class trip to Paris. That never got off the ground, but it was a nice idea. We did, however, have at least one French dinner. I can’t remember what my food assignment was, but I know someone brought vichyssoise, the classic French po tato soup, usually served cold. Given my proclivity to being a smart-aleck, I probably brought Fries or Toast.
Over twenty years later, I finally made it to France. I took that opportunity to try some classic French fare, like foie gras and a dozen varieties of stinky cheese, all of which was balanced by a trip to McDonald’s halfway between Paris and Normandy, and a Quick Burger literally in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. It turns out pre-schoolers are far less interested in trying goose liver than you would think, but they still require nourishment. Go figure.
Since then, my opportunities to eat genuine French cuisine have been limited. I’m certain that components of dishes I’ve tried over the years have been prepared in French fashion. But until our recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina, I don’t remember having eaten in a true-blue French restaurant since Normandy.
We were down to our last Asheville meal for this trip, and I was stressed. Because it was a Monday night, several of the places on my bucket list were closed. We were meeting an old friend for dinner, and I asked her to make some suggestions. One of her favorites was already on my list of potentials, so I took it as fate that we were supposed to eat at Bouchon.
Bouchon bills itself as French comfort food, taking classic dishes and re-inventing them with local products and a North Carolina flair. It has the feel of a bistro; we ate at an outside table just a few steps up from the sidewalk, and our friend told us the atmosphere in the back courtyard truly transported guests to France.
We started off with a combination of Famous French Fries and Roasted Garlic Bulb with Baguette. As it turns out, they may call them “frites” and the word “French” may be redundant, but fries do seem to show up a lot on French menus. These were sprinkled with Herbs de Provence and served with red pepper aioli. They were thin, crispy, and met the high standards of Daughter - obviously they were done right. The garlic was a whole bulb, about ten large cloves, which were roasted until caramelized and spreadable, perfect for the crusty baguette slices.
For her main meal, Daughter went pretty classic: Steak Frites Bouchon, a beef shoulder tenderloin pan fried in garlic butter - and of course, more fries. She has become a connoisseur of steak lately (even if she orders it well done), and this one passed the test - notwithstanding the copious amounts of garlic butter.
The Wife and her buddy both ordered the Saumon Dijonnaise, fresh salmon pan-seared and finished with a creamy mustard sauce. I’m not a big salmon guy, as I may have mentioned once or thrice before, so I left it for the ladies to try. However, I did enjoy my token bite and the ladies’ plates were cleaned.
As for me, perhaps you have heard of Duck a l’Orange? At Bouchon, the Canard a l’Orange Chocolate takes the traditional preparation, and adds a dusting of cacao nibs and allspice. The chocolate flavor was very subtle, adding a rich depth to the sweet and sour orange glaze. On the side was a potato gratin that I can only describe as silky. The gratin bar has been raised.
When it came time for dessert, we went through our usual routine: “Thank you, we’re so full, we couldn’t possibly. But tell us what you have, anyway.” It also ended in the usual way, with multiple desserts. Since we were going classic, I wanted to try the Crepes Suzette, topped with a Grand Marnier-orange-butter sauce,
Susie Overstreet asked me to visit John Robert Arnold and get him to tell me about the Community of Sessums where the Arnolds lived since 1934. I had a recording that several years ago the Museum had a Community Series on Sessums at the Greater Partnership building where John Robert told the story…
Captain Solomon David Sessums for whom the community of Sessums was named was the grandson of Lieutenant Solomon Sessums. Solomon David Sessums was married three times and had seven children by each wife. His first wife was Lucy Gray Sills (1840). She died at Sessums. Only one of the seven children, Lucy Sills Sessums, survived. She was six weeks old when her mother died and she was adopted by her father’s only sister. Lucy Slls Sessums married Dossey William Outlaw (1843). She is the grandmother of Mrs. Wilburn Page (Ada Lee Outlaw) of Starkville and the Oktoc Community.
Three years after her death, Solomon David Sessums married Lida Hibbler in 1843. She died in 1864 at Sessums. Only three of their seven children lived. It was this Isaac Sessums, who according to Judge Carroll was killed by a gun he had fixed to fire when the door to one of his buildings was opened. He had hoped to kill a thief, but forgetting his trap, opened the door and killed himself.
Three years after his second wife died, Solomon David Sessums married his third wife, Henriette Eleanor Kirskey of Crawford. Six of their seven children lived. Our generation knows the last child, Irwin Dancy, as “Major Sessums.” His sister always called him “colonel.” Major I.D. Sessums served as assistant professor of military science and tactics and dean of men at Mississippi State University.
Major Sessums married Annie Kate Halbert, whose sister, Miss Etel (Beadie) Halbert, worked for years in the Registrar’s office at MSU. Major Sessums and Annie Kate were the parents of two children.
About the family after they moved to Mississippi.
Later he moved from Louisville to a tract of land in Oktibbeha County five miles west of Artesia, bought by him and his father from earlier settler named Glover. Becoming established, Captain Sessums and his father bought another tract of land from a Mr. Boon, known as Boon Hill. A third tract was brought from a Mr. Moor known as Moor’s Field. The first house purchased dated back to the earliest days—a sixroom log house. The house burned a few years after the Sessums bought the place. A two-story frame house with three bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs was then built. The kitchen was a separate structure located in the rear. This house caught on fire at night, cutting off the stairway from the second wife who was sick in bed upstairs. One of the slaves climbed a tree, swung himself on a limb, caught the window and carried the sick lady safely down a ladder which had been brought to the house in the meantime. For this act the slave was given his freedom, but he never left Captain Sessums—even after the war he still claimed the place as his home.
Captain Sessums then built the house which stand today (1941). It was first a two-story frame house with two large rooms and one small room downstairs, with a wide hall, double doors in front and large doors in the back opening on a wide back porch. The stairway led from the hall to an upstairs hall that opened into three bedrooms and a trunk closet. The front porch was about twenty feet long and twelve feet wide with four columns. Frame material for this house was all hewn by slaves from trees growing in the swamp, upright corner posts were hewn sassafras, the like of which trees being non-existent today.
This house in which the children by the third marriage was born with a large, two-story frame with porches downstairs and upstairs the full length of the house, both sides. On the lawn were two-room cottages called offices. Grandfather, Dr. Isaac Sessums, had his study in one of them and my father after him. The boys of the family and occasionally their elders, lived in the other. Besides the big house and two offices there were also sundry outbuildings after traditional southern style, including servant houses, wood house, poultry house, smokehouse, well house…..The house was heated by wood fires in large fireplaces. There were candles and lamps - some hung from the ceiling and others were attached brackets on the wall.
Captain Sessums was a member of the Baptist Church. He was a captain in the Confederate Army and his sword is now in the home of his son, Colonel Irwin D. Sessums of MSU. There are many interesting heirlooms in the family, among them a pair of glasses that were used by Captain Sessums’ grandfather, Solomon Sessums of North Carolina, a pair of brass candlesticks, etc. He owned many slaves….Captain Sesums manufactured a dyspepsia and general disability bitters that was sold all over the county. He gave right-of-way through his plantation to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad for a branch line from Starkville to Artesia, the company naming the place Sessums in honor of the donor. He became interested in raising pedigreed horses and had one of the best mile racetracks in the state. His trot-
ting horse, Cephas, became famous; the horse’s picture is still in the family. Races were held every fall. The Sessums home was a favorite gathering place for friends and usually a dance was given every Friday night….Time rolled on, the children grew up and the Sessums home became noted for its hospitality. With the lapse of time the old plantation life has vanished into the smoke of the past. These old memories of bygone years, it is hoped may prove of interest. Captain Solomon David Sessums rests beside his last two wives on the farm he loved so well at Sessums, Mississippi.He joined the 48th Infantry at Camp Sevier, South Carolina in 1918, after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was sent to Europe in 1919 and the next year, became an Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics at what is now Mississippi State University in Starkville.
Later he spent two years in the Philippines with an infantry regiment and a year as a student at the Air Corps Tactical School. He then served as a tactical officer at West Point.
General Miley’s military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star.”
A section of Mississippi Highway 389 (where it runs through Starkville) was named the Major General William ‘Bud’ Miley Highway in 1998.
He was predeceased by his wife, Julia Sudduth Miley.