Which Marshall Bouldin do you know ?

By MAGICAL MADGE FLORENCE MARLEY HOWELL

CLARKSDALE, Mississippi

INCLUDES HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTICLES FROM CLARKSDALE

“For his highly developed mind, his understanding of human nature, his beautiful vision, his great executive ability, his powers of leadership, his conscientious desires to uphold the highest ideals of honesty, truth and sincerity and loyalty, his friends loved and admired him.”

Excuse me. Is that my daddy they are talking about? His name was Bouldin Alcorn Marley.

“His preference for personalities of men rather than their records brought him followers from all walks of life.”

Hmmm. Maybe they are talking about Daddy’s first cousin, the painter, Marshall Bouldin III? The two men were so alike, yet so uniquely different, in many ways.

“The many activities in which the deceased was engaged during his long …life have justified frequent reference to him as a successful business man, a civic leader, a philanthropist and an outstanding citizen of the mid-South. All could be summed up into one phrase: Marshall Bouldin was a builder.”

Wait! Marshall Bouldin was a painter. He wasn’t a builder….?!

What do you think when you hear the words, Marshall Bouldin?

To me, he was the gentle, gifted portrait artist who was my cousin from Clarksdale, a place I have long been connected to but have only lived in since 2010. My birth place, Clarksdale, is the adopted home of Marshall Bouldin. But not Marshall Bouldin III, the one you also may know and love, the artist, the one we have been so proud of as having lived among us here in Clarksdale. Nor the Marshall Bouldin, Jr., the prominent Mississippi Delta farmer who raised a daughter, Helen, and a son, Marshall, who never quite took to the daily life of farming, like himself, but who instead had an underlying obsession with drawing, certainly not like the other boys from Coahoma County whose dad’s farmed. And not the Marshall Bouldin IV, the brilliant doctor. No, the Marshall Bouldin I want to talk about is the original, the senior, Mr. M. J. Bouldin. (Marshall Jones Bouldin.)

He came to Clarksdale when it was “a mere village, and played a prominent part, co-operating with his neighbors and friends in carving the foundations of Clarksdale, his adopted home.”

History never interested me, however when my father, Bouldin, spoke about his family and it’s history, and he was a man of intentional words, I leaned in, closer, and I listened; I was fascinated by the dynamics, personalities and character of my family.

Daddy would often talk about his Grandfather. How straight and stoic yet how loving and compassionate he was. Marshall Jones Bouldin, my Great Grandfather, a “beloved Mississippian,” impacts my life to this very day.

“Probably the most outstanding characteristic of this splendid man was his love for his home and family. He was a devoted husband, an affectionate and indulgent father and a loyal and obliging friend.”

Marshall Bouldin’s accomplishments in Clarksdale and Coahoma County are impressive. Reading about his devotion to our community, his integrity and character, is encouraging for me. Somehow, for the first time, at the age of 52, I found my way back to my birthplace, and am now led to celebrate it, after having ignored and, at times, hated on it. Clarksdale.

It feels like my Great Grandfather is my Guardian Angel and is guiding me on a path the Lord is revealing to me here in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Thank you, God, for family.

Family
Marshall Jones Bouldin: 1862-1940
Marshall Jones Bouldin, Jr.: 1895-1960
Artist Marshall Jones Bouldin III: September 6, 1923 – November 12, 2012
(SEE ACCOMPANYING VIDEO ABOUT MARSHALL BOULDIN III – “Focus on a Portrait”)
Bouldin Alcorn Marley: August 10, 1923 – July 2, 2006
Madge Florence Marley Vance Howell: March 10, 1958 –

 

LINK TO ACCOMPANYING VIDEO ABOUT

MARSHALL BOULDIN III – “Focus on a Portrait”

 

READ THE ARTICLES
Read the published articles about Marshal J. Bouldin, Sr., former Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court, Sheriff, Tax Collector, Broaddus & Ferris founder(aka Delta Grocery and Cotton Company), City Councilman, Mayor, at which time, “under his administration the first pavements were laid,” President of the Board of Supervisors, as well as many other titles.