William Clark Falkner facts for kids
William Clark Falkner (born July 6, 1825 or 1826 – died November 6, 1889) was an important person in northern Mississippi. He was a soldier, a lawyer, a politician, a businessman, and an author. He is most famous because he was the great-grandfather of the well-known author William Faulkner, and he greatly influenced Faulkner's stories.
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William Clark Falkner's Family History
William Clark Falkner was born in Knox County, Tennessee. His parents were Joseph Falkner and Caroline Word. Caroline's family had a history of serving in the military. Her grandfather and his brother fought in the American Revolutionary War under George Washington.
In 1842, William Clark Falkner moved to Ripley, Mississippi, to live with his uncle, John Wesley Thompson. John Wesley Thompson became a successful lawyer and judge in Mississippi.
William Clark Falkner married Holland Pearce in 1847. They had one child, John Wesley Thompson Falkner, named after his uncle. Sadly, Holland died in 1849. In 1851, William married Elizabeth Houston Vance. They had eight children together.
Military Service and "Colonel Falkner"
William Clark Falkner was a soldier in the Mexican–American War. He was a First Lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers.
When the American Civil War began, he gathered a group of men. He became a colonel in the Second Mississippi Infantry of the Confederate Army. Later, he formed a special unit called the 1st Mississippi Partisan Rangers. Even though he didn't keep a high rank in the army, people always called him "Colonel Falkner" or "The Old Colonel" after the war.
Building a Railroad and Later Life
After the Civil War, during a time called Reconstruction, Colonel Falkner helped rebuild northern Mississippi. He started a railroad company called the Ship Island, Ripley, and Kentucky Railroad Company. The first train station north of Ripley was in a community now named Falkner, after him.
On November 5, 1889, William Clark Falkner was shot by Richard Jackson Thurmond. Thurmond was a former business partner, and people believed the shooting happened because of an old disagreement between them. Colonel Falkner had just been elected to serve in the Mississippi legislature. He died the next day, on November 6, 1889.
William Clark Falkner's Books
Colonel Falkner was also a writer. He wrote novels, poems, and even a travel book about his trips. His most famous book was a mystery novel called The White Rose of Memphis, published in 1881. The story takes place on a steamboat with the same name. This book was very popular and sold over 160,000 copies!
Some of his other works include:
- The Life and Confession of A. J. MacCannon, Murderer of the Adcock Family (1845)
- The Siege of Monterey: a Poem. (1851)
- The Spanish Heroine: A Tale Of War And Love (1851)
- The Lost Diamond (1867)
- The Little Brick Church (1882)
- Rapid Ramblings in Europe (1882)
- Lady Olivia, a novel (1895)
His Influence on William Faulkner
William Clark Falkner's grandson, Murry Cuthbert Falkner, was the father of the famous author William Faulkner. When William Faulkner was a child, he reportedly said he wanted to be a writer "like my great-granddaddy."
Colonel Falkner became the inspiration for a character named Colonel John Sartoris in William Faulkner's novels. These books include Sartoris and The Unvanquished. This shows how much William Clark Falkner influenced the stories and characters in his great-grandson's famous books about a fictional place called Yoknapatawpha County.
