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The story is very real. My Great Grandfather, a CSA soldier, is buried in John "Jackie" Knight Cemetery located on a high bluff above the Leaf River in Covington County MS, just on the Jones County line.
John "Jackie" was Newts' Grandfather. He had about 20 slaves that he left to his children upon his death. One of them, Rachel, he left to one of his sons being Albert Knight. Albert was Newts father. Newt took Rachel as his second wife and created a very multi-cultural family that flourished down around Soso Mississippi. Yes, there is a town named Soso. It's just east of Hot Coffee.
The 3 boys that left the swamp, an area known as "Devils Den", in the movie scene that were hung are buried in John "Jackie" Knight Cemetery as well. They are represented by a single marker inscribed with their names and "Summarily executed by the Confederate States Cavalry due to their honest convictions".
I toured the cemetery this past summer, as my family has their annual family reunion nearby in Hebron MS. I was President of the Reunion this past year and brought up the movie hoping for a "round table discussion" with the older relatives that we are losing every year. The whole thing is still kind of a sore subject with many of them.
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