Historic Evening Tour Brings Osyka's Early Pioneers to Life

The Osyka 250th Celebration Committee invites the public to step back in time during the Historic Evening Tour of the Elder Milton Shirk Home and Osyka Cemetery, established in 1852, on Saturday, September 12, 2026. Admission is free.

The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a tour of the historic Elder Milton Shirk Home, followed by a guided tour of Osyka Cemetery, where costumed actors will portray some of the early pioneers whose lives helped shape Osyka and southern Pike County.

Adding a unique living-history element to the event, local residents and community leaders will portray historical figures associated with Osyka's early years.

Actors pictured, left to right: Linda Elarton Williams, Event Director; Wendy Miller, house hostess; Lee Wilson portraying Jesse Redmond, founder of Osyka; Osyka Alderman Earl Alleman portraying Rev. Milton Shirk; Debbie Alleman portraying his wife, Mary Ross Shirk, during the home tour; Osyka Mayor Jamie Harrell portraying Pharoah Carter; and Tammy Strickland portraying Carter's wife, Susanna Griffin Carter.

Additional actors participating in the cemetery tour include Tommy Jones portraying Jacob Turner Moore; Kim Wall portraying a grieving mother of children lost during the Yellow Fever epidemic; and Osyka Baptist Church Pastor Jacob Williams portraying the interred Rev. Milton Shirk at Osyka Cemetery.

Meet Some of Osyka's Early Pioneers

Elder Milton Shirk was a prominent 19th-century educator, Baptist clergyman and college president who spent the final decades of his life living and ministering in Osyka. Born in Ohio on November 27, 1818, Shirk was ordained as a pastor in 1846 in Columbus, Mississippi. He later moved to Osyka, where he and his wife, Mary Jesse Shirk, made their home. He served as pastor of Osyka Baptist Church and remained an important figure in the community. Rev. Shirk died at his Osyka home on October 31, 1898, and was interred in Osyka Cemetery.

Pharoah Carter, born in 1797, came to the Mississippi Territory during its formative years. The son of early settler Samuel Carter, Carter acquired substantial tracts of land in southern Pike County near the Louisiana state line. Portions of those early Carter landholdings would eventually become part of the geographic framework of the town of Osyka.

Jesse Redmond (1791–1876) is remembered as an original settler and founder of Osyka. Redmond settled in the Mississippi Territory in 1812, establishing his home east of present-day Osyka near the Tangipahoa River. He owned land upon which the town would later develop and was also a military veteran who fought with American forces under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.

Jacob Turner Moore was an early pioneer settler and farmer in the Osyka area. As part of the region's early agrarian generation, Moore represents the families whose farms, homesteads and community involvement helped transform the frontier landscape into the community that became Osyka.

Through these portrayals, visitors will have an opportunity to hear the stories of the people behind the names found in Osyka's history and cemetery.

The event is being presented as part of Osyka's 250th Celebration, commemorating America's 250th anniversary and recognizing the people, places and stories that form the community's heritage.

Saturday, September 12, 2026 5:30 p.m. — Elder Milton Shirk Home Tour 425 W Railroad St, Osyka MS Osyka Cemetery Tour to follow Admission Free - Donations Accepted for Osyka Cemetery