The Bell on Top of The Lyceum at the University of Mississippi.
From 1848, until long after the Civil War, wrist watches did not exist. Pocket watches did exist, but they were very expensive. I know of almost no pre War students who had pocket watches. The students were woken up, called to eat, called to Chapel, sent to class, and sent bed by the University bell on top pf the Lyceum. Most farms had bells, most courthouses had bells. They tolled out the hours of the day. This was a very familiar part of life.
Ole Miss of course had a bell on top of the Lyceum from 1848 on up. You can see it here. It still exists! I think it is rung today for graduations, and that is about it. I have only heard it a few times. Some of you may know more about that than I do. I am sorry that the Ole Miss bell is not used more.
The bell is one of the few things at Ole Miss that I would like to see, but I have not seen. Somewhere on my desk, I have the name and number of the man responsible for the bell. When I finish this article, I am going to look for that! 
We all wrestle with time, just as the Ole Miss students did. I think the older I get, the more I wrestle with it. I am a little different from most people. I live in 1862 about half the time. I also have very clear, very happy, memories of growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Those days were very different from today.
“Do not squander time, that is the stuff life is made of” – Gone With the Wind
“Perhaps I want the old days back again, and they’ll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them, and the world falling apart about my ears” – Gone With the Wind
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