Rubin Lacy was one of the most talented and influential artists in Mississippi blues during his brief secular career. Born in Pelahatchie on January 2, 1901, the grandson of a minister, he learned guitar and mandolin by emulating George “Crow Jane” Hendrix and became a well-known blues performer in the Jackson area and the Delta. As a young man he traveled widely, met Jimmie Rodgers while both worked on the railroads, and worked in Chicago with an uncle from Germany who taught him to speak German fluently. Back in the Jackson area, where he was known as the “blues king,” he played among musicians including Son Spand, Ishmon Bracey, Tommy Johnson, Charlie McCoy, and Walter Vinson. Later in the Delta he formed his own group, performed with Charley Patton, and inspired musicians including Son House, Tommy McClennan, and Honeyboy Edwards. He recorded four songs for Columbia Records in Memphis in December 1927, but none were released, and in the following March he recorded two songs for Paramount in Chicago, “Mississippi Jail House Groan” and “Ham Hound Crave,” the only blues recordings of his ever released, both learned from Hendrix, with Ralph Lembo contributing a spoken part to “Ham Hound Crave.” After a train-related injury in 1932, he put down his guitar and joined the ministry, preaching in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri before moving to California in the 1950s. In 1966 David Evans found him in Ridgecrest, California, and recorded him preaching and singing gospel with members of his congregation. Though he would no longer perform blues, he remained proud of his early recordings. Lacy died in California on November 14, 1969, and was buried in Pelahatchie.