Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Mississippi > Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II > Part 10

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. This birth of steam in the great valley was so great an event that even the stars and the pent-up fires of the depths of the earth were destined to celebrate it. The great comet of 1811 had now disappeared; then came the great earthquakes of that year, which, like the legend- ary dragons that threaten to devour, become the slave of and do obeisance to its conqueror's bravery, as the great convulsion of New Madrid seemed to do to the audacious little firecraft of Mr. Roosevelt. Says Mr. Latrobe still farther: "The first shock that was observed was felt on board the New Orleans while she lay at anchor after passing the falls. The effect was as though the vessel had been in motion and had suddenly grounded. The cable shook and trembled, and many on board for a moment experienced a nausea resembling sea-sickness. It was a little while before they could realize the presence of the dread visitor. It was wholly unexpected. The shocks succeeded each other during the night. When morning came the voyage was resumed, and while under way, the jar of the machinery, the monotonous beating of the wheels, and the steady progress of the vessel prevented the disturbance from being noticed.

"It has already been mentioned, that, in his voyage of exploration, Mr. Roosevelt had found coal on the Ohio, and that he had caused mines to be opened in anticipation. Their value was now realized, and when he reached them on his way down the river, he took on board as much coal as he could find room for.

"Some miles above the mouth of the Ohio, the diminished current indicated a rise in the Mississippi. This was found to be the case. The bottom lands on either shore were under water, and there was every sign of an unwonted flood. Canoes came and went among the boles of the trees. Sometimes the Indians attempted to approach the steamboat, and, again, tled on its approach. The Chickasaws still occupied that part of the state of Tennessee lying below the mouth of the Ohio. On one occasion a large canoe, fully manned, came out of the woods abreast of the steamboat. The Indians, outnumbering the crew of the vessel, paddled after it. There was at once a race, and for a time the contest was equal. The result, how- ever, was what might have been anticipated. Steam had the advantage of endurance, and the Indians with wild shouts, which might have been shouts of defiance, gave up the pursuit, and turned into the forest from whence they emerged.

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

" While the crew was more amused than alarmed at this incident of the voyage, Mr. Roose- velt, who had not forgotten the visit to the flatboat on the preliminary exploration, was not sorry, now, when he lost sight of the canoe. That he bestowed a second thought on the mat- ter, illustrates the nervous excitement that prevailed on board. Mrs. Roosevelt and himself were still discussing the adventure when they retired to rest. They had scarcely fallen asleep, when they were aroused by shouts on deck, and the trampling of many feet. The idea of the Indians still predominant, Mr. Roosevelt sprang from his bed, and seizing a sword -the only weapon he had-hurried from the cabin to join battle, as he thought, with the Chickasaws. It was a more alarming enemy that he encountered. The New Orleans was on fire, and flame and smoke issued from the forward cabin. The servant who attended them, had placed some green wood too close to the stove, in anticipation of the next day's wants, and, lying down beside it, had fallen sound asleep. The stove, becoming overheated, this wood had taken fire; the joiner's work close by had caught, and the entire cabin would soon have been in flames, had not the servant, half suffocated, rushed on deck and given the alarm. By dint of great exertion; the fire, which by this time was making rapid headway, was extin- guished, but not until the interior woodwork had either been destroyed or grievously defaced. Few eyes were closed for the remainder of the night, nor did the accident tend to tranquillize the nerves of the travelers.

"A supply of provisions had been taken on board the New Orleans, at Louisville, amply sufficient for the voyage to Natchez, and this was occasionally supplemented by purchases at settlements along the river. These, however, were few and far between, and not at all to be relied upon. The crew, accustomed to the simple fare of boatmen on the Mississippi, were easily provided for. The commissariat of the voyage, therefore-longer than a voyage to Europe now-gave no trouble.

"Early in the afternoon of each day the steamer was rounded to and fastened to the bank, the crew going ashore to cut the wood required, after the coal was exhausted, for the next day's consumption. On some of these occasions, squatters came on board with tales of their experience upon the land, which they insisted shook and trembled under their feet. At New Madrid, a great portion of which had been engulfed, as the earth opened up in vast chasms and swallowed up houses and their inhabitants, terror-stricken people had begged to be taken on board, while others, dreading the steamboat even more than the earthquake, hid them- selves as she approached. To receive the former was impossible. The would-be refugees had no homes to go to; and ample as was the supply of provision for Mr. Roosevelt and his wife, it would have been altogether insufficient for any large increase of passengers, and as to obtain- ing provisions on the way, the New Orleans might as well have been upon the open sea. Painful as it was, there was no choice but to turn a deaf ear to the cries of the terrified inhabitants of the doomed town.

"One of the peculiar characteristics was the silence that prevailed on board. No one seemed disposed to talk; and when there was any conversation it was carried on in whis- pers, almost. Tiger, who appeared, alone, to be aware of the earthquake while the vessel was in motion, prowled about, moaning and growling; and when he came and placed his head on Mrs. Roosevelt's lap, it was a sure sign of commotion of more than usual violence. Orders were given in low tones, and the usual cheerful 'Aye, aye, sir,' of the sailors, was almost inaudible. Sleeplessness was another characteristic. Sound, continuous sleep was appar- ently unknown. Going ashore for wood was the event of each twenty-four hours, and was looked forward to by the crew with satisfaction, notwithstanding the labor it involved. And yet the men, if not sullenly, toiled silently; and if the earth shook, as it often did, while

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

they were at work, the uplifted axe was suspended, or placed quietly on the log, and the men stared at each other until it ceased. Nor was this depression confined to the steamer. Flat- boats and barges were passed whose crews, instead of bandying river wit, as they had done when met on the voyage from Pittsburgh to Louisville, uttered no word as the New Orleans went by. Before the travelers had been many days on the Mississippi, they fancied, as they looked at each other, that they had become haggard. Mrs. Roosevelt records ' that she lived in a constant fright, unable to sleep, or sew, or read.'

"Sometimes Indians would join the woodchoppers, and occasionally one would be able to converse in English with the men. From these it was learned that the steamer was called 'Penelore,' or ' fire canoe,' and was supposed to have some affinity with the comet that had preceded the earthquake, the sparks from the chimney of the boat being likened to the train of the celestial visitant. Again they would attribute the smoky atmosphere to the steamer, and the rumbling of the earth to the beating of the waters by the fast revolving pad- dles. To the native inhabitants of the boundless forest that lined the river banks, the com- ing of the first steamboat was an omen of evil; as it was the precursor of their own expul- sion from their ancient homes, no wonder they continued, for years, to regard all steamboats with awe. As late as 1834, when the emigration of the Chickasaws to their new homes, west of the river, took place, hundreds refused to trust themselves in such conveyances, but preferred making their long and weary pilgrimage on foot.

"One of the most uncomfortable incidents of the voyage was the confusion of the pilot, who became alarmed, and declared that he was lost, so great had been the changes in the channel caused by the earthquake. Where he had expected to find deep water, roots and stumps projected above the surface. Tall trees that had been guides had disappeared. Cut-offs had been made through what was forest when he saw it last. Islands had changed their shape. Still there was no choice but to keep on. There was no place to stop at. There was no possibility of turning back.

"In the first part of the voyage when the steamboat rounded to at night she was made fast to the river bank, but when it was seen that these would occasionally topple and fall over, as the ground beneath them was shaken or gave way, it was thought safer to stop at the foot of an island, which might serve as a breakwater, taking care the trees were far enough from the boat to obviate apprehension from them. Once, however, when such a fastening had been made and a plank carried ashore, and the woodchopping had been finished at an hour earlier than usual, a new experience was had. No shock had been felt during the day, and Mrs. Roosevelt anticipated a quiet rest. In this, however, she was disappointed. All night long she was disturbed by the jar and noise produced by hard objects grating against the plank- ing outside the boat. At times severe blows were struck that caused the vessel to tremble through its entire length. Then there would follow a continuous scratching mingled with the gurgling sound of water. Driftwood had caused sounds of the same sort before, and it was thought that driftwood was again busy in producing them. With morning came the true explanation. The island had disappeared; and it was the disintegrated fragments sweeping down the river that had struck the vessel from time to time and caused the noises that Mrs. Roosevelt had been disturbed by. At first, it was supposed that the New Orleans had been borne along by the current, but the pilot pointed to landmarks on the banks which proved that it was the island that had disappeared while the steamboat had kept its place. Where the island had been, there was now a broad reach of the river, and when the hawser was cut, for it was found impossible otherwise to free the vessel, the pilot was utterly at a loss which way to steer. Some flatboats were hailed, but they, too, were lost. Their main effort was

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

by dint of their long oars to keep where the current was the strongest. This was evidently the best place for the New Orleans. It was not without its peculiar risks, however. In the bends, where the rushing waters struck the shore to whirl around the curve, and glance off and form a bend in the opposite direction, the deepest water was immediately under the bank, and here the trees, undermined by the current, would be seen at times to sink into the stream, often erect until the waters covered their topmost twigs, sometimes falling against each other, interlacing their great arms, as strong men might do struggling for life when drowning. Sometimes they fell outward into the water, and then woe to the vessel that happened to be near them in the bend. This danger, however, steam enabled the New Orleans to avoid. Referring to it all, it is not wonderful that the survivor still speaks of it as 'one of anxiety and terror.'

"As the New Orleans descended the river, it passed out of the region of earthquakes, and the principal inconvenience was the number of shoals, snags and sawyers. These were all safely passed, however, and the vessel came in sight of Natchez, and rounded too, opposite the landing place. Expecting to remain here for a day or two, the engineer had allowed his fires to go down, so that when the boat turned its head up stream it lost headway altogether, and was being carried down by the current, far below the intended landing. Thousands were assembled on the bluff and at the foot of it; and, for a moment, it would have seemed that the New Orleans had achieved what she had done, so far, only that she might be overcome at last. Fresh fuel, however, was added, the engine stopped that steam might accumulate; presently the safety-valve lifted -- a few turns of the wheel steadied the boat-a few more gave her headway; and, overcoming even the Mississippi, she gained the shore, amid shouts of exultation and applause."

To this vivid account of Natchez' great contribution to our great valley's civilization, it may be added that Samuel Davis, who was the first to ship cotton by this boat on this trip, was standing among the spectators, when a colored drayman exclaimed: "By jolly, mass' Sam, ole Mississippi got her massa dis time!" Other steam vessels were built, the next ones being the Vesuvius and Atna, and the great Father of waters has been dotted with them in increasing abundance ever since. It was only eight years later that the steamer Savannah did for the Atlantic what the New Orleans did for the Mississippi. The London Times of May 18, 1819, said: "Great experiment :- A new steam vessel of three hundred tons has been built at New York, for the express purpose of carrying passengers across the Atlantic. She is to come to Liverpool direct."

In 1820 local steamers were put on, the Mississippi being one of the first owned locally, as the most of the business was done by through steamers until nearly 1840. About the first regular packet between Vicksburg and New Orleans was the Sultana under Cap- tain Tufts, whose son-in-law, Captain Pease, afterward ran a second Sultana, which was built by Abijah Fisk, of New Orleans. These old river captains were noted characters, many of them, one of the earliest being Capt. John W. Russell, on one of the through steamers. Capt. Abram Auter, of Vicksburg, whose life has extended into the decade just closed, was a contemporary of these old commanders, and in 1842 built and ran the Mazeppa to New Orleans, and later on ran the first steamer run above Yazoo city, even running twenty-five miles up the Yalobusha. This latter craft bore the suggestive appellation The Bully Woods- man. It was in 1843 that the floating palaces were introduced with their high style of liv- ing, by Capt. St. Clair Thomasson with his Concordia. Only a few years later he put on the Magnolia, between Vicksburg and New Orleans, and this was the passenger queen of ante-bellum days. She was sunk by a collision early in the fifties. Among other well-known

BIOGRAPHIICAL AND HISTORICAL

captains were, C. J. Brenham, Jolin W. Cannon, James M. White and Commodore Thomas P. Leathers, the commodore's boats almost always bearing the name Natchez.

The marvelous increase and supremacy of the shipping interests in the carrying trade from those days on, until the rise of railroads, is a matter within the memory of those now of middle age.

But Natchez distinguished herself in this line still more, late in the thirties. Not content with being the inland metropolis of the lower Mississippi, she agitated for becoming an ocean port with direct trade with Liverpool. The result was that in 1839 the legislature incorpor- ated the Port Gibson & Grand Gulf Shipping Company and the Mississippi Importing Com- pany. The scheme was so successful that by 1840 ships were ascending the river as high as Vicksburg, but on account of the financial disasters of those panicky times, and possibly for other reasons, the plan was not long after abandoned.

Instead of the leading river ports continuing as Natchez and Vicksburg, they have become Vicksburg and Natchez, one great reason for this, no doubt, being the construction of the old Southern, now the Alabama & Vicksburg railway.

Now, as an illustration only of river traffic, let us note the principal lines of steamboats touching at Vicksburg: The St. Louis & Vicksburg Anchor line, with several fine boats; the Vicksburg & Greenville Packet Company, owned at Vicksburg; Merchants & Planters' line to Skipwith; Vicksburg & Natchez Packet Company; Vicksburg and Davis Bend line; New Orleans & Vicksburg steamboat T. P. Leathers; New Orleans, Vicksburg & Greenville steamboat Pargoud; New Orleans & Ohio River line-a large freight line; the steamboat Headlight, up the Sunflower river; the Parisot line, up the Yazoo; the Mulhollands line, up the Yazoo, besides the steam ferry line and numerous highwater lines.

Intimately connected with the Mississippi river transportation is its levee system, which may be considered before turning attention to the coast and land transportation, especially because not a little of the railway system has been dependent on the building of levees. Only the lowland portions, of course, have any dependence on levees or dykes to protect them from overflow in times of highwater, thus rendering them cultivable and inhabitable. In the case of Mississippi, the portion of such a low level as this indicates is an immense oval- like region, formed by the river making a vast detour from Memphis to the west, and curving back on Vicksburg, and the bluffs, back of the lowlands, debouching in a similar vast curve to the east between those two cities. This vast oval is about one hundred and eighty miles long and about seventy-five miles wide, and, containing a vast area of over four million acres, about half of which is woodland, and all of which, subject to the overflows and accumulation of decayed vegetation of centuries, is of literally inexhaustible richness. To protect this from overflow was to not only make the river a better channel for transport, but practically create a country which would develop both new river and new railway transpor- tation; but to protect a river frontage of such stupendous proportions on the greatest water- course in the world was an undertaking so vast that it had to await a late day of greatly increased population. Of course there were local lines; even in 1811 a company was incor- porated for one at Warrenton. So many, however, had settled in the higher unoverflowed lands of this Mississippi-Yazoo delta, as it is called, that in 1840, before it was leveed, it produced thirty-nine thousand bales of cotton, and by 1850 a total of forty-two thousand annually. But after some meager leveeing had been done, the production increased, so that in 1860 the crop was one hundred and thirty-six thousand bales! The land, unsalable before, became at once salable.

But what were these levees? The first levee on the Mississippi was begun at New

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

Orleans in 1717, and not completed until 1727. The work extended, until by 1770 over fifty miles were completed. Says a recent writer in the Memphis Commercial: "There was a time, within the memory of men now living, when each man owning property on the great Mississippi built and kept up with his own effort the little ridges which, at that time, bore the name of levees. There were stretches of front owned by the state or government, or by non-resident land-grabbers, and these would have no protection whatever; and a levee system, above all things else, must have continuity. Its stability in all other places would be of no avail if there were gaps unfilled.

"It was then that planters took upon themselves the task of systematizing the con- struction of these banks of dirt, which have grown to be scientifically constructed dikes, which in time will become magnificent pikes from the bluffs almost to the sea. At first they contributed so much labor per annum, which was generally called out in one big squad, with each planter or overseer commanding his own hands. Of course, as the country opened up for some miles back, the dwellers along the river front began to feel the injustice of being compelled to keep up levees to protect men who need not do anything unless they so desired. County boards were organized, which had powers of expending the funds which were raised by taxes levied by the county police jury. The powers of these boards were enlarged as the growing importance of the interests involved and the new condition constantly being met required, until levee boards were powerful corporations, vested by the legislature with power to tax and to have the lands in the district sold for its purposes."

An act of December 2, 1858, organized a levee board, and a tax on all lands of the state was provided for levees, except on certain trust lands for school and other purposes, and about that time the government granted this land to the state for levee purposes. The delta people got in debt, too, in their efforts, and the oncoming war destroying levees, both as a war measure and by neglect, left the whole delta a wilderness as before. An act of 1865 reorgan- ized it, but became effective in the act of February 13, 1867. Other acts followed, and by 1871 the levee district included the counties of Bolivar, Washington, Issaquena, Coahoma, Tunica, De Soto, Sunflower, Yazoo, Tallahatchie and Penola. The total acreage then in account for levee taxes was 3,484,278; the bonds issued aggregated $670,000; the state auditor became ex-officio levee commissioner; and the debt crept up, by 1876, to the round sum of $923,666,58. By 1880 the debt had fallen to $444,568.78 or nearly $500,000, and it was divided into two levee districts. By 1882 the debt had fallen to the small sum of $135,329 .- 06, and funds were available for clearing it all, but for a claim set up by the Mississippi & Vicksburg railway. The floods of 1882-3 caused such disaster that an additional board was organized, called the Yazoo Mississippi Delta board, and the entire system was complete by 1886. Says the writer above quoted:

" Amendments have been submitted to and passed by successive legislatures until to-day the board of Mississippi levee commissioners-embracing in its jurisdiction the great coun- ties of Bolivar, Washington, Sharkey and Issaquena-is one of the mightiest corporations on earth. It has six members who select its secretary and treasurer, engineer and cotton-tax collector from outside its membership. This body is empowered by law to tax, not only the lands and personality in these counties, but the very products of the soil. They may issue bonds without consulting any constituency to an amount that seems fabulous, and these are held sacred and binding for all time to come-in fact, are a lien upon the taxable property in the district. No state court can enjoin this great corporation from taking private prop- erty for its use, and the just compensation is often necessarily ascertained after the appro- priation by the board. The very elaborate and perfect levee laws now in force in this dis-

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

trict are the work of that able and untiring worker in this field, the late Col. W. A. Percy, whose efforts are being more and more appreciated as the years roll by.

"For many years past this board has been constantly enlarging existing embankments, and raising them to a uniform grade, until now there is a line of levee which will hold any ordinary high water, and an extraordinary one, if it is not too prolonged nor the weather too windy.

"The work of laying out, enlarging and general supervision of a line of leeves fully two hundred miles long, is under the care of the chief engineer in this district, Maj. William Starling, one of the most accomplished engineers in the country. He looks the soldier and scholar and practical man of affairs all happily combined. His place is no sinecure at any time, but in high-water seasons it is one of the most exacting and onerous that can be imag- ined. People living on high hills can not imagine how one feels behind a piece of dirt which looks awfully large in summer and autumn, but is, oh, so frail when the chilly winds of March lash the waters into a seething, restless mass, seeking freedom from their artificial barriers. It is there that your chief engineer is a more important personage than governor or president. He must be apparently ubiquitous. The elements must not stand between him and any threatened point. Competent assistants are often unable to satisfy the popular demand for the chief. I have seen men after fighting for hours in mud knee deep, abandon all hope and quit, utterly broken in spirits, resume work with renewed zeal at the bare sight of the martial-looking chief, whose nerve and energy seemed to have no limit.

"A few facts in regard to the construction of levees may be of interest to your readers, many of whom have no proper idea of the subject. We shall take Skipwith as an example, as the crevasse at that point renders it a noted place. The levee, at the point which gave way, was an old one, and had been enlarged within three years past, and no fear was felt for its safety. After the break it was remembered that there was too little berme to it, and a cur- rent had washed under it until the entire structure caved in.

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 10

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314