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 35
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Two steamboat lines run regular packets from Yazoo City. The river navigation extends north over two hundred miles, and to the Mississippi river south, connecting with the Big and Little Sunflower rivers, and Lake George, etc. Some twelve hundred and fifty miles of navigable rivers, penetrating the South's greatest cotton and corn regions, are made acces- sible and tributary to Yazoo City, which, by reason of its comprehensive railroad and river navigation system, should naturally develop into a great jobbing center, as well as an indus- trial city.
In the matter of public schools, Yazoo City is well supplied, there being not less than three, with a large enrollment of pupils. There are also private schools, notably, the con- vent or Catholic school. There are also five white churches in the city, some of whose edi- fices of worship are noble and imposing specimens of architectural beauty. The principal civic societies are also represented by flourishing lodges, while a public library and social club are attractive and pleasing features. There is an operahouse with a seating capacity of seven hundred.
The city limits extend one mile north and south, and a mile and a half east and west. The sidewalks are usually of brick. Another attractive feature is the great number of orna- mental trees by which the streets are shaded, as well as the evergreen shrubbery and semi- tropical exotics adorning the grounds of the different residences. The city has an efficient and well-equipped fire department, having two engines and one hook and ladder company.
The county courthouse, a beautiful and imposing structure, was erected at a cost of $80,000. A substantial city jail has also been built at an outlay of $12,500. A fine iron bridge has been built across the Yazoo river, in order to facilitate trade from the west, at a cost of $30,000.
Socially, as well as in a business sense, the people of Yazoo City are a very superior class, being noted for enterprise and progressive tendencies. They have full faith in the future of their charming little city, and are ever ready to further its interests by all means within their power. The city government is vested in a mayor and board of aldermen, numbering eight, a clerk, treasurer, assessor and collector, attorney and city marshal. It is a popular administration, and is made up of men who guard the interests of the public with conservative care.
The local capitalists are not averse to engaging in new enterprises, and will meet out-
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side men of means half way in the matter of sites for manufacturing establishments or taking stock in the same. But Yazoo City has something better to offer the manufacturer and capi- talist than a mere subsidy of money or land, and that is location, which, after all, is what insures the success of every industrial enterprise. By its railroad system notless than thirty counties in Mississippi and six different states and territories are reached, while its fine nav- igable river makes tributary the most fertile and productive portion of the lower Mississippi valley, with all the tributary streams of the Father of Waters. The raw material can be floated to its factory doors, almost without cost, while the same highway, aided by the rail- road, serves to distribute the product to every great consuming center in the country. The First National bank was organized in September, 1886, with a capital paid up of $50,000, to which has since been added a large surplus. It is located in a new building at the corner of Main and Bridge streets, specially arranged for the business, the interior being arranged in modern style, while fire and burglar-proof vanlt and safes effectually guard the treasure. A general banking, exchange, deposit and collection business is transacted by this bank, and any one requiring the services of a reliable correspondent in this section will do well to engage its services. The officers of the First National are: L. Lippman, president; Charles Mann, vice president; and R. L. Bennett, cashier, under whose careful and conservative management its affairs have thriven and the business widely extended. The directory is made up of L. Lippman, Charles Mann, L. B. Warren, J. H. D. Haverkamp, John Lear, E. A. Jackson and E. Drenning, who are all well known as leading capitalists, merchants and pro- fessional men of Yazoo City. The bank's correspondents are the Mercantile National, New York; Union National, New Orleans; Kentucky National, Louisville; and the Prairie State National, Chicago. The establishment of this bank was the outgrowth of Yazoo City's urgent demand for increased banking facilities.
The Bank of Yazoo City, the pioneer banking house of Yazoo City, was established in the year 1876, with a paid-up capital of $100,000, to which has since been added a large surplus. This bank has the handsomest and most attractive building on Main street. The interior is fitted up in elegant style, such as prevails in metropolitan banking houses, and is equipped with fireproof vaults, steel safes and time lock. The building was erected at a cost of $10,000. This institution does a general banking business in all its branches, and is regarded as one of the safest banks in the state. Its correspondents are the National Park bank, New York, and the Louisiana National bank, of New Orleans. The officers are R. C. Shepherd, president; Charles Roberts, vice president, and S. R. Berry, cashier, men of extensive experience as bank managers, who are well known and stand high in financial circles. The directors are R. C. Shepherd, J. H. D. Haverkamp, J. J. Fouche, J. N. Gilruth, J. F. Powell, William Hamel, W. C. Craig and Louis Wise, all of whom will be recognized as being among Yazoo City's leading capitalists, largest and most successful business men and manufacturers.
Walthall is the seat of justice of Webster county. It is located near the center of the county and has a population of two hundred and fifty. It was named in honor of Senator Walthall. This is a good interior trading point, which, though remote from railroads, has attained to some local commercial importance.
Among the secret orders represented in Webster, as elsewhere, the Masonic order is prominent. Among the A. F. & A. M. lodges organized here are the following: Adelphi lodge No. 174 of Walthall, which was chartered January 17, 1853, and for many years held its meetings at Bellefontaine; Eldorado lodge No. 184, at Cumberland; New Hope lodge, which for some years met at New Hope church, now meets at Maben, Oktibbeha
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county, and Greensboro lodge No. 49, which was chartered early in the forties, and is the oldest lodge in the county.
Eupora, on the Richmond & Danville railroad, is a point of growing importance.
Waynesboro, the seat of justice of Wayne county, is situated northwest. of the center of the county, on the Mobile & Ohio railroad, and has a population of three hundred. The first county seat of this county was Winchester, five miles south of Waynesboro, and on the Mobile & Ohio railroad. About 1822 the courthouse at Winchester was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and is now standing. The old jail also yet stands at Winchester, built in the forties, with walls three feet thick of heavy hewed pine, by John McDonald, at a cost to the county of $400 or $500. The county seat was located at Waynesboro in 1870. Schools were introduced in this county by itinerant teachers. One of them, Samuel M. Dickson, taught a classical school three miles and a half south of Winchester, on the Mobile road. Patterson taught on the Ridge next; Jacob Collins taught also on the Ridge east of Win- chester; General Falconer and John A. Edwards alternated at the Ridge about 1828.
Among early churches in Wayne county were: Zion (Baptist), on the Ridge, of which William Powell and Nathan Clay, Jr., were early pastors; Salem (Baptist), in the present town of Waynesboro, though it stood at first on the Winchester road, William Morris, noted for his arbitrary rulings, acting as pastor in the twenties. Rev. Mr. Chambers was another early Baptist preacher here. The Methodists preached in the old Winchester courthouse in early days. Rev. William A. Cotton was a noted early circuit rider, and is said to have been something of a fighter when occasion demanded.
Magnolia, on the Illinois Central railroad, is the seat of justice of Pike county. It had its start upon the completion of the railroad to that point in 1856. The county seat was located here in 1875. Among Magnolia's early business men were: L. R. Jones, carpenter, who built the first business house in the town; Robert L. Carter, W. H. Joyner, W. H. B. Crosswell, Joseph Evans and Abraham Hiller, merchants; L. Gournly, first postmaster, and E. M. Bee, the first depot agent, who served nineteen years. The population is seven hun- dred and fifty.
Holmesville was the first incorporated village of the county. It was incorporated in 1817. Osyka was the next, and for two years was the terminus of the Illinois Central rail- road.
Meadville, the seat of justice of Franklin county, is located near the center of the county, and has a population of two hundred and fifty. The Franklin Journal was the first newspaper published in this county. It was issued in the summer of 1866 by one Crawford, who was a deaf mute. After several changes in ownership it became known as the Franklin Banner, and was published under that name by a son of Judge McGee for three years, until the death of the publisher. The Franklin Herald was established at Hamburg in 1886. In . 1890 P. C. Thompson bought the material and took it to Knoxville, and there published the Southern Progress until the latter part of that year, when it was removed to Garden City, where it is still issued, with C. F. Thompson as editor, and P. C. Thompson as manager. Hamburg, on the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas railroad, in Franklin county, has a popu- lation of one hundred and fifty. Roxie, south of Hamburg, on the same line, dates its history from 1885, and has a population of two hundred and twenty-five. Knoxville, on the railroad still farther south, has a population of one hundred and fifty. The county seat was at first located at Franklin, which was two and a half miles west of the site of Mead- ville. Early churches of this county are mentioned elsewhere.
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Indianola, the seat of justice of Sunflower county, is a thrifty and prosperous little town on the Georgia Pacific railroad, in close proximity to some plantations and farms, and has grown steadily since the date of its location. Its population at this time is three hundred and seventy-five. It was incorporated in 1886, and its first mayor was I. C. W. McLeod. The first seat of justice of this county was at McNutt, later it was removed to Johnsonville, on Sunflower river, and thence, a few years after, to Indianola.
De Kalb, the seat of justice of Kemper county, is located as nearly as may be in the geo- graphical center of the county, and has a population of three hundred and four. It has no railway facilities, but is the trading point for a considerable area round about and is prosperous in all its interests.
The Free-Will Baptist church was founded in Kemper county in 1882 by Rev. C. F. Johnson, a sketch of whose life appears in this work. The doctrine of the church indicates salvation free to all and obedience and faith in Christ, also free communion at the Lord's Supper with all orthodox Christians, and baptism by immersion exclusively. The govern- meut is congregational. The church consists of abont thirty members.
The courthouse in Kemper county, with the county records and public documents, was burned in 1881.
Other towns in this county are Oak Grove, Scooba, Wahalak, Moscow and Kellis Store.
Neshoba county is remote from railroads and has never felt the influence of railway facilities upon its development. Hence its towns, though enjoying a good local trade and peopled by a sturdy, enterprising and intelligent class, have none of them attained to any considerable size. Philadelphia, the seat of justice, has a population of about one hundred. Other villages within the borders of the county are Dowdville, Laurel Hill, Dixon, New Hope, Java, North Bend and Milldale.
Booneville, the seat of justice of Prentiss county, is a thriving station on the Mobile & Ohio railroad, and has a population of eight hundred. It is the center of a good trade, and has good schools, ample church accommodations and an intelligent, well-educated, progres- sive class of citizens. Other towns in this county are Marietta, Carrollsville, Elma, Baldwyn (See Tupelo, Lee county, etc.), old Cairo and Beulah.
Monticello, Lawrence county's seat of justice, was incorporated in 1818. Monticello academy was established in 1836 with John E. McNair as its first principal. Mr. McNair was afterward a circuit judge of great popularity. One of the first papers was the South- ern Journal, edited by John R. Chambers. Among local papers well known in this part of the state may be mentioned the Monticello Advocate, by S. W. Dale, and the Sunny South, by C. N. Jones. The Lawrence County Press, by Joseph Dale, son of S. W. Dale, is an able journal, and the only paper now published in the county. The first church in the county was established at Monticello. It was of the Methodist denomination. The . Baptists organized a few years afterward. Silver Creek Baptist church was organized in 1815, and has a membership of two hundred. Bethany church (Baptist), on White Sand, was organized in 1819, under the labors of Elder John P. Martin, one of the leading pioneer ministers of the state, who was succeeded by Norvel Robertson for more than forty years. A branch of the Planters' bank was established at Monticello soon after 1830. Monticello at one time did a large and extensive business, and had an able bar, comprising some of the best talent in the South. The superior court was held at this place for some years,
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and the vice chancery court until 1854. It was here that the lamented S. S. Prentiss received his license to practice law. Monticello was selected as the site of the state capi- tal at a session of the legislature convened at Columbia-just before Jackson was made the capital of the state-when Mr. Runnels was in the senate and Mr. Cooper in the house of representatives. They were both prominent citizens of Monticello and leaders in selecting Monticello as the state capital, and by their efforts it was located here. After they had secured the vote in favor of Monticello, they returned to their home to bear the news of their success to their constituents, and in their absence a motion was made to reconsider the vote, and Jackson was then given the honor thus unfairly wrested from Monticello.
Following is Monticello's church and society directory: Churches: Baptist-Third Sunday and Saturday in every month at 11 o'clock A. M .; Sunday-school every Sun- day at 3 P. M .; Rev. R. W. Hall, pastor. Presbyterian-First Sunday in every month at 11 o'clock A. M. and 7:30 P. M. ; Sunday-school every Sunday at 10 A. M. ; Rev. George G. Woodbridge, pastor. Methodist-Fourth Sunday in each month at 11 A. M. and 7:30 P. M .; Rev. R. Havers, pastor. A. F. & A. M. lodge-Third Saturday in every month at 10 o'clock A. M .; Z. P. Jones, W. M. Monticello Farmers' Alliance-First Saturday in every month at 3 o'clock P. M .; Will C. Cannon, president.
Sardis, one of the two seats of justice of Panola county, was incorporated in 1857, and Dr. S. F. Dunlap was its first mayor. The town was named by Mr. W. H. Alexander, who was the first postmaster and is now proprietor of the town of Mastodon in the western part of the county. The church houses in Sardis are Methodist (South), Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal and Catholic. Other denominations have organizations but no house of worship. Sardis has a population of one thousand, and is an enterprising station on the Illinois Central railroad.
Batesville, farther south on the same line, is the seat of justice of the second judicial district of Panola county. It has a population of six hundred and twenty-five.
Belen and Marks are the towns of Quitman county. Belen, the seat of justice, has a population of about one hundred and twenty-five. There are in this county good public schools and quite a number of churches of different denominations.
Brandon, the county town of Rankin county, is a station on the Alabama & Vicksburg railroad and has a population of six hundred. It was named after Gov. Gerard C. Brandon and was early known as the seat of the famous Brandon bank, of which Col. William H. Shelton was president. Situated on the highest point between Vicksburg and Jackson, this place is exceptionally healthy. For years it was the terminus of the Vicksburg & Meridian railroad and the trading point for several adjacent counties. For more than twenty-five years the Brandon Female college has been in charge of Miss Johnston, one of the most celebrated teachers in Mississippi, who has perhaps done more to enrich the culture and intelligence of the town and its vicinity than any one else. Other towns in this county are Steen's Creek, Cato, Fannin, Pelahatchee and Armistead.
Paulding, the county seat of Jasper county, has a population of two hundred and thirty. It is situated a little east of the center of the county and has no railway communication. It has a good country trade, however, and is the center of a considerable business.
It was in Jasper county that Dr. J. N. Waddell, who afterward became chancellor of the University of Mississippi and later of the South western university at Clarksville, Tenn., began his career as a teacher. The Clarion Ledger was first edited here under the name of the Eastern Clarion.
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Garlandsville, Heidelburg. Lake Como and Voshurg are other towns in this county.
Louisville, the county seat of Winston county, has a population of three hundred and seventy-five, and is a thriving and progressive inland town with no railroad connection. It contains several good store buildings, some sightly church edifices and a creditable court- house. The land on which the county buildings are located was donated to Winston county by Jane Dodson.
The first newspaper issued in Winston county was the Times-Tablet and Mississippi Gazette, published in 1844, at Louisville. The next paper was the Chronicle, established prior to the war, and after the war came the Bulletin, and later the Banner, followed by the Inde.r and the Signal. The last mentioned paper was started by W. J. Newsom, present editor and proprietor.
Louisville lodge No. 75, A. F. & A. M., was organized under a dispensation granted in 1845, and was chartered January 10, 1846. Other lodges in the county are Webster lodge No. 205, Winstonville lodge No. 277, and Perkinsville lodge No. 331.
In Winston the Masonic society, Odd Fellows, Grange, Alliance, etc., are represented. There are several normal and low-grade schools throughout the county. At Louisville, Plattsburg and Betheden there are churches of the Methodist, Baptist, old style Presby- terians, Cumberland Presbyterians, Catholic, Lutheran and Campbellite or Christian denom- inations.
The county seat of Scott county, in 1836, was established at Hillsboro, which was well located and has grown to a prosperous little town of about one hundred and seventy five. Thirty years later it was removed to Forest, on the Vicksburg & Meridian rail- road, a good trading point, which has six hundred and three inhabitants, with good schools, a number of churches, several stores and manufactories, and other claims to growth and prosperity. Other towns in this county are Lake, Raworth and Morton.
Charleston, the county seat of Tallahatchie county, is a flourishing trading point of four hundred and seventy-five population, situated east of the center of the county, in the forks of the Tillataba. Sharkey and Graball are small trading points. Harrison station on the Illinois Central railroad has a population of three hundred.
Churches abound all over Tallahatchie county, the prevailing denominations being Bap- tist, Presbyterian and Methodist. The educational advantages afforded are equal to those in other counties, except in those having cities and large towns. The common-school system is well sustained. There are in this county thirty-two free white schools and thirty eight col- ored. The white educable children number one thousand four hundred and forty-one- seven hundred and thirteen males and seven hundred and twenty eight females; two thou- sand one hundred and six colored; of these, one thousand and ninety-two males and one thousand and fourteen females. There are two high schools in the county, each with a com- modious and handsome building, one at Spring Hill (the Cascilla Male and Female high school, established in 1889), and the other at Cascilla (the Tallahatchie high school, estab- lished in 1889). The school at Charleston is also of high grade and prospering.
George Washington lodge No. 157, A. F. & A. M., at Charleston, is the oldest lodge in the county. It was chartered in 1851 and James W. Rhew was its first worshipful master. Glasgow lodge No. 354, at Harrison Station, has a good membership. Cascilla lodge No. 411 was established in 1890, with Thomas Denman as worshipful master. Tallahatchie lodge once flourished. Sycamore and Hood lodges have a healthy existence. A. Mason Leigh lodge No. 3233, K. of H., at Charleston, was organized in 1886. Charleston lodge No.
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108, I. O. O. F., was established March 4, 1880. T. W. White was its first noble grand. Rebecca degree No. 3 was established in 1891. Sam Lawrence lodge No. 110, I. O. O. F., at Cascilla, was established in April, 1890, with H. M. Moore as noble grand. Rebecca degree No. 2 was chartered in 1891.
Westville, the seat of justice of Simpson county, was named in honor of Col. Cato West. It is located a little south and west of the center of the county and has a population of two hundred. As a business point it draws a good trade from the surrounding country, and it is peopled with an educated and intelligent population and well provided with churches and schools. Jaynesville and Harrisville are other towns in this county.
Raleigh, the county seat of Smith county, received its name in honor of the dashing but ill-fated Sir Walter Raleigh. It is located a little west of the center of the county, and has a population of two hundred. Its churches and schools are adequate to its needs, and its people are refined, educated and intelligent. It has a good variety and number of business places, and its merchants and professional men take high rank for integrity and talent. The first seat of justice was four miles distant from Raleigh, and was called Fairfield. In this county Parkville grew up on the west side of Strong river more than forty years ago, and Trenton, on the east side, had its beginning a few years later. Other towns and trading points are Sylvarena, Pineville, Taylorsville and Bunker Hill.
Carrollton, on the Richmond & Danville railroad, is the seat of justice of Carroll county, and has a population of four hundred and seventy five. It has a good local trade, and its future is as promising as that of any town of its size in that part of the state. A Baptist church was organized ten miles from Carrollton, in 1833, with nine members, and was moved to Carrollton in 1839 and named Carrollton church, afterward growing rapidly. Its first pastor was Rev. Joseph Morris. About 1839 Rev. S. S. Lattimore, one of the first and most prominent preachers in the state, served one year as pastor. In all, the church has had nineteen pastors, someof them very talented men. The Presbyterian church was established here about 1836, and the church house was built about 1837. The Method- ist Episcopal and the Protestant Episcopal churches were established before the war. Carrollton lodge No. 36, A. F. & A. M., was organized about 1837, Judge Blanks, V. M. Butler and O. L. Kimbrough being among the early members. This lodge had at one time about seventy-five members, and has now about twenty-eight. Its present master is G. S. Fox. Benjamin Roach has been secretary. since 1856.
Vaiden, on the Illinois Central railroad, is a flourishing town of nine hundred popula- tion. Black Hawk and Shongaloo are other towns in Carroll county.
When the Mississippi Central railroad was built the people of Carrollton projected two large enterprises: The factory and the Carrollton Female college. They erected a massive structure for manufacturing, covering an acre of ground. The Carrollton Female college building they made ample and commodious. It has been under the management of some fine educators, among whom, worthy of especial mention, are Rev. Mr. Colmery and Captain Belcher. Under its present management, that of Rev. Z. T. Leavell, its success has been remarkable. The faculty is not excelled by any institution for young ladies in the state, for thoroughness and conscientious work. The friends of the college are now very sanguine as to its future.
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