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 91

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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Elisha O. Perkins is a highly esteemed planter of Coffeeville, Yalobusha county, and it is fitting that the following space should be given to a brief outline of his career. He was born in Pickens county, Ala., in 1826, and is a son of Robert and Elizabeth C. (Hooper)

585

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

Perkins, natives of Virginia and Georgia, respectively. The father died in 1874, in his eight- ieth year; the mother died in 1889, aged eighty-one years. They removed to Mississippi in 1849, and settled on the place where our subject now resides; the father purchased the land and devoted all his energies to its improvement and development until the time of his death. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He was a member of the Masonic lodge at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and in his death the community lost a valued citizen. His wife was a mem- ber of the Baptist church and was an earnest Christian. The family consisted of ten children: Elisha O., the subject of this notice; Mrs. Sarah A. Vann; Elizabeth V., who is a widow now living in Texas; James H., deceased; Watson R., deceased; Nicholas C., deceased; William H., deceased; Daniel P., deceased; Marion A., and Julia F., the wife of W. D. York. Mr. Perkins did not forsake the parental roof until he was twenty-nine years of age, when he engaged in farming near the home place. He was married in 1855 to Edith A. Murphree, who was born in Yalobusha county in 1835, a daughter of Solomon Murphree; the father was a native of Tennessee, and was married in Alabama to Frances Brown, of Tuscaloosa, Ala. In 1834 they removed to Mississippi and in 1860 the parents and eight of the children removed to Texas; the father died in 1864, aged fifty-four years; the mother died in 1865, aged forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are the parents of ten children, six of whom are still living: Mrs. Julia A. Hyde lives near the home place, and has a family of five children; Elisha O. lives in Texas (he is married and has two children); William H. lives in Texas and is unmarried; Fannie E. lives at home; Ranson D., a resident of Texas, is unmarried; James H. is at home; Sallie, the youngest, died at home; Robert S. died at the age of fourteen years; Lena died at the age of five years, and the other child died in infancy.

When there was a call for men to go to the defense of their country, Mr. Perkins left his home and family and went to the front; he enlisted in the First Mississippi cavalry and served from February, 1863, until the close of the war; he was promoted to the office of sergeant and participated in many battles and skirmishes. Before the war, from 1845 to 1860, he was engaged in boating on the Yalobusha, Tallahatchie and Tombigbee rivers and their tributaries. It was while in the business of boating that he acquired the title of captain. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, No. 297, at New Hope Church, and of the chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons, at Coffeeville, Miss. Politically he affiliates with the democratic party. He is the owner of a fine tract of eight hundred acres of land, three hundred of which he has brought to a good state of cultivation; he has devoted his time and attention to the different branches of farming, and has met with marked success. Mrs. Perkins is a member of the Baptist church.

Among the pioneers who went from the older states in the first quarter of the century, to build up new commonwealths along the Mississippi, was the subject of this sketch, Jesse Perkins. He was of English descent, his mother, Agnes Clopton, a lineal descendant of the Cloptons of Clopton Hall, near Stratford-on-Avon. Tradition says that Charlotte Clopton, a daughter of the family, who lived in the days of Shakespeare, returned to consciousness after having been consigned to the ancestral tomb, and upon this incident England's great bard founded his story of Romeo and Juliet. Colonel Perkins emigrated from Virginia in 1821, and traveling on horseback through the country between that state and the Mississippi river, finally settling at Natchez and engaged in mercantile pursuits. There he became the friend of S. S. Prentiss, Hiram G. Runnels, General Quitman, William L. Sharkey, Colonel McClung, and nearly all those great lights who made brilliant the early years of Missis- sippi's history. At that epoch the code duello was recognized by all gentlemen as the proper resort for the settlement of personal difficulties, and in common with many prominent

586

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

men of his time, he became engaged in several affairs of honor; on one occasion he appeared on the field as the second of Governor Runnels. He knew well the celebrated James Bowie, who liked him so much he made him a present of one of the first specimens of his famous weapon known to this day as the bowie-knife. Colonel Perkins never indulged in political aspirations, and though often tendered positions of honor and responsibility, could never be induced to accept office. He concerned himself with the practical affairs of life, and amassed a large fortune. As a business man he did his full share in the great work of building up his state and making her prosperous and great. He was truly a representa- tive man of the old South, of that regime when men made duty their guiding star and honor their best monitor.

William P. Perkins (deceased) was one of the early pioneers of Mississippi, and emi- grated from Kentucky to Williamson county, of the former state, as early as 1820. From there he went to Madison county, thence in 1840 to Bolivar county, and settled on the Mound plantation, on the Mississippi river. This was a wilderness at that time, covered with canebrakes, but he went vigorously to work and soon had cleared two thousand acres, and made many improvements. He was married in that county, about 1820, to Miss Jane Stewart, daughter of Charles Stewart, who was of Scotch descent, and who settled in Wil- kinson county about 1810, where he became one of the most extensive planters. To Mr. and Mrs. Perkins were born a large family, seven of whom were living at the time of his death, in 1850: Ann, Jane, Noland, Charles, William, Daniel and James. Mrs. Perkins survived her husband ten years, her death occurring on the old home place. They are interred in the family burial lot on the summit of one of three Indian mounds on this place, which sug- gested the name for the plantation, and also gave name to the locality. A postoffice was established at an early day, and still retains the name of Mound Landing. Mr. Perkins was educated at one of the colleges at Nashville, and was a man of strong character and excel- lent judgment. He was of medium hight, complexion dark and ruddy, and his eyes were blue. He and wife were members of the Methodist church. Jane, the only surviving child, resides on the old homestead and is a refined, well-educated and intelligent lady. She was first married in 1853 or 1854 to S. B. Curry, a native of South Carolina, who died in 1861 and is buried on the Mound. In personal appearance he was tall and a decided blonde. In 1865 Mrs. Curry married Col. M. H. Moore, a native of Kentucky, and a lawyer by profession, and they afterward moved to Missouri. The Colonel was in the Confederate army with General Price, and served as commissary, for, his eyesight being very poor, he did not hold the rank of colonel long. Returning to Mississippi in 1865, be was there married to Mrs. Curry. He was an energetic, public-spirited citizen, and although he did not practice law, he often

advised the negroes for their good. His death occurred in Texas in 1878. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, and his widow holds membership in that church at the present time. The Colonel was tall and portly in appearance, fair complexion, with blue eyes and dark hair. When the railroad was built a station was located on Mrs. Moore's plantation, and she sold a number of lots. Soon several stores and dwellings were erected, and Moore's became quite a busy place. It is in a rich and populous country, and its future prospects for growth and prosperity are very good indeed. The Mound plantation now con- sists of about one thousand acres of the most productive cotton land in the Yazoo delta; about six hundred acres under a high state of cultivation, and consequently kept in the best of order by the mistress. She has a pleasant residence on the banks of Williams' bayou, well- shaded by large trees, and her home is well furnished, the walls being hung with family por- traits. It is a beautiful place of residence, and a strong, new levee has just been completed

The Goodspeed Publishing Co Chicago

Robert Hr. Pul.

587

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

along the river front, which gives all promise of future protection from the Mississippi river floods.

William W. Perkins, merchant and planter, Batesville, Miss., was born in Yalobusha county, Miss., on the 4th of March, 1838, and was the third of ten children born to John W. and Louisa A. (Melugin) Perkins, natives of Hickman county, Tenn. The father came to Yalobusha county, Miss., in 1836, when it was chiefly populated with Indians, and was engaged most of his life in agricultural pursuits. He was a good, intelligent citizen, and one who took little interest in political matters, though a stanch Douglas democrat. He was opposed to the secession until Mississippi seceded, and then, as a son of his mother state, he stood by her. Though not in the war himself on account of age, he gave the Confederacy a noble gift in four of his sons, all gallant soldiers, and one laid down his life as a sacrifice for the Southern cause. Mr. Perkins died in 1877, at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife, now surviving him, is enjoying good health at the age of seventy-eight years. The paternal grandfather, Wright Perkins, was of direct Scotch descent, his father being a native of that country and coming to the United States with a brother. The maternal grandfather, Melu- gin, married a Miss Gee, who was of Irish lineage. Our subject's early ancestors here were Revolutionary soldiers, and Melugin was shot through the throat by an Indian while crossing a stream in a boat. The arrow penetrated between the jugular vein and the windpipe, and he saved his life by stuffing the wound with tow, which stopped the flow of blood until med- ical aid could be had. William W. Perkins remained in Yalobusha county until sixteen years of age, attending the district schools, and from that time until the present he has been a resi- dent of Panola county. He remained with his father until the war cloud broke over the nation and then, in March, 1861, he enlisted in Panola guards and left for Pensacola, Fla., where he remained until January. From there his company went to Cumberland Gap and participated in the skirmishing there. At the reorganization he attached himself to company B, Yates' battery, with which he remained as lieutenant of his company until the close, par- ticipating in the battles of Corinth, Chickasaw bayou, and siege of Vicksburg. From there he went to parole camp at Enterprise, Miss., and was afterward in recruiting camp at Mobile, Ala. In 1864 he joined the army of Tennessee at Good Hope Church, and was in the retreat through Georgia. In Quarles' brigade, on the 28th of July of that year, in a hard fight his command was nearly all killed. He was in almost constant engagements from the time he enlisted until the close of the war, and his career was marked with bravery and faithfulness. He surrendered at Greensboro, N. C., on the 26th of April, 1865, and then returned home, bringing surviving members of his company and others with him. He came all the way on foot, reached home footsore and sick and found himself and the entire family destitute and his father's property a wreck. He and his brothers went to work and in a measure restored the home to its wonted prosperous condition. In the winter of 1866 Mr. Perkins came to Batesville with one Confederate suit of clothes and a silver half dollar which his brother, while dying at Vicksburg, had given him. On coming to Batesville Mr. Perkins became clerk in a general store, remained there until 1868, and then he and his present partner, M. B. Jones, purchased the stock and began merchandising with a joint capital of $2,400, $710 of which was Mr. Perkins'. Since then they have conducted a successful business, carry a stock of general merchandise valued at $6,000, and do an annual business of about $45,000. The firm also owns about six thousand acres of land, with one-half under cultiva- tion, and in this they are equally interested. They also own their place of business, a large gin factory in Batesville and manufacture ginstands, feeders, etc. This is one of the best enterprises of the county and is a credit to it. Mr. Perkins was married in 1870 to Miss KK

588

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

Mary J. Jones, a native of Mississippi and a daughter of Peter B. and Emiline (Polk) Jones, the mother a relative of James K. Polk. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are the parents of six chil- dren: Howard J., Florence N., Louis M., Clifford P., Fred P. and Gladys. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins are members of the Methodist church, as are all the children with the exception of the two youngest. The eldest child is at Oxford university and Florence is attending school at Columbus, Miss. Mr. Perkins is a most worthy Christian gentleman and stands high in the esteem of all. He is scrupulously honest and upright in every way and is a very enter- taining conversationalist. He is a member of the Knights of Honor and the American Legion of Honor.

J. C. Perry, circuit clerk and deputy chancery clerk of Grenada county, also a member of the well known firm of Kimbrough & Perry, general merchants, is the eldest of six chil- dren-four sons and two daughters-born to Col. Oliver H. and Elizabeth (Williamson) Perry, the father a native of the Palmetto state, and the mother of what is now Grenada county, Miss. The children were named in the order of their births as follows: J. C., Oliver H., Charles E., Mary L., widow of W. P. Williamson; Belle, wife of John Thompson, of Stock- dale; and Robert E. When quite young Col. Oliver H. Perry came with his parents to Gre- nada county, Miss., was married in this state, and there spent the closing scenes of his life, his death occurring in 1868. His wife had died a year previous. Both were members of the Presbyterian church. The father was a prominent and wealthy farmer, owning at one time two thousand acres of land. He was a man of learning, and was colonel of the militia, serving a short time in the late war. He was at one time a member of the board of police of Yalobusha county. He was active in politics, and was a man of considerable influence, doing considerable public business in a private way, such as the writing of deeds, etc. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. His father, Zaddock Perry, was a native of South Carolina, where he spent all his early life, but came to Yalobusha (now Grenada) county about fifty years ago (1842), and settled six or seven miles east of Grenada, where he improved a good farm. There his death occurred about 1849. He was of the same family as Commodore Oliver H. Perry. His wife also died in this county. The maternal grandfather, Maj. Jack Williamson, was a native of South Carolina, and came to Grenada county about 1835 or 1836, being one of the very earliest settlers in that section. He assisted in opening the road east of Grenada, and the county then was almost a vast wilderness. He was a prominent planter, trader and river man, boating on the Yalobusha river. He was also engaged in merchandising to some extent. He was major of militia, and was a man well and favorably known over the county. J. C. Perry was born in Grenada in 1851, and comes of honored and representative families on both sides of the house. He secured a fair edu- cation in the public schools of his native town, and in 1868, when seventeen years of age, he engaged in planting, continuing this for a number of years. He then spent two years in Canton as assistant secretary of an insurance company there, after which he returned to Grenada and resumed planting until 1880. After this he engaged in merchandising at Gray's Port, remained there for six years, or until 1887, when he was elected circuit clerk of Grenada county, and later deputy chancery clerk. For two years he has been a member of the firm of Kimbrough & Perry, and they do an annual business of about $30,000; he is . the owner of four hundred acres of land. He is a member of the Grenada lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 6, and of the encampment, being secretary for two years of the former. In 1873 he wedded Miss Nannie, daughter of Benjamin F. and Mary (Sledge) Johnson, a native of Gre- nada. The parents died in Grenada in 1868 and 1867, respectively, and both were members of the Baptist church. Mr. Johnson is a well-to-do planter, and was probably a native of

589

MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

Virginia as was also his wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Perry have been born two sons and two daughters. Both are members of the Baptist church.

T. H. Pettit is a native of Warren county, Miss., born January 29, 1855, a son of Abso- lom Pettit, a native of West Virginia, born in 1798. He came to Mississippi about 1818, and in the county of Jefferson was employed as overseer on the plantation of James Turpin for two years, at the end of which time he came to Warren county and followed the same calling for Judge Covington, whose daughter he married soon after. He then moved onto a planta- tion, which he entered as government land, and where he remained up to the day of his death in 1883. After the death of his first wife he married Miss Rollins, of Mississippi, and took for his third wife Miss Rachel F. Knight, who was born in Ohio, their marriage taking place in 1834. His first and second unions resulted in the birth of three children, but to his last union fifteen children were born. Absolom Pettit was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a close student, and wrote some pamphlets on religious subjects that were con- sidered very fine. He was very liberal in his views, so much so that he was at one time tried by his church for the free utterance of his views, but was acquitted. The early education of T. H. Pettit was somewhat limited, but up to the age of eleven years he was under the instruction of a private tutor. The two subsequent years were spent in Magruder college, of Baton Rouge, at the end of which time he returned home and started upon the career of a planter, in connection with which he has done a general merchandise business since 1886, and has built up a trade that amounts to $15,000 annually. His plantation consists of eight hundred and fifty acres, two hundred of which are under cultivation, three hundred and fifty acres being covered with fine oak timber. He has always been an excellent manager, and keeps his place in excellent repair, everything about the plantation indicating that a man of discretion, energy and ability is at the helm. He at one time was elected to the position of justice of the peace, but on account of his extensive business he refused to qualify. In 1876 he was married to Miss Sophia Whitaker, of Warren county, a daughter of William Whit- aker. Mrs. Pettit died in 1878 of yellow fever, and in 1879 Mr. Pettit took for his second wife Miss Ella Stanford, a daughter of A. D. Stanford, of Warren county, and by her is the father of six living children: Gertrude, Fannie, Doctor, Dixon, Lizzie, Ella, and one that died in infancy. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

The following space will be devoted to a brief sketch of Col. Thomas F. Pettus, one of Newton county's most prominent citizens. He was born in Lauderdale county, Ala., in August, 1828. His father, Winston P. Pettus, was born in Charlotte county, Va., in 1806, and was a son of Horatio Pettus, a native of Lunenburg county, Va., born April 15, 1775. His father, John Pettus, was born in Lunenburg county, Va., April 22, 1736. The family is descended from English stock. John Pettus married Miss Susanna Winston, who comes of a noted family. The children of John Pettus and his wife were: Thomas P. Pettus, born April 7, 1759; Amos Pettus, born August 17, 1761; John P. Pettus, born August 17, 1765; Sarah Pettus, born October 7, 1767; Susanah Pettus, born April 20, 1769; Overton Pettus, born August 16, 1770; Mary Pettus, born December 7, 1772; Horatio Pettus, born April 15, 1775; William Pettus, born June 9, 1777; Elizabeth Pettus, born November 11, 1781. The descendants of these ten children are in almost every Southern state, especially Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Mississippi. Horatio Pettus married Mary, daughter of Philip Poindexter, of Virginia. Winston P. Pettus married Miss Mary D., daughter of Amos Williams, who came to the frontier with Daniel Boone. The subject of this notice was born of this marriage. He remained in Alabama during his youth and early manhood; he served as doorkeeper and sergeant-at-arms of the Alabama senate during the session of 1851-2.

590

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL

He was elected colonel of the Eleventh regiment, Alabama militia, in 1853. He was a stanch adherent to the principles of the whig party during its existence and was elected by that body. He removed to the city of Jackson, in 1859, and soon after came to Morton, Scott county, Miss., where he resided fourteen years, with the exception of a short period during the war. He raised the first company that was mustered in Scott county. In 1861 he went to Lynchburg, Va., and served a few months in West Virginia (General Lee commanding), but on account of illness he came home and did no active service until 1863-4; he then served voluntarily in the commissary department for about one year; at the end of that time he returned to his home and engaged in mercantile business with James R. Stevens, under the firm name of Pettus & Stevens. In 1871 he sold out at Morton and formed a partner- ship with his brother in the same town. It was not until 1873 that he came to Newton, taking charge of the business of Richardson & Co., of which he was a member. He managed this until 1881 and then sold out his interest to Mr. Richardson. In 1884 and 1885 he bought cotton, and in September, 1886, he was appointed by President Cleveland to the consulate at Ningpo, China. He served in this capacity until June, 1890, when he was suc- ceeded by a republican from Massachusetts. He was a delegate to the national convention at Chicago in 1884, and has always been actively interested in the movements of his party. He has also been a delegate to many of the state conventions. Colonel Pettus is a worthy mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and belongs to the A. F. & A. M. and Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor. His first wife was Annie M., daughter of Stephen Cowley, of Virginia; five children were born of this marriage. Mrs. Pettus died in January, 1888, in China. The Colonel was married a second time, to Mrs. Elizabeth Hart, a sister of his first wife.

G. M. Petty is a planter and liveryman of Woodville, Miss., but was born at Center- ville in 1852, the eldest of eleven children born to Sylvanus and Malinda J. (Fly) Petty, who were born in Kentucky and Sharon, Miss., respectively, the latter being the daughter of Rev. A. T. M. Fly, one of the first Methodist Episcopal ministers of the section, who died at Natchez in 1855, of yellow fever, at which time he was in charge of a church at that place, and was doing a noble and successful work. The paternal grandfather, James Petty, was a Virginian, who removed to Kentucky with the pioneers of that state, settling in the central portion thereof. There he followed planting, and reared a large family. He died about 1835. Sylvanus Petty spent his early days on blue grass soil, receiving but a limited education, but at the age of about twenty years, or in 1844, he removed to Wilkinson county, Miss., where he and an older brother, who had preceded him, began the life of planters, a calling he continued to follow there until 1849, when he, like so many of the young, as well as the old, men of that day was taken with the gold fever, and started for California, where he followed gold mining for one year. In 1850 he returned to Mississippi and bought a plantation near Centerville, on which he has since resided. He was married in 1851, and of the children born to himself and wife the following are now living: George M. ; Aunie M., wife of Charles Anderson, of Centerville; Louisa M., wife of E. E. Riggs, now residing at Monroe, La .; Hattie Fly, wife of James Petty, of Abbeville, La .; Sallie E., wife of Henry Chevis, of Louisiana; Fredonia, wife of R. C. Way, at Centerville; Martha W., wife of A. W. Riggs, of Centerville; James Marshall, and John Henry. Sylvanus and Nellie died in infancy. The parents of these children still reside on the old home place; are earnest mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, the father having been a steward in that church at Centerville for many years. G. M. Petty was reared and educated in the town of his birth, and was married at the age of twenty-one to Miss Emma E., daughter of Lieutenant Hanford

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 91

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