Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 100

Author: Dunbar Rowland
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant
Number of Pages: 1020

USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 100

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).

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southwest of Memphis. It is a comparatively young town which sprang up on the completion of the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas R. R., now the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., through this section. The seat of justice was moved from Austin on the Mississippi river to this point about 1887, at which time a substan- tial courthouse and jail were built at Tunica. An exceedingly fer- tile country surrounds Tunica, as the whole county lies in the rich, alluvial Mississippi bottom. Cotton and corn are the chief pro- ducts. Many substantial business houses are now located here, and the town is prosperous and growing rapidly. It has telegraph, express, telephone and banking facilities. The Bank of Tunica was established here in 1900 with a capital of $20,000; Irwin's Bank of Tunica was organized in 1905; capital stock paid up $20,- 000; R. C. Irwin, President; A. E. Irwin, Vice President; and W. H. Powell, Cashier. A Democratic weekly, the Delta Democrat, founded in 1895, and now owned and edited by M. S. Curtis, is pub- lished here. Population in 1900, 485; the population in 1906 was estimated at 700. The town owns and operates a fine electric light and water plant. The most important industry in Tunica is a large cotton-seed oil mill and cotton gin combined, built at a cost of $62,- 000. Its president is R. C. Irwin, secretary and treasurer, J. T. Watson. There are also three gins, and two well equipped livery stables. The town has 3 churches for whites, and 4 for negroes. A fine well of artesian water supplies it with excellent drinking water.

Tunica County was established Feb. 9, 1836, and is one of the twelve counties formed in that year from the Chickasaw Indian cession of 1832. The county has a land surface of 449 square miles. It was named for the Indian tribe of that name,the word meaning, "the people." As originally established, Tunica embraced an area of about 19 townships, or 684 square miles, and its limits were thus defined: "Beginning at the northwestern corner of Talla- hatchie county, and running thence due north to the dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians; thence with the said dividing line to the Mississippi river ; thence up the said river, to the point where the line between townships 2 and 3 intersects the same; thence with the said township line, to the line between ranges 9 and 10 west; thence south with the said range line, and from its termination in a direct line to the northern boundary of Tallahatchie county, and thence west with said north- ern boundary, to the beginning." In 18:3 it surrendered a part of its territory to Tate, and another portion in 1877 to Quitman. It is situated in the northwestern part of the State, in the Missis- sippi bottom, and is quite irregular in shape. The Mississippi river washes its entire western border, the county of DeSoto lies to the north and east, Tate and Panola counties on the east, the Cold- water river now forming the boundary between Tunica and Tate, and Quitman and Coahoma counties on the south. The white pop- ulation of the county has always been small, and, in 1900, was only 1,559 out of a total of 16.429. A few of the prominent early set- tlers of the region were Walter H. Bell, the first Representative

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from the county in the Lower House of the Legislature; E. H. Bridges, Probate Judge; J. H. Bridges, Sheriff ; Joseph A. Mc- Neely, Justice of the Peace; Wm. Camoon, Probate Clerk ; T. W. Floyd, Circuit Clerk ; R. J. Thornton, - Smith, William Phil- lips, James Porter, John Ballard, members of Board of Police, and Lorenzo A. Besancon, S. May, T. M. Fletcher, R. H. Byrne, Alfred Cox, James D. Hallam (Senator from Tunica 1837-1838), who were early members of the Legislature from Tunica county. There are no large towns; Tunica, the present county seat, is a new town of about ?00 people, which has been built up on the line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., and is possessed of substantial business interests. Evansville (pop. 103), Hollywood (pop. 291), Robinsonville (pop. 300), Maud and Dundee are some of the other more important towns on the railroad ; on the Mississippi river are Austin, one of the early county seats and once a large town of over 2,000 people, with a large river and inland trade, but now a place of only about 150 people ; Commerce, another old county seat and the oldest town in the county ; Field, O. K., State Levee, and Trotter Landing. Two lines of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. run through the county from north to south, so that the region is amply supplied with shipping facilities both by rail and water. Besides the Mississippi river on the western border, and the Coldwater river on the eastern border, other waters in the county are Buck's creek, Coon bayou, Flower lake, Walnut lake and Beaver Dam lake. The entire county is composed of level, alluvial land, of exceeding richness and fertility. In 1900 there were 93,438 acres under cultivation out of a total farm acreage of 144,968. Anything adapted to the climate will grow-cotton, corn, oats, millet, clover, tobacco, fruits, both large and small, and vegetables. The whole region was formerly heavily timbered with white oak, red and sweet gum, walnut, cottonwood, hickory and cypress. A consid- erable portion of the timber has now been cut away, though a vast acreage of valuable timber is still left, and constitutes one of the im- portant assets of the county. The region has the advantage of a large market near at hand in Memphis, with cheap and easy means of transportation for its abundant products. Live stock is cheaply and profitably bred, and the industry is a large and grow- ing one, being valued at over half a million in 1900. There are a good many small mills, gins and factories in the county. The white population is widely scattered and social privileges are compara- tively few.

The following statistics, taken from the twelfth U. S. census for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms, 2,902, acreage in farms 144,968, acres improved 93.438, value of land exclusive of buildings $2,973,140, value of buildings $455,930, value of live stock $520,470, value of products not fed to stock $1.846,019. Number of manufactures 44, capital invested $252,343, wages paid $33,132, cost of materials used $147,812, total value of products $255,522. The population in 1900 was whites

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1,559, colored 14,920, total 16,429, increase of 4,321 over the year 1890. Population was estimated in 1906 at over 22,000.

The county is being rapidly cleared up, and land values have doubled in the last 10 years. The importance of good roads is appreciated and Tunica is spending a large amount of money on its highways. There are 20 white schools in the county and 45 colored. (See State Superintendent's biennial report of 1906.)

The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Tunica county in 1905 was $1,912,866 and in 1906 it was $2,110,120, which shows an increase of $197,254 during the year.

Tunicas. See Indians.

Tupelo, the capital of Lee county, is a city of 3,500 people, located in the northeastern part of the state. The St. Louis & San Fran- cisco R. R. crosses the Mobile & Ohio R. R. at this point, which gives the city excellent shipping facilities in every direction. The latter road was completed to Tupelo in 1860, at which time it ab- sorbed the business of the old village of Harrisburg (q. v.), one and one-half miles to the west. A bloody battle was fought here on July 14, 1864, between the Federal troops under Gen. A. J. Smith and the Confederate troops under Gen. Stephen D. Lee and Gen. N. B. Forrest. After the battle of Shiloh the Confederate troops fell back to Tupelo and remained encamped here during the summer of 1862; and after Hood was defeated at Nashvillle he fell back to Tupelo and was encamped here several months. At an election held April 15, 1867, following the establishment of the county of Lee in 1866, Tupelo was chosen as the county seat. Courts were held in a two-story frame structure until the completion of a fine brick courthouse building in 1871. This courthouse was burned in February, 1873, and a new brick courthouse was completed in 1875, at a cost of about $20,000, together with a fine brick jail, costing $8,000. In 1904 the second courthouse was destroyed by fire and a fine new structure was immediately built at a total cost of 875,000, with $7,000 added to the jail. Tupelo has telegraph, telephone, express and banking facilities, and is situated in a fine agricultural region. There are 4 banking institutions, the Bank of Tupelo, established in 1886 with a capital of $50,000, since increased to $100,000 ; the First National Bank, established in 1891 with a cap- ital of $50,000, and a surplus of $30,000 ; The People's Bank and Trust Co., established in 1904, with a capital of $100,000, and The Farmers Bank and Trust Co., established in 1906, capital $100,000.

The Journal, a Democratic weekly newspaper, was founded in 1872, and is now owned and edited by F. L. Kincannon ; the Tupelo Review, a local weekly paper, was founded in 1901, A. Steinberger & Sons being the editors and publishers. All the principal re- ligious denominations have churches here, and there is a good graded school system.

Tupelo lies in an artesian basin, and there are many wells of this character here; the water is obtained at a depth of about 300 feet, and is soft and pure. In the immediate vicinity of the city is found the very best clay for the manufacture of drainage tiles.

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The city is located on Old Town creek, and the Chickasaw In- dians long had their chief settlements in this section. It was three miles north of the present town of Tupelo that Governor Bienville found them intrenched in their palisaded fort in 1736, and suffered a disastrous repulse at their hands. (See Achia Battle.) The old Natchez Trace (q. v.) ran near Tupelo, and near here was a station on that celebrated road.

Among the important industries of Tupelo may be mentioned the following: The Tupelo Cotton Mills, a large fertilizer factory, a large cotton oil mill, a cotton compress, one of the largest and best equipped in the state; a knitting factory, a scale factory, ice and bottling works, a brick plant, a cement block manufacturing plant, a handle factory, a spoke factory, a steam laundry, a broom factory, a fine electric light and water plant owned and operated by the city, 4 hotels and 4 livery and sales stables. The city owns a beautiful park with an artificial lake of 40 acres supplied by artesian wells. A United States fish hatchery is located here. There are about 40 miles of finely built streets. The following fraternal orders have lodges here, viz .: Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor and Woodmen of the World.

Tupelo has been growing rapidly in the last 15 years, and had 2,118 inhabitants according to the census of 1900; population in 1890 was 1,427. The population in 1906 was estimated at 3,500.

It handles about 40,000 bales of cotton annually and 150 carloads of live stock.

Turkey, a postoffice of Attala county, 13 miles east of Kosciusko, the county seat.

Turnbull, a postoffice and station in the southern part of Wilkin- son county, on the Bayou Sara Branch of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 7 miles south of Woodville, the county seat and nearest banking town.

Turner, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Adams county, on Coles creek. 14 miles east of Natchez.

Turner, Edward, was born in Fairfax county, Va., November 25, 1778, and removed with his father's family to Kentucky in 1786. There he attended the country schools and, at intervals, Transyl- vania university. In 1799 he was taken into the family of Col. George Nicholas, first law professor of the college, and this enabled him to read law in the intervals of his duties as clerk. Col. Nich- olas died in that year, and Turner continued his studies under the second law professor, James Brown, assisted by his elder brother, Fielden L. Turner, who was admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1807. Edward first came down the river for the practice of law. and arrived at Natchez in January, 1802. Says Sparks: "Four brothers emigrated to the country about the same time. Two brothers re- mained at Natchez, one at Bayou Sara, in Louisiana, and the fourth went to New Orleans. All became distinguished : three as lawyers, who honored the bench in their respective localities, and the fourth as a merchant and planter accumulated an immense fortune." It appears that Edward Turner was appointed aide-de-camp and

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private secretary for Governor Claiborne and clerk of the house of representatives, soon after his arrival. He was married in 1802, to a daughter of Cato West, and in August was appointed clerk of the court of Jefferson county, to succeed Col. John Girault. In July, 1803, he was appointed by the president the first register of the land office west of Pearl river, then the most western land office in the United States. He was on duty at the town of Wash- ington until succeeded by Thomas H. Williams, when he removed to Greenville, Jefferson county, and continued the practice of law. Moving further north, upon his plantation in Warren county, in 1810, he was there elected to the assembly in 1811, and major of the regiment. His wife died in February, 1811, and he married Eliza B. Baker in December, 1812. Returning to Natchez in 1813, he continued his law practice and was elected city magistrate and president of the board of selectmen. He was elected in 1815 to the last general assembly of the Territory, sitting in 1815-16, and in December, 1815, was elected by the two houses to "digest the statutes of the Mississippi Territory." This work, entitled, "Stat- utes of the Mississippi Territory," etc., was the second publication of the kind in Mississippi Territory, the first having been made by Judge Toulmin in 1807. It was printed at Natchez in 1816, by Peter Isler, printer to the Territory. It appears to have been a complete, well-arranged, and satisfactory compilation of the United States laws applying to the Territory and the acts of the general assembly. After this Turner was elected to the constitutional con- vention of 1817, where he was one of the committee that framed the first constitution of the State. Equally important was his work as representative of Adams county in the first legislature, 1817-18, in which he was chairman of the judiciary committee and estab- lished the judicial system under the constitution. He continued a member of the legislature until 1822, being twice elected speaker. In 1820-21 he was attorney-general by appointment of Governor Poindexter ; in 1823 he was appointed judge of the criminal court of Adams county ; and in 1824 judge of the supreme court, becom- ing presiding judge in 1829, a position he held until superseded under the constitution of 1832. He was chancellor of the State 1834-39, during which time he greatly improved the chancery methods. In 1839 he was the Whig candidate for governor, and received about 16,000 votes, but was defeated by A. G. McNutt. He was in this memorable campaign an able representative of the conservative element of the State, and his election would doubtless have been of inestimable value. In 1840 he was elected to the High court upon the death of Justice Pray, and in 1844 at the age of sixty- six years, he was elected to the State senate by Jefferson and Franklin counties. At the expiration of his term on the bench in November, 1843, the bar in attendance on the High court resolved, "That the State of Mississippi is under many obligations to the Hon. Edward Turner for the many years of arduous labor he has devoted to her service, and for the distinguished example of purity, integrity and patriotism which he has afforded to her citizens."

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He died at Woodlands, his home near Natchez, May 23, 1860, sur- vived by his wife and several children. Judge Turner was of portly and commanding figure, standing six feet two, was generous and kind, brilliant in conversation, gracious in manners. "He was not considered a profound lawyer," says Lynch. But he was thor- oughly honest and industrious, and was the great judicial figure of the early period of the State.

Turnerville, a handsome post-village of Jasper county, on Talla- homa creek, 44 miles southwest of Meridian, and 12 miles east of Paulding, the county seat. Bay Spring is the nearest banking town, and also the nearest railroad station. The village has a church and store, and'is the seat of Turnerville Academy. Popu- lation in 1900, 52.

Turnetta, a post-hamlet of Madison county, on Tilda Bogue, 5 miles east of Canton, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town. Population in 1900, 25.

Tuscahoma. An extinct village in Tallahatchie county about 12 miles northwest of Grenada. See Tallahatchie county. It was incorporated in 1836 and survived until 1850. Its merchants were Girault & McRea, Campbell & Adams, and Tulson & Company. The Williams family once kept its hotel. George W. Martin, an intimate friend of General Jackson, was an early pioneer of the neighborhood.

Tuscola, a post-hamlet of Leake county, on Tuscalamita creek, an affluent of Pearl river, 8 miles south of Carthage, the county seat. Population in 1900, 41.

Tutwiler, an incorporated post-town in the northwestern part of Tallahatchie county, at the junction of the two branches of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 22 miles west of Charleston, the county seat. Webb is the nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 142; the population in 1906 was estimated at 200.

Twins, a postoffice of Yazoo county.

Two Percent Fund. This trust fund originated in the act of congress, 1812, providing for the admission of the State. The United States agreed to reserve five per cent. of the receipts from sale of public lands, two-fifths of the same to be appropriated by congress in making roads within the State, and three-fifths to making public roads and canals within the State, under the control of the legislature. The Two percent fund accumulated from 1825 to 1841, when the legislature projected the railroad from Brandon to the Alabama line, later known as the Southern railroad, the eastern terminus of which was to be West Point, on the Chattahoochee river. Congress was memorialized to appropriate the fund accordingly. September 4, 1841, congress passed an act giving each of the new States 500,000 acres of land for Internal improvements and appropriating the Two percent fund of Mississippi for a railroad from Brandon in the direction of Montgomery, and half the fund due Alabama for the building of the line west from West Point. The legislature, by act of February

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26, 1842, accepted the fund and conditions and purposes, and au- thorized the governor to employ an engineer to survey the road, also to survey a levee from Memphis to the mouth of the Yazoo and from Ellis Cliffs to the mouth of Homochitto, to be paid out of the Two percent fund and reimbursed from sale of the Internal Improvement lands. The act also authorized a loan to the Jackson & Brandon railroad of $25,000 of the Two percent fund, which was subsequently made. The legislatures of Alabama and Mississippi granted a joint charter to the Southern railroad company in Jan- uary and February, 1846, to build from Brandon to Montgomery and operate a continuous line from Vicksburg to the Chattahoo- chee. Mississippi agreed to invest all the Two percent fund in the road, and merge the Brandon road in it. Until the Southern com- pany was organized, commissioners of the State managed the Bran- don road, and in 1848, the Southern company being yet unready to receive the trust fund, the Governor was authorized to appoint five commissioners, vested with all the powers of the Southern and the Jackson & Brandon roads, including the drawing of the Two per cent. fund, of which $70,000 was to be invested in negroes to work on construction. These commissioners were reduced to three in 1850. They drew and expended $227,500, and paid back from sale of slaves, etc., $14.326.

The act of March, 1852, revived the charter of the Southern rail- road, provided for turning the Two percent fund on hand over to it, also the Jackson & Brandon road, and all property connected therewith, including lands, slaves, engines and cars. The delivery was made by Governor Foote, July 19, 1852, to T. A. Marshall, president of the Southern company, and under authority of an act of legislature, the Vicksburg & Jackson railroad was purchased by the same company January 1, 1857.

Of the Two percent fund it was reported in 1858 that the United States Register's statements showed that $379,500 had been paid to the agents of the State, and the State accounts revealed but a slight discrepancy. The auditor's books showed that the State owed the fund $81,570, but Alexander H. Arthur, commissioner, reported that the true balance was $57,691. The default of Treasurer Graves was mainly on account of this fund. (Arthur's report, Senate Journal, 1858, appendix, p. 29.)

Governor Lowry reported in 1884 that the last payment on the two funds was in 1879, of $6,000, and the $25,000 that had accumu- lated since then had been withheld to apply on the Direct tax of 1861. The governor visited Washington in April, 1884, to secure the payment, and an action was brought before the court of claims. E. M. Watson, acting as attorney for the governor, asked a man- damus to compel the comptroller to issue a warrant for the amount due. In reply the comptroller admitted that the claim was just and no set off should be made, but he could not reverse the decision of his predecessor in office, and the court held it had no jurisdiction. In 1886 the United States supreme court ruled that the withholding of the fund as a set off to the war tax, was unauthorized. The

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amount accumulated was then about $40,000. After this the pay- ments were made. By 1890 about $78,500 had been paid to the State on the 5% fund, which, by act of legislature, was distributed among the counties for school-house purposes.

Tylertown, a village in the southeastern part of Pike county, situated on McGees creek, a tributary of Bogue Chitto, and a station on the Fernwood & Gulf R. R., 20 miles east of Magnolia, the county seat, and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice and an express office. A bank building is in course of construction and as soon as completed the Bank of Tylertown will be established. The population in 1906 was estimated at 500.

Tyro, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Tate county, 16 miles east of Senatobia, the county seat. It has a church, an academy, the Tyro High School, a money order postoffice, several stores, a cotton gin, and a saw mill. Population in 1900, 110.

Una, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Clay county, about 22 miles northwest of Westpoint, the county seat, and nearest bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 35.

Union, a village in the north-central part of Newton county, 9 miles north of Decatur, the county seat. It is on the new exten- sion of the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R. It has 2 churches, a money order postoffice, several stores and The Bank of U'nion, established in 1905. The old town of Union was established in 1834 and was the place where courts were held before the counties of Neshoba and Newton were divided. Union is situated in a fine farming district and is destined to become a town of much impor- tance. It has a population of about 250.

Union Church, an old village in the eastern part of Jefferson county, 17 miles east of Fayette, the county seat, and nearest bank- ing town, and about 40 miles east by north of Natchez. It has an academy, The Union Church High School, non-sectarian and co- educational ; 3 churches ; and a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 136.

Union County was established during the reconstruction era after the War, April 7th, 1870, and was named to express the now existing sentiment between the States. The county has a land surface of 418 square miles. It was formerly a part of the counties of Tippah and Pontotoc and some of the early history of the region will be found treated under those titles. It is situated in the northeastern part of the State, between the counties of Tippah and Pontotoc, and is counted one of the best of the northern counties. A little north of New Albany was the old Indian trading post of Alberson, called for the first citizen and trader at the place. Booker Foster and Moses Collins were merchants there in the early days, as were John N. Wiley, and Powers and Morgan, who manufac- tured wheat fans here from 1839 to 1844. Moses Collins built a good grist mill and saw mill in 1840 on the present site of New Albany, and the business of the older settlement soon moved to this place. Not even a trace of the old village is left. (See Dr. F. L. Riley's Extinct Towns and Villages of Miss.) During the

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 100

Author: Dunbar Rowland Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Dunbar Rowland
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Madison, Wis. : S.A. Brant
Number of Pages: 1020