Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 112

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 112

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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Creeks, nor Gen. Flournoy, who was doubtless influenced by the former, believed that the war party in the Creek nation would prevail. Hence we even find Flournoy writing Gen. Claiborne August 10, 1813, after the Fort Mims' affair, "Your wish to pene- trate into the Indian country, with a view of commencing the war, does not meet my approbation, and I again repeat, our operations must be confined to defensive measures." It is the belief of many candid historians, such as Halbert, that strict adherence to the policy of Gen. Flournoy, would have prevented the disasters at Burnt Corn and Fort Mims, and very possibly have prevented a serious war at all. Says Brewer: "The savages highly incensed at the attack on them at Burnt Corn, July 27, 1813, resolved to avenge themselves on the Tensaw and Tombigbee settlers." Thus one vengeance succeeded another.

The following account of the events succeeding Burnt Corn is abridged from Hamilton's excellent chapter on the Creek War: "It was at noon on the 30th of August, while dancing was going on, and a negro was about to be whipped for giving what was deemed a false alarm of Indians coming, that McQueen and Weatherford and their thousand savages dashed through the open gate of the palisade surrounding the house of Samuel Mims on the Tensaw. Major Beasley redeemed his carelessness by dying sword in hand, and the noble half-breed Dixon Bailey bravely led on the whites in defense of the women and children. But the odds were too great, and at last fire aided the butchery by the savages. Even Bailey was mortally wounded, and hardly two dozen escaped of the five hundred and fifty men, women, and children in that stock- aded acre of ground. God's acre it was, for, when a relief corps came, it was only to find ashes, and mangled and burning dead. Neighboring Fort Pierce was abandoned during that battle and Lieutenant Montgomery led its people to Mobile; while, among other fugitives from Fort Mims, David Tate and some of his family escaped with the two Pierces on a flatboat down to Fort Stoddert." The tragedy enacted at Fort Mims aroused the whole country and steps were at once taken to invade the Creek country from the north, west and east, with the purpose of annihilating the Creeks as a nation. Chiefly through the efforts of Capt. George S. Gaines and Col. McKee, the friendly cooperation of the Choctaws and Chickasaws was secured, and a battalion of about 150 Choctaw warriors, under Pushmataha, fought with Gen. Claiborne at the Holy Ground. Later in the war, another force of 53 warriors, com- manded by Pushmataha, with Moshulitubbee as second in com- mand, formed part of Maj. Blue's detachment, and materially aided in bringing the war to a close; indeed, the whole record of the Choctaw warriors throughout the war was an honorable one and showed the nation was truly loyal to the United States.

Inflamed by the news from Fort Mims, Andrew Jackson and his brigade of mounted volunteers came down from Nashville, Tenn., and joined by Cherokees, and friendly Creeks, "captured Tallese- hatche, founded Fort Strother, and on Nov. 9 (1813) won the battle

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of Talladega. From the east, too, the Georgians under Floyd defeated the Creeks at Autose, but had to retire from lack of provisions. General Claiborne fortunately construed the 'defense of Mobile' broadly, and in November, 1813, from the west he also marched into the enemy's territory. Above the site of the Canoe fight (where Nov. 12, 1813, Sam Dale, Jeremiah Austill and James Smith engaged in their daring hand-to-hand conflict with nine Indians and slew them one by one), Fort Claiborne at Weather- ford's Bluff was built as a base of supplies, and his square fort can still be traced on the bluff of the Alabama river. His objective was Econachaca, the Holy Ground, on a bluff of the Alabama in what is now Lowndes county. It had been built by Weatherford as a place of safety, where plunder was secured and white prisoners burned. Impregnable, the prophets said, but Claiborne stormed it on December 23, and drove into the water those savages who were not killed outright, for there was little quarter in this war. Weather- ford himself fled, and with characteristic daring leaped his gray horse Arrow over into the river. The town was burned to the ground, after the army reserved some supplies and the plunder had been turned over to Pushmataha." This battle practically ended the participation of the Mississippi twelve months' volunteers in the Creek war, as their term of service had ended, and Claiborne's army soon disbanded. It is not our purpose here to trace in detail the closing scenes of the war. Suffice it to say that the country of the Creeks was overrun and devastated from three directions by forces from the north, east and west. Though the Creeks fought with the courage of desperation, the struggle was too one-sided and could not long endure. The great decisive battle was fought at the Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa river March 27, 1814, be- tween Jackson and his Cherokee allies, and some twelve hundred Creeks gathered here for a final stand. The battle was little more than a slaughter, and barely two hundred Creek warriors escaped alive, while the loss to the American troops was nominal. The final treaty of peace was not concluded, however, until August 9, 1814, between Jackson and the defeated Creeks. In this treaty they surrendered to the United States all their lands, except the part east of the Coosa river and of a line drawn southeastwardly from Fort Jackson (the old French Toulouse) ; the Creeks were forbidden all communication with British or Spanish posts; and the United States were given the right to establish military posts, roads and free navigation of waters within the territory guaranteed the Creeks. The war was fatal to the Creeks, and their formidable strength was forever broken.

War with Spain, 1898. Mississippi was first involved in the cir- cumstances of a Cuban revolution in the administration of John A. Quitman (q. v.). There was a Mississippian among the revolu- tionists executed at Santiago in 1848, with Lopez. (q. v.) The final revolution began in February, 1895, under the leadership of Maceo and Marti, who sailed to the island from Fernandina, Fla. In 1896, when the revolution was at its height, and Gen. Weyler

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had not yet taken command, the legislature of Mississippi adopted a resolution extending sympathy to the Cuban people in their strug- gle for freedom and independence, adding, "we call on the Con- gress and the president of these United States and request them to grant belligerent rights to the Cuban Republic." In January, 1898, upon information of the condition of the island under the Weyler administration received from Maj. George L. Donald, the legislature resolved that "we believe it to be the duty of the United States government to at once intervene, peaceably if it can, but forcibly if it must, to save the people of Cuba from the cruel fate of annihilation by the barbarous and inhuman methods of the Spanish government." The representations of the United States government in the first year of the Mckinley administration led to the recall of Weyler, and the proposal of Cuban autonomy. But the revolution continued, and on February 15, 1898, the bat- tleship Maine, sent to Havana harbor on the request of Consul Fitzhugh Lee, was destroyed by an explosion. This was followed by a popular demand for war, but the government restricted itself to proposals of intervention and demand for an armistice. At- tempts to form an European coalition against the United States, and preparation in the United States for war, followed. until war was declared in April. upon which the president called upon the States, April 21, for 125,000 men.

The quota of Mississippi was two regiments, and Governor Mc- Laurin on April 29, 1898, called for volunteers. The State had no funds on hand, but as all expenses were to be borne by the United States, individual credit sufficed. After the war, Col. Jones S. Hamilton, as agent of the State, received $34,469 from the United States treasury, and disbursed the same to claimants. Camp Pat Henry was established near Jackson, under command of Col. George C. Hoskins, May 10, and the Capital Light Guards was the first company to go into camp there, rapidly followed by other companies of the National Guard, which furnished over half the men enlisted.

The First regiment Mississippi volunteer infantry, was mus- tered in at the camp May 26, 1898, and left for the United States army camp at Chickamauga park, May 30. The principal officers of this regiment were as follows: Col. George M. Govan, Lieut .- Col. H. O. Williams, Majors George L. Donald, D. Price Porter, Surgeon Robert L. Turner, Assistant Surgeons H. L. Bauer. F. M. Shepperd ; Adj. George S. Yerger. Quartermaster William Henry. succeeded by R. H. Campbell : Chaplain Frank M. Keene. Chief Musician Carl Leake. Captains-Co. A, Thomas H. Shields, Vicksburg; Co. B. Edgar N. Coffey, Fayette; Co. C. Frank L. Bahin, Natchez; Co. D. Edgar R. DuMont, Scranton : Co. E, Henry E. Ramsey. Hazelhurst ; Co. F. James O. Fuller. Jackson ; Co. G, William F. Scales. Wesson ; Co. H. Daniel D. Ewing. Fern- wood; Co. I. Charles W. Schamber. Meridian ; Co. K. R. M. Dease, Hickory ; Co. L. Archie Fairley, Hattiesburg; Co. M. Charles R. Shannon, Ellisville.

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The Second regiment was mustered at the Jackson camp June 9, 1898, about the time the first army sailed from Tampa. The prin- cipal officers of this regiment were: Col. William A. Montgomery, Lt .- Col. Devereaux Shields, Majors George C. Hoskins, John P. Mayo; Adj. Joseph M. Jayne, Jr., Quartermaster Hiram Cassedy, Jr., Surgeon (major) M. W. Hamilton, Surgeon (captain) Henry C. Kent, Chief Musician Hiram K. Ford succeeded by W. G. Leslie, Chaplain E. D. Soloman. Captains-Co. A, Ellis Crom- well, West Point; Co. B. Edgar H. Woods, Rosedale; Co. C, Henry T. Ireys, Greenville; Co. D, Cicero L. Lincoln, Columbus ; Co. E, John W. Henderson, Tunica; Co. F, Lewis M. Southworth, Carrollton ; Co. G, Harvey J. Jones, Water Valley ; Co. H, Eugene Montgomery, Natchez; Co. I, James S. Butler, Yazoo City : Co. K, Edmund F. Noel, Lexington ; Co. L, John B. McFarland, Aber- deen; Co. M, James A. Glover, Friar's Point. Company M was from Memphis and there was a sprinkling of recruits from West- ern and other States in both regiments, but mainly in the Second.

Under the second call by the President, in which the quota of Mississippi was six companies, the Third regiment was organized at Camp Henry and mustered-in August. 4, with the following principal officers: Lt .- Col. Robert W. Banks, Majors Robert L. Crook, Jr., Washington D. Gibbs, Jr., Assistant Surgeons P. A. Scale, R. A. Anderson, D. S. Humphreys, Chaplain John A. Ran- dolph. Captains: Co. A, Samuel L. Gwin, Greenwood; Co. B, W. E. Hopkins, Hickory ; Co. C, Charles G. McGhee, Columbus ; Co. D, Alden Trotter, Lexington ; Co. E, Robert L. Butler, Mead- ville; Co. F, F. T. Raiford, Senatobia. Some of these companies were almost entirely enlisted in Chicago and New Orleans and in various States outside of Mississippi. The regiments included some of the finest young men of the State, and their colonels were veterans of the Confederate army. It was not the fortune of these commands to reach the field of battle. They were part of that "mighty army in camp, ready and eager for the field," in the words of President Mckinley, that "should be given equal credit with those who participated in the short but decisive campaigns in Cuba. It was their presence, ready at an hour's notice for any emergency, that taught the enemy that further resistance would be hopeless." The 1st regiment was mustered out at Columbia, Tenn., December 20, 1898; the 2d at the same place on the follow- ing day, and the 3d at Albany, Ga., March 17, 1899. Col. Govan died not long after the war.

Another command formed in the State was the 5th Immune regi- ment, U. S. volunteers, mustered in at Columbus, composed of enlistments from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and com- manded by Col. H. D. Money, Jr., of Mississippi. James K. Var- daman, of Mississippi, was one of the majors. This regiment was one of those that relieved the army of Gen. Shafter at Santiago, when courage was required to face the danger of pestilence, and did garrison duty from August, 1898, to March, 1899.

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Ward, Benjamin F., is a native of South Carolina, the youngest child of William F. Ward and Martha (Mecklin) Ward, both of whom were of Irish ancestry. Dr. Ward's father died when he was an infant, and in 1846 he was brought by his mother to Mis- sissippi. He is principally self educated. When a young man he went to Carroll county, where he taught school and began the study of medicine. He took medical courses in the University of Louisiana and the Atlanta Medical College, graduating from the latter in 1859. He located in Carroll County, where he practiced his profession until the outbreak of the war. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private, but was soon promoted to the position of surgeon, and afterwards to that of brigade surgeon of Gen. Joseph R. Davis' brigade. He was made a member of the army medical board of health, serving through the campaigns in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Dr. Ward was taken pris- oner at Gettysburg and held for five months at Ft. McHenry, Bal- timore. He was exchanged, reentered the service, and surren- dered with Lee at Appomattox. After the war he located at Winona, where he has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine. He soon rose to eminence, not only in his profession, but as a writer and public speaker. In 1886 he pub- lished an article on the Old South that was regarded as a very able production, and was commented on throughout the nation. He has never been a candidate for office, but has long been one of the most eminent and influential men of the State. Dr. Ward was married June 3, 1886, to Miss Mary H. Hardeman. He has long been a member of the State Medical Association, and is president of the State Board of Health.

Ward, William, was born in August, 1823, at Litchfield, Conn. At the age of 16 he located at Columbus, Miss., and while there was a contributor to the Philadelphia Saturday Courier. He re- moved to Macon in 1850. In 1870, after refusing office from the reconstruction government, he became editor of the Macon Beacon and an ardent Democrat. He died December 27, 1887. Among his best known poems are, "Gettysburg," "The Dying Year." and "The Ride of the Ku Klux Klan."

Wardwell, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Calhoun county, on Tupashaw creek, about 10 miles from Pittsboro, the county seat. Population in 1900, 20.

Ware, Nathaniel A., last Territorial secretary, was born in Mas- sachusetts about 1789; went to South Carolina in early manhood as a teacher ; read law and began the practice; and thence removed to Natchez, where he became a major of militia and amassed con- siderable wealth by transactions in land. He was appointed sec- retary of the Territory to succeed Daingerfield, deceased, June 7, 1815, and served until the inauguration of Governor Holmes as gov- ernor of the State, in October, 1817. He was acting governor in the absence of Holmes, from April, 1815, to May, 1816. As presi- dent of one of the banks in 1839 he was the first signer of the famous address to the Southern people (see Macon Convention).

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Major Ware travelled extensively, and was known for his attain- ments in botany, geography and the natural sciences. In later years he lived at Cincinnati and Philadelphia and published "Views on the Federal Constitution" and "Notes on Political Economy," and a work on education. He married a daughter of Capt. Charles Percy, of the British navy, an inhabitant of Louisiana. Two of their daughters were noted in the popular literature of 1844 to 1877 -Catherine Ann, born at Natchez, June 6, 1816, who married Rob- ert E. Warfield, of Lexington, Ky., and Eleanor Percy, born at Washington, Miss., in 1820, who married Henry Lee, and died at Natchez in 1849. The two sisters published books of poems in 1844 and 1846, and Catherine published ten novels, beginning with "The Household of Bouverie" in 1860, and ending with "The Cardinal's Daughter," 1877, in which year she died in Kentucky.

Warfield, Catharine. See Ware, N. A.

Warren County was established by act of the General Assem- bly December 22, 1809, which declared that "All that part of the Mississippi territory which lies north of the river Big Black, is hereby erected into a new county, which shall be hereafter called and known by the name of Warren." It was named in honor of Gen. Joseph Warren, officer in the Continental army, who fell at the battle of Bunker Hill. It formerly included within its limits a part of old Washington, (q. v.) and the present counties of Is- saquena and Sharkey. The Mississippi river forms its entire western boundary, the Big Black river divides it from Claiborne county on the south and Hinds county on the east, and the Yazoo river forms part of the irregular boundary line between it and Issaquena county on the north. The northeastern boundary line between Warren and Yazoo counties was the subject of repeated legislation prior to the year 1850, (see Yazoo County) and as now established, is a jagged line connecting the Big Black and Yazoo rivers. The county now has an area of about 601 square miles. It comprised the northernmost part of the old "Natchez District" and the whole region is replete with historic interest. As early as 1718, the Mississippi Company, chartered by France, which was then in possession of the Mississippi valley, attempted to locate settlers on the Yazoo river by making extensive land grants along that stream. When the eighteenth century closed, a few inhabi- tants were distributed near the Walnut Hills, and near the Big Black river, in the present county of Warren. With the opening of the Natchez Trace (q. v.) a considerable emigration from the States of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and western Pennsylvania, composed of men of capital and enterprise, began to stream into the Natchez District and the settlements in the region of War- ren county were largely augmented. In 1803, a land office was established at Washington in Adams county, which adjudicated private claims to a large portion of the lands within the limits of the white settlements near the Mississippi, claimed and occu- pied in large part by virtue of grants or titles derived through the authorities of England, Spain and the State of Georgia. The com-

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mission of the land office at Washington concluded its labors in 1807, after recording two thousand and ninety claims, and thus were settled many of the early titles along the Yazoo, Big Black and Mississippi rivers, in Warren county. (See "Land Titles.") Until the year 1798, the Spaniards maintained a fort and garrison at the "Walnut Hills," just north of the present city limits of Vicksburg, but never made any serious effort to colonize the region. By the year 1837, the county had attained a population of 5,265 whites, and 9,686 slaves. In 1890 the population was 33,164, and in 1900 40,912, and is increasing at a rapid rate. Some of the county officers during the years 1818-1827 were John Turnbull, Isaac Rapalje, Francis Griffin, John Jenkins, Thos. K. McElrath, John Templeton, Jacob Hyland, Justices of the Quorum ; Henry D. Downs, John Dana, James Knowland, Thos. B. Tompkins, Foster Cook, Wm. Whitefield, Allen Sharkey, Chas. S. Spann, James Gibson, Jos. Templeton, Robert L. Matthews, James Bland, Alex. M. McCulloch, Ch. Gee, Ch. Henderson, Wm. B. Cook, Richard Featherston, Lewis McLemurry, Stephen Howard, Isaac W. Davis, Hartwell Cocke, Nelson Jackson, Henry Maynadier, Daniel Whit- taker, Hartwell Vick, Samuel Cox, Paul C. Abney, Joseph Hough, Jas. M. Bitner, Jas. R. Blunt, John Bobb, Sinclair D. Gervais, Bennet M. Kines, Justices of the Peace; Andrew Glass, Henry D. Downs, Jr., Sheriffs; John Hyland, Tho. Evans, Jordan Gibson, Anthony Durden, Assessors and Collectors; Thos. Griffin, Andrew Haynes, Treasurers; John Blanchard, Foster Cook, County Sur- veyors; Benj. C. Lamdell, Inspector and Keeper of Weights and Measures ; Samuel Blanchard. Jesse Barfield, Coroners; James Gib- son, Judge of Probate; Robert Armstrong, Auctioneer of the County ; Francis M. Beckwith, President of Selectmen, Vicks- burg; Russel Smith, Wiley Bohanon, Associate Justices. Jacob Hyland, Wm. L. Sharkey, Francis Griffin and the families of Glass, Pace, Rawls, McElrath, Hicks, Griffin, Lewis and Haynes were very early settlers in the southern part of the county. (See Lowry & McCardle, History of Mississippi, for an excellent list of the early settlers of Warren County.) In the central part is a neighborhood called the "Gibson Settlement," settled at an early day by the Rev. Tobias Gibson, an early Methodist missionary to Mississippi, and his brother, Rev. Randall Gibson, prominent citi- zens and related to many of the best families of today. Near the site of the National Cemetery was an early settlement, where lived H. P. Morancy, Dr. John Jenkins, the Fergusons, Turnbulls, Throck- mortons and Samuel A. Davis, brother of President Jefferson Davis. In a region, about seven miles northeast of Vicksburg, was a settlement in the early days known as "Open Woods", surveyed by Foster Cook, and entered by him for four of the Vicks and four of the Cook families. The Cook home was a stopping place for many of the distinguished men of the State. (For a list of some of the early settlers of Vicksburg, see title "Vicksburg.") The early county seat of Warren was at Warrenton, (incorporated in 1820), 12 miles down the river from Vicksburg, which as late as

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1861 had a population of six to eight hundred, but has only 40 people now. It was not until 1824 that the present city of Vicks- burg was laid out, and a charter was obtained in 1825, and not until 1836 that the seat of justice was changed to Vicksburg by a vote of the people. The founder, Rev. Newitt Vick, gave his name to the city that was to be, but it was not surveyed into lots until after his death. Then his son-in-law, Rev. John Lane, the administrator with the will annexed, after a legal contest, carried out Mr. Vick's intentions. The site of Vicksburg at the junction of the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers, and the first high land on the east bank of the Mississippi river for over four hundred miles, was meant by nature for a large commercial centre. Here has grown up a city of 14,834 inhabitants (census of 1900), the largest city in the State and the third in number of manufacturing estab- lishments and capital invested. In the old days the city was a social centre for the planting aristocracy, while the many magnifi- cent steamers, which plied the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, brought rich tribute to its port, from the fertile Yazoo-Mississippi Delta above it, and from the rich alluvial lands of Louisiana on the south. The city has had a stormy and checkered career. It emerged undaunted from the horrors of the long siege and bom- bardment in the War between the States, only to suffer a disas- trous fire in 1866; a cut off by. the river in 1876, a decimating scourge of yellow fever in 1878, and another large fire in 1883, while its citizens lost more than a million dollars in the collapse of the Mississippi banks. In the light of these facts it makes an excellent showing in 1900 with $1,360,890 invested in manufac- tures, and a total output valued at $1,871,843, the second largest in the State. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley, the Alabama & Vicksburg, and the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific railroads, together with the largest fleet of river craft south of St. Louis, provide the city with splendid shipping facilities. There are no other cities of importance in the county. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. traverses the county from north to south, and Vicks- burg is the terminus of the Alabama & Vicksburg. The topog- raphy of the county is of the most varied character, including large areas of rich alluvial lands in the Mississippi, Yazoo and Big . Black bottoms, and a still larger area of uplands. These highlands attain their greatest altitude near the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers, and slope toward the Big Black, the eastern boundary of the county. The soil is of a rich, brownish loam, intermixed with sea shells, and is of great fertility. At one time these hills were densely covered with immense walnut trees, from which fact the name "Walnut Hills" was derived. About one half of the land is open and the balance is extensively timbered with hardwood for the most part, consisting of white, red and black oak, poplar, ash, locust, elm, magnolia and some walnut. On the bottoms are found gum, cottonwood and immense cypress brakes. In 1900 there were 116,942 acres of improved farm lands in the county, producing cotton, corn, sorghum, oats, a great variety of grasses, and an

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 112

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