Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 30

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 30

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).

Meechee Seepee, or something sounding like that, was the name given the river by the Indians of the Northwest, visited by La- Salle and Marquette. The meeche or "Missi", is the same in meaning as the Micco of the Creeks and other Muscogees, mean- ing great as an adjective, and chief as a noun. The Michi of Michigan is the same word, and possibly the Massa of Massachu- setts has a like derivation. Mississippi means great water, or great river. It would be more accurately spelled Missisippi, the French orthography, or Misisipi, the Spanish form, both pronounced Mee- seeseepee, which is probably close in sound to the Indian spoken words.

The river was known to the Spaniards in the 16th and 17th cen- turies chiefly under the name of the Rio del Espiritu Santo, (q. v.) or the River of the Holy Ghost. It was also called by them the Rio Grande del Florida, the Rio Grande del Espiritu Santo, or simply the Rio Grande.

By the French it was given the title of La Palisade, on account of the numerous upright snags and young cotton-wood trees found on the bar and passes at the mouth. After its exploration by Marquette and LaSalle, it was called the Colbert in honor of the great minister of Louis XIV. Subsequent to the founding of the French colony by Iberville in 1699, it was named the St. Louis. for the King. But these names all yielded in time to the ancient Indian name.

Says F. L. Riley (Hist. of Miss., p. 349), Pere Marquette was the first to introduce the name, as Mitchisipi (pronounced Mee- cheeSeepee), into geography (1672). Charlevoix, in his publica- tion of 1744, gave the name as Misisipi or Micissippi. Hennepin (1698) spelled Mechasipi or Mechacebe. Daniel Coxe gave it Merchacebe. The present spelling is adapted from the French and Spanish spelling, the consonants being doubled to indicate the short sound of i.

Mississippi Bankers Association. This organization was formed in 1889 and its object was to "Promote the general welfare and usefulness of banks and banking institutions; and to secure uni- formity of action, together with the practical benefit to be derived from personal acquaintance and from the discussion of subjects of importance to the banking and commercial interests of the State of Mississippi, and especially in order to secure the proper considera- tion of questions regarding the financial and commercial usages, customs and laws, which affect the banking interests of the entire State, and for the protection against loss by frauds." The associa- tion held its first meeting on May 22. 1889, when the following were elected as its first officers: Samuel S. Carter, president of the First National Bank of Jackson, president; W. A. Pollock, presi-

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dent of the Bank of Greenville, vice-president; B. W. Griffith, cashier of the Capital State Bank, Jackson, secretary and treasurer. The names of the organizers, together with the institutions repre- sented, are: F. F. Becker, cashier, Commercial Bank, Brookhaven ; Lawrence Foote, of Foote & Smith, Canton ; J. C. Smith, president, Bank of Crystal Springs, Crystal Springs ; V. L. Terrell, vice-presi- dent, Bank of Crystal Springs, Crystal Springs; H. P. Davis, pres- ident, Bank of Durant, Durant; W. A. Pollock, president, Bank of Greenville, Greenville; Thomas Mount, cashier, First National Bank, Greenville; J. Robertshaw, cashier, Merchants & Planters Bank, Greenville ; J. W. McLeod, cashier, Merchants Bank, Grenada ; I. N. Ellis, cashier, Merchants & Planters Bank, Hazelhurst; B. W. Griffith, cashier, Capital State Bank, Jackson; R. W. Millsaps, president, Capital State Bank, Jackson; S. S. Carter, president, First National Bank, Jackson; O. J. Waite, cashier, First National Bank, Jackson ; C. C. Kelly, Kosciusko; R. W. Jones, Jr., cashier, Merchants & Farmers Bank, Macon; H. V. Wall, First National Bank, Meridian; G. Q. Hall, vice-president, Meridian National Bank, Meridian; J. H. Wright, cashier, Meridian National Bank, Meridian ; A. G. Campbell, cashier, First National Bank, Natchez ; Bem Price, cashier, Bank of Oxford, Oxford ; W. D. Lawson, pres- ident, Bank of Pickens, Pickens ; R. A. Campbell, Bank of Summit, Summit ; J. P. Roach, president, First National Bank, Vicksburg; W. S. Jones, cashier, Merchants National Bank, Vicksburg; Lee Richardson, president, Delta Trust & Banking Co., Vicksburg; G. D. Able, cashier, Bank of Water Valley, Water Valley; T. M. Moseley, cashier, First National Bank, West Point ; J. C. Purnell, of Purnell & Hawkins, Winona; Charles Roberts, Bank of Yazoo City, Yazoo City. The present officers of the association are: B. L. Roberts, president ; J. W. Keyes, vice-president ; B. W. Grif- fith, secretary and treasurer. At the annual meetings addresses, in conformity to the purposes of the association, are delivered, which are published in the annual reports.

Mississippi Battalion, 1809. December 7, 1808, in obedience to the order of the president Governor Williams ordered the organ- ization of a picked battalion of 335 officers and men, to be com- posed of infantry and riflemen, chosen out of the brigade by volunteering or otherwise. High water prevented the rendezvous planned in January, and it was postponed until February 15. Maj. Andrew Marschalk was assigned to command by the gov- ernor. February 17 they were ordered to be put in marching order. July 6, 1809, Governor Holmes, ordered the command to be disbanded, in pursuance of orders from President Madison, who expressed his thanks to the corps for their readiness to answer a call for service.

This was part of the military preparation for war with France or England, a state of war on the high seas actually existing. For earlier battalions, see Militia.

Mississippi Bubble. See Western Company.

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Mississippi City, the former capital of Harrison county, was at one time one of the important Gulf coast towns, on the Louisville & Nashville R. R., 71 miles east of New Orleans. It has a money order postoffice, an express office, an excellent hotel, several churches, and private and public schools. The fine beach here at- tracts many visitors, and the climate is mild and salubrious. Popu- lation in 1900, 534; the population in 1906 was estimated at 800. The town seems to have a prosperous future before it and is both a summer and winter resort of note.

Mississippi College. This fine old institution, one of Missis- sippi's famous seats of learning, had its origin in a charter granted by the legislature to Hampstead Academy, at Mount Salus, in 1826. Next to Jefferson College, it ranks as the oldest male college in the State. In 1827 the legislature changed its name to "The Mississippi Academy," and, with F. G. Hopkins as its first principal, the school entered on its long career of usefulness. The founders had a pur- pose in the use of the title "Mississippi," and the legislature gave it state recognition, donating it for a term of five years, to date from Feb. 25, 1825, the income from such portions of the 36 sections of land granted by congress in 1819 for the aid of an institution of learning, as had then been leased. In 1829 the State loaned to the academy $5,000 to aid in completing the necessary buildings, and the following year its name and grade were changed to that of "Mississippi College." It never attained its ambition, however, to become a State institution. Mr. Elliot, elected in 1836, was the first president, while the Rev. Daniel Comfort, an "Old School" Presbyterian, became the first denominational president of Mis- sissippi College in 1842, at which time the citizens of Clinton ceased their attempt to manage the college as a private institution, and placed it under the exclusive control of the Clinton Presbytery. Augustus M. Foote, Jr., of Jackson, afterwards a well known lawyer, was its first graduate, and the first to receive a diploma from a Mississippi college; Robert Campbell was the first to be given the degree of A. B. in 1846. The institution remained under Presbyterian control for a period of only eight years. During this time its success was only partial. There were three changes in the presidency, and constant changes in the teaching force. The patron- age was disappointing, and in 1850, by resolution, the Presbytery turned the college over to the citizens of Clinton once more. The same year the college with all its franchises, free from debt, was tendered the Baptist State Convention, sitting at Jackson. The offer was accepted and it has since been under the control of that denomination. While the college was free from debt, it was with- out permanent endowment. Mr. I. N. Urner became principal of the preparatory department, and subsequently president of the col- lege. When the session opened in the fall of 1850 under the new auspices, there were three teachers and 84 students. The college prospered until the outbreak of the war between the States, at which time it boasted a faculty of six members, and a student body of over 200. A new college chapel had been erected at a cost of

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$30,000, and it enjoyed a fair degree of financial prosperity. An endowment fund had been subscribed amounting to $102,800, in the form of scholarship notes of $500 each, and $40,000 had been col- lected on the notes. The institution was only able to maintain the appearance of an organization during the war, and was so badly in debt at the close, that it would have been sold under execution, save for the efficient aid given by the noble Mrs. Adelia M. Hill- man. At her own expense she procured funds in the North suf- ficient to place the college once more on its feet. Dr. Walter Hill- man, President of Central Female Institute, was made president of the college in 1867 and divided his time for six years between the two schools. He proved an excellent business administrator, and when he was succeeded in 1873 by Dr. W. S. Webb, the college was out of debt. The administration of Dr. Webb covered a period of eighteen years, filled with "efficient and self-sacrificing effort" on his part. Since 1877 the faculty of the college "has worked on a contingent basis and not for guaranteed salaries." Before the disastrous panic of 1893 came on, a new endowment fund of $60,000 was subscribed; of this sum, $40,000 was collected and is well in- vested, yielding the college a much needed income. President Webb was succeeded by Dr. R. A. Venable in 1892. Dr. Venable was an alumnus of the college, and one of the ablest Baptist preachers in the South. His administration was marred by an attempt in 1893 to remove the institution to Meridian, and a reso- lution to that end was formally adopted by the Baptist State Con- vention. Legal difficulties fortunately intervened and the attempt was unsuccessful. On Dr. Venable's resignation in 1896, Dr. J. W. Provine, professor of natural science, was chosen his suc- cessor, and during his brief incumbency procured the erection of a fine chemical laboratory, made substantial improvements in the buildings and grounds, and rendered the college self-supporting. The epidemic of yellow fever in 1897 seriously reduced the at- tendance of the college and impaired its finances. The appeal for further financial aid was led by Dr. W. T. Lowrey, an alumnus of the college, and then president of the Blue Mountain Female College. He was prevailed upon to accept the presidency on the resignation of Dr. Provine in 1898. Under Dr. Lowrey's able management the college has made much material as well as educational progress. The number of students has increased from 115-the low water mark in 1897-98-to between three and four hundred at the present time. The standard has been raised and the curriculum broadened and strengthened; one of the important changes being the estab- lishment of a new school of philosophy, history and economics, in charge of the scholarly educator and writer, Charles Hillman Brough. Moreover, many permanent improvements have been made in the buildings, including a president's home, a preparatory hall and a minister's cottage. Capt. Ratliff, who was a student in 1852, has been at the head of the executive board since 1872. Scores of the most prominent names in Mississippi have been on the rolls of the college as students or graduates.

17-11

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Mississippi, French Claim to. The Memoir signed by Louis XIV, and his minister Colbert, and sent to Denonville, Governor- General of New France, is explanatory of the French claims in North America. Among other things it recites: "The next year, 1672, the river Mississippi and, at the same time, the Illinois, Chauanons, and other tribes unknown to Europeans, were discov- ered by Sieur Joliet, and the Jesuit Father Marquette, who went as far as the thirty-second degree, and set up the King's arms, taking possession in his name of all those recently discovered na- tions. And some years after, Sieur de La Salle extended the same discovery farther, even unto the sea, taking everywhere pos- session by the King's arms, which he erected there. All the fore- going demonstrates sufficiently the incontestable right the French have to the Iroquois lands and it demonstrates their possession of the great river Mississippi, which they have discov- ered as far as the South Sea, on which river also they have divers establishments, as well as on that of Ohio, Ouabache, etc., which flow into the said river Mississippi, and of the countries and lands in the vicinity of said rivers, where they actually carry on trade, which countries are easily recognized on the general map of North America."

Mississippi Press Association. The press of Mississippi has ever been a potent and uplifting influence in the affairs of the common- wealth. Its editors and publishers have been men of virility, enter- prise and ability, and in the long roll of those honored in the annals of the State appear many names closely identified with the history of the press. In the year 1802, Andrew Marschalk, pioneer soldier- editor and publisher, established the Natchez Gazette, the first newspaper published in Mississippi Territory. He was endowed with energy and enterprise, and had for his equipment a wooden hand printing press of domestic manufacture. From this humble beginning, the history of the press shows a steady development in power and influence, only interrupted by the years of strife and suf- fering marked by the war between the States. With the close of the conflict came a remarkable revival of journalistic enterprise ; a host of new and ably conducted newspapers sprang into existence, which strove mightily in the cause of white supremacy and the restoration of Mississippi to Mississippians. It was at this period of time that the Mississippi Press association had its origin-in May, 1865. The expressed object of the association was to promote the mutual benefit of the members of the newspaper fraternity of the State. The association held its first meeting in May, 1866. It has never been chartered. On the rolls of the founders of the organization are the well known names of Col. J. L. Power, P. K. Mayers, J. S. Hamilton, A. J. Frantz, J. J. Shannon, J. M. Partridge, B. W. Kinsley, F. T. Cooper and E. M. Yerger. The first meeting of the association was held at the statehouse in Jackson, and the following officers were chosen: J. M. Partridge, of the Vicksburg Herald, president; J. L. Power, of the Jackson Clarion and

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Standard, secretary ; P. K. Mayers, of the Handsboro. Democrat, treasurer. In addition to the officers, the following gentlemen were present at this first meeting : J. J. Shannon, Jones S. Hamilton and B. F. Jones of the Jackson Clarion and Standard; E. M. Yerger, of the Jackson Mississippian; A. N. Kimball and H. M. Aikin, of the Christian Watchman; A. J. Frantz, of the Brandon Republican ; Jere Gibson, of the Meridian Tropic; J. M. Swords, of the Vicks- burg Herald; T. B. Manlove, of the Vicksburg Journal; J. D. Houston, of the Lexington Advertiser; Singleton Garrett, of the Canton Mail ; S. W. Dale, of the Brookhaven Journal ; M. S. Ward, of the Panola Star; J. F. Mead, of the Natchez Democrat, and J. L. McCullum and F. T. Cooper, of the Mississippi Conservative. Since 1874 the meetings of the association have been held regularly, and its transactions have been published under the title, "Proceed- ings of the Mississippi Press Association." The officers of the association are : J. D. McKie, of the Review, Biloxi, president ; J. T. Senter, of the Vicksburg American, first vice-president ; R. B. May, of the Enterprise, McComb, second vice-president; P. K. Mayers, of the Democrat-Star, Scranton, treasurer; J. G. McGuire, of the Herald, Yazoo City, secretary, and J. L. Power, chaplain.

Mississippi Rifles. This was the popular name of the First reg- ment Mississippi infantry, in the service of the United States for the Mexican War (q. v.). Governor Brown called for volunteer companies for this regiment June 1, 1846.

There was great pressure from companies in all parts of the State for enrollment, and the governor endeavored to gratify those that were first completely organized and filled. The list as mus- tered in was as follows:

Company A, Yazoo Volunteers, Capt. J. M. Sharp; Company B, Wilkinson Volunteers, Capt. Douglas H. Cooper; Company C, Warren county, Capt. John Willis; Company D, Carroll county, Capt. Bainbridge D. Howard; Company E, Hinds county, Capt. John L. McManus; Company F, Lafayette county, Capt. William DeLay; Company G, Hinds county, Capt. Reuben N. Downing; Company H, Warren county, Capt. George P. Crump; Company I. Marshall Guards, Capt. A. B. Bradford, succeeded by James H. R. Taylor; Company K, the Tombigbee company, Capt. A. K. McClung, succeeded by William P. Rogers.

The Hinds county companies were the State Fencibles (of Jackson) and Raymond Fencibles : the Vicksburg companies were the Southrons and Volunteers. A full roster of the regiment is given in Goodspeed's Memoirs of Miss., I, 140.

At the rendezvous, Camp Brown, near Vicksburg, officers were elected about the middle of June: Jefferson Davis, colonel ; Alex- ander K. McClung, lieutenant-colonel ; Alexander B. Bradford, major. McClung commanded the regiment while it remained at Vicksburg. The staff officers were: Richard Griffith, adjutant ; Seymour Halsey, surgeon; John Thompson, assistant surgeon ; Charles T. Harlan, sergeant-major; S. Warren White, quarter-

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master sergeant; Kemp S. Holland, commissary; Stephen Dodds, principal musician.

About this time young Cadmus M. Wilcox, then a cadet at West Point, visited Washington and, calling upon Davis, asked if he would become colonel of the Mississippi regiment. "He replied it was true he had been elected colonel and that he would accept if he could have the men armed with rifles. On being asked why his acceptance should be contingent upon the weapon with which the regiment might be armed, he remarked if armed with the ordinary infantry musket it would be but one of many regiments similarly armed; but if with the rifle, besides being more effective, there would probably be no other body of men so armed, and it would be known and referred to as the Mis- sissippi Rifles, and, consequently, would be more conspicuous. It was armed as he desired; he accepted the colonelcy and it became well known and is referred to as the Mississippi Rifles prominently in the histories of the Mexican war." (Wilcox, History of the Mexican War.)

"Jefferson Davis was then a member of Congress, but had prom- ised to serve as colonel of a regiment whenever elected. It was known that he had graduated at West Point, and seen some serv- ice in the West. At the same election that made him colonel of the First Mississippi regiment, A. K. McClung was made lieuten- ant-colonel, and Alexander Bradford, a major-general of militia, major. No new troops were better officered, and the regiment went to the field as gayly as if they had been called to a dance." (Reuben Davis.) In the ranks were representatives of the best families of the State. One of the privates was James Z. George.

Davis returned to his home by way of Wheeling, and joined the regiment near New Orleans. July 21, 1846. At this encamp- ment they received the rifles, shipped from the east. "It may be interesting to state, said Mr. Davis in 1889, that Gen. Scott en- deavored to persuade me not to take more rifles than enough for four companies, and objected particularly to percussion arms as not having been sufficiently tested for the use of troops in the field. Knowing that the Mississippians would have no confidence in the old flint-lock muskets. I insisted on their being armed with the kind of rifle then recently made at New Haven, Conn., the Whitney rifle. From having been first used by the Mississipians, those rifles have always been known as the Mississippi rifles." (Memoir by his Wife.) These rifles had no bayonets, as there had not been time to have them made. Concerning the service of the regiment, see Mexican War. Monterey, and Buena Vista.

Mississippi River. The importance of the Mississippi river in connection with the history and development of the State of Mis- sissippi scarcely needs mention. For upward of 500 miles, follow- ing the sinuosities of the stream, it forms the western boundary of the State. and on its broad bosom, ascending and descending, floated the first explorers and settlers, who made possible the be- ginnings of the State. Along its banks and in the vicinity of its

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tributary streams occurred the first permanent white settlements. Before the days of overland travel and even down to the era of the railroads, it constituted the great liquid highway for the travel and commerce of the State. It forms the great boundary line be- tween the eastern and western States and gives commercial entrance to the very heart of the United States. Since 1803 it has been in the undisputed possession of this country.

Its great length, taken in connection with the number and char- acter of its tributaries, the total area drained, the immense system of internal navigation afforded, and the population contiguous to its banks, renders it one of the most striking topographical feat- ures of the earth. Together with its subordinate basins the Mis- sissippi Valley comprises an area of 2,455,000 square miles, extending through 30 degrees of longitude and 23 degrees of lati- tude. (The Mississippi River, J. W. Foster.) Humphreys and Abbot, "Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River" give the following table of data for the area, elevation, drainage, etc., of its several subordinate basins :

Distance from mouth, miles.

Height above sea. feet.

Width at mouth. feet.

Down- fall of rain. inches,

Mean dis- charge per second, cu. feet.

Aren of basin. square miles.

Upper Mississippi .. 1,330

1,680

5,000

35.2

105,000

169,000

Missouri

.2,908

6,800

3,000

20.9

120,000

518,000

Ohio

.1,265

1,649

3,000

41.5

158,000

214,000

Arkansas

1,514

10,000

1,500

29.3

63,000

189,000

Red River

1,200

2,450

800

39.0

57,000

97,000

Yazoo

500

210

850

46.3

43,000

13,850

St. Francis

380

1,150

200

41.1

31,000

10,500

Lower Mississippi. . 1,286

416

2,470

30.4

675,000

1,244,000

The lengths of the different grand tributaries as given by Jen- kins are as follows:

Missouri .2,908 miles-distance from mouth to source.

Upper Mississippi . 1,330 miles-distance from mouth to source.

Ohio

1,276 miles-distance from mouth to source.

Arkansas . 1,514 miles-distance from mouth to source.

Red

1,212 miles-distance from mouth to source.

Lower Mississippi .1,286 miles-distance from mouth to source.

The combined lengths are :

Lower Mississippi and Missouri. . 4,194 miles.

Lower and upper Mississippi. 2.615 miles.

Gulf of Mexico to source of Ohio. 2,373 miles.

Gulf of Mexico to source of Arkansas 2,209 miles.

Gulf of Mexico to source of Red.

1,520 miles.

The character of the lower Mississippi has thus been described by an eminent authority : "At the mouth of the Missouri, the Mis- sissippi first assumes its characteristic appearance of a turbid and boiling torrent, immense in volume and force. From that point, its waters pursue their devious way for more than 1,300 miles, de-

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stroying banks and islands at one locality, reconstructing them at another, absorbing tributary after tributary, without visible in- crease in size,-until, at length, it is in turn absorbed in the great volume of the Gulf." (Humphreys and Abbot.)

When in flood, the river, unprotected by levees, extended to a width of thirty miles, and the surplus waters found their way to the ocean through deep forests and almost interminable swamps. As the waters receded, there was left behind, on the bottom lands, a sediment as fine and as fertilizing as the Nile mud. As a result of these long recurring annual overflows, there is a wide belt of Recent Alluvium bordering the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf. The greatest width of this belt is at Napoleon, where it is nearly 75 miles wide; its greatest contraction is at Natchez and Helena, where the width is only 25 miles. The area of the tract above the delta is 19,450 square miles. Of this area, 6,650 square miles are embraced in the Yazoo basin of Mississippi, and 278 square miles in the basin of the Homochitto. The allu- vial deposit at Cairo is about 25 feet thick, and about 35 feet in the Yazoo belt, and this thickness is maintained as far down as Baton Rouge. Borings at New Orleans indicate a thickness there of 40 feet.

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 30

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