USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 32
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Captain Perez and his troops had been permitted to remain at Mobile as an act of courtesy merely, was the statement of Gov. Holmes to Gov. Zuniga, in a letter complaining of the arrest and imprisonment by Perez of Capt. Diego McVoy, of the Territorial militia.
The appointment of pilots in Mobile harbor appear in the gover- nor's journal of May, and a recommendation that the laws be published in the Mobile Gazette.
The governor returned from Mobile May 5, full of confidence in the future importance of Mobile as a commercial port. He recommended the immediate appointment of a new Territorial judge to assist Judge Toulmin. The prospect of extensive smug- gling from Pensacola to Mobile was one of his reasons for this.
Mobile, Kemper Invasion. A movement in eastern Mississippi territory in sympathy with the Baton Rouge revolution seems to have begun as early as September 1810, when, upon a report from Col. Sparks, commanding at Fort Stoddert, Gov. Holmes advised Colonels Caller, Carson and Patton, of Washington, Wayne and Baldwin counties, that "the rumor of an illegal combination" by part of the citizens of Tombigbee to invade Mobile and Pensacola, continued to excite concern, expressing his sympathy with their hardships, but saying he would rely upon them to suppress any armed demonstrations.
But this was followed by the order to organize a battalion for active service, and the instructions from Gov. Claiborne to Col. Sparks early in December seemed to open the way to drive out the Spanish government. Col. Caller said he received suggestions from Gen. F. L. Claiborne which justified his subsequent conduct. Reuben Kemper arrived as the agent of the West Florida republic, and Caller joined with him in the organization of a filibustering ex- pedition. They went down the Tensas in flatboats, were joined by insurgents below the line, and to their camp at Blakeley a keel- boat load of provisions was sent from Baton Rouge. A party under James Hargreaves crossed over to menace Mobile from the west,
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but were surprised by the Spanish troops, in November, and sev- eral killed and wounded. Hargreaves, Cyrus Sibley, and nine oth- ers were sent to Moro castle and imprisoned for five years. On their return to Mississippi territory Kemper and Caller were ar- rested by Sheriff B. L. Smoot, on authority of Judge Toulmin, charged with setting on foot a military expedition against Spanish possessions, and there was a court of inquiry under Judge Toulmin, in the public building at Fort Stoddert, in which Lemuel Henry acted as prosecutor. A detachment of United States troops were sent to Fort Stoddert, under Col. Cushing, and Maj. Gaines with 80 men encamped in the vicinity of the town of Mobile, to preserve order.
Gov. Holmes wrote to Judge Toulmin, December 26, regretting the unfortunate circumstances below the line. He said the militia officers had been ordered by him "to suppress any attempt to arm and embody for the purpose of committing aggressions in Florida."
In February the governor reported to Washington that under the instructions of Gov. Claiborne to Col. Sparks, the latter supposed himself authorized to take Mobile, and called out the militia to as- sist in the campaign. But upon the arrival of Col. Cushing he ordered the militia to be dismissed. This complication, coupled with the arrest of certain inhabitants for joining with Kemper for the purpose of conquest, "occasioned a considerable degree of irrita- tion."
Col. Caller denounced Judge Toulmin as a Spanish intriguer and traitor, secured the signatures of the militia to a petition for his removal, persuaded a grand jury to make a presentment against him, and the general assembly of the Territory by petition in- duced an investigation by congress, which resulted in approval of the judge's conduct.
Mogul, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Pike county, 10 miles southeast of Magnolia, the county seat, and 4 miles east of Osyka, on the Illinois Central R. R., the nearest railroad and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 45.
Molino, a post-hamlet of Union county, situated on Wilhite creek, one of the head-streams of the Tallahatchie river, 10 miles northeast of New Albany, the county seat. Population in 1900, 22.
Money, a post-hamlet of Leflore county, on the Yazoo & Missis- sippi Valley R. R., 10 miles north of Greenwood, the county seat. Population in 1900, 40.
Money. Francis Baily, a young Englishman traveling down the river in 1797, sold a lot of goods which he brought along to trade with the Indians, to Joseph Vidal, secretary of the district govern- ment for 680 pesos, the pesos being about equivalent to a dollar, and when Baily asked for the money, Vidal offered a certificate. These certificates, it is stated in Baily's Journal, were a sort of paper money drawn by the commandants and paid out to soldiers and workmen, and received as money by the merchants. They were a kind of bank notes, "received upon the faith of government, though it must be observed that oftentimes there is no great sum
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of money in the treasury, and these certificates are returned unpaid, so they generally bear a discount ; and this discount is proportioned to the degree of confidence put in the prospect of getting the money. It happened that they bore at this time a discount of 12 per cent., and yet this unreasonable rascal wanted me to take them at their full value." Baily was unable to obtain any relief from this imposition from Gayoso or Carondelet. Gayoso told him the cer- tificates were legal tender, and he could take them or go to the cal- aboose.
A glimpse of the conditions in Territorial times may be gained from the following extract from the governor's message of 1809: "In some counties after certain periods, territorial paper has been refused in payment of taxes. That we might know the proportion the specie collected for taxes bears to that paid in the treasury, I called on the respective collectors, and find there have been col- lected from the four counties on the Mississippi (no answer having been received from 'Bigbee) about twenty-five hundred dollars, of which sum six dollars, ninety-nine and one quarter cents only have been paid in the treasury." It also appeared that certain in- dividuals high in public station and confidence were permitted to have specie at par, from the collectors, and others not so fortunate were compelled to pay their taxes in paper at a vast discount.
The first currency peculiarly Territorial was the issue of the Bank of the Mississippi. (See Banking.) With this was associated the bills of the United States bank, until that concern succumbed to the campaign of President Jackson for hard money. The cur- rency of the Planters' bank was entirely reliable for a long time, until the advent of the "flush times," (q. v.) characterized by the chartering of many wildcat banks, with the power to manufacture money. The issue of the Brandon bank was typical of the climax, when the money became worthless and involved thousands in ir- retrievable ruin. The money was not bad because it was issued by State banks, but because legislatures were too close to the spec- ulators who were exercising banking privileges, and neglected to require them to obey the rules of safety.
During the period of worthless bank notes, notes were issued by towns, hotels, blacksmith shops, and sometimes by individuals, and were known as "shin-plasters." An act of legislature Feb. 18, 1840, prohibited their issue under severe penalty. After 1840 the currency of the State was mainly the notes of banks in adjoin- ing States, and these suffered heavy depreciation and many became worthless in 1857-60. After the war began the State issued money (see Pettus Adm.), the most famous sort of which was the cotton notes, (q. v.) There was also an issue of notes by banks that had special permission, and by railroad companies, besides the notes of the Confederate treasury. All paper money of the Confederate period ultimately became worthless, and possessed very little pur- chasing power before the war closed.
The legislature in 1870 authorized the issue of notes for $1, $2, $3 and $5 called "certificates of indebtedness," receivable for taxes,
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to partly take the place of State warrants, that were selling at a heavy discount-thirty to forty per cent. This expedient was bor- rowed from Alabama, where it originated with Gov. Patton, after a consultation with the attorney-general of the United States. Though political and financial influence was exerted to defeat this method of curtailing the profits of the money brokers, said Gov. Alcorn, the railroads agreed to take them at par, thus aiding in gaining public confidence in the notes, and "The certificates of in- debtedness triumphed over all the attempts to break them down." The notes were printed by a bank note company in New York and were artistic, but depreciated in value before long, though supported by State bonds. In 1894 there was a similar attempt at State credit money, called Special Warrants (q. v.), which caused unpleasant complications, there having been Federal legislation meanwhile to prohibit the issue of notes bearing a resemblance to United States currency.
Money, Hernando De Soto, of Carrollton, one of Mississippi's representatives in the senate of the United States, was born August 26, 1839, in Holmes county, Miss. He received his collegiate advantages in the University of Mississippi and after completing his scholastic work he became a planter and engaged in the practice of law. When war broke out between the North and South Mr. Money joined the Confederate army and served until Sept. 26, 1864, when defective eyesight compelled his retirement from the service. As the representative of his district he was a member of the Forty- fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Fifty- third and Fifty-fourth Congresses in the House of Representatives. In January, 1896, he was elected to the United States senate for the terni beginning March 4, 1899. On Oct. 8, 1897, he was appointed to fill the vacancy in that body caused by the death, on August 14, 1897, of the Honorable J. Z. George; the legislature elected him to fill out the unexpired term and in 1899 he was elected for a full term and re-elected on Jan. 20, 1903. His term expires March 3, 1911.
Monroe County was originally embraced within the Chickasaw Indian territory, and, by the treaty of Chickasaw Council House, concluded September 20, 1816, that nation ceded to the United States 408,000 acres on their eastern or Creek frontier. This large tract lay upon the eastern tributaries of the upper Tombigbee river and comprised the original "county of Monroe." The Creek claims to these lands were surrendered by the treaty of Fort Jackson. It was attached to the State of Alabama until the winter of 1820, when the boundary was determined by actual survey, and on February 9, 1821, the legislature of Mississippi recognized it as within the limits of the State and approved a law entitled, "An act to form a county east of the Tombigby river, and for other purposes," which defined its limits as follows : "All the tract of country lying on the east side of the Tombigbee river . . . beginning on the east side of said river, where the eastern boundary line of the State crosses the same; thence northwardly with said boundary line, to
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the Chickasaw boundary; thence with said boundary line west- wardly to the Tombigbee river; thence with the meanders of said river to the beginning." The act of February 9, 1836, which organ- ized the Chickasaw cession of 1832 into counties, extended the limits of Monroe and defined them as follows: "Beginning at the point one mile due north of the point where the line between town- ships 11 and 12 intersects the eastern boundary line of the State, and running thence due west to the line between ranges 5 and 6 east ; thence south with the said range line, to the northern boun- dary of Oktibbeha county ; and thence due east to the mouth of the Buttahatchy river; thence according to the present boundaries be- tween the said county of Monroe and the county of Lowndes, to the eastern boundary line of the State, and thence along the said eastern boundary line to the beginning." For the final modification of the boundary line between Lowndes and Clay, see those counties. The county has a land surface of 762 square miles. Since that time Monroe county has formed part of the State of Mississippi, though it was long separated from the older counties in the southern part, and from the counties in the western part, erected out of the "New Purchase," by the remaining territory of the Choctaws. It was connected with them by a public road through the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations long known as the Natchez Trace (q. v.). Lowndes county and a part of Clay county were embraced within the old county of Monroe. It received its name from President James Monroe, and as now constituted, is bounded on the north by Lee and Itawamba counties, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Clay and Lowndes counties and on the west by Clay and Chicka- saw counties. A list of the civil officers of the county for 1821, the year of its organization, discloses the names of the following pioneers: Gideon Lincicum, Chief Justice of the Quorum, and Wiley Harbin, Ezekiel Nash, Stephen Harman, Frederick Weaver, Associate Justices; Bartlett Sims, Sheriff ; Silas Brown, Assessor and Collector ; Hezekiah Lincicum, Coroner ; John G. Faulks, Treas- urer and Ranger; Nathaniel Morgan, George Dilworth, Silas Mc- Bee, Thos. Sampson, Andrew Haynes, John H. Morris, David Shannon, John Halbot, Robert Earington, Jacob Laughridge, Justices of the Peace; James Draper, Robert Pickens, James Dil- lingham, Isaac Dyche, John Bibb, John H. Hayes, John Brighton, Benj. Morgan, William M. Kincaid, Constables ; William S. Moon, Surveyor ; S. Hawkins, Judge of Probate; Nathaniel Harbin, Clerk. Additional county officers for the years 1822-1827 inclusive, and excluding the names of officers given for the year 1821, are Robert I. Haden, Thomas Sampson, William Dowsing, George Higgason, Judges of Probate; John Kirk, Nathan L. Morgan, Associate Justices ; John Dexter, Assessor and Collector; James T. Burdine, Abram P. Gideon, Samuel B. Morgan, Constables; Samuel Rags- dale, Sheriff; Matthew Anderson, Geo. Dilworth, Coroners; Matthew Sims, Ranger; Willis A. Farris, Notary Public; William Downing, Ovid P. Brown, John H. Hand, Presidents of Columbus ; William Standifer, James White, Collin Mckinney, John Mullin,
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Alanson Nash, Wm. Coates, Wm. Cook, John Price, John Thomp- son, Eli Runnels, James Gray, Benjamin Land, Matthew Gibbs, Jeremiah Riggin, John McKinny, Richard Dilworth, Wm. Dowsing, Stephen Harman, Richard Halley, Jacob Bruton, Peter R. Mc- Clanahan, J. S. Cravens, Jesse McKenny, Edmond J. Bailey, George Good, Reuben Menifee, Stewart Pipkins, Robert D. Haden, John Fisher, William E. Willis, Robert B. Pickens, John T. Neal, Justices of the Peace.
Its early county seat was at Hamilton (q. v.), in the southern part of the county, one mile east of the Tombigbee river. The pres- ent town of Hamilton lies three miles to the northeast. Later, in 1830, the seat was moved to Athens, a little north of Aberdeen on the eastern side of the Tombigbee, where it remained until 1849. Cotton Gin Port (see separate title), was another old settlement on the Tombigbee about 13 miles north of Aberdeen. The present county seat is the thriving town of Aberdeen, which contains about 5,000 inhabitants and is a manufacturing town of considerable im- portance and the center of a thriving trade. It is on the Tombigbee river and has three railroads, the Mobile & Ohio, the Kansas City. Memphis & Birmingham, and the Illinois Central. It is adjacent to the iron and coal of Alabama, has a fine water power and is sur- rounded with forests of valuable wood and should continue to de- velop in many lines. Amory is a growing town of 1,211 (census of 1900) people in the northern part of the county, on the line of the K. C. M. & B. R. R., and, next to Aberdeen, is the most important town. Some of the smaller settlements besides those previously mentioned, are Gattman, Smithville, Prairie, Rees Store, Quincy and Sykes. The three railroads above mentioned give the region excellent transportation facilities in all directions. The attractions of this favored region of the State were early recognized, and a strong tide of emigration set in, composed for the most part of hardy pioneers of the best stock from the older states. It has long been regarded as one of the wealthiest and most inviting sections of the Commonwealth, noted for its fertile farms and thriving man- ufactures. The principal streams in the county are the Tombigbee river and its numerous tributaries, the most important of which is the Buttahatchie river on the southeastern border. The region is partly level and partly undulating with rich black prairie, and fine black sand soils, and a clay subsoil. Abundant crops of cotton, corn, wheat, oats, field peas, sorghum and grasses are grown, and all the fruits, large and small, and vegetables do well. It is an excellent stock region and many fine grades of live stock are being bred here. The county contains forests of poplar, cedar, hickory, ash, cypress, gum, wild-cherry, maple, walnut, beech, pine and oak, which supply ample material for its wood-working industries.
The following statistics, farm, manufacturing and population, from the United States census, 1900, will show the recent develop- ment of the county: Number of farms 4,854, acreage in farms 372,738, acres improved 187,404, value of land exclusive of build- ings $3,013,680, value of buildings $848,950, value of live stock $877,-
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675, total value of products not fed $2,009,066. The number of man- ufacturing establishments 91, capital invested $711,161, wages paid $126,485, cost of materials $322,254, total value of products $665,990. The population in 1900 was whites 12,555, colored 18,661, a total of 31,216 and 486 more than in 1890. The estimated population in 1906 was 35,000. Artesian water has been found in various parts of the county. The public highways are being worked under con- tract. Improved and unimproved lands have doubled in value in the last five years. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Monroe county in 1905 was $3,878,271 and in 1906 it was $4,322,575, which shows an increase during the year of $444,304.
Monterey, a post-hamlet of Rankin county, situated on Richland creek, a tributary of Pearl river, 7 miles southwest of Brandon, the county seat. Population in 1900, 36. Florence is its nearest rail- road and banking town.
Monterey, Battle of. In the Mississippi archives is Col. Jeffer- son's Davis' report to Gen. Quitman of this battle, September 21- 23, 1846. After stating the position of the regiment in the advance of the brigade against the lower fort (Teneria), the report reads : "I ordered the Mississippi riflemen to advance obliquely by the left of companies to a line which I established as effectively near to the enemy, and then ordered the battalion into line; the companies being directed when formed to commence firing as in open order. In a few minutes the fire of the enemy had so far diminished as to indicate the propriety of a charge, and being without instructions it was accordingly ordered. Lieut .- Col. McClung sprung before his old company and called on them to follow him. The call was promptly answered. In an instant the whole regiment rushed forward, the flanks converging toward an open embrasure which lay nearly before our center, and it became a contest of speed who first should reach the fort. The enemy fled from the rear sally ports as we entered the front, leaving behind him his artillery, a considerable number of muskets, his dead and wounded. Passing immediately through the fort we found the enemy flying in disor- der, some to a fortified stone building immediately in rear, others across the stream to the fort which stands beyond it. Our pursuit was so close that we reached the gate of the stone building before it was secured, and, upon forcing it open, the men inside fled be- hind the pilasters of the portico and held up their hands in token of submission. An officer offered me his sword and announced the surrender. I received it and retired to select an officer to take charge of the prisoners and receive their arms. Lieutenant Town- send of Company K was directed to discharge this duty, and the pursuit of the enemy was immediately resumed. Leading those who had come up across the ford, we advanced within rifle range of the fort beyond the stream, and opened a fire upon such of the enemy as showed themselves above the wall, the intention being to storm the fort as soon as a sufficient number of our regiment came up. . . In acordance with my instructions and expect- ing to find the main body of my regiment, I passed up the street
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to our right, with the force just withdrawn across the stream. We soon became mingled with other troops which we found along the wall, and after rallying my command for a forward movement, I found it much reduced. Captain Cooper had kept say twenty of his company together. With these and about ten others of our regiment I advanced until we met with Captain Field of the United States army, who led me to a point where he had discovered a con- siderable body, probably one hundred of the enemy. On our ap- proach they fled beyond a street which was enfiladed by the fire of a strong party sheltered behind the tete du pont of the principal bridge. Captain Cooper with the party accompanying us was posted in an interior building to act as sharp shooters against the men of the tete du pont, until we should be sufficiently reinforced for more offensive operations. After a brief period we were joined by Major Mansfield, of the United States engineers, with a small party of the First infantry under his command. Whilst the men were resting we reconnoitred the position and decided on a plan of attack. At this instant we were joined by General Hamer with a portion of his brigade and from him we received orders to retire, as I was afterward informed, to give protection to a battery of ar- tillery threatened by lancers, in the rear. In the meantime a few individuals, but no organized portion of my regiment, had joined me, and we followed in rear of General Hamer's column. After having proceeded the half of a mile or more, the enemy's cavalry appeared on our left, and the troops in front began to close and form on a chapparal fence in advance of us. The men under my com- mand had undergone such severe fatigue that their movements were necessarily slow, and some of them fell behind. A party of lancers dashed forward to attack the rear. I ordered the Rifle- men to face about and return to the relief of our comrades. The movement was readily executed, and though the files were in loose order their effective fire soon drove the enemy back, leaving sev- eral dead behind him. Soon after this I was joined by Major Brad- ford with the portion of the regiment which had served under his orders a great part of the day. We were now on the ground where for the third time during the day we had been under the cross fire of the enemy's batteries; when I learned from you the position of another portion of my regiment, and received your orders to join and consolidate it. I saw no exhibition of fear, no want of confidence, but on every side the men who stood around me were prompt and willing to execute my orders. I cannot omit to mention the gallant bearing of Lieutenant-Colonel Mc- Clung. At the storming of the fort he first mounted the parapet and turning to the regiment waved his sword over his head in that position to cheer the men on to further danger. It was my mis- fortune soon after to lose his services. At the fortified stone build- ing he was dangerously wounded. I must also mention Lieutenant Patterson who sprung into the open embrasure as Colonel McClung mounted the parapet, and fired the first American piece within the work of the enemy. Captain Downing, in whom is happily com-
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bined the qualities of a leader and commander, was severely woun- ded whilst (among the foremost) cheering his company to the charge, and I felt severely the loss of his services. Corporal Gresham, of Captain Taylor's company, fell near me, after we had crossed the stream and were advancing upon the fort beyond it. He had fired his rifle several times and was advancing firing with exemplary intrepidity, when he fell forward with two wounds and died as he had fought, calmly, silently, and with his eye upon the foe. Lieutenant Calhoun attracted my attention by the gallantry with which he exposed himself and the efforts he made to shelter others.
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