USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 5
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Before the Choctaw cession of 1820 there were 4.792,000 acres of land sold in Mississippi and Alabama, for $17,656,549, of which $5,577,057 had been paid.
The sales were about $150,000 in 1807, when they began; next year, when there was war in prospect, they dropped to $35,000; after that they varied from $150,000 to $300,000 until 1813-15, the war period, when the annual sales were $60,000, $82,000 and $54,- 000. Then in 1816 the sales leaped to over $1,000,000, next year to $2,000,000, and in 1818 to $3,715,000. The sales in 1819 were, however, unprecedented-$9,700,000, more than half the total from 1807. This was almost entirely in Alabama, however, in the new Indian cessions.
Under the act of March 3, 1819, a land office was established at Jackson Courthouse, (county seat of Jackson county), to take evidence regarding titles to land in the coast region based on French. English and Spanish grants. William Barton was regis- ter; William Barnett, receiver; John Elliott, clerk and interpre- ter. These officers also had charge of the sale of the lands in that region, annexed in 1812 from West Florida south of the Ellicott line and east of the Pearl river. The report for October 1, 1821, was west of Pearl river district, total lands in district, 3,502,080 acres, all surveyed; Jackson Courthouse, 2,097,600, no surveys; east of Pearl river (Ala.), 6,904,320, 5,253,000 surveyed. The re- ceipts of the Jackson county officer in 1820 were $13,405; at Wash- ington $90,876; while the receipts at Huntsville, Cahawba, were $407,000, and at St. Stephens $67,000.
By the act of May 6, 1822, the old district east of Pearl river in the first Choctaw cession was divided, and that part of it in Mis- sissippi was assigned to the Jackson county land office, which was removed to Augusta. The territory of this office was then the southeast corner of the State, south of the "old Choctaw boundary." The same act also created a new district to include the lands ceded by the Choctaws at Doak's Stand (q. v.) in 1820, estimated at over 5,000,000 acres, the land office to be established at such convenient place as the president might direct. The president was authorized to order all or part of the land surveyed and offered for sale, the first sale to be held at any convenient place west of Pearl river if so desired. To this new district was attached the lands east of the Tombigbee in Mississippi, to which the Indian title had been extinguished in 1816, and which had belonged to the Madison coun- ty district. (Ala.)
In 1822 the president appointed Gideon Fitz register, and James C. Dickson, brother of David Dickson, receiver for the land of- fice at Jackson. Surveyor Freeman recommended the sales to be at Washington or Port Gibson, but the legislature in December, 1822, petitioned for sales at Jackson, where the first sale occurred in November, 1833.
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The act of Feb. 22, 1827, authorized the president to order the removal of "the .land office now located at Jackson," and it was accordingly, changed to Mount Salus, the former home of Gov. Leake, (now Clinton), upon request of the legislature.
Under the act of 1803, there was also appointed a "surveyor of the lands of the United States south of Tennessee," to whose duties were added the survey of the lands of Orleans district in 1805, and the country annexed from West Florida in 1812. Isaac Briggs, of Maryland, was the first surveyor, appointed April 7, 1803. He was succeeded by Seth Pease, of the District of Colum- bia, appointed March 2, 1807, who arrived in May of that year. Thomas Freeman was appointed Aug. 27, 1810, and he continued in office until his death in 1821. His jurisdiction was restricted in 1817, by the appointment of Gen. John Coffee as surveyor in the northern district of Mississippi territory, which district was changed in the following year to Alabama territory, leaving Free- man the surveyor of all public lands in the State of Mississippi. Jan. 9, 1822, Levin Wailes was appointed, to succeed Freeman. Joseph Dunbar, collector of the revenue district was appointed surveyor in Jan., 1830, vice - removed.
The report of B. L. C. Wailes, register at Washington, in July, 1824, showed: Area of Natchez District, 2,031,800 acres; Subse- quent purchases 12,475,000 acres; Yet in hands of Chickasaws and Choctaws, 15,700,000 acres. The State was divided into three land districts, one for the district west of Pearl, with the land office at Washington, and one east of Pearl, with office at Augusta, and the Choctaw district, with the office at Clinton, where all transactions were on the cash basis, no debts or forfeitures. In the western district the private claims confirmed by the United States, chiefly British and Spanish grants, amounted to 545,480 acres. Only about one-third of the lands in the district had been disposed of, say 988,000 acres. The forfeitures March 4, 1829, were about $159,000.
There were six land districts, called the Paulding, the Columbus, the Washington, the Grenada, the Jackson, and the Chickasaw districts, with an office at each of the towns named, there being no separate office for the Chickasaw district. In 1869 all the offices were consolidated in one at Jackson, with C. L. C. Cass as receiver and Charles W. Loomis register. The receivers since Mr. Cass have been Robert J. Alcorn. A. H. Kimball. John T. Hull, Wallace McLaurin, George C. McKee, Mrs. A. H. McKee, R. W. Banks, George Edward Matthews, Isaiah T. Montgomery. Thomas B. McAllister. The registers in the same period have been R. C. Kerr. James D. Stewart. Henry Kernagan, Robert E. Wilson, James Hill, F. W. Collins. L. Q. C. Lamar. Jr.
Land Pre-emption. James Madison, Albert Gallatin and Levi Lincoln, United States commissioners to make an amicable settle- ment with the State of Georgia, who, in the performance of this duty, arranged the Georgia relinquishment of 1802, made a report to congress Feb. 16, 1803, accompanied by a report from Gov.
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William C. C. Claiborne, and these statements of fact and recom- mendations theron were the basis of the legislation upon land titles and pre-emption, so far as the principles already established were adapted to this region. In the report of the commissioners are set out the facts regarding the holding of lands in the Natchez and Mobile districts by inhabitants, at that time. All who had been actual settlers at the time of the signing of the treaty with Spain, Oct. 27, 1795, under grants that had been legally and fully executed, whether from Great Britain, or Spain or the State of Georgia, under the Bourbon county act, were invited by the governor of the territory to exhibit their claims to the clerks of the county courts, prior to Nov. 1, 1802. Some failed to do so, either "through inat- tention, or from an unaccomodating disposition," said Gov. Clai- borne, or because a report was put in circulation industriously by "some designing characters" that the call for titles was intended to work injury to those who had them. The governor was of the opinion that there were not more than 350,000 acres on the Missis- sippi covered by claims of this character, which the government was pledged to confirm. But there were many people who had never completed their titles, and held only the original order to the surveyor to survey land for them, with or without an actual survey, and all of these without any subsequent confirmatory proceedings. There were also many settlers without any evidence of title. Ac- cording to the governor. "one hundred and thirty heads of families had, prior to October. 1795, formed settlements, without any other title but what might be derived from the Bourbon act; and seven hundred more have settled in the country since that time, (up to 1802), who either have no title whatever, or rest their claims on Spanish orders of survey and grants issued after the date of the treaty." Those of the last description, who immigrated before the Spanish posts had been evacuated, urged their ignorance at first of the treaty, and the subsequent acquiescence of the American government in the continued possession by the Spanish govern- ment. The commissioners recommended that titles based on orders of survey be recognized in the hands of actual settlers at the critical day. The commissioners also advised the appointment of a commission to pass on the claims, and that the right of pre- emption of 640 acres be extended to settlers who were weak in title.
Gov. Claiborne urged that it was essential that the latter class should be protected. The heads of families of this description, in the counties of Jefferson, Adams, Wilkinson and Claiborne, he said, exceed 700 and their wives and children to near 3,000. "I do sincerely hope that these citizens may be secured in their im- provements, and that the government will sell out the vacant lands in this district upon moderate terms, and in small tracts, to actual settlers." If this were not done, said the governor, much distress would result, and many of the settlers would leave the territory in disgust, to find more generous treatment beyond the Mississippi, while their farms would fall into the hands of rich speculators.
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either in the Natchez district or from the United States. Thus, "the most distant and infant settlement of the United States, at present insulated and defenceless, would be rendered more weak and defenceless by the banishment of the poor class of white citi- zens, and the introduction of a few wealthy characters, with a large increase of negroes; a description of inhabitants already formidable to our present population."
It is to be borne in mind that though this region was under the United States government from 1798, it was not decided who was to convey title to lands until the Georgia settlement of 1802, and then there was nothing to convey, except in Natchez and Mobile districts, which had long been relinquished by the Indians, until the Indians were persuaded to cede more lands. The vacant lands alluded to by the governor were in the district of Natchez, or the upper district of Mobile, as they were definitely bounded under the British administration of West Florida.
The act of congress of March 3, 1803, conformed to the main recommendations of the commissioners and the governor. In- complete claims on orders of survey were to be confirmed the same as if completed, if made by actual inhabitants and cultivators on Oct. 27, 1795.
Besides, any one being of legal age or the head of a family on that day, who did actually inhabit or cultivate, without title from Spain or Great Britain, a tract of land in the territory, not claimed under some grant protected by the terms of the Georgia cession, should be donated not to exceed 640 acres.
Also, any person of legal age or the head of a family, being on March 3, 1803, the inhabitor or cultivator of a tract of land not claimed by others as already specified, or by a British grant, or subject to the claims protected in the Georgia cession, was assured of a preference in becoming the purchaser from the United States, at the regular price.
These were the three classes of actual settlers of small bodies of land, protected by the United States law against loss of their property, though they were annoyed for some years afterward by the pretensions of non-resident British claimants.
The register of the Land office, created by the same act of 1803, with two other persons appointed by the president constituted the commission recommended by Madison to receive and hear testi- mony regarding claims. Where they were satisfied that the claim- ant was entitled to land under the Georgia agreement, in virtue of a British and Spanish grant fully executed, they so certified, and the certificate being recorded by the register of the land office, served the purpose of a deed from the United States. Similar certificates were given upon sufficient proof of claims under the Bourbon county act, or claims of the two classes of inhabitants in October, 1795, which entitled the claimant to a patent from the United States. Where the pre-emption right was claimed, the certificate entitled the claimant to become the purchaser, provided
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he entered his certificate with the register by Jan. 1, 1805, and paid a fourth of the purchase money and expenses, by Jan. 1, 1806.
The final report of the land office in regard to these claims exist- ing when the law of 1803 went into force, was that up to July, 1807, to which limit the time for making proof was extended, from time to time, there had been entered 819 certificates founded on British and Spanish patents; which entries made a perfect title in those cases. Besides, there were 300 cases in which patents were to be issued, without any payment of purchase money to be required, under the first provision of the law of 1803, to holders of survey warrants and such like imperfect titles, who were occu- pants at various dates from 1787 up to March 30, 1798. There had also been 345 pre-emption claims filed. Titles in sixteen cases were clouded by conflicting British claims and seven pre-emption claims were clouded in the same manner.
The pre-emption claims were generally under 640 acres. Four of them were in excess, one of these being the claim of Peter B. Bruin for 1,160 acres on Bayou Pierre.
Land Titles, French. The French land titles generally ceased with the English ocupation of 1763. D'Abbadie, commandant at New Orleans, wrote the French government January 10, 1764: "Immediately after the delivering up of Mobile to Mr. Farmer, who took possession of it in the name of his Britanic Majesty, this officer issued a captious decree, which is calculated to produce the greatest anxiety in the minds of the French inhabitants. (1) He requires the French inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance within three months, if they wish to be protected in their prop- erty. What right has he to impose any such obligation on those in- habitants, since the treaty grants them a delay of eighteen months to emigrate, if they choose. and since it is stipulated that they shall be, under no pretext, subjected to any restraint whatsoever? (2) The French inhabitants are prohibited from disposing of any land or real estate, until their titles thereto are verified, registered and approved by the commanding officer. No titles are accepted as good, except those which are founded on concessions in due form. given by the governors and the Intendant Commissary of New Orleans, when, on account of the small number of inhabitants, and of the immense extent of public lands, the mere fact of taking pos- session and the continuation of it, on permission given to select a tract of land and to clear it of its timber, has always been looked upon as a sufficient title."
Landon, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Harrison county, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 5 miles by rail north of Gulfport.
Langford, a postoffice of Rankin county, 5 miles north of Brandon, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town.
Langley, a postoffice in the north-central part of Attala county, 12 miles north of Kosciusko, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town.
Langsdale, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Clarke county, about 15 miles southeast of Quitman, the county seat, and
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8 miles east of Shubuta, the nearest railroad and banking town. Population in 1900, 36.
Lantrip, a postoffice of Calhoun county.
Lapanto, a postoffice of Yazoo county.
L'Argent, a post-hamlet of Sharkey county, situated near the mouth of Big Sunflower river, about 25 miles southeast of Rolling Fork, the county seat. Population in 1906, 25.
Larue, a hamlet in the western part of Jackson county, about 22 miles northwest of Pascagoula, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice.
La Salle, Robert Cavelier de. La Salle's chief title to enduring fame lies in his famous journey of exploration to the mouth of the Mississippi river in 1682. He was born at Rouen, France, and educated at a Jesuit seminary. While still a young man, he went to Canada to seek his fortune, and was patronized by M. Talon, the Intendant. For his eminent services in the exploration of the Canadian lakes, he was rewarded with a patent of nobility by king Louis, on the occasion of a visit to France in 1675. In 1678 he was commissioned to undertake the exploration of the Mississippi and was issued the following patent :
"Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre: To Our Dear and Well Beloved Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, Greeting :
"We have received with favor the very humble petition, which has been presented to us in your name, to permit you to endeavor to discover the western part of New France; and we have con- sented to this proposal the more willingly, because there is noth- ing we have more at heart than the discovery of this country, through which it is probable a road may be found to penetrate to Mexico; and because your diligence in clearing lands which we granted to you by the decree of our council of the 13th of May, 1675, and by Letters Patent of the same date, to form habitations upon the said lands, and to put Fort Frontenac in a good state of defense, the seigniory and government whereof we likewise grant- ed to you, afford us every reason to hope that you will succeed to our satisfaction and to the advantages of our subjects of the said country.
"For these reasons, and others thereunto moving us, we have per- mitted and do hereby permit you by these presents, signed by our hand, to endeavor to discover the western part of New France, and for the execution of this enterprise to construct forts wher- ever you shall deem it necessary ; which it is our will that you shall hold on the same terms and conditions as Fort Frontenac, agree- ably and conformably to our Letters Patent on the 13th of March, 1675, which we have confirmed as far as is needful, and hereby confirm by these presents. And it is our pleasure that they be exe- cuted according to their form and tenor.
"To accomplish this and everything above mentioned we give you full powers ; on condition, however, that you shall finish this enterprise within five years, in default of which these presents shall
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be void and of no effect ; that you carry on no trade whatever with the savages called Outaouacs and others who bring their beaver skins and other peltries to Montreal; and that the whole shall be done at your expense and that of your company, to which we have granted the privilege of the trade in buffalo skins. And we com- mand the Sieur de Frontenac, our Governor and Lieutenant-Gen- eral, and the Sieur Duchesne, Intendant, and the other officers who compose the supreme council of the said country, to affix their sig- natures to these presents; for such is our pleasure. Given at St. Germaine en Laye, this 12th day of May, 1678, and of our reign the thirty-fifth.
"(Signed) Louis."
It will be noted that the king seems to have had no higher motive than to permit LaSalle to explore the western part of New France at his own risk and expense. France would benefit mightily from the projected voyage, both in knowledge and territory. La Salle must find his recompense in the "privilege of the trade in buffalo skins" and the seigniory of the forts established and the settlements which might be expected to spring up about them. It was not known that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf and not into the South Sea; forts established along its course cemented the owner- ship of France. LaSalle saw the possibilities in this great and fertile valley and expected to establish on a firm basis the claim of France to a splendid new empire. He was just the man to un- dertake this great work. Endowed with extraordinary capacity, tact and perseverance, and indomitable courage, he finally arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi, on the 9th of April, 1682. He then ascended a short distance to a considerable elevation and with all possible ceremony planted the cross and raised the arms of France together with the inscription: "Louis Le Grand, Roi, de France et de Navarre, Regne: Le Nouvieme April, 1682." Then after chanting the hymn of the church "Vexalla Regis" and the "Te Deum," in the name of his majesty, he took possession of the Mississippi river, of all rivers that enter it and of all the country watered by them, and called the country Louisiana. The narrative of Father Membre recites: "An authentic act was drawn up, signed by all of us there, and amid a volley from all our muskets, a leaden plate inscribed with the arms of France, and the names of those who had just made the discovery, was deposited in the earth."
Detailed accounts of this famous voyage have been fortunately preserved to us in the narratives and memoirs of De Tonty, Father Membre. and other members of the expedition. (See His. Coll. of La., By B. F. French).
Once more LaSalle returned to France. The great French Min- ister, Colbert, was now no more, and his son, Seignelay, was Min- ister of Marine. To him he delivers two memoirs, the one his official account of the taking possession of Louisiana, and the other urging an expedition by sea to the Mississippi, with a memorandum of the equipment and supplies necessary to undertake it. He was
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duly authorized to build forts and plant colonies in Louisiana and fitted out an expedition of four ships, and 280 persons, including Father Zenobe, and M. Joutel, the future historian of the expedi- tion. This expedition sailed on the 24th of July, 1684, reached the Gulf of Mexico in the following December, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi, and LaSalle was compelled to effect a landing in the bay of St. Bernard, where he built a fort. He made a num- ber of attempts to find the Mississippi, and during the last one was assassinated by one of his countrymen, on one of the branches of the Trinity, March 20, 1687. In this inglorious manner died the man who has been styled the "Father of French Colonization in the Mississippi Valley." Says Sparks, "To him must be mainly ascribed the discovery of the vast regions of the Mississippi Val- ley, and the subsequent occupation and settlement of them by the French; and his name justly holds a prominent place among those which adorn the history of civilization in the new world."
Latonia, a post-village in the northeastern part of Jackson county, on the boundary line between Mississippi and Alabama, about 35 miles north of Pascagoula, the county seat. It is on the right bank of the Escatawpa river, and is a prosperous station on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R. Population in 1900, 200.
Latourette's Map. The first of the modern maps of Mississippi was published by Latourette in 1840. Gov. McNutt recommended the purchase of 200 by the legislature.
Lattimore, William, was born at Norfolk, Va., Feb. 9, 1774 : after an academic education he prepared for the practice of medi- cine, and with his brother, David, also a physician, came to Nat- chez in 1801. In 1802 they were given charge of the small-pox camp established by Gov. Claiborne, also of the vaccination of the inhabitants. David Lattimore, in 1802, was appointed a member of the Territorial council by President Jefferson, to succeed Adam Bingaman. On March 12, 1803, William Lattimore was elected by the general assembly as delegate in congress to succeed Thomas M. Green. In communicating this to Secretary Madison, Gov. Claiborne wrote: "Doctor Lattimore is a young man of promis- ing talents and a firm and genuine republican." He was reelected in 1805. In 1807 and 1809 George Poindexter was chosen as dele- gate, and upon his declining to serve longer. Dr. Lattimore was again elected, in 1813 and 1815, serving until the State was ad- mitted. His election in 1813 was by a plurality over Cowels Mead and Thomas B. Reed, and was a victory for the Whig element. Marschalk wrote of him at this time: "Modest, fond of retirement and confident of the good sense and justness of his fellow-citizens, he has been always willing to rest his services and reputation in the hands of a generous and discriminating public." In 1817 he was a member of the constitutional convention. in 1819 was ap- pointed one of the seven censors of the medical profession. under the law of that period, and in 1823 he was an unsuccessful can- didate for governor against Walter Leake.
He was the head of a party that deprecated the early discussion
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of a division of the territory and statehood. When division was inevitable, "his project was to follow the Choctaw boundary east- erly, from the northwest corner of Washington county to the Tombigbee, thence up that river to Cottongin port, thence north to Bear Creek. It is very evident, from his whole course in this matter, that this intelligent and conscientious man intended to represent the whole territory fairly in this and all other matters. But a terrible howl was made in the west against his surrender of the only seaport (Mobile), and of the Tombigbee, and he was not only defeated, but never recovered his popularity, though no man had served the Territory with more fidelity. And in private life, of all our public men, he had ever been the most exemplary and unimpeachable." (Claiborne's Mississippi.) Both brothers "were men of sense and cultivation and wrote and spoke fluently and forcibly. In private life they were greatly beloved. William Lat- timore settled in that part of Wilkinson which subsequently be- came the county of Amite. His last public service was as commissioner, in connection with Gen. Thomas Hinds and Judge Peter A. VanDorn, to select a site for the seat of govern- ment for the State. They selected the site of the present city of Jackson. Dr. William Lattimore died in Amite county, April 3, 1843."
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