USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 51
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Phoenix, a hamlet in the southwestern part of Yazoo county, 20 miles from Yazoo City, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1906 was about 100. It has several good stores, two churches, and an excellent public school.
Pickayune, a station on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., in the western part of Hancock county, about 25 miles north- west of Bay St. Louis, the county seat. The Little Hobolo Chitto flows near the town. It has a money order postoffice, a telegraph and express office. The Bank of Pickayune was established here in 1904 with a capital of $50,000. Population in 1906 was estimated at 500.
Pickens, an incorporated post-town in Holmes county, on the Illi- nois Central R. R., about 15 miles southwest of Durant, and 18 miles south of Lexington, the county seat. The town was named for James Pickens, a land owner. It is situated in a fine cotton and grazing district. A considerable amount of cotton is shipped from here annually. The Bank of Pickens was established in 1888, cap- ital $20,000. Population in 1900, 504. It has a cotton-seed oil mill and a Munger system cotton gin.
Pickering, a station on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., in the south- eastern part of Covington county, about 12 miles from Williams- burg, the county seat. The postoffice was recently discontinued, and mail now goes to Sanford.
Picket, a hamlet in the southeastern part of Marshall county, 18 miles from Holly Springs, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice.
Pickwick, a post-hamlet of Marion county, 12 miles south of Columbia, the county seat, and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 50.
Piera, a postoffice in the extreme northwestern part of Lafayette county.
Pigott, a postoffice of Marion county.
Pike County was created by act of December 9, 1815, out of a part of the county of Marion, and its name perpetuates the memory of General Zebulon M. Pike, the explorer. Its limits were defined as follows :- "Beginning on the line of demarcation at the south- east corner of Amite county, running from thence east along said line thirty miles ; thence a line to run due north to its intersection with the summit of the dividing ridge between the waters of Bogue Chitto and Pearl river, after the same shall cross the waters of M'Gee's Creek, thence along the said ridge until it intersects the southern boundary of Lawrence county ; and all that tract of ter- ritory lying west and north of the lines thus described, shall form a new county by the name of Pike." The southern, west- ern and eastern lines have not been changed, but southern half of the northern tier of townships have been added to the counties of Lawrence and Lincoln, so that the present northern line of the county is from a point at the northwest corner of T. 4, R. 7 east ; thence east on the township line to the summit of the dividing ridge between the waters of Bogue Chitto and Pearl rivers; thence in a
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southeasterly direction with the summit of said ridge until it in- tersects the eastern boundary line between ranges 11 and 12 east. Its present area is about 20 townships. It is located on the south- ern frontier of the State next to the Louisiana border, and is bounded on the north by Lincoln and Lawrence counties, on the east by Marion county, on the south by Louisiana and on the west by Amite county. It has a land surface of 697 square miles. Be- fore the county was organized, a few permanent settlers were to be found along its rivers and creeks, chiefly in the valley of the Bogue Chitto river. The following is a list of the civil officers of the county for the year 1818: James Y. McNabb, Richardson Bow- man, Peter Quinn, Jr., Benjamin Bagley, Nathan Morris, Justices of the Quorum; Ralph Stovall, James Baggett, Wm. Carter, Mathew McCune, Nathan'l Wells, Nathan Sims, Thos. Arthur, Benj. Morris, Henry Quinn, Nathan Morris, Justices of the Peace ; Laban Bascot, Assessor and Collector; Wyley P. Harris, Ranger ; Jas. C. Dickson, Surveyor and Notary Public; Peter Quinn, Treas- urer ; other county officers, 1819-1827 were Peter Felder, Sr., Math- ew McEwen, Eleazer Bell, Justices of the Quorum; Leonard Var- nade, John Wilson, Richard Quinn, Benj. Thomas, Sr., David Cleveland, Thos. Rule, Jesse King, Nelson Higginbotham, Daniel Felder, Jas. Roberts, Leroy Tatum, James Hope, David Bullock, Jacob Coon, Michael Prescott, John Felder, Davis Barren, Stephen Ellis, Jas. Chamberlain, Justices of the Peace; Vincent Gamen, Barnabas Allen, Wm. Wilson, Wm. Dickson, Associate Justices ; David Cleveland, Robert Love, Judges of Probate; Felix Allen, A. M. Perryman, Treasurers; Laban Bascot, Sheriff, and Assessor and Collector ; Gordon D. Boyd, Wm. W. Pearson, Surveyors. County courts were first held at the residence of Gabriel Allen, on the Bogue Chitto, and finally in 1816, a commission was appointed, consisting of Benjamin Bagley, Peter Felder, Sr., Obed Kirkland, William Bullock, and David McGraw, Sr., to locate a permanent seat of justice within three miles of the center of the county. They selected a site in the valley of the Bogue Chitto, at the foot of a high range of hills, and called it by the name of Holmesville in hon- or of Major Andrew Hunter Holmes, a brother of Gov. David Holmes. The following were some of the prominent citizens of this old town: David Quinn, the first settler at the place, James Y. McNabb, clerk of the Superior court and delegate to the con- stitutional convention of 1817, David Cleveland, Probate Judge, sheriff and member of the Legislature, Laban Bascot, sheriff 1819- 1826, Henry Quinn, clerk of the courts, Anthony Perryman, the first merchant, John Black, William Gage, Buckner, Harris, Dil- lingham, Hagen and Wm. A. Stone, lawyers. When the railroad from New Orleans went through the county in 1857, Holmesville was left to the east of it about nine miles and soon began to decline in competition with the new towns which sprang up along the line of the railway, Osyka, Summit and Magnolia. Not long after this, the courts and county records were by vote removed to Magnolia, the present county site, and the past glory of the old town could
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not prevent its decay. Magnolia is now a thriving place of about 1,500 people and is growing rapidly. A few miles north of Magno- lia on the railroad is McComb, the largest town in the county, hav- ing over 6,000 inhabitants, extensive manufacturing and shipping interests, and the largest and most complete railroad shops in the State. A little farther north on the railroad is Summit, so called because of its altitude, 420 feet above tide water. Other railroad towns are Bartlett, Chatawa, Fernwood, and a few of the interior villages are Tylertown, Walkers Bridge, Topisaw, Manning and Trim. The Illinois Central R. R. affords an outlet for the products of the county and has been a potent agency in developing its re- sources. The Bogue Chitto river flows through the county from northwest to southeast, and with its numerous tributary creeks, supplies the region with its water and affords power for its numer- ous mills. There is a considerable growth of long-leaf pine in this region and some large tracts of hardwood timber, such as white oak, red oak, black oak, walnut, hickory, beech, maple, etc. The soil varies considerably ; it is a rich loam on the river and creek bottoms, not so good on the hammock and higher lands. It has a clay subsoil which will retain fertilizers, large quantities of which are used annually. The crops are the usual staples of the region and the yield is fairly good. Large quantities of early fruits and vegetables are grown, especially along the line of the railway, and are shipped to New Orleans and the northern markets. Many have also gone into the business of stock raising and have pros- pered. The pasturage is good the year through. Many settlers, farmers, mechanics and fruit growers have come to the region within recent years, and the county is rapidly increasing in popula- tion.
The following statistics from the twelfth census for 1900 relate to farms, manufactures and population :- Number of farms 2,550, acreage in farms 276,739, acres improved 96,570, value of the land exclusive of buildings $985,630, value of the buildings $573,220, value of live stock $514,273, value of products not fed to stock $1,130,446. Number of manufacturing establishments 78, capital invested $1,795,482, wages paid $483,555, cost of materials $783,- 692, total value of products $1,553,442. The population in 1900 was whites 13,829, colored 13,716, total 27,545, increase of 6,342 over the year 1890. The population in 1906 was estimated at 32,- 000. The public highways of the county are worked by contract and are in good shape. Most of the county schools are in excellent condition. The total assessed valuation of real and personal prop- erty in Pike county in 1905 was $5,023,808.89 and in 1906 it was $6,520,171.45, which shows an increase of $1,496,362.56 during the year.
Pikeville. An extinct town of Chickasaw county, situated in the southeastern part of the county, on the east bank of the Chuqua- tonchee, creek, and on the main road leading from Houston to Aberdeen. It originated about 1842, and became quite a trade cen- ter for the early pioneers west of Aberdeen, in what is now known
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as Egypt Prairie. For many years it had no rival in that section of the county, and offered excellent inducements for the establishment of business enterprises. A noteworthy business venture was the Pikesville tannery and shoe factory, established by R. G. Steel, a shrewd Alabamian. About the year 1857, Buena Vista, on the west. and Egypt Station, on the Mobile & Ohio railroad, about two miles to the northeast, began to absorb its trade. There is now no trace of the once prosperous town, though its name is perpetuated in the postoffice one mile east.
Pinckneyville, a little village in the extreme southern part of Wilkinson county, on the Louisiana border. The nearest railroad and banking town is Woodville. The town was named for the cel- ebrated Pinckney family of South Carolina. It was the county seat of justice for a number of years during the early history of the county, and some of the first English speaking settlers in the Natchez District entered lands in the vicinity of Pinckneyville. The Pinckneyville Academy was incorporated here in 1815, and was a flourishing school of the early days. The railroad never came to the settlement, and it is now a little village of only 23 in- habitants.
Pinebluff, a postoffice in the western part of Clay county, on Chewah creek, about 24 miles from Westpoint, the county seat. It has two stores.
Pinebur, a postoffice of Marion county, 12 miles southeast of Columbia, the county seat.
Pinegrove, a post-hamlet of Benton county, 10 miles south of Ashland, the county seat. Ripley is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 55.
Pineridge, a post-hamlet of Adams county, 5 miles northeast of Natchez. Population in 1900, 37.
Pine Valley, a hamlet in the eastern part of Yalobusha county, on Turkey creek, 7 miles southeast of Watervalley, the nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 75.
Pineville, a post-hamlet of Smith county, situated on Hatchushe creek, 10 miles northeast of Raleigh, the county seat. Population in 1900, 33.
Pink, a hamlet in the northeastern part of Rankin county. The postoffice at this place has been discontinued, and mail now goes to Pisgah.
Pinkney, an early settlement, dating back perhaps to 1837, or even earlier, and situated in the northwestern part of Newton coun- ty. In the early days the place was a trade center of some import- ance. Its name was changed to Stamper, and Stamper 'to Stratton. It has an excellent mill site.
Pinnellville, a post-hamlet of Jones county, situated on Rahomo creek, an affluent of the Leaf river, about 10 miles northwest of Ellisville, the county seat and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 34.
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Pinola, a station on the Columbia branch, Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 8 miles southwest of Mendenhall in Simpson county. It has a money order postoffice, two saw milling plants near the town, a cotton gin, several stores, two churches, a school and a bank. The Pinola Bank, a branch of The Newhebron Bank, was estab- lished here in 1904. The population is about 300.
Pisgah, a post-hamlet of Rankin county, 16 miles north of Bran- don, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. Pop- ulation in 1900, 30.
Pitchlyn, John. Major John Pitchlyn was born on the Island of St. Thomas in 1765. Little is known of his early boyhood be- yond the fact that he was reared among the Choctaw Indians, and obtained the rudiments of an English education. His father, an English officer, died in the Choctaw Nation, while he was on his way from South Carolina to the Natchez District, and left the boy alone among the Indians. Reared among these primitive con- ditions, the boy seems to have developed a sturdy and trustworthy character, as is well evidenced by his praiseworthy qualities in after life, and his life-long services to the United States.
The first official record of his name in connection with Missis- sippi history is that of a witness to the Hopewell Treaty of the Choctaws, Jan. 3, 1786. In this, the first treaty between the United States and the Choctaws, he was appointed interpreter for the Choctaw nation, and acted under this appointment until 1792, when he was re-appointed by Gov. William Blount. His claim for $300 a year for his services was before congress. He also ap- pears as "Sworn Interpreter" in the Choctaw treaties of 1802, 1803, 1816 and 1830. Governor Claiborne wrote of him in 1802: "Pitchlyn is a very useful man among the Choctaws, very faithful to the American interests."
In 1806, when the Spanish were intriguing with the Choctaw Six Towns, Secretary Mead wrote to the secretary of war: "Pitchlyn the interpreter has ever been and still is constant in his observation of their conduct. His son is now in the Six towns for the purpose of prying into the effect of their late visit to Mobile. This man deserves well of the United States. He is worthy of your particular favor." When Tecumseh's prophet, Seekaboo. was trying to bring about an uprising among the Choctaws against the United States, we are told by the authority on Indian affairs, Dr. Gideon Lincecum, that Pitchlyn, "with Bible in hand, con- fronted Seekaboo with divine proof that the day of prophecy had passed."
His influence over the Choctaws was always remarkable, but was undoubtedly due to his strength of character, and his long intimate association with that people. There is nothing to show that he was ever made a chief or high captain of the tribe. More- over, his position as official U. S. interpreter would have clashed with that of a Choctaw chieftain.
He was twice married and had five sons and five daughters. He once lived at Plymouth, but by the provisions of the treaty of
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Dancing Rabbit Creek he was given two sections of land on the Robinson Road, four miles west of Columbus. It is also worthy of mention that by the supplementary Articles of this treaty, his sons Silas and Thomas were each given one section of land ad- joining that of their father, while two other sons, Peter Perkins and John Pitchlyn Jr., were each given two sections. Thus the family received a total of 5,120 acres of the best lands in Lowndes county. After the above grant was made him, Major Pitchlyn built a fine home, and is said to have owned in 1831 fifty slaves and to have had two hundred acres of land under cultivation. He was also interested with Robert Jemison, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in a stage line to Jackson, over the Robinson Road, and personally supervised the Columbus-Jackson branch of the same.
Mr. William A. Love of Lowndes county thus sketches the end of his career: "In 1834 he sold his lands on the Robinson Road and at the date of his death in 1835 was living at Waverly, now in Clay county, where he was buried. . Sometime after the burial of Major Pitchlyn, his grave was desecrated by unknown persons in search of treasure, and this coming to the ears of his sons then in the west, one of them came and removed his remains to the Indian Territory."
Pitchlyn, John, Jr. John Pitchlyn, Jr., was a son of Major John Pitchlyn by his first wife. There is nothing to record of his early life, and it is reasonable to conclude that his early career did not materially differ from that of the average half-breed Choctaw of the period. The first official mention of his name is as a first lieu- tenant and quartermaster of a battalion of Choctaw warriors in the service of the United States, from March 1, to May 29, 1814.
He was commonly known as Jack Pitchyln or simply "Jack," and after the War of 1812, he lived on the Robinson Road, a few miles west of Columbus, and pursued the avocations of merchant, farmer, and stock raiser. He married a daughter of one of the Colbert's, prominent in the Chickasaw Nation, near Pontotoc. He appears to have borne an excellent reputation when sober, but intoxicated, was a dangerous citizen. Many crimes are laid at his door when under the influence of liquor, and he seems to have finally met a tragic end as a result of one of these drunken frenzies. While drunk he killed his half-brother Silas, a crime certain to be avenged by the Indians. After a short interval, he emerged from a period of hiding, and appeared openly in the Chickasaw nation, in the vicinity of Cotton Gin Port. Here his Indian enemies found him one night after supper while strolling in the suburbs of the village, and promptly shot him before he could draw his weapon in self defense.
Pitchlyn, Peter Perkins. Peter Perkins Pitchlyn, son of Major John Pitchlyn, was born in 1806 on Hashuqua creek in what is now Noxubee county. He received a good schooling at Nashville, Tenn., and on his return home he married a daughter of David Folsom and afterwards lived a few miles south of the present town of Artesia on the western edge of a beautiful prairie. He
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was a farmer and stock raiser by profession, and was an esteemed member of the community in which he lived. He seems to have had ample means and was the owner of ten slaves. When the Choctaws moved west of the Mississippi, he sold out all his inter- ests and went west with his nation, where he was prominent for many years in the councils of his people. (Lowndes County. Pioneer Settlers, Wm. A. Love).
"At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 Pitchlyn was in Washington attending to public business for his tribe, and as- sured Mr. Lincoln that he hoped to keep his people neutral; but he could not prevent three of his own children and many others from joining the Confederates. He himself remained a Union man to the end of the war, notwithstanding that the Confederates raided his plantation of 600 acres and captured all his cattle, while the emancipation proclamation freed his one hundred slaves. He was a natural orator as his speeches and addresses abundantly prove. According to Charles Dickens, who met him while on his visit to this country, Pitchlyn was a handsome man, with black hair, aquiline nose, broad cheek bones, sunburned complexion, and bright, keen, dark and piercing eyes. His death occurred at Wash- ington, D. C., in 1881, and he was buried in the congressional cem- etery there, with Masonic honors, the poet. Albert Pike. delivering a eulogy over his remains. (Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography.)
Pittman, a postoffice of Marion county, 10 miles southwest of Columbia, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town.
Pitts, a post-hamlet of Calhoun county, about 14 miles northeast of Pittsboro, the county seat. Population in 1900, 26.
Pittsboro, the county seat of Calhoun county, is an incorporated post-town, 30 miles east, northeast of Grenada. Coffeeville, on the Illinois Central R. R., is the nearest railroad and banking town. The land on which the county seat was located in 1852 was do- nated to the county by Ebenezer Gaston, and the first name of the settlement, Orrsville, was changed to Pittsboro at a meeting of the board of supervisors, July 26, 1852. The county board held its first recorded meeting at Pittsboro, February 13, 1853; the court house here was completed in 1856, at a cost of about $10,000. The town received its name for an early settler. Several large mills are located here, also three churches and a male and female acade- my. There are two newspapers-the Calhoun Monitor, a Demo- cratic weekly established in 1900, T. M. Murphree and J. B. Going, editors and publishers ; The Calhoun News, a Democratic weekly established in 1901, G. L. Martin, editor and publisher. Population in 1900, 254.
Plain, a post-hamlet of Rankin county, on the Gulf & Ship Is- land R. R., 6 miles south of Jackson. Population in 1900, 82. Flor- ence is its nearest banking town.
Plantation Life. "The towns and villages of Mississippi, as in European States," wrote J. H. Ingraham in 1835, "are located per- fectly independent of each other, isolated among its forests, and
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often many leagues apart, leaving in the intervals large tracts of country covered with plantations, and claiming no minuter sub- division than that of county. Natchez, for instance, is a corpora- tion one mile square, but from the boundaries of the city to Wood- ville, the next incorporated town south, there is an interval of thirty-eight miles. It is necessary for the planters who reside be- tween towns so far asunder, to have some more particular address than the indefinite one arising from their vicinity to one or other of these towns. Hence, has originated the pleasing custom of naming estates, as in England. These names are generally selec- ted with taste, such as Monmouth, Laurel Hill, Grange, Mag- nolia Grove, The Forest, Cottage, Briars, Fatherland, and An- chorage-the last given by a retired navy officer to his plantation. The name is sometimes adopted with reference to some character- istic of the domain, as The Oaks, China Grove, New Forest, etc., but more frequently it is a mere matter of fancy. Each town is the center of a circle which extends many miles around it into the country, and daily attracts all within its influence. The ladies come in carriages to shop, the gentlemen on horseback to do business with their commission merchants, visit the banks, hear the news, dine together at the hotels, and ride back in the evening. The Southern town is properly the Exchange for the neighboring planters, and the Broadway for their wives and daugh- ters. Showy carriages and saddle horses are the peculiar characteristics of the moving spectacle in the streets of south- western towns. . During the season of gayety, in the win- ter months, the public assemblies and private coteries of Natchez are unsurpassed by those of any city, in the elegance, refinement, or loveliness of the individuals who compose them. But fashion and refinement are not confined to Natchez. In nearly every county reside opulent planters, whose children enjoy pre- cisely the same advantages as are afforded in the city. Drawn from the seclusion of their plantations, their daughters are sent to the north, whence they return in the course of time with improved minds and elegant manners. Elegant women may be found blooming in the depths of forests far in the interior."
"Many of the stately and beautiful plantation homes of the old Mississippi aristocracy still stand to bring forth pleasant memo- ries of the past," writes Dunbar Rowland (M. H. S. Publ. III. 91). "They are to be seen here and there as loving reminders of all that was true, noble and gentle in the lives of their princely owners. How beautiful they seem as they stand in the solitude of a brilliant and stormy past. They were looked upon by the lordly masters of the Old South as blessed and favored homes in a land where intellect, wealth, happiness and good breeding reigned supreme. How stately and grand they look, massive, graceful and enduring, they seem to be grim sentinels to remind a new gener- ation of a noble and heroic past. There is a sorrow and pathos about them that tenderly appeals to the new life and new impulses that everywhere surrounds them. As one of our most brilliant 28-11
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writers has said: 'The sorrow that is common makes tender the bitterness of the fierce, cruel past, and the kisses that rained on the faces of the dead turn into caresses of consolation for the living.'" One of these homes was Anandale, home of the Johnstons. Near old Livingston also, was Cottage Place, home of John Robinson. Many such homes are mentioned in biographical sketches in this work. Mrs. Deupree has preserved descriptions of some of the most famous in her contributions to the Historical society.
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