Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 6

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 6

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Lauderdale, an incorporated post-town in the northeastern part of Lauderdale county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., 18 miles north- east of Meridian, the nearest banking town. Wild Horse creek, an affluent of the Tombigbee, flows one mile north of the town, Like the county, it received its name in honor of Col. James Lauderdale. It has a money order postoffice, several stores, two churches and a grist mill. Population in 1900, 288.

Lauderdale County, one of the richest and most populous counties in the State, was established December 23, 1833, while Charles Lynch was acting-governor. It has a land surface of 677 · square miles, and is located about the middle of the eastern border of the State next to the Alabama line. It received its name in honor of Col. James Lauderdale, of the War of 1812. By the original act it embraced "all the territory within townships 5, 6, 7 and 8, of ranges 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19," and has an area of about 19 townships. It is bounded on the north by the county of Kemper, on the east by Sumter county, Ala., on the south by Clarke county, and on the west by Newton county. Its early county seat was located at Marion until 1866; at Marion Station from 1866 to 1870; it was then removed to Meridian, the present county seat. In addition to the old county seat of Marion, the towns of Alamutcha and Daleville, and the villages of Sageville and Chunkeyville, were settled at a very early date in the history of the county. All four towns are now extinct. Alamutcha was once an Indian village, situated not far from Kewanee. Daleville is now known as Lizelia, and was about 10 miles northwest of Meridian ; it was named for Gen. Sam Dale, who first settled there. A few miles distant is Cooper Institute, now known as Daleville. Sageville was near the

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present station of Okatibbee, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R .; E. J. Rew and Abram Burwell were citizens of the old village. Chunkey- ville was absorbed by Chunkey Station, on the Alabama & Vicks- burg R. R. Before the War, Lauderdale Springs was a popular health resort. No city in the State can show a more remarkable growth since the War than Meridian. Up to 1854, it was a junction point, whose very name was in dispute ; in 1866, its first factory was established-a foundry and machine shop. Its growth was then steady, being only interrupted by a number of disastrous fires, and by the great fever epidemic of 1818. There were 22 manufacturing establishments in 1890; 119 in 1900, showing a gain in one decade of 440.9 per cent. Today it is the largest manufacturing center in the State according to the twelfth census, and contains a popula- tion which was estimated at 25,000 in 1906, having passed Vicks- burg since the last census. It is the most important railroad center in the eastern part of the State, and is the junction of the Mobile & Ohio, New Orleans & North Eastern, Alabama & Vicksburg, Alabama Great Southern, and the St. Louis & San Francisco rail- roads. The last named road runs its trains into the city over leased lines. The State's East Mississippi Insane Hospital is located at Meridian, which was also the seat of the East Mississippi Female College, recently destroyed by fire, and now succeeded by the Meridian Female College and Conservatory of Music. The Meridian Male College is another excellent school located here. Some of the other towns in the county-all of them small in size- are Lauderdale, Lockhart, Marion Station, Toomsuba, Russell, Arundel, Savoy, Meehan Junction, Graham, Kewanee, Lost Gap, and Bonita, which are railroad towns, and Daleville, Obadiah, Morrow, Post and Increase, interior villages away from the rail- roads. The superior transportation facilities of the county, afforded by the numerous roads which cross its borders, and its great natural advantages of soil, climate and forests, assure to this county a continuance of its remarkable growth in wealth and prosperity. It is well watered by numerous small creeks and streams, which are for the most part head waters of the Chickasawhay river, or small branches of the Tombigbee, and it is well timbered with pine, oak, hickory, gum, beech, chestnut, poplar and sycamore, which are being rapidly worked up by its numerous mills and fac- tories. It is one of the few counties in the State where the value of the manufactured products is greatly in excess of that of the farms. The soil, however, produces good crops of cotton, corn, sugar-cane, oats, peas, potatoes, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, the last two items being extensively raised for market, and the live stock industry is in a flourishing condition.

The following statistics taken from the last United States census for 1900, will prove interesting as an illustration of the resources at that time of Lauderdale county : Number of farms, 3,358; acreage in farms, 315,542; acres improved, 130,159; value of the land ex- clusive of buildings, $1,616,880; value of the buildings, $675,930 ; value of the live stock, $623,959, and total value of farm products

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not fed, $1,388,146. Number of manufacturing establishments, 194; capital invested, $2,128,954; wages paid, $613,112 ; cost of ma- terials, $1,818,306, and total value of products, $3,292,923. The population of the county in 1900, consisted of whites, 19,190; colored, 18,960, a total of 38,150 and an increase of 8,489 over the year 1890. The population in 1906, was estimated at 45,000. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $8,755,762 and in 1906 it was $11,515,689, show- ing an increase of $2,759,927 during the year. Artesian water is found in the county, there being several flowing wells. The county is taking a great interest in its public highways.

Laura, a postoffice of Montgomery county, 10 miles northeast of Winona, the county seat.

Laurel, a thriving town in Jones county, 7 miles northeast of Ellisville, the county seat. The name was derived from the dense laurel thickets growing within its limits. It is the junction point for three railroads : the New Orleans & North Eastern, the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City, and the Laurel branch of the Gulf & Ship Island. It is watered by the Tallahalla creek, an excellent logging stream. The manufacturing of lumber is the chief industry. It has four large saw mills, a wagon factory, a machine shop and foundry, a large brick plant, a cotton compress, a cotton mill, and an oil mill. The Bank of Laurel, now the First National Bank, was established here in 1899 with a capital of $60,000; the Peoples Bank, now the Commercial Bank & Trust Co., was established in 1900 with a capital of $20,000. The Chronicle, a semi-weekly, Dem- ocratic newspaper, edited by A. W. Noble, was established in 1897; and the Ledger, a Democratic weekly edited by W. R. Hardy, was established in 1902. Few towns in the State have had a more rapid growth within recent years. Its population in 1900 had reached 3,193, and in 1906, the population was at least 5,000. It has ex- cellent schools, having five public school buildings for white scholars and one building for colored people. The capacity of the central public school building has recently been doubled.

Laurelhill, a hamlet in the western part of Neshoba county, 12 miles west of Philadelphia, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was discontinued in 1905, and it now has rural free delivery from Madden. Population in 1900, 48.

Law, John. See Western Company.

Lawrence, a post-village of Newton county, on the Alabama & Vicksburg R. R., 60 miles east of Jackson, and 10 miles southwest of Decatur, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, sev- eral general stores, two churches and a grist mill. Population in 1900, 75; the population in 1906 was estimated at 125.

Lawrence County was one of the fourteen territorial counties represented in the Constitutional Convention of 1817, and was created December 22, 1814, from the older county of Marion, originally embracing within its area all the eastern half of the present county of Lincoln. The original act defined its boundaries as follows: "Beginning on the Franklin county line, where the

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middle section of the fifth township intersects the same; thence east along the said line to its intersection with the eastern boundary line of the county of Marion. And all that tract of country on the north side of said line, and within the original boundary of Marion county, shall form a county, known by the name of Law- rence." Its original area was about 1,000 square miles. By act of January 5, 1819, it contributed of its eastern area to form the county of Covington (q. v.), and February 12th, of the same year, it surrendered to Marion county the northern half of township 5, ranges 17 and 18; in 1870, it contributed of its western area to form the new county of Lincoln (q. v.). The present area of the county is 414,382 acres, or 638 square miles. For a period of five years county courts were held at the house of Wright Mitchell, and then a rude log court house was built on the site of the present build- ing: Harmon Runnels, Chief Justice of the Quorum; Stephen Noble, J. Q .; Benjamin Goodson, J. Q .; James Stigler, J. Q .; Harmon M. Runnels, Clerk, and Hardin D. Runnels, Sheriff, con- stituted the first court as organized March 6, 1815. The civil officers of the county in 1818 were as follows: George W. King, Chief Justice of the Quorum, and John Reagan and Eli Garner, Justices of the Quorum; Samuel Alexander, Randolph Traylor, Fort Alfred, - Warner, Francis Ross, Harper Garner, Alex. Hall, Jesse Maxwell, Wm. Smith, Sr., Samuel Pepper, Joseph Hart, Francis Tilman, Thomas Ship, Arthur Fox, John N. Field, Justices of the Peace; John Burney, Assessor and Collector; Harper Garner, County Surveyor ; Wylie Bohahnon, County Treasurer ; Jonathan Armstrong, Leonard Green, Wm. D. Hathorn, Thos. P. Honea, Thos. Matthews, - Phillips, Parish Garner, Ezekiel Loften, William Mallet, Constables. The county was named in commem- oration of James Lawrence, captain of the Chesapeake in the memorable battle with the British on Lake Erie. Its northern boundary is the old Choctaw boundary line of 1805, separating it from Copiah and Simpson counties on the north, Covington county is on the east, Marion and Pike counties on the south, and Lincoln county on the west. It is an old settled region in the south central part of the State, and its hardy and vigorous pioneers contributed largely to the early beginnings of Mississippi. The little village of Monticello, with a population of 500 and situated on a high bluff on the western bank of the Pearl river, is the county seat; it was the home of Harmon Runnels, Hiram G., Harmon M. and Hardin D. Runnels, his sons. Harmon Runnels came to the State from Georgia, built the first house in Monticello and was a forceful representative in the constitutional convention of 1817. He reared a large family, which became influential in the annals of the State. Hiram G. Runnels, one of the sons, became Governor of the State in 1833. There are no large settlements in Lawrence county, the more important ones being Monticello, the county seat, and the railroad towns of Grange, Hebron, Prentiss and Silvercreek. The county is well watered by the Pearl river which flows through the center, together with its numerous tributaries. Pearl river is navi-

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gable for steamboats and is extensively used for shipping purposes and in lumbering operations. The Gulf & Ship Island R. R., crosses the county from north to south, the Mississippi Central R. R., enters the county from the east, and passes through westward crossing the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., at Silvercreek. A short spur of the Illinois Central R. R., from Brookhaven, enters the northwestern part of the county and extends to Monticello, and the N. C. & M. R. R. enters its southwestern corner. The timber growth of the county is chiefly of the long leaf or yellow pine variety and is of an excellent quality. The general surface of the region is undulating and hilly, and level on the river and creek bottoms. The low lands are very fertile; on the uplands the soil is sandy and needs fertilizing. In common with most of the southern counties in the long leaf pine region, there are extensive areas of "reed-brakes," which, when drained and cultivated, can be made to yield bounteously. The products of Lawrence county are cotton, corn, rice, sugar-cane, sorghum, potatoes and all the fruits and vegetables which grow in the temperate zone. There is plenty of good pasturage, winter and summer, and many have engaged in stock raising and sheep husbandry.

The twelfth United States census for 1900 shows that there were in the county 2,510 farms, acreage in farms 2:6,683, acres improved 92,662, value of the land without the buildings $810,010, value of buildings $386,610, value of live stock $461,692, total value of products not fed $974,152. The number of manufactures was 43, capital $59,061, wages paid $13,075, cost of materials $24,528 and total value of manufactured products $63,975.

The population of the county in 1900 consisted of 7,535 whites, 7,568 colored, a total of 15,103, or 2,185 more than given by the census returns for 1890. The manufacturing interests of the county have increased at least 500 per cent. in the last five years. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $2,687,068 and in 1906 it was $3,631,197, which shows an increase during the year of 8944,129. The completion of the Mis- sissippi Central and the Gulf & Ship Island railroads through the county has opened up an extensive area of valuable timber lands, and saw mills are to be found every few miles along these lines.

Lawshill, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Marshall county, about 15 miles southwest of Holly Springs. Population in 1900, 20.

Lazarus, a post-hamlet in the southeastern corner of Harrison county, situated on the Back Bay of Biloxi, 2 miles north of Biloxi.

Leaf, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Greene county, on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., 18 miles southwest of Leakesville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 37.

Leake County was established December 23, 1833, and was one of the sixteen counties created at that time from the final cession of the Choctaw Indians, under the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, 1830. It was named for Governor Walter Leake, member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1817, United States senator and twice governor of the State. The original act defines its limits as follows: "Be-

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ginning at the northeast corner of Scott county, and running from thence north with the line between ranges 9 and 10 east, to the line between townships 12 and 13; from thence west, with the line be- tween townships 12 and 13, to the line between ranges 5 and 6 east ; from thence south with said line between ranges 5 and 6 east, to the line between townships 8 and 9; and from thence east to the place of beginning."

The county is an exact square, contains 16 townships or 561 square miles and is located almost at the center of the State. It is bounded on the north by Attala county, on the east by Neshoba county, on the south by Scott county and on the west by Madison county. There are as yet no railroads within its borders, but trans- portation facilities are afforded by the Pearl river, which runs through the county from the northeast to the southwest and is navigable to Edinburg on the eastern border. Besides the Pearl, the region is watered by its numerous tributaries, the Yokahockany river, Yellow, Young Warrior and Standing Pine creeks. There are no large towns within its area. Carthage, near the center, 2 miles north of Pearl river, is the county seat and contains a population of 416. Some of the more important settlements are Walnut Grove, Edinburg, Standing Pine and Goodhope. As early as 1837 it pos- sessed a population of 1,136 whites and 531 slaves. Among the earliest settlers may be numbered the families of the Harpers, Loyds, Warners, Freeneys, Dicksons, Boyds, Eades and Vanans- dales. The general surface of the region is undulating and hilly, and a large section is composed of level, bottom or swamp lands. The last census shows about one-third of the land improved, the rest timbered with pine, oaks, hickory, beech, poplar, chestnut, maple, walnut, sycamore and cypress. The soil is red clay in the hills, loam, second-bottoms and alluvial soils called "reed-brakes." These · bottom lands, when reclaimed by drainage, are extremely produc- tive. The products of the county are cotton, corn, sorghum, sugar- cane, rice, potatoes and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. There is little manufacturing done, but pasturage is good and live stock does well and many have embarked in this industry. The live stock in 1900 was valued at nearly $500,000.

The twelfth census of the United States for the year 1900 shows that there were in the county 2,756 farms, embracing an acreage of 302,264, of which 102,736 were improved. The value of the land, exclusive of the buildings is $886,180, value of the buildings $394,860, value of the live stock $168,227, and the total value of products not fed $966,529. The number of manufacturing estab- lishments is 48, capital invested $84,501, wages paid $9,278, cost of materials $32,203 and total value of products $62,069. The popu- lation in 1900 consisted of whites 10,747, colored 6,613, a total of 17,360 and 2,557 more than in the year 1890. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Leake county in 1905 was $1,549,795 and in 1906 it was $2,626,254, showing an increase during the year of $1,076,459.

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Leake, Walter, third governor of the State, "was born in Albe- marle county, Va., May 20, 1762. He was the son of Capt. Mask Leake, a Revolutionary officer, and Patience Morris, of Hanover, and was named for his paternal grandfather, Walter Leake, of Goochland, who was a son of William Leake and Mary Bostick, first of the family in Virginia. He was at one time a member of the Virginia legislature from Albemarle county, and a few years later we find him a candidate for the United States congress against Thomas Mann Randolph, Mr. Jefferson's son-in-law. Randolph beat him by two votes. Leake immediately announced his intention of running again; but before another election Mr. Jefferson appointed him chief judge of the Mississippi territory, which appointment he accepted. He accordingly removed with his wife (Elizabeth Wingfield) and family to his new post of duty. (Virginia Hist. Mag., April, 1904.) He was ap- pointed one of the judges (there being no such office as "chief judge") of the Mississippi territory, to succeed George Matthews, March 2, 1807, and arrived at the town of Washington in May. He made his home in Claiborne county, about 60 miles from Wash- ington (see Judiciary, Territorial). Hinds county was fifteen years in the future, and was then in the undisturbed possession of the Choctaws. Judge Leake served with distinguished ability as Ter- ritorial judge until the general assembly, Oct. 9, 1817, elected him one of the first United States senators from the State. Meanwhile he had been elected a delegate from Claiborne county to the con- stitutional convention of 1817, of which he was a valuable mem- ber, with his associates on the Territorial bench, Poindexter and Simpson. He took his seat in the senate Dec. 11, 1817, and drew the four years' term. He resigned his seat to become a candidate for governor, and was elected over Charles B. Green by a vote of nearly four to one. The bank monopoly question was to some ex- tent an issue, it having been raised against the bank by Gov. Poin- dexter. June 17, before the election, Gov. Poindexter appointed him to the supreme bench to succeed John Taylor, deceased, and serve until the legislature should elect. Taylor had succeeded him in 1817. He was again on the bench, also holding circuit court, until he became governor Jan. 7, 1822. In his farewell mes- sage, Gov. Poindexter offered his "congratulations on the judicious selection which has been made, in the worthy and distinguished citizen who has been chosen to succeed me in this office. If in- tegrity the most pure and unsullied, combined with sound intel- ligence and great experience in public life are qualifications for the highest trust in the gift of the people, they are identified in the individual selected as your chief magistrate." His letters in the executive journal are dated from Jackson or Spring Plains, his home, until March, 1825, when the name Mount Salus appears. His last letter on the journal is dated, "Mount Salus, August 10, 1825." He died Nov. 17 of that year. One child survived him, a daughter, who married Henry Goodloe Johnston. A grandson of the governor, Walter Leake Keirn, was an officer of the Confed-

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erate States army and members of the legislature from Holmes county, 1892-98.

The home he built and called Mount Salus, on land purchased in 1823, was "fashioned after the manner of old English manor houses; square built, with wide windows, heavy doors and solid floors, was inviting in its hospitality and was often the scene of social gayety." (C. H. Brough.) The home of Cowles Meade was about a mile distant. The town that grew up bore the name of Mount Salus until changed to Clinton three years later.

When General Lafayette visited Mississippi in 1825 Gov. Leake was confined to his bed by the disease that caused his death, and sent his aide-de-camp to pay his respects to the distinguished visi- tor. Lafayette remembered the name and declared to those about him that Leake was a deserter. When Capt. Mask Leake went into the field in 1781, having sent his oldest son into the army, he told Walter to remain at home and care for the mother and younger children. But later, the father found Walter in the lines before Yorktown, and took him before Lafayette, who was kind to the young man and assigned him to duty. "And so," said La- fayette, "Walter Leake deserted home to fight for his country." (Richmond Enquirer.) "As a patriot and statesman," said David Holmes, "he was distinguished from early life for the ardor, abil- ity and fidelity with which he discharged the various and impor- tant trusts committed to him by his country."

Leake's Administration. Governor Walter Leake took office Jan. 7. 1822, at the town of Columbia, then the seat of government. The governor's residence at this time was at Spring Plains, Clai- borne county. In the preceding November the two houses had elected Samuel C. Wooldridge to succeed P. P. Schuyler as treas- urer ; John A. Grimball, secretary of state, and Hiram G. Runnels, auditor. Thomas.B. Reed was attorney-general, 1821-25. On account of the changes made the legislature was not in session at the begin- ning of his term, and did not convene until the special session at Columbia, June, 1822, for the consideration of the Poindexter code. At this time Lieutenant-Governor Dickson was installed. The governor's first message, in June, was mainly devoted to an elab- orate argument against a proposition of New Jersey and Ken- tucky that congress should reserve lands for the support of their educational funds as well as for those of the new States.

This legislature passed an important act, revising the boun- daries of the counties (q. v.). At this time all the Chickasaw and Choctaw purchase of 1816 was called Monroe county, and all the Choctaw purchase of 1820 Hinds county, but in the latter there had yet been no sale of land.

The year 1822 is memorable for the beginning of the towns of Jackson and Vicksburg (q. v). In 1822 a small, two-story, brick State house was built on the west side of the bluff on Pearl river. on the northeast corner of Capitol and President streets (see Cap- itol), and the legislature convened there two days before Christ- mas. In his message the governor said: "Permit me to congratu-

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late you on your first meeting at the place determined on as the permanent seat of our government; where, for the first time, your deliberations may be conducted in a house, the property of the State, and erected exclusively for the purpose of legislation; and also, on the prospect of comfortable accommodations at a place where so little could have been reasonably expected. I am fully persuaded, that if your acommodations will not be equal to the wishes of those who provide them, they will at least exceed the expectations of those who partake of them. When we reflect that this town was but a short time since entirely in the woods, in the midst of a wilderness, the former abode of untutored savages, who draw but a scanty support from the beasts of the forest and not by agricultural pursuits, that but little more than six months have passed by since the town of Jackson was laid off; that but few persons have as yet been authorized to occupy lots therein; the great distance it lies from whence all necessary supplies are to be transported-through a country, too, where no persons reside to keep the roads in repair-and above all, when we view the num- ber, dimensions and style of the buildings erected in the town of Jackson, we cannot but admire the enterprise, industry and per- severance of its citizens, and at the same time feel disposed to extend to them every reasonable indulgence that their situation may seem to merit."

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 6

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