Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 62

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 62

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As early as 1837 it had a population of 3,255 free whites and 1,- 956 slaves. One of the oldest settlements in the county was lo- cated at Richmond, on the east side of Pearl river, about five miles from Jackson. It had in the time of its greatest prosperity a popu- lation of about three hundred. Its prominent citizens were John Long, Henry White, James Howard, William Howard, and Simp- son Cooper. The old town has disappeared and the site is now under cultivation. (See Riley's extinct Towns of Miss. Pub. Miss. His. Soc. Vol. 5, p. 367.) Much of the region is rich and productive and it ranks as one of the best counties in the middle section of the State. The county seat is at Brandon, (named for Gov. Gerard C. Brandon), a town of 775 people in 1900, and esti- mated at 1,000 in 1906. It is located twelve miles east of Jackson on the line of the Alabama & Vicksburg R. R. Situated on high ground and for several years the terminus of the Vicksburg & Meri- dian R. R., and surrounded by a rich country, Brandon was at one time the most important trading point in this section of the State. The old Brandon Male and Female Academy, reorganized in 1849, as Brandon College by the well known educator Dr. Thornton, and the later Brandon Female College, have been potent influences in raising the general standard of culture throughout this vicinity. Miss Frank Johnson was the principal of this famous school from the time of its founding until 1897 when her noble life and career was ended in death. There are no very large towns or villages ir. the county. Among others may be mentioned Cleary, Florence, Thomasville, Star, Pearson, Rankin, Pelahatchee, Clarksburg, Cato, Greenfield and Fannin.

Two lines of railway traverse the county, the Alabama & Vicks- burg from east to west, and the Gulf & Ship Island from northwest to southeast and give to Rankin excellent transportation facilities.

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The Pearl river on its northwestern boundary and its numerous tributaries provide it with good water power. It lies in the Central Prairie region of the State and the general surface of the land is level and undulating for the most part, with some broken sections. The total farm acreage according to the census of 1900 was 330,- 501, 310,356 acres of which were improved lands. The timber con- sists of long-leaf or yellow pine, white and red oak, hickory, beech, poplar, ash, gum, walnut and cypress. Beds of rich marl and large lime-stone quarries have been found in various parts of the county, and a fine quality of the best building stone is to be found in the southern part. The soil is for the most part fertile, particularly on the bottoms and uplands. It produces good crops of cotton, corn, peas, potatoes, rice, millet and sugar cane, and fruits and vegetables in abundance. Its rolling prairies and fertile bottoms give excel- lent pasturage for stock and the live stock industry has assumed large proportions. Manufactures have not assumed any great im- portance in this county as yet. Churches and schools abound throughout the county and the climate is mild and healthful.

The following statistics are taken from the twelfth U. S. census for 1900 and relate to farms, manufactures and population :- Num- ber of farms 3,398, acreage in farms 330,501, acres improved 310,- 356, value of land exclusive of buildings $1,252.800, value of build- ings, 8466,750, value of live stock $669,996, total value of products not fed to stock $1,106,997. Number of manufacturing establish- ments 44, capital invested $85,686, wages paid $13,782, cost of materials $44,418, total value of products $103,652. The popula- tion for 1900 was whites 8,679, colored 12,276, total 20,950, increase over 1890, 3,033. The population in 1906 was estimated at 22,000. The slight increase being due to the negroes leaving the county. In almost every part of the county are mineral wells which, in some instances, have waters regarded as highly beneficial to health. The total number of white schools in the county is 64, and there are 55 colored schools. The average term of school is 6 months. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Rankin county in 1905 was $2,692,456 and in 1906 it was $4,858,465, which shows an increase of $2,166,009 during the year.

Rapalji, George. The name is also spelled, more phonetically in English, Rapalye ; but is given here as his signature, bold and handsome one, appears on the Natchez records. The names of Gar- rett, Isaac and James Rapalji also appear among the land claims in 1805. George was granted, in association with Lewis Charbena, 1,100 acres on the Mississippi in 1786, by the Spanish government. He was granted 231 acres near Natchez in 1788, and his wife. Jane, 1,000 on the Homochitto in 1789. George Rapalji was in Natchez district long before, however, as he was one of the original West Florida colonists, was a loyalist, one of the leaders of the revolt of 1781 and was captured and imprisoned at New Orleans, by the Spanish. His property at that time doubtless was confiscated, and the first grants above show a restoration or grant of new lands upon his being restored to favor by the government. In the time

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of Ellicott, the commissioner suspected him of sympathy with the British movement known as Blount's conspiracy, and mentioned him as a man of influence.

He was indicted for the murder of John Cotty in 1800, but on trial, in the supreme court, was acquitted of that and found guilty of manslaughter. When on bail awaiting sentence, he left the ter- ritory. A strong petition for his pardon was presented to Gov- ernor Claiborne in February, 1802, and refused at first, but granted in June, on condition that Rapalji be bound over to keep the peace.

Rara Avis, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Itawamba county, 13 miles east of Fulton, the county seat, and about 30 miles east of Tupelo, the nearest railroad town. It has a money order post- office. Population in 1900, 100. Fulton is the nearest banking town.

Ras, a postoffice in the central part of Jasper county, situated on Altahomak creek, 6 miles west of Paulding. the county seat.

Ratliff, a post-hamlet in the northwestern part of Itawamba county, about 12 miles from Fulton, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 61.

Ravine, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Noxubee county, about 14 miles distant from Macon, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town.

Raworth, a postoffice of Scott county, on the Alabama & Vicks- burg R. R., 6 miles by rail west of Forest, the county seat.

Rayborn, a post-hamlet of Pike county, situated in the north- central part, on Carters creek, 12 miles east of Summit, the near- est railroad and banking town, and 16 miles from Magnolia, the county seat. Population in 1900, 61.

Raymond, one of the seats of justice of Hinds county, is an in- corporated post-town near the center of the county, on the line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 15 miles southwest of Jack- son. It was made the county seat January 17, 1829. It is an im- portant cotton shipping point, and two cotton gins and a saw mill are located here. A good water works system will soon be in operation. Raymond has a good academy, seven churches, a bank and a newspaper. The Merchants & Planters Bank was established here in 1906; the Gazette is a Democratic weekly, established in 1844, now owned and published by Whitney & Bell. The cele- brated Cooper's Well is located about four miles southeast of Ray- mond, and is widely known for the curative properties of its water. Thousands of people come here annually to drink of the water. A large and commodious hotel is maintained at the well for the ac- commodation of guests. The population of Raymond in 1900 was 483 and is rapidly increasing.

Raymond, battle of, see Vicksburg, campaign of 1863.

Recluse, a postoffice in the northwestern part of Harrison county.

Reconstruction. President Lincoln's policy was: "Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between those States and the Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the

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acts he brought the States from without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it." The constitutional question which agitated congress as well as the Mississippi convention of 1865, he called, as a matter of dis- pute at that time, "good for nothing at all-a mere pernicious ab- straction," in which opinion he was sustained by such men as Sharkey and Yerger in Mississippi. (See Const. Conv. of 1865.) It has been said that Mr. Lincoln had no fixed theory, "whether the seceding States, so-called, are in the Union or out of it." He said he had "purposely forborne any public expression" upon the question.

As a beginning, with the war not yet entirely ended, Mr. Lin- coln was willing to readmit Louisiana to representation in con- gress, "some 12,000 voters in that State having sworn allegiance to the United States, held elections, organized a State government, adopted a free State constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man." The legis- lature had ratified the Thirteenth amendment, and Mr. Lincoln was in favor of reorganizing the State government though it had not yet extended franchise to the freedmen. But many of his friends contended for more stringent guarantees.

This was Mr. Lincoln's attitude April 11, 1865. On April 14 he was assassinated. After that, several policies of "reconstruc- tion" agitated the Republic.

First announced in the articles of capitulation agreed upon by Sherman and Johnston in North Carolina, and immediately re- jected by the United States government, was what might be called the Davis plan, as the president of the Confederacy suggested the stipulations made by Johnston. Under this plan the Union would be restored as it was, simply by oaths of allegiance by State offi- cials and the election of senators and representatives in congress, and the State and its congressional delegation would be free to act at will regarding the legislative settlement of the questions that had been fought about for four years.

President Johnson's plan which was the Lincoln plan, may be inferred from his advice quoted in the article, Const. Conv. of 1865. It was involved, from the first, with a desire to make a political alliance with the Southern leaders in opposition to the radical wing of his own party.

The Charles Sumner theory was that the seceding States had de- stroyed themselves, and congress had power to govern them in- definitely by military, subject to the bill of rights of the consti- tution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and form new States, if desirable.

The theory of Thaddeus Stevens, from the beginning of the war, was that secession was effective, broke the constitutional bonds, and liberated congress from dealing with the people otherwise than as people of conquered provinces, as in a war with a foreign power. In accord with this was the language of the Mississippi

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legislature, in an enactment of 1864-"The war between the Con- federate States and United States of America."

The theory of the Mississippi legislature (1866) was "that the moment the military and forcible combination against the laws and authority of [the United States] was overcome, and the Federal supremacy was reinstated, and law and civil tribunals were re- placed, then the work of preserving the Union was accomplished, and the States at once resumed their proper places and relations in it." (Simrall report.) "It must be conceded on all hands," said Wiley P. Harris in his report of the judiciary committee to the Convention of 1890, "that the State had either severed her con- nection with the Union, and had placed herself outside of it, or that her acts, in concert with other States, in like circumstances, had so far interrupted and displaced Federal authority that she had lost her Federal relations as a State in the Union. Congress accepted the latter view. The Reconstruction acts, and indeed, the series of measures, cognate therewith, culminating in the re- admission act of 1870, are predicated on the idea that the State had lost a republican form of government, in the sense of the guarantee of the Constitution on that subject, and that it was the duty of con- gress in the exercise of its political powers to assure to her such government."

After the surrender of the army of Lieut-Gen. Richard Taylor, at Meridian, May 4, 1865, Mississippi was under the administra- tion of President Johnson as commander-in-chief of the United States army.

May 10 he proclaimed that "armed resistance to the authority of the government in the insurrectionary States may be regarded as at an end." Declining to call congress in special session and ar- rive at some agreed plan of reestablishing self-government in the South, within the Union, Mr. Johnson went ahead alone, upon the policy of William H. Seward, which was, that "the wisest plan of reconstruction was the one which would be speediest; that for the sake of impressing the world with the strength and the mar- velous power of self-government, with its Law, its Order, its Peace, we should at the earliest possible moment have every State restored to its normal relations with the Union." Meanwhile, Governor Clark had called a special session of the legislature which had adjourned in March, to meet May 18, for the purpose, as ap- pears from its proceedings, to arrange with President Johnson for restoration "to harmonious relations with the Federal government." But the legislature was required to disperse, the governor was de- posed and put under arrest. These measures put an end to the attempt of the State to resume the old status in the same manner as it had seceded, without change of organization. (See Clark Adm.) On May 29, a few days after the dispersal of the Missis- sippi legislature, the president issued his proclamation of amnesty and pardon, a modification of the proclamation of President Lin- coln, December 8, 1863, requiring an oath to support the Consti- tution and Union and "abide by and faithfully support" the proc-

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lamations and laws regarding emancipation ; excepting several classes of those engaged in the Confederate civil or military service for special pardon when applied for. On the same day he pre- scribed by proclamation a plan for the reorganization of North Car- olina, appointing W. W. Holden provisional governor. It was this plan that Sharkey and Yerger accepted on behalf of Mississippi, following which Judge Sharkey was appointed provisional gover- nor of Mississippi, by proclamation June 13. The reorganization of the other gulf coast States followed, all on the North Carolina plan, by July 13.

The events in Mississippi under the reconstruction policy of President Johnson are noted in the articles Sharkey's Adm., Hum- phreys' Adm., and Const. Conv. of 1865. These events were potent in influencing the subsequent policy. According to Gover- nor Sharkey there was a general disposition to do justice to the freedmen, and to accept other results of the war, such as repudia- tion of obligations incurred by the State government during the war. Chief-Justice Campbell thought the feeling "of an over- whelming majority of our people was one of readiness to be faith- ful to the government."

In 1865 Gen. U. S. Grant made a tour of inspection of the lately insurrectionary region, including Mississippi, and Carl Schurz made an investigation by direct commission of President Johnson.

General Grant said as a result of his visit, that four years of war had left the Southern people "possibly in a condition not to yield that ready obedience to civil authority the American people have generally been in the habit of yielding. This would render the presence of small garrisons throughout those States necessary until such time as labor returns to its proper channel and civil authority is fully restored." He said he had met no one who thought it practical to withdraw the military ; white and black alike demanded the protection ; but white troops alone should be used in the interior : the black troops "demoralized labor," and they might be attacked by the ignorant white element. "My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the Southern States are anxious to return to self-government, within the Union, as soon as possible ; that whilst reconstructing they want and require protec- tion from the government : that they are in earnest in wishing to do what they think is required by the government, not humil- iating to them as citizens, and that if such a course were pointed out they would pursue it in good faith."

The expressions of Sharkey, Yerger, and the like, were the opin- ions of the party in the State that had opposed secession in its in- ception. But there were, of course, many events and expressions of opinion, there having been from the year 1797 two great parties in Mississippi on national questions, that were used by politicians to support the theory that Mississippi did not accept the results of the war in good faith. The election of Governor Humphreys over Judge Fisher and the record of the legislature, were used

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in this direction, though General Humphreys was a Union man in 1860.

The Thirteenth amendment, prohibiting slavery, and empower- ing congress to enforce this prohibition, had been adopted by con- gress in January, 1865, and submitted to the States for ratification. The legislature of Mississippi, of 1865, convened under President Johnson's policy, followed the advice of its joint committee on fed- eral relations : that the amendment to the State constitution covered the same subject; "had been adopted in perfect good faith," and further action was unnecessary. The committee feared the pro- posed national amendment involved "a dangerous grant of power" to congress, and that it would revive the irritating questions of the past. They asserted that "vexed questions connected with the negro race were all merged and settled in liberation." . They were not opposed to the first section, prohibiting slavery, but recom- mended the rejection of the second section, "that congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Nevertheless, the amendment was adopted by a constitutional ma- jority of the States, including most of the Southern States, and accordingly was proclaimed as the supreme law, December, 1865.

When congress met in December, 1865, the majority, regarding the president's policy as having failed to secure sufficient guar- antees from the States, preliminary to their readmission to partic- ipation in the national government, appointed a Joint Committee on Reconstruction, which was dominated by Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, and pending its deliberations, the delegation elected by Mississippi under the President's policy was not recog- nized. The committee made an investigation, George S. Bout- well, of Massachusetts, being in charge for Mississippi. The tes- timony of Judge Sharkey and Judge Hill was taken, but mainly the opinions of a number of Union army officers and visitors to the State were asked.

The most serious question connected with reconstruction, ac- cording to the preliminary report of the committee, was the rep- resentation in congress. The constitution provided for representa- tion on the basis of population, counting all the free persons and three-fifths of all other persons. To continue under this rule, "the inevitable effect of the rebellion would be to increase the po- litical power of the insurrectionary States." The committee said, "Doubts were entertained whether congress had power, even under the amended constitution (Thirteenth amendment), to prescribe the qualifications of voters in a State." and they recommended amendment of the constitution to the effect that "political power should be possessed in all the States exactly in proportion as the right of suffrage should be granted, without distinction of color or race." This recommendation was not satisfactory to the senate, because it would abandon the freedmen to entire exclusion from suffrage at the price of State representation, and because disfran- chisement might be accomplished on other grounds than those named to the same effect. The committee reported February 20,

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1866, "That in order to close agitation upon a question which seems likely to disturb the action of the government, as well as to quiet the uncertainty which is agitating the minds of the people of the eleven States which have been declared to be in insurrection, no senator or representative shall be admitted into either branch of congress until congress shall have declared such State entitled to such representation." And again in June, 1866, that their admis- sion to participation in the government of the United States would not be justified without certain guarantees of the civil rights of all citizens, a just equality of representation, protection against claims founded in rebellion, and discrimination in the restoration of suffrage to the white citizens.

Governor Humphreys had declared in an official message, that the ex-slaves, though freemen, were not citizens. The legislature had raised the question of the power of congress to legislate to enforce the constitution, the "Black Code," adopted by the legisla- ture, denied to a material degree the right of testimony in court, and property rights. Congress, in March, 1866, adopted the Civil Rights bill, (and supplemental acts later) declaring "that all per- sons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are citizens of the United States," and asserting their equal rights to "make and en- force contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence," etc .; giving the United States courts jurisdiction of cases of violation of the law, and authorizing the use of the United States army by the president for the enforcement of the law. This was passed over the veto of President Johnson. To permanently meet the situation, congress in June, 1866, adopted the Fourteenth amendment to the constitution, defining citizenship "of the United States and of the State," forbidding any State to abridge the privileges and im- munities of citizens, to deprive any person of life, liberty or prop- erty without due process of law, or to deny to any person the equal protection of the laws, and in the second section, providing that representation in the lower house of congress should be based on population, "but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president and vice-president of the United States, representatives in congress, the executive and judicial officers of the State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty- one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." The third section excluded from congress and the electoral college. and "any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State," any person who had taken an official oath to support the constitution of the United States, and afterward engaged in in- surrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; unless congress by two-thirds vote of each

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house, removed the disability. This was to remove the power of amnesty from the president. The fourth section made unquestion- able the validity of the national debt incurred on account of insur- rection or rebellion and made "illegal and void" any debt or obliga- tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion, "or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave." The fifth section gave congress power to enforce these provisions.

This amendment was accompanied by two bills, one making the ratification of the amendment a prerequisite to the admission of senators and representatives from any State lately in insurrection, the other declaring high officials under the Confederacy ineligible to office under the government of the United States.

In the elections of 1866, throughout the Union, reconstruction was the issue, and the North overwhelmingly sustained the con- gressional policy, and chose a congress with 143 Republican to 49 Democratic representatives, a most unfortunate sectional divi- sion, for which President Johnson was originally responsible, which created a semblance of a continuation of the strife that had been submitted to the decision of battle. Only Tennessee submitted to the congressional policy, and at once was restored to representa- tion in congress and self-government. In such action the Southern legislatures were directly encouraged by President Johnson. Gen. Grant wrote to Gen. Richard Taylor, "I would like exceedingly to see one Southern State, excluded State, ratify the amendments to enable us to see the exact course that would be pursued. I believe it would much modify the demands that may be made if there is much delay."

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 62

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