Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 7

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 7

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He gave considerable attention to the criticisms that had been made of the Poindexter code. He suggested that laws should be tried before being changed. "It becomes much more important that laws should be known and understood than that they should be entirely approved by every member of society; because the former is not difficult to attain where laws remain permanent, while the latter is impracticable in any situation of things." He would not have the method of the Medes and Persians, but he would wait until defects should be developed by practice, unless there were palpable and glaring faults, "for it is a sound maxim in political science that too much legislation is much more injurious to society than too little."

In accordance with an act of legislature he had borrowed $5,500 from the bank to expend in improving the Pearl and Big Black rivers.

In his message to the legislative session of Dec., 1823 (to Feb., 1824), the governor recommended the opening of a road from Columbus, in Monroe county, by way of Jackson to Natchez. A road had just been marked from Huntsville, and Columbus, to Doak's stand. He also recommended a road from Winchester to the seat of government, which would relieve the people of that quarter from "the hardship, fatigue and extreme exposure of trav- elling unfrequented paths through an unsettled country, to the seat of government." But the legislature had no right to open roads through the Indian country and could only petition Congress. He also suggested that authority be asked to apply the Three per cent fund (See Const. Conv., 1817) to the improvement of river naviga-

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tion, as well as roads. He received from the general government, Aug. 10, 1825, $15,780, on this account. The Winchester road (1825) was paid for out of it.

Gov. Leake and Lieutenant-Governor Brandon took office Jan- uary 7, 1824, and the legislature reelected Wooldridge as treas- urer, H. G. Runnels auditor, and John A. Grimball secretary of state.

This legislature adopted a resolution cordially approving the "Monroe doctrine," and pledged all the resources of Mississippi, to maintain the principles of "justice and republicanism in this hemisphere."

The legislature elected Richard Stockton, Jr., judge of the First circuit, by 24 votes, Thomas A. Willis, secretary of the senate, receiving 16. Thomas H. Williams was unanimously reelected to the United States senate. At this session, the organization of the counties of Yazoo, between the Mississippi and Pearl rivers, and Copiah, on both sides of the Pearl, were provided for. The middle part, on both sides of the Pearl, retained the name of Hinds, given in 1821. There were yet no sales of land in all this region, except in the town of Jackson.

The first sale was in November, 1823, at Jackson, when Gov. Leake purchased, in behalf of the State, two half-quarter sections, adjoining the plat of Jackson, at $1.25 an acre.

There was a deficit in the treasury, Nov. 1, 1822, of $8,000, and this was increased in the following year to nearly $10,000. The receipts of 1823 were, in round numbers, $54,000; the disburse- ments $56,000.

In May, 1823, White Turpin was appointed escheator-general of Mississippi. It was his duty to look after unclaimed estates for the benefit of the literary or school fund.

At the election in August, 1823, the vote for governor was: Wal- ter Leake, 3,996; David Dickson, 2,511; William Lattimore, 1,986. For lieutenant-governor, Gerard C. Brandon, 5,132; Thomas An- derson, 1,933; Isaac R. Nicholson, 952.

The deficit in the treasury had grown at the close of the year 1824, to nearly $16,000. besides the debt of $15,000 to the bank. This was evidently because of the legislative proneness to seek a reputation for economy by neglecting to provide for necessary expenses in advance. Said the governor : "It is surely no light matter to see the public credit sinking, and its creditors hawking their warrants about in the markets, and disposing of them at a considerable discount, when, at the same time, the resources of the state are sufficiently ample, if they were called into action by legislative authority."

In January. 1825, the legislature passed resolutions joining in "the general burst of national gratitude and welcome" to General Lafayette. (q. v.)

The removal of the Choctaw Indians was begun in this year. (See Treaty of Washington.)

The venerable governor was ill in the year 1825 at his home at

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Mount Salus. One of his last official acts was the appointment of Powhatan Ellis to the United States senate, to succeed David Holmes, who had resigned to become a candidate for governor. (See Brandon's Adm.) At the election in August Holmes re- ceived 7,846 votes, and Cowles Mead 1.499. For lieutenant-gov- ernor Gerard C. Brandon was reelected, receiving 4,526 votes to 4,496 for Bartlett C. Barry.

Leakesville, the capital of Greene county, is on the Chickasawhay river, 44 miles northwest of Mobile, and 25 miles south of Stateline. A short railroad spur connects it with the Mobile & Ohio R. R., at Vinegar Bend, Ala. It was named for the Honorable Walter Leake, one of the State's early governors. Lumbering, stock raising and agriculture are the chief industries of the vicinity. The Greene County Herald, a weekly newspaper, was established here in 1898, and is published by E. W. Taylor. Population in 1900, 56.

Learned, an incorporated post-town of Hinds county, about 18 miles from Jackson, and 9 miles from Raymond, the county seat. It is a station on the Natchez branch of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. Population in 1900, 138.

Leaton, a post-hamlet of Amite county, 12 miles north of Liberty, the county seat. Population in 1900, 53.

Leavell, Zachary Taylor, was born in Pontotoc county in 1847; graduated at the University of Mississippi in 1871 ; became a Bap- tist preacher in October, 1870; served as pastor of Baptist churches at Dalton, Ga., Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Columbus, Ky., and in 1887 returned to Mississippi. After serving as pastor at Oxford, Natchez and Clinton be came financial agent of Mississippi col- lege, and afterwards a member of its faculty; was president of Carrolltown Female college, 1890-95. He is the author of "Bap- tist Annuals," "History of Mississippi Baptists," and other pub- lications. He died at Jackson, Miss., August 12, 1905.

Lebanon, a postoffice of Marshall county, 12 miles south of Holly Springs, and 4 miles southwest of Potts Camp, the nearest rail- road town on the Frisco System.

Leddrew, a hamlet of Covington county, situated on the west bank of the Leaf river, about 15 miles northeast of Williamsburg, the county seat. The postoffice here has been discontinued and mail now goes to Oakahay.

Lee, a postoffice of Lawrence county.

Lee County, formerly embraced within the limits of Itawamba and Pontotoc counties, was established October 26, 1866, and was named for General Robert E. Lee, commander of the armies of the Confederacy. This region was originally part of the Chickasaw cession of 1832 (q. v., also Itawamba, Pontotoc), and is located in the northeastern part of the State, in the so-called "northeastern prairie belt." It is a long, narrow county bounded on the north by Prentiss county, on the east by Itawamba county, on the south by Monroe and Chickasaw counties and on the west by Pontotoc and Union counties, and contains about 449 square miles of territory.

E. G. Thomas, C. A. Marshall, Jesse Hunt, Jas. R. Harrill, Burrell

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Jackson, W. H. Calhoun and Jacob Bardin were appointed com- missioners to organize the new county by the original act, and the first courts were directed to be held at Saltillo, pending the selec- tion of a permanent seat of justice at a special election, when Tupelo was chosen April 15, 1867. The first officers of the county were Jacob Bardin, Probate Judge; D. P. Cypert, Probate Clerk; A. J. Cockran, Circuit Clerk ; J. M. Dillard, Sheriff ; A. M. Robinson, As- sessor ; W. A. Dozier, County Surveyor; Robert Gray, Coroner ; W. R. Hampton, Ranger; J. L. Finley, County Attorney. The county school commissioners were G. C. Thomason, E. G. Thomas, John B. Sparks and Rev. J. D. Russell. Col. John M. Simonton was the first State Senator, and Col. J. D. Wilson and Hugh H. Martin were the first representatives of the county in the Lower House.

The old brick court house, erected in 1871 at a cost of $25,000, was burned in 1873. It was replaced by a brick structure which was also destroyed by fire in 1904; and then the present court house was erected in 1904 at a cost of $60,000. The county has a fine brick jail, erected at a cost of $15,000. Its largest town is Tupelo, near the center, and the junction point of the Mobile & Ohio, and the St. Louis & San Francisco railroads. Tupelo has a population of 3,500, is a manufacturing city of importance. By reason of its situation near the line where the black prairie and Pontotoc Ridge sections meet, it is the center of a rich farming region. Other important railroad towns are Baldwyn (pop. 750), in the northern part, Nettleton (pop. 600), in the southern part, and Shannon, Verona, Guntown, Saltillo, Plantersville and Belden. The county is traversed from north to south by the Mobile & Ohio R. R., and from the northwest to the southeast by the St. Louis & San Francisco R. R., which provide it with excellent transportation facilities. The county is watered by numerous creeks, the head waters of the Tombigbee river, of which Old Town is the principal one. The southern part of the county is a prairie region, but there is considerable timber found in the northern part and east of the Mobile & Ohio R. R. The timber consists of oak, hickory, ash, gum, poplar, beech and walnut. A good deal of the larger growth has been cut off and the land brought under cultivation. The soil is very productive-black hammock, beeswax prairie, black sandy and sandy-and cotton, corn, oats, wheat, tobacco, potatoes, fruits and vegetables all do well. This is an excellent stock country and the industry has developed rapidly within the last decade. The value of the live stock now exceeds $700,000. Excellent church and school facilities are provided in every section of the county and the people as a whole are prosperous and contented. The railroad advantages already enjoyed and the proximity of the region to the Alabama coal fields, should eventually render Lee county an im- portant manufacturing district.

The twelfth census of the United States for 1900 gives the fol- lowing statistics for the county : Number of farms 3,501, acreage in farms 238,491, acres improved 134,379, value of land, exclusive of buildings $1,585,950, value of buildings $510,140, value of live stock

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$710,790 and total value of products $1,356,017. Number of manu- facturing establishments 75, capital $297,876, wages paid $40,195, cost of materials $143,854 and total value of products $277,465. The population in 1900 consisted of whites 13,297, colored 8,659, total 21,956, increase over the year 1890, 1,916; estimated population in 1906, was 25,000. Manufactures, especially in the city of Tupelo, have increased at a rapid rate, and in the city alone there has been invested at least $500,000 in manufacturing industries in the last five years. The total assessed valuation of real and personal prop- erty in the county in 1905 was $3,308,452 and in 1906 it was $4,776,- 623, showing an increase during the year of $1,268,171. Under a special drainage act by the Legislature, Lee county was empowered to drain about 25,000 acres of swamp and over- flow lands along Town, Mud, Twenty Mile, Coonewah and Chiwappah creeks. Over 60 miles of ditches were excavated and the lands brought into cultivation have become the most fertile in the county. These lands were thereby increased in value from $2 to $50 and $60 per acre. Land values in Lee county have rapidly ad- vanced in the last five years and realty that could have been bought for $2 to $5 per acre, is now readily sold at $10 to $30 an acre. Artesian water is found in various parts of the county and flowing wells are to be seen in almost every locality. Within the last six years the banks in Lee county have increased from two to seven in number.

Lee, Stephen Dill, was born at Charleston, S. C., Sept. 22, 1833, of patriotic lineage. His great-grandfather, William Lee, was one of 40 leading citizens of Charleston whose devotion to the Continental cause was punished by imprisonment on a prison ship and transportation to St. Augustine, Fla. His grandfather, Thomas Lee, was appointed United States district judge by Pres- ident Monroe, and was a supporter of President Jackson during the Calhoun nullification period. Stephen D. Lee was graduated at West Point in the class of 1854, and was a first-lieutenant and regimental quartermaster of the 4th U. S. artillery when he re- signed in 1861, because of the secession of his State. He was one of the two officers of South Carolina troops sent by Gen. Beaure- gard to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter, and upon the re- fusal of this demand he ordered the nearest battery to fire upon the fort. He served as captain of a battery in the Hampton Legion until November, 1861, when he was made a major of artillery. In the spring of 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and after gaining distinction at Seven Pines and in the Seven Days battles against Mcclellan, he was given command of the 4th Virginia cavalry. At the opening of the campaign against Pope he was promoted to colonel, and his conduct was such at Second Manas- sas that President Davis said: "I have reason to believe he served to turn the tide of battle and consummate the victory." At Sharps- burg, with the same command, he was again distinguished. Then it became necessary to reinforce the army in Mississippi with skillful commanders as well as troops for the defense of Vicks-

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burg, and Gen. R. E. Lee, being asked to select his most efficient artillery officer for transfer, designated Col. S. D. Lee, who was promoted to brigadier-general, Nov. 6, 1862, and assigned to duty in the west. (See Vicksburg, Second campaign; Vicksburg cam- paign of 1863; Vicksburg, siege of; War of 1861-65; and Army of Tennessee.) He was paroled at Vicksburg, and when exchanged, was promoted August 3, 1863, to major-general and put in com- mand of cavalry ; June 23, 1864, was promoted to lieutenant-gen- eral and given command of the department of Mississippi, Alabama, East Louisiana and West Tennessee, and after Gen. John B. Hood was put at the head of the army in Georgia, he was called to take command of Hood's corps. He fought the battles of Ezra Church and Jonesboro, near Atlanta, and was in corps command during the subsequent flank movement in north Georgia and the Nash- ville campaign. In the battle of Nashville he held Overton hill against the enemy's assaults until after the left and center of the army were driven back and, on the next day, his corps, the only one with organizations intact, covered the retreat, repulsing every effort of Wilson's cavalry from dawn till late at night. During this day's fighting Gen. Lee was severely wounded. His last campaign was in North Carolina, where he was paroled with Johnston's army. In February, 1865, he married Regina Harrison, of Colum- bus, Miss., where he made his home. He was a member of the State senate of 1878, from Lowndes, and a delegate to the consti- tutional convention of 1890. As president of the Agricultural and Mechanical college, he was of great service to the South, from 1880 until he resigned in 1899 to accept appointment as a member of the Vicksburg National park association. After several years as commander of the Mississippi division United Confederate Vet- erans, he was made lieutenant-general commanding the depart- ment east of the Mississippi, and upon the death of Gen. John B. Gordon he was chosen head of this patriotic order in the United States. He is president of the Mississippi Historical society, and of the board of trustees of the Department of Archives and His- tory. He is the author of "The South Since the War," in the Confederate Military History ; a series of papers on the A. & M. college; and a series published in the Historical Society publica- tions, covering the Vicksburg campaigns and siege, and other military subjects.

Leeke, a postoffice of Covington county.

Leesburg, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Rankin county, about 15 miles northeast of Brandon, the county seat, and 8 miles north of Pelahatchie, the nearest railroad station and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 50.

Leeville, a hamlet in the northwestern corner of Lauderdale county, 2 miles east of Battlefield station at the terminus of the Tallahatta Railway spur. It has rural free delivery from Battle- field.

Leflore .-- An old village in Carroll county which flourished during the 30's. It was a prosperous place when the present city of Green-

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wood was only known as Williams Landing. It was located about midway between Carrollton and Greenwood, upon land belonging to Col. Greenwood Leflore. Its first merchant is reputed to have been Uriah Tison. It once supported several stores and a church. When the village of Point Leflore sprang up in the present county of Leflore, only a few miles to the west, Leflore gradually dwindled and died.

Leflore, a postoffice in the southwestern part of Grenada county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 17 miles southwest of Grenada, the county seat. It has three stores, a good hotel, a public cotton gin, and a population of 50.

Leflore County was formerly a part of Sunflower, Tallahatchie and Carroll counties (q. v.), and was established March 15, 1871, during the administration of Governor Alcorn, It was directed by the act creating the county, that the county records, together with the buildings and grounds at McNutt, now in Leflore county, should be retained by Leflore (see Sunflower county), and that the county seat should be located at Greenwood. It was named in honor of Greenwood Leflore, the last and most powerful chief of the Choctaws in Mississippi. Located in the northwestern part of the State, it constitutes a long, irregularly shaped district on the eastern side of the fertile Yazoo delta, and has a land surface of 578 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Tallahatchie county, the Yazoo river forming part of the boundary line, on the east by Grenada and Carroll counties, on the south by Holmes county, the Yazoo river again forming part of the boundary line, and on the west by Sunflower county. No section in the State is possessed of greater natural resources and the county ranks among the first in the value of its products. The white population is small, being outnumbered by the colored in the proportion of eight to one. On account of the low, level topography of the region and its moist, warm climate, malarial fevers prevail to some extent. In common, however, with the rest of the Delta region, it is under- laid by an artesian basin, and plenty of pure, cold water can be ob- tained by drilling wells from 160 to 1,500 feet in depth. This has tended of late years to minimize the dangers from bilious and inter- mittent fevers. Greenwood, the county seat, was also named in honor of Greenwood Leflore. Greenwood was first called Williams Landing, and was incorporated in 1845 and called Greenwood. It is a place of 6,000 inhabitants, situated in the eastern part of the county on the Yazoo river, 3 miles below where the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers unite to form the Yazoo river. It is on the Southern Ry., and at the junction of two branches of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R's. It is a manufacturing and shipping point of importance, and two large oil mills, several saw mills and stave mills, a brick factory, machine shops, etc., are located here. Other towns, most of them on the railroad, are Sunnyside, Itta- bena, Sidon, Shellmound, Schlater-and Philipp. The railroads are the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley, and the Southern, a branch of the latter road running north from Ittabena to Webb, in Tallahatchie

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county. Besides the excellent railroad shipping facilities, the Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers pursue a tortuous course through the center of the county, and are navigable the entire year. Other streams and waters are Howling Wolf Bayou, Turkey Bayou, Bear creek, Lake Henry, and Blue, McIntyre, Mossy and McNutt lakes. The soil is alluvial and extremely fertile and will produce from one to two bales of cotton to the acre and from 30 to 60 bushels of corn. It produces abundantly all the crops common to the Delta region. The timber is large and of great variety, consist- ing of red-gum, white-oak, black-oak, red-oak and cow-oak, ash, elm, pecan, hickory, tupelo gum, walnut, cypress and many others.

The twelfth United States census for 1900, gives the following statistics for the county: Number of farms 4,266, acreage in farms 192,108, acres improved 117,013, value of land exclusive of buildings $3,430,180, value of buildings $658,020, value of live stock $622,761, total value of products $2,032,187. The number of manufacturing establishments was 97, capital $630,005, wages paid $94,817, cost of materials $574,956, total value of products $933,799. The population in 1900 consisted of whites 2,796, colored 21,038, total 23,834, in- crease of 6,965 over the year 1890. Total population in 1906 is estimated at about 30,000. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $4,802,540 and in 1906 it was $5,837,563, which shows an increase during the year of $1,035,023. There are 25 white schools and 8 colored schools in the county. There has been a general gain in the development of every phase of business, and in the clearing of farms of at least 331/3 per cent. since 1900.

LeFlore, Greenwood, was born June 3, 1800, at LeFleur's bluff, near the site of Jackson, Miss., son of Louis LeFleur, a French trader, who came to Mobile in 1792, and in the course of his opera- tions established a station at the bluff on Pearl river that after- ward bore his name, and married an Indian girl named Rebecca Cravat. When Greenwood, who got his name in honor of an Eng- lish sea-captain, once a partner of Louis, was twelve years old, the family moved to a spot now included in Choctaw county, on the Natchez trail northward, where the senior LeFleur kept tav- ern. The place is yet known as French Camp. Maj. John Donly, mail carrier between Nashville and Natchez, took a liking to young LeFlore and carried him to Nashville for schooling. He there fell in love with Donly's daughter and married her. Mean- while, in 1813, Louis LeFleur had aided in holding the Choctaws for the United States during the war with England, and had served as a major under Chief Pushamataha, who held the rank of col- onel. (Mrs. N. D. Deupree, M. H. S. Publ., VII, 141.) Young LeFlore returned home in 1817, a shrewd, ambitious, educated man, with the ability to take an important part in the affairs of the State.

After making the treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, Gen. Jackson reported: "The application of Greenwood LeFlore to become a citizen of the United States and have his section of land, to in-

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clude his improvement, secured to him in fee, is believed to be just and reasonable, and ought to be granted. It will, it is pre- sumed, have a good effect, and in a short time induce all those who remain on this side of the Mississippi to petition for the same privilege." He was granted this privilege by the treaty of Wash- ington, 1825. About the time of the treaty of 1826, (q. v.) which failed in its object, he and David Folsom were elected chiefs, in place of others whom the nation suspected of being friendly to a cession of land.

Subsequently the rights of the nation under the laws of con- gress were invaded by State laws. He was the regular law maker of his part of the nation, there being three mingoes of the Choc- taws, in all, and he endeavored to preserve and restore the an- cient virtues of the people by rigorous laws. (See Claiborne, Mississippi, 515.)

A great council of the Choctaw nation met on March 15, 1830, and Greenwood Leflore was unanimously elected chief of the west- ern district, after which he was carried in triumph through the captains and warriors of the other districts, who on the second day, resigned their offices and elected Leflore chief of the whole nation. A discussion of the question of removal followed, and among the speakers were warriors who had fought under Andrew Jackson and Anthony Wayne. The vote was in favor of emigra- tion, and a treaty to that effect was prepared and signed, and sent to Washington by David W. Hailey. Leflore instructed the cap- tains to "execute faithfully the laws of the nation, not in opposi- tion to Mississippi, but in the belief that Mississippi would not interfere when she discovered the Choctaws were endeavoring to get out of her way." (Natchez Galaxy, April 8, 1830.) He was a prominent figure in the treaty of 1830, at Dancing Rabbit Creek and probably saved that conference from failure. He petitioned the convention of 1832 that the new constitution should pro- vide for the citizenship of such Choctaws as chose to remain in the State, "it being the intention not to remove to their country beyond the Mississippi, but to remain and demean themselves as faithful citizens of the State." LeFlore was elected to the legislature of 1835 by Carroll county, and the legislature broke up on the question of admitting him and the other repre- sentatives of new counties. In 1841-44 he was a member of the State senate. Through the operations of the treaties and conse- quent speculations he acquired 15,000 acres of land, much of it the finest in the State, and became a wealthy planter, owning 400 slaves. For his plantation convenience he founded the town of Point LeFlore, at the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers, established a steam sawmill, opened a road with bridges, that cost him $75,000, and owned a steamer which plied the rivers. His splendid mansion, Malmaison, nine miles east of the city of Greenwood named in his honor, was built in 1854, succeeding an older home built in 1835. He was also head of a syndicate owning large areas of land in Texas. In 1861 he exerted all his influence

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 7

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