USA > Mississippi > Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II > Part 77
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Another section was donated for the University by the United States in 1894, and was sold by the State for $138,668. This amount was added to the State debt to the University endowment fund, which is given in the last financial report as $688,410.
Senath, a hamlet of Monroe county, 6 miles northeast of Aber- deen, the county seat. It has rural free delivery from Aberdeen.
Senatobia is the county seat of Tate county, situated near the center of the county, on the line of the Illinois Central railroad. Its name is an Indian word, meaning "white sycamore," or, accord- ing to another authority, "black snake." It was spelled in the Chickasaw dialect Sen-a-ta-ho-ba. Senatobia was founded at the time of the construction of the Mississippi & Tennessee (now the Illinois Central) railroad, on land which belonged to Eli McMullen. It was incorporated in 1856, and its first mayor was William Finney. Subsequent mayors have been J. L. Medders, A. Motley, I. D. Oglesby. William Atkinson, R. L. Wait, A. A. Royall, T. E. Neely, J. C. Roseborough, J. F. Heard, J. F. Dean, W. J. East, J. B. Stamps, J. L. Medders, a former incumbent, N. A. Taylor, J. W. Lauderdale, Harper Johnson and C. P. Varner. The county seat was located here in 1873, when Tate county was first organized, and the first county courts were held in Blackbourne's Hall. Its population in 1900 was 1,156 and in 1906 it was estimated at 1.500. The region about the town is an excellent fruit and vegetable country, and a considerable business is done in shipping these products of the soil to the nearby market of Memphis, distant 37 miles. The town also handles a large amount of cotton and corn. About 15,000 bales of cotton are shipped from here annually. It offers excellent advantages for brick and sewer pipe factories. It has a handsome court house building, which was erected in 1875 by J. H. Cocke, at a cost of $19.800. An addition was made to the court house in 1904, costing $5,000. The town is a separate school
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district and maintains two excellent white schools and one negro school, by local taxation. The Blackbourne College for white girls, and the Senatobia high school for white boys, are each open 9 months in the year and are free to all children within the corporate limits. There are more than 60 places of business in the town, and many of the business houses are constructed of brick which were manufactured within a quarter of a mile of the court house. The only exception being a few new buildings for which the brick could not be supplied here. The total assessed valuation of personal and real property for 1905 was $668,378 ; the tax rate was 57/2 mills with 6 mills school tax. The town has a debt of only $2,100. With the ex- ception of the Roman Catholic, the principal denominations are rep- resented in the churches here. The town owns and operates its electric lighting and water works systems. There are two banks- The Tate County Bank, established in 1891 wth a capital of $25,000, and the Senatobia Bank, established in 1900, with a capital of $30,000. There are two local papers published here-The Sena- tobia Democrat, a weekly Democratic paper, and The Baptist Herald (colored), a religious paper. The industries of the town are a large oil mill, capitalized at $55,000; a steam laundry, owned by the citizens of the town ; a brick plant, blacksmith and repair shops, and two cotton gins.
Senators, U. S. The first senators were elected by the legislature, October 9, 1817-Walter Leake and Thomas H. Williams, who took their seats December 11.
Leake drew the short term, four years from March 4, 1817. He resigned in 1820, and in January, 1821, David Holmes was unani- mously elected to the vacancy, also to serve six years from March 4, 1821. He resigned in 1825, and Governor Leake appointed Pow- hatan Ellis, September 28, 1825, ad interim. Ellis was a candidate before the legislature in January, 1826, and received 21 votes, but Thomas B. Reed received 23 and was elected for the unexpired term of Holmes. In the next legislature, January, 1827, the verdict was reversed (Ellis 27, Reed 16), and Powhatan Ellis was elected for six years from March 4, 1827.
All this time, and until March 4, 1829, Thomas H. Williams was the other senator, having been elected to a second term of six years. In January, 1829. the legislature voted for a successor to Williams-Thomas B. Reed, 34; Charles Lynch, 13; Thomas Hinds, 3. Reed's term was six years from March 4, 1829. But he died within the year, and the legislature in January, 1830, elected Robert H. Adams to fill out his term, the vote being, Adams 24, Joshua J. Child 3, George Poindexter 16, R. J. Walker 2. Adams died in the same year, and the governor appointed George Poin- dexter, October 14; and he was elected in November, receiving 41 votes to 6 for Judge Child. Consequently Poindexter was the ef- fective successor of Williams, to March 4, 1835.
Powhatan Ellis resigned, 1832. The governor appointed James C. Wilkins, who declined, and John Black was appointed. The ap- pointment was unanimously confirmed by the legislature January
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31, 1833, and eleven ballots taken for the term following. John Black, James C. Wilkins and P. Rutilius R. Pray were the candi- dates. Pray was gaining, when the senate withdrew, and the house resolved that such action was "unparliamentary and out of order." Black was subsequently elected. In 1835 the legislature asked him to resign because he had opposed President Jackson. He resigned in 1838.
The fight of Poindexter for reelection raged through 1834 and 1835. In January, 1835, a special session of the legislature was called to elect, but the attempt to count in 16 new representatives from the Choctaw counties caused the senate to refuse to recognize the house, and the session was adjourned by the governor to pre- vent trouble. The vote for senator in January, 1836, was,-on the first ballot-Robert J. Walker, 36; Franklin E. Plummer, 18; George Poindexter, 23. Plummer gained, Poindexter lost, and James C. Wilkins received as high as twelve votes. On the fifth ballot Walker received 44, a majority of two, and was elected for six years from March 4, 1835. He took his seat February 22, 1836. In 1840 he was reelected. S. S. Prentiss was put in nomination, but his name was immediately withdrawn by Mr. Guion. The vote was Walker 70, Prentiss 37, Smith 3. Black 2. Williams 1, Foote 1, Poindexter 1. The resignation of Senator Walker was re- ceived February 21, 1845 ; Joseph W. Chalmers, of Marshall county, was then appointed, and this was confirmed by legislative election in January, 1846, for the remainder of the term, Chalmers receiv- ing 96 votes to 33 for George Winchester. At the same session. for six years from March 4, 1847, Henry S. Foote was elected, 93 to 35, over Winchester.
At the election of senator vice Black, resigned, in January, 1838, the vote was: James F. Trotter, 62, W. S. Bodley, 32, John Hen- derson, 25. Trotter was a Democrat or "loco-foco," the others both Whigs. Trotter took his seat February 19, 1838, and resigned in the same year. In January, 1839, to fill the unexpired term, Thomas H. Williams received 60 votes: John Henderson, 52. For the six years from March 4, 1839, John Henderson, Whig, was elected, receiving 59 votes ; C. Pinckney Smith, 30; Thomas H. Williams,' 19.
At the senatorial election in 1844 Jesse Speight. of Lowndes, received 78 votes : Roger Barton, of Marshall. 43; C. P. Smith, 6; Joseph A. Marshall, 2. Jesse Speight died at his home in Lowndes county May 1, 1847, and August 10 Col. Jefferson Davis was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy, by the governor. January 11, 1848, the legislature elected Davis by acclamation to fill out the term of Sen- ator Speight. At the election (to succeed Speight-Davis) February 11, 1850. Roger Barton received 8 votes, Jefferson Davis 64. A. G. Brown 3, William A. Lake 4. John I. Guion 15, William L. Sharkey 8, Jacob Thompson 1, necessary to choice 65. On the second bal- lot Davis received 73, Barton 37, scattering 19. and Mr. Davis was declared elected for six years from March 4, 1851.
Senator Foote became a candidate for governor in 1851, the is-
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sue being one of national importance, and he had been censured by the legislature as misrepresenting his State. He became a candidate without resigning his seat in the senate. Senator Davis after the withdrawal of Quitman, became the opposing candidate for governor, and at once resigned his seat, September 23. There- upon the acting governor of the State, appointed John J. McRae to fill his place until the legislature should convene. Foote was elected governor. McRae took his seat in December. Foote also served in the senate until just before his inauguration.
February 7, 1852, Gov. Foote formally reported that there was a vacancy on account of his resignation to be filled; that "Missis- sippi has only one senatorial representative now in Washington, and he, holding his authority by executive appointment alone, is unfortunately a gentleman who, whatever qualifications his friends may attribute to him, is well known to entertain sentiments and opinions highly dangerous in their character and tendency, and which have been twice openly repudiated by the sovereign people of the State, in two successive popular elections." He urged the legislature to elect two senators who would support the compro- mise of 1850. He noted that the two houses were in disagreement about the form of procedure in the election to fill the two vacancies, and the election for the regular term to begin March 4, 1853, and urged that an agreement be reached. The message was laid on the table and ordered printed by a vote of 40 to 38. An agreement was reached so that a joint ballot was taken for a successor to Foote, February 18. Twenty-five candidates were voted for, Walker Brooke receiving 42 votes, A. G. Brown 12, A. B. Bradford 9, necessary to a choice 61. On the second and third ballots N. S. Brown had 20 votes, and on the third Brooke was elected, receiving 61 votes. He was a Whig. On the following day the ballot was for the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis. Stephen Adams, Union Democrat received 66 votes, John J. McRae 47, scattering 4. It was also the agreement that there should be a ballot on the 23d for a senator for the full term beginning March 4, 1853, but the house adjourned that day in memory of Jehu Wall, deceased. Brooke took his seat March 11; Adams, March 17, 1852. The State senate with a Democratic majority, of holdovers, refused to take part in the election required by the State and National law. The majority of the committee on the subject, of which O. R. Sing- leton was chairman, reported that there was a precedent in 1835 to sustain such action, and that the mails brought word that the legislatures of Alabama and Tennessee were likewise refusing to elect. The reason was frankly stated: "The present legislature was confessedly elected, under the pretended issue of Union or dis-Union-all other considerations were merged in it.
Your committee are clearly of the opinion that the legislature may elect or not, to fill the term commencing March 4, 1853, as a sound discretion may dictate." The legislature adjourned without an election for the approaching full term.
The next legislature, elected in 1853, was strongly Democratic.
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Gov. Foote resigned three days after delivering his message. Two days later, January 7, 1854, the ballot was taken, with this result: Albert G. Brown, 76; Henry S. Foote, 22; William L. Sharkey, 7; William A. Lake, 3; A. K. McClung, 2; F. M. Rogers, 2; J. A. Quitman, 1; J. D. Freeman, 1. Brown had 18 votes to spare. Gov. Foote had made no appointment to fill the vacancy in the senate, and Stephen Adams was the only senator during the session from December 5, 1853, until Brown took his seat January 26, 1854. His term was six years from March 4, 1853.
The contest for the senatorship in the legislature of 1856, for the term beginning March 4, 1857, was between Jefferson Davis, then a member of the cabinet of President Pierce, and Jacob Thompson, for some years prominent as a congressman. Both were of the same political sentiment, and the Democratic majority in the legislature was overwhelming. The northern counties were generally for Thompson, but Reuben Davis, Barry of Columbus, and Green of Holly Springs, supported Davis. At the caucus the latter had a majority of two, and next day he received 90 votes out of 123 cast.
At the legislative session of November, 1857 Albert G. Brown was elected almost unanimously (receiving 111 votes out of 115 cast) to succeed himself for the term beginning March 4, 1859. This apparently premature election was because the time of secession had been changed, and the legislature would not meet again regu- larly until November, 1859.
Davis and Brown were senators January 9, 1861, when the Mis- sissippi convention adopted the ordinance of secession. This was in the midst of the second session of the 36th congress. Senator Brown withdrew January 12 and Senator Davis January 21. Their seats were declared vacant March 14, 1861.
During the Confederate period, the State held that it had with- drawn from the Federal compact and did not seek representation in the United States congress until after the close of the war. The first subsequent elections of senators were for the terms succeeding those to which Davis and Brown were elected.
The first legislature after the close of the Confederate States period, meeting in October, 1865, on the 19th elected William L. Sharkey for the term beginning March 5, 1863 (to succeed Jeffer- son Davis). He received 102 votes, to 26 for Fulton Anderson. For the term beginning March 5, 1865 (to succeed Brown), the first ballot was William Yerger, 26; J. W. C. Watson, 19; W. S. Feath- erston, 6; James L. Alcorn, 40; S. J. Gholson, 21; E. C. Walthall, 10; Lock E. Houston (not nominated) 2. On the fourth ballot, on the following day, after the names of Walthall, Watson and Feath- erston had been withdrawn, Alcorn was elected, receiving 74 votes to 33 for Gholson and 19 for Yerger. When Congress met in De- cember, 1865, Sharkey and Alcorn were refused recognition until an investigation had been made, and in the following year they were excluded until further "reconstruction" (q. v.) had been brought
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about. They had some recognition as "delegates," however, pend- ing the final exclusion.
The next election of senators was by the provisional session of the legislature in 1870, January 19. For the term of six years be- ginning March 4, 1871, succeeding the vacant term to which Alcorn had been elected in 1865, Gen. Alcorn was elected by a vote of 120 to 1 for Judge Sharkey. For the full term beginning March 4, 1869, to succeed the vacant term to which Sharkey had been elected in 1865, Gen. Adelbert Ames was elected, receiving 94 votes, Gen. Robert Lowry 24, Horace Greeley 1, J. L. Alcorn 1.
To fill out what remained of the vacant term, 1865 to 1871, five ballots were taken. On the first the leaders were R. W. Flournoy 27, J. W. Vance 19, A. Alderson 21; B. B. Eggleston 19, J. W. C. Watson 18. Flourney and Watson were "home" candidates. Wat- son was withdrawn, and on the third ballot Hiram R. Revels, a negro army chaplain, received a considerable vote. The opposi- tion endeavored to unite on Vance, who came within ten votes of election. Next day, Revels was elected by a vote of 81 to 38. He was not, as has been frequently stated by historians, "chosen to fill the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis." He was in the suc- cession to Brown, but not to fill out even his term. No one filled out the term of Mr. Davis. Judge Sharkey was elected to the following term, 1863-69, and his successor, for 1869-75, as stated above, was Gen. Adelbert Ames.
Senator Ames resigned in January, 1874, to become governor, and February 4, Henry R. Pease was elected to fill out his term, receiving 95 votes, the opposition voting mainly for H. M. Street. At the same time Blanche K. Bruce, a mulatto, was elected for the term 1875-81 to succeed Pease. Bruce was succeeded by George.
The first election of J. Z. George was in January, 1880. The Democratic members were in overwhelming majority, but there were 15 Greenbackers, whose choice for senator was Ethelbert Barksdale. The Democrats took 49 ballots on nine successive even- ings in caucus, the candidates at first being Barksdale, O. R. Sing- leton and E. C. Walthall. Later the name of Gen. George was pro- posed. The houses met in joint convention to ballot, but voting separately. The first ballot, January 21st, was: J. Z. George 35; Ethelbert Barksdale 49, O. R. Singleton 52, A. M. West 13, B. K. Bruce 2, Harris 1. Next day the Barksdale and Singleton vote was given to George and he received 131 votes. Senator George was reelected in 1886, one vote being cast in opposition, for Mr. Alcorn. He was again reelected in 1892. At the regular session of the legislature in 1896 H. D. Money was elected to succeed Senator George at the expiration of his term in 1899. Senator George died August 14, 1897, and Mr. Money was appointed by the governor, October 11th, for the remainder of the term. He has since continued in the office, the last election being in January, 1904, for the term beginning March 4, 1905.
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Senator Alcorn was succeeded by L. Q. C. Lamar, elected Jan- uary 19, 1876, for the term 1877-83, the two houses voting separ-
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ately and meeting in joint session to compare results. The aggre- gate was Lamar 114, blank 24. Lamar was reelected without op- position for the term 1883-89, but resigned March 5, 1885, to enter Mr. Cleveland's cabinet. In his place Gen. E. C. Walthall was ap- pointed March 7, 1885, by Gov. Lowry, and when the legislature met in 1886, he was elected for the remainder of the term, and afterward for the term 1889-95. One of the provisions of the Constitution of 1890 is that elections for full terms of six years can take place only at regular sessions, which are held once in four years, though elec- tions to fill vacancies can be made at special sessions. As Senator George's term would expire in 1893, and Senator Walthall's in 1895, both Senators were reelected at the regular session in 1892, Walthall for the term, 1895-1901. January 18, 1894, Senator Walt- hall, on account of ill health, resigned the remainder of the term ending March 4, 1895, and the legislature, being in special session, elected A. J. McLaurin for the unexpired period. General Walthall resumed his seat, March 4, 1895, and served till his death, April 21, 1898. May 28 the governor appointed Will Van Amberg Sullivan for the unexpired term. In January, 1900, the two houses failed to concur in a joint session to count the vote for senator for the terms ending and beginning March 4, 1901. But Mr. Sullivan was elected for the remainder of General Walthall's term; and for the full term, Governor McLaurin was elected. Senator McLaurin was reelected in January, 1904, for the term beginning March 4, 1907.
Senator McLaurin is in the Williams-Walker-Foote-Brown-Al- corn-Lamar line of succession; Senator Money in the Leake-Black- Adams-Davis-Sharkey-George line.
In 1898 Governor McLaurin in his regular message recommended a memorial to congress asking for an amendment to the constitution requiring election of senators by the voters of each State. He said : "Between plutocracy and democracy there can be no harmony. They are in constant conflict in every land until one or the other prevails. Every advantage gained and fortified is an incentive to further and more vigorous aggression on the part of the victor, while it correspondingly demoralizes and weakens the loser. Every change which puts the election of their officers more directly in the hands of the people gives them greater strength and more power and influence in public affairs."
Under the primary election law of 1902 senators are nominated at the party primary elections, which, so far, have been held only by the Democratic party. At the first primary election under this law, in 1903, Senator McLaurin received 71,650 votes without opposi- tion, and the vote for the term 1905-11 was H. D. Money 59,758, A. H. Longino 36,121.
Service, a post-hamlet of Jones county, on the Laurel branch of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 6 miles northwest of Laurel, the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 20.
Sessions, Joseph, a member of the constitutional convention of 1817, was born in Sampson county, N. C., and came to the Missis- sippi Territory in 1801 as a surveyor. He married the daughter of
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Joshua Howard, who had settled on Sandy Creek when Natchez district was under the British government. He was a member of the Territorial council in 1806-08, and of the lower house in 1811- 12 ; declined the command of the First regiment of militia, to suc- ceed F. L. Claiborne in 1807, was appointed aide-de-camp to the governor in 1809, and rendered important services during the war of 1813-15. He was elected representative from Adams county vice Wm. Snodgrass, resigned, in 1814, served in 1817-19 and was sena- tor in 1821-22. Col. Sessions was the son of Richard Sessions, who lived and died in Sampson county, N. C., and his mother was Esther Boone, a niece of Daniel Boone. Jesse, a younger brother of Joseph, followed him to Mississippi. His son, Maj. J. F. Sessions, an officer of Powers' cavalry regiment, was elected to the railroad commis- sion in 1886.
Sessums, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Oktibbeha county, on the Columbus branch of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 7 miles by rail from Starkville, the county seat and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 27.
Shands, Garvin D., was born December 5, 1844 in Spartanburg district, S. C. He was the oldest son of Anthony C. and his wife Frances J. (Ferguson) Shands. He was reared at the family home in South Carolina and educated at Woodford college in that State. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in Manigault's battalion, and at the end of one year in the 6th S. C. cavalry. His command did service guarding the port of Charleston until 1864, when they were transferred to Virginia for service under Gen. Wade Hamp- ton. He was in all of Hampton's battles from May, 1864, until the surrender, when he was with Johnston's army at Hillsboro, N. C. In 1867 he removed to Panola county, Miss., where he engaged in teaching and read law for two years. He went to Tate county in 1869 and took his law degree at the University of Kentucky in 1870. He opened an office at Senatobia, where he built up an ex- tensive practice. He was a member of the legislature from 1876 to 1880; was lieutenant-governor of Mississippi from 1882 to 1890, and in 1894 became professor of law in the University of Missis- sippi.
In 1906 he resigned to accept a similar position in Tulane Uni- versity.
In 1870 Gov. Shands was married to Mary E., daughter of W. D. Roseborough. They have five children. Their eldest son, Hubert A., became fellow in English literature at the University of Mis- sippi at the early age of eighteen.
Shankstown, an extinct town in Jefferson county, 6 miles north of the historic old town of Greenville. In the early days the hotel of the place was kept by a Mr. Shanks, who gave the settlement its name. It was never regularly platted, but had a large number of business houses, a few stores, and a number of shops.
Shannon, an incorporated post-town in the southern part of Lee county, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 60 miles south of Corinth, and 8 miles south of Tupelo, the county seat and nearest banking
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town. The town is prosperous and growing rapidly. Population in 1900, 434.
Sharkey, a post-hamlet of Tallahatchie county, on the Yazoo river, 15 miles southwest of Charleston, the county seat. Popula- tion in 1900, 51.
Sharkey County was organized late in the history of the State, March 29, 1876, and received its name in honor of Judge William L. Sharkey, provisional Governor of the State in 1865. The county has a land surface of 438 square miles. It was carved from territory formerly belonging to the two counties of Washington and Issa- quena (q. v.), has a long, irregular shape, and lies entirely in the Mississippi Bottom, in the west central part of the State. Deer creek runs entirely through the county. It is bounded on the north by Washington county, on the east by Yazoo county, the Yazoo river and the Big Sunflower forming part of the crooked boundary line, on the south by Issaquena county and on the west by Washington and Issaquena counties. It is an exceedingly rich and fertile district, but is still sparsely settled with a population largely composed of negroes. The last decade, however, has seen a large increase in population-about 25 per cent. according to the census returns for 1900. The first officers of the county were, J. H. Robertson, Sheriff ; T. C. Watson, County Treasurer; J. G. Davis, Assessor and Collector; Henry Pickard, Clerk of the Chan- cery and Circuit Courts ; Col. W. T. Barnard, President ; J. A. C. Shrader, Eugene Clark, A. P. Ferguson, D. Hunt, were members of the Board of Supervisors, appointed by the act which created the county, and Rolling Fork was made the county seat by the same act. There are no large towns in the county, the largest being the county seat, Rolling Fork, which is a town of 1,000 people, in the west central part, on the line of the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Val. R. R. The Y. & M. V. R. R., traverses the county from north to south and other towns along its line are Anguilla (pop. 300), Cary (pop. 101), Egremont, Blanton, Smedes, Nitta- yuma, Cameta, and Panther Burn. The streams in the county are Deer creek, Little Sunflower and Big Sunflower rivers, navigable for the greater portion of the year. The surface of the land is level and the soil is alluvial, for the most part "buckshot," with some sandy soil on the bayous and creeks. It produces abundant crops of cotton, corn, oats, potatoes, sorghum, and all fruits and vegetables common to this latitude. With careful cultivation, from one to two bales of cotton, and thirty to sixty bushels of corn per acre can be grown. The timber consists of white and red oak, cottonwood, pecan, cypress, red and sweet gum. Pasturage is ex- cellent and stock thrive here all through the year. Churches and schools (separate for the two races) are found all over the county. The healthfulness of the region has been distinctly bettered within the last few years by tapping the underlying basin for artesian water. Possessed of the richest soil to be found in the world, and with excellent shipping facilities by rail and water, this county should continue to grow in wealth and population.
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