Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 91

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 91

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).

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4 and 5 west; thence north on said range line to the beginning." The present area of the county is ?03 square miles. On March 15, 1871, when a large portion of Sunflower county was cut off to form the new county of Leflore, the county seat was removed from Mc- Nutt, now in Leflore county, to a new town to be called Johnson- ville, at the junction of Mound Bayou with the Sunflower river. Eleven years later in 1882, by vote of the people, the county seat was again moved-this time to a point about four miles west of the Sunflower river on Indian Bayou, first called Eureka, but since that time known as Indianola. With the advent of the Georgia Pacific R. R., a few years later, the town of Baird grew up one mile north of Johnsonville and the latter town soon ceased to exist. The county is a long, narrow strip of land in the northwestern part of the State and lies entirely within the fertile Yazoo Delta region. Governor B. G. Humphreys, was an early settler in this county, as were James J. Chenning, G. B. Wilds, Col. Eli Waits, J. Y. Mc- Neill, Col. Hezekiah McNabb, Ezekiel McNabb, Major Frank Hawkins and Capt. John Hawkins. The first State Senators to represent the county were Felix Lebauve and D. C. Sharpe of De Soto county. The earliest representatives were J. J. Chenning, G. B. Wilds and Ezekiel McNabb. The present county site, Indianola, had a population of 630 people in 1900, and is the largest town in the county. It is on the line of the Southern Ry., is growing very rapidly, and around it are some of the richest and largest planta- tions in the State. That of Mr. Crawford contains 15,000 acres. There are a number of other thriving towns in the county, the more important ones being Moorhead (pop. 437), Baird, above men- tioned (pop. 300), Woodburn (pop. 300), Ruleville (pop. 226), Drew (pop. 195), Inverness (pop. 100), Dockery, Rome and Parch- man. The county is amply supplied with railroad facilities, as the Southern Ry., crosses the southern part from west to east, and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. traverses its entire length from north to south, and has three branch lines which extend in various directions. The Sunflower river flows through the whole county from north to south, and for several months each year is navigable for steamboats. The other streams are Mound Bayou, Jones Bayou, Indian Bayou, Porter's Bayou and Quiver river. About one-third of the farm acreage in 1900 was improved, or 73,696 acres (the im- proved acreage is estimated at 100,000 in 1906), the balance is well timbered with valuable red and white oak, red and sweet gum, hickory, cottonwood and cypress. The cottonwood is largely exhausted but the despised gum is rapidly taking its place as a good substitute. Sunflower county is a level expanse of fertile Delta bottom land and there is no richer soil in the world. It is capable of producing from one to two bales of cotton per acre and from thirty to sixty bushels of corn. Besides the great staple crops of the region, cotton and corn, it raises peas, potatoes, sugar-cane. sorghum and a great abundance of fruit and vegetables, suitable to the climate. Stock can be raised at a mimimum cost in money and energy in this county, and the pasturage is extensive both winter and summer. The industry has already attained large proportions

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and with the establishment of packing houses at adjacent shipping points, the business would assume much larger proportions. The county is fairly well provided with churches and schools and the climate is mild and moist. The malarial and intermittent fevers, common in former years, have been largely controlled by tapping the great artesian basin which underlies the region, for a pure supply of water. It has been found that this water can be reached by boring from 1,000 to 1,500 feet.

The following statistics, taken from the twelfth United States census, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms 2,705, acreage in farms 122,965, acres improved 73,696 (esti- mated in 1906 to be over 100,000 acres), value of the land exclusive of buildings $2,435,210, value of the buildings $477,530, value of live stock $550,913, value of products not fed $1,078,430. Number of manufacturing establishments 44, capital invested $617,659, wages paid $87,936, cost of materials $353,655, total value of products $617,202. The population of Sunflower county in 1900 consisted of whites 4,006, colored 12,078, total 16,084, increase over the year 1890, 6,700. The population was estimated in 1906 to be over 20,000. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Sun- flower county in 1905 was $3,565,963 and in 1906 it was $4,306,920, which shows an increase during the year of $740,957.

Sunnyside, a village of Leflore county, on the Southern Ry., and on the Yazoo river, about 15 miles northwest of Greenwood, the county seat. Schlater is the nearest banking town. It is an im- portant cotton shipping point. A money order postoffice is main- tained here. Population in 1900, 250.

Supreme Court, 1817-32. Under the constitution of 1817 the inhabited part of the State was divided into four judicial districts, for each of which the legislature elected a judge of the supreme court, whose duty it was also to hold superior court twice a year in each of his counties. Judges could be removed by the governor upon "the address of two-thirds of each house of the general as- sembly," and an age limit of sixty-five years was established, but there was no fixed term of office. Each court had the appointment of its own clerk.

The supreme court held its sessions at Natchez until an act of legislature in February, 1826, required its removal to Monticello. But in 1828 the December term was restored to Natchez.

The districts were, first, the northern part of the old Natchez district (Warren, Claiborne and Jefferson counties) ; second, Adams, Franklin and Lawrence; third, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike and Marion; fourth Hancock, Wayne, Greene and Jackson. By the Poindexter code, 1822, the new county of Monroe, all the upper Tombigbee country then settled, was added to the Fourth district, and the new county of Hinds, embracing all the Choctaw cession of 1820, was added to the First district. The name of "districts" was changed to "circuits," and the superior courts to circuit courts, a circuit court to be held as before, twice a year in each county, by the judge of the

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supreme court appointed to that circuit, who must reside in it after his appointment. So the circuits continued until 1828, when the Fifth circuit was created, including what was originally Hinds and Monroe counties.

In the change from Territorial to State government, the Terri- torial judges held over until the legislature could elect, which act was deferred for some time because the legislature adjourned after a few days' session in October, 1817, on account of the yellow fever. In the recess, Governor Holmes appointed John Taylor to succeed Judge Leake, elected to the United States senate; Lyman Harding to succeed Attorney-General Christopher Rankin, re- signed; and Powhatan Ellis judge to hold superior court east of Pearl, as provided in the constitution. After the legislature had come together again, at Natchez, the two houses balloted, Janu- ary 21, 1818, for judges of the supreme court. For the first district the vote was, William B. Shields 21, Joshua G. Clarke 11; Second district, John Taylor 32; Third district, John P. Hampton 32; Fourth district, Powhatan Ellis 27, William J. Minton 5. . It was provided, by a resolution introduced by Cowles Mead, that the judge of the Second district should be presiding judge of the su- preme court, for the time being, to be succeeded in order by the judges of the First, Third and Fourth districts. There was no officially entitled "chief justice." By act of January, 1825, the supreme court was authorized to appoint one of their number, at each term, to deliver the opinions of the court in writing.

The personnel of the supreme court, before its first session in June, 1818, was changed by the appointment of Shields to be the first judge of the United States district court. Joshua G. Clarke was appointed to succeed him on the State bench. The list then stood: Taylor, Hampton, Ellis, Clarke. Following is a full list, with dates of appointments :

Judges of Supreme and Circuit Courts.

First circuit : William B. Shields, 1818; Joshua G. Clarke, 1818; Bela Metcalf, November, 1821; Richard Stockton, Jr., August, 1822 ; Joshua Child, January, 1825; Wm. L. Sharkey, November, 1831, ad interim; Alexander Montgomery, the first native Missis- sippian on the bench, was elected over Sharkey in November, 1831. Second circuit: John Taylor, 1818; Walter Leake, 1820; Louis Winston, 1821; Edward Turner, 1825-33. Fourth circuit: Powhatan Ellis, 1818; Isaac Caldwell, ad interim, 1825; John Black, 1825; Eli Huston, December, 1832. Third circuit: John P. Hampton, 1818, died ; George Winchester, ad interim, 1827: Harry Cage, 1828 resigned : C. P. Smith, ad interim, May, 1832. Fifth cir- cuit : This was established in 1828, including the two regions orig- inally called Monroe and Hinds counties. Isaac R. Nicholson was elected over Isaac Caldwell by a small majority, as judge, and Buckner Harris, district attorney.

Supreme Court, 1870-1906. (See High Court.) The constitu- tion of 1869 created, as did the constitution of 1817, a "Supreme

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court," of three judges. The power to elect these judges and all others was again delegated; but to the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, not to the legislature, as in 1817-32. The term of the supreme judges was to be nine years, but to begin with, to secure individual alternation, the terms were respectively three, six and nine years. The terms of the supreme court were to be held at the seat of government twice a year. Governor Alcorn's appointees were H. F. Simrall and Ephriam G. Peyton, old citizens of the State, and Jonathan Tarbell, a Union soldier from New York who had settled after the war in Scott county. Peyton and Tarbell were the only Republicans who have ever been appointed to the supreme bench. The justices were in- stalled in office May 10, 1870, in the presence of the two houses of the legislature, and Judge Simrall drew for the term of nine years, Peyton for three and Tarbell for six years. They were sworn in by Governor Alcorn. Peyton was made chief justice. He was re-appointed for a full term of nine years from May 11, 1873, at the close of his three year term. In the early part of 1876, when the Democratic party was again in control of the legislature, and the impeachment trial of Governor Ames was set for March 28, to be presided over by the chief justice, Peyton was requested by resolution of legislature to resign, until the "emergency" had passed, which he did, and Judge Simrall was elected chief justice in his place.

By an act of the legislature, approved April 11, 1876, by Gover- nor Stone, which was general in form, but so drawn as to apply in only one case, Chief Justice Peyton, on account of failing health, was retired on half pay, and was succeeded, May 10, 1876, by H. H. Chalmers for the remainder of his unexpired term. J. A. P. Camp- bell was appointed in place of Jonathan Tarbell, whose six year term expired, May 10, 1876. Judge Simrall's term expired May 10, 1878, and he was succeeded by J. Z. George, who was chosen chief justice. The code of 1880 provided that the chief justice should be the judge whose term expired in the shortest time. Judge George resigned Feb. 10, 1881, to enter the U. S. Senate, and was succeeded by T. E. Cooper, Judge Chalmers becoming chief justice by virtue of the provision of 1880. In 1882 Judge Chalmers was reappointed, and, in regular order, Judge Campbell became chief justice. When Judge Campbell's term expired in 1885, he was reappointed, and Judge Cooper became chief justice. Judge Chalmers died January 4, 1885, and was succeeded by James M. Arnold, who, by regular rule, was chief justice from Judge Cooper's reappointment in 1888 to his own resignation, October 1, 1889. Thomas H. Woods was appointed to fill out Judge Arnold's term, and was chief justice from the time of his appointment until 1891.

In the constitutional convention of 1890 Mr. McLaurin of Sharkey county proposed a supreme court of five judges to be elected by the people of five districts for terms of twenty years. But this did not find favor, and the plan of appointment by the governor was a part of the general plan of government which the

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convention adopted, not so much from choice but because of what was regarded at that time as necessity. The judiciary article, as reported by the committee composed of Wiley P. Harris, chair- man, and Simrall, Featherston, Taylor, Fewell, Chrisman, Smith (of Warren), McLaurin (of Rankin) Ford, McLean (of Grenada), Hooker, Sykes, Blair, Barnett, Campbell, Noland, Lacey, Sexton, Lee (of Madison), Allen and Eskridge, and adopted, provided for a supreme court, with the jurisdiction of a court of appeals, to be composed of three judges, appointed by the governor with the ad- vice and consent of the senate, each judge for and from one of three districts to be formed by the legislature. The term of office is nine years, after the usual apportionment of three, six and nine years at the beginning. Court is held twice a year at the seat of government. The court at that time was composed of Justices Thomas H. Woods, J. A. P. Campbell, and T. E. Cooper, who were continued in office as from the State at large. Judge Woods was reappointed in 1891, and thereupon Judge Campbell became chief justice for the second time. The next appointment was of A. H. Whitfield in place of Judge Campbell, whose term expired in 1894. The Code of 1892 provided that the judge who had been for the longest time continuously a member of the court should be chief justice, and under this provision Judge Cooper was chief justice from 1894 to December. 1896, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Thomas R. Stockdale for the remainder of the unexpired term. Judge Woods became chief justice on the resignation of Chief Justice Cooper. In 1897 Samuel H. Terral was appointed to suc- ceed Judge Stockdale, whose term had expired. In 1900 Judge Woods' term expired, and he was succeeded by S. S. Calhoon, Judge Whitfield becoming chief justice, which position he still holds. On the 29th of January, 1898, an amendment to the con- stitution, known as the "Noel Amendment." had been adopted by both houses of the legislature making all the judiciary elective; this was voted on by the people in the election of 1899, and re- ceived over two-thirds of all the votes cast on the amendment, but not a majority of all the votes cast at the election. The legislature of 1900 held that it had been adopted, and on January 26 passed a concurrent resolution inserting it in the constitution. In the May, 1900, term of the Lincoln circuit court, the matter was brought up by Judge Robert Powell for adjudication ; and the cir- cuit court held that the amendment had not been legally adopted. The State appealed the case, and the supreme court, in the latter part of May, affirmed the decision of the lower court, on the ground, first, that the legislature was not the final judge ; second, that the details of electing supreme judges, chancellors, etc .. made more than one amendment; third, that a majority of all voting at the election was required. An amendment to the constitution to the same effect passed the house in the session of 1904, but failed to pass in the senate. Judge Terral died in March, 1903, and J. H. Price was appointed in his place. Chief Justice Whitfield's term expired 1903, and he was reappointed, March 9. Judge Price re-

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signed in August, 1903, and Jeff Truly was appointed to fill out the term. The Supreme Court was then constituted, A. H. Whit- field, chief justice, term expires in 1912 ; associates, S. S. Calhoon, term expires in 1909, and Jeff Truly, term expired in 1906. Upon the expiration of the term of Judge Truly, in 1906, he was suc- ceeded by Robert B. Mayes.

Surget, Peter, was born in Rochelle, France; when a young man came to New York, where he married Catherine Hubbard; became a West Indian merchant, removed to Baton Rouge, and thence, in 1785, came to Natchez district, where he died in 1796, leaving a large property and several sons and daughters.

Surry, a hamlet of Perry county. It has rural free delivery from Hattiesburg.

Susie, a postoffice of Grenada county, 15 miles east of Grenada, the county seat.

Swamp Lands. See Levees, Internal Improvements, Foote Adm. Amos Deason was appointed commissioner of swamp lands in 1871. In 1877 the law was revised and John M. Smylie ap- pointed commissioner. In 1880-81 the commissioner issued patents for about 225,000 acres of swamp lands, with the result that $43,000 were added to the State treasury. Of the swamp lands patented prior to that time little remained unsold. Mr. Smylie, under an act of 1880, presented at Washington a claim for 387,000 acres which the State considered yet due, and patents were rap- idly issued for the same. The State also claimed an indemnity of $50,000, and there were claims for additional patents. Smylie was succeeded in 1884 by H. D. Cameron, who had the marsh lands on the coast surveyed and platted, something in excess of 13,000 acres. Mr. Cameron was succeeded temporarily by E. B. Com- fort, and P. M. Doherty was appointed, in 1884. He was succeeded in 1886 by John R. Enochs. The State was indebted to the Swamp land fund $140,000 in 1888. (See Finances.) Smylie's successor, upon his resignation, in 1888, was J. W. McMaster, and Edgar S. Wilson was appointed in 1890 and 1892, and served until 1896. The commissioner, under revisions of the laws, now had charge (1891), under a State board of Swamp land commissioners, of the Internal Improvement lands, of which 1,838 acres remained unsold; the Lowry Island lands, originally 13,431 acres on the Mississippi sound, in Jackson county, and 30,829 acres of School indemnity lands, besides 210,640 acres of swamp lands proper. In 1896 the office was changed to that of Land commissioner (q. v.).

The legislature of 1890 enacted that all persons then holding swamp lands under invalid purchase should have the right to pur- chase the same for a period of two years at the uniform price of 121% cents an acre; but the constitutional convention of the same year waived the payment of such sums, and disclaimed any inter- est or title in such lands on account of erroneous locations ; it also dedicated the proceeds of swamp lands to the common schools.

An act of 1902 transferred to the commissioner's office from the

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auditor's office all the land records, and required a revision of the lists to prevent errors in land sales.

Swanlake, a post-hamlet of Tallahatchie county, situated on the lake of the same name, and a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 15 miles southwest of Charleston, the county seat. Webb is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 52.

Swann, Thomas T., was auditor of Mississippi October 16, 1865, to January 4, 1870. August 2, 1870, he died. His successor, H. Musgrove, wrote of him: "His long and efficient services to the State, in connection with this office as assistant, as deputy auditor. and for a number of years as auditor of public accounts, is well known. All who knew him in official relations will bear willing testimony to his efficiency, integrity and the uprightness of his character."

Swayze, Samuel, founder of the Congregational colony in Natchez district, made his settlement under the Ogden Mandamus, which read as follows: "Let a patent be prepared and engrossed, to pass the great seal of this province, imparting his Majesty's most grac- ious grant unto Captain Amos Ogden, his heirs and assigns, of a plantation or tract of land, containing twenty-five thousand acres, situate southwesterly about twenty-one miles from the old Natchez fort, bounded southerly by a creek called Homochitto creek, and about a quarter of a mile east of a tract of one thousand acres, granted to Colin Campbell, Esq., on said creek, about half a mile south from land granted to Junis Hooper, on a creek called Second Creek, and on the other side by vacant land," on condition, "That the said Amos Ogden do settle the said lands with foreign Protes- tants, or persons that shall be brought from his majesty's other colonies in North America, within ten years from the date of the grant, in the proportion of one person to every hundred acres." If one-third of the land were not so settled in three years the grant was to be forfeited to his Majesty, his heirs and successors.

In 1772 Capt. Ogden sold 19,000 acres of his grant to Richard and Samuel Swayze, of New Jersey, at 20 cents an acre. They vis- ited the country and located the claim on the Homochitto river, and brought their families and a party of colonists there by sea and through the Manchac route in the fall of 1772. Samuel Swayze had long been a Congregational preacher and most of his party were of that faith. The religious society they organized was un- doubtedly the first Protestant organization in the Natchez district. The venerable pastor settled on the east bank of St. Catherine, after they were driven to Natchez by the Indians in 1780, and died there in 1784. Many important families of Mississippi are de- scended in one branch or another from the brothers Swayze. (Clai- borne.)

In the claim of the heirs of Hiram Swayze for 164 acres near Natchez, under a grant of January 18, 1793, by Gayoso, not by the governor-general, it was testified by Richard King that the land was granted Swayze as a bounty for military service (probably when the militia went to New Orleans to repel the French), and

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that Hiram Swayze lived on or near the land from the year 1782 until his death, which was sometime in the year 1794.

Sweatman, a post-hamlet of Montgomery county, 12 miles north- east of Winona, the county seat and nearest banking town. Popu- lation in 1900, 22.

Swiftwater, a postoffice of Washington county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 5 miles south of Greenville, the county seat and nearest banking town.

Sycamore, a post-hamlet of Chickasaw county, 7 miles east of Houston, and about 12 miles southwest of Okolona. Houston is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 66.

Sykes, a postoffice of Clarke county, situated on the East Fork of Buckatunna creek, 10 miles northeast of Quitman, the county seat and nearest railroad town.

Sylvarena, a post-hamlet of Smith county, 10 miles east, south- east of Raleigh, the county seat. Taylorsville is the nearest banking town. It has two churches and a school called the Sylvarena Institute, W. S. Huddleston, principal; and a money order post- office. Population in 1900, 75.

Tabbville, a post-hamlet of Chickasaw county, 6 miles southwest of Houston, one of the county seats of justice, and the nearest rail- road town. Population in 1900, 52.

Tacaleeche, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Benton county, 2 miles from Hickoryflat station, on the Frisco System, and 14 miles south of Ashland, the county seat. Population in 1900, 22.

Taensas. See Indians.

Tallahatchie County was organized December 23, 1833, from terri- tory acquired by the United States from the Choctaw tribe of Indians, at the treaty of Dancing Rabbit in 1830. It was called for the river of the same name, the Indian word "Tallahatchie" signify- ing "River of the Rock." Its limits embraced the following town- ships according to the original act: Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six, of ranges one and two west and twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six of ranges one, two and three, east. A portion of its southern area was later taken to assist in forming the counties of Leflore and Grenada, and the three northwestern townships were embraced in Quitman county in 1877, when that county was formed.

Some of the first county officials were: B. B. Wilson, Clerk of the Circuit and Probate Courts ; Green B. Goodwin, Sheriff ; William Sutton, Assessor and Collector; William Berry, Coroner; H. C. Davis, Ranger ; William Fanning, President ; A. L. Humphrey, Samuel Foster, Walter A. Mangum, Joseph Carson, Members of the Board of Police. Besancon's Register for 1838, gives the list of county officers at that time as follows : -- Wilkins, County Treas- urer ; J. W. Phillips, Clerk of the Circuit Court ; Edmunds Jenkins, Judge of Probate ; Green B. Goodwin, Sheriff ; - Bacon, Ranger ;

- Sutton, Coroner; Olsamus Kendrick, Surveyor : - Brown, Assessor and Collector ; - Willmore, Clerk of the Probate Court ; Campbell, Staten, Davis, Slate, Thrasher, Members of the Board of

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 91

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