Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 92

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 92

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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Police ; John H. McRae, - Lawhon, J. L. Watkins, Peter B. Mc- Daniel, Justices of the Peace.

The Tuscahomian, a newspaper, published at the old town of Tuscahoma, in 1835, was probably the first newspaper to be pub- lished in the county.

It is situated in the northwestern part of the State, and the old boundary line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw cessions cuts across its northeastern border. Three-fourths of its area lies in the Yazoo river bottom, the eastern quarter in the hills. It is one of the rich and prosperous counties of the State and was settled early in the ,30's by an excellent body of emigrants, from the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia and the Carolinas, and the older part of Mississippi. One of the earliest settlers in the region was Samuel Foster, married to an Indian woman and living in the valley of Tillatoba creek, on eighteen hundred acres of land, reserved to him under the above treaty. In 1832, Col. James Bailey, Captain Samuel Caruthers and Captain Charles Bowen came from Hickman county, Tennessee, and settled in the same valley, after an exploration on horseback of much of the new cession. Other early settlers were Thomas and Lawrence Calhoun, nephews of John C. Calhoun; Wiley P. Mangum, Major James W. Harper, James Marsh, James A. and George R. Girault, from Natchez ; the McAfees, from south Mississippi : William Y. Blocker, and Rev. Samuel Marsh, Sr., a distinguished Baptist divine.

Some of the earliest settlements in the county were Tuscahoma (q. v.), about 12 miles west of Grenada and at one time a place of about 300 people with a thriving trade; it was here that the first licensed saloon in the county was established in January of 1835, and the same year "The Tuscahomian," a weekly paper, began its publication ; Pharsalia (q. v.), established in 1833 or 1834, on the south bank of the Yacona river in the northeastern part of the county, and numbering a population of about 200 at the time of its greatest prosperity ; noted for its horse races and shooting matches on Saturdays, and gander pullings on Christmas days, and the scene of many memorable political debates; Tillatoba (q. v.), located about a mile northwest of Charleston, once a place of 150 inhabitants, and the early county seat ; a defective title to the town site caused the removal of the county seat to Charleston, across Tillatoba creek ; the name Tillatoba survives in the village of the same name on the Illinois Central R. R., a few miles to the east ; Locopolis (q. v.), the first shipping point in Tallahatchie county, located on the east bank of the Tallahatchie river, ten miles west of the present town of Charleston : a large cotton shipping point in the 30's, with a ferry and turnpike to a point 10 miles east ; during the year 1842, there were, according to Col. James Railey, about a hundred loaded wagons going in to Locopolis ; it had an extensive trade through the Yazoo pass; at the height of its prosperity there were 30 or 40 flatboats and keel boats on its river front and it was hoped to make it a rival of Memphis. All the above old places are now extinct and only live in the memories of the oldest inhab- itants. The present county seat, Charleston, is a pretty little place

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of 850 people, located in the forks of the Tillatoba, a few miles off the railway, and was first settled about 1837. Sumner (pop. 200), Glendora (pop. 100), Harrison Station (now called Enid, pop. 180), Webb (pop. 128), Tutwiler (pop. 142), are the important railroad towns in the county. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., runs through the western part of the county from north to south, the Southern Ry. penetrates the southern part to Webb and the Illinois Central R. R. crosses the extreme northeastern corner. The Yazoo river flows through the center of the county and with its tributaries, Tillatoba river, and Hobson's and Opossum bayous, giving it ex- cellent water privileges. The western part of the county, when protected from overflow and drained, is exceedingly rich and pro- ductive alluvial bottom ; the eastern part, in the broken and hilly section, has a yellow clay loam soil and is timbered with various kinds of oak, hickory, poplar, beech, etc .; in the bottoms, white and overcup oaks, gum, cypress, walnut, etc. The products of the soil are cotton, corn, oats, wheat, sorghum, sweet and Irish potatoes, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables suited to the climate. A great many live stock are raised in this county and the pasturage is good winter and summer. The value of the live stock in 1900 had reached over $600,000, and the industry is assuming greater proportions annually. Some beds of marl and lignite or brown coal have been found in the eastern parts of the county.

The following statistics, taken from the twelfth United States census for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms 3,289, acreage in farms 179,426, acres improved 95,611, value of the land exclusive of buildings $2,157,490, value of the buildings $531,410, value of the live stock $624,651, total value of products not fed to stock $1,503,418. Number of manufacturing establishments 49, capital invested $210,025, wages paid $27,062, cost of materials $74,916, total value of products $183,610. The population of the county in 1900 was whites 6.308, colored 13,292, total 19,600, increase over 1890, 5,239. The total population in 1906 was estimated at 23,000.

The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Tallahatchie county in 1905 was $3,700,201 and in 1906 it was 83.825,995, which shows an increase of $125,794 during the year.

Tallaloosa was an early settlement in Marshall county, 8 miles southwest of Holly Springs, and attained sufficient importance to be incorporated by the Legislature in 1838. It was located in a rich farming region, occupied by such families as the Glovers, Woods, McClatchys, Hursts. Williams, McCravens, Jones and Echols. The town was absorbed by Holly Springs and Chulahoma, and is now extinct.

Tallula, a post-hamlet of Issaquena county, on the Mississippi river, 10 miles south of Mayersville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 26.

Talowah, a post-hamlet and station of Lamar county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., 6 miles south of Purvis, the county seat and the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 75.

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Tamola, a postoffice and station in the southeastern part of Kemper county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., 16 miles southeast of Dekalb, the county seat, and 231/2 miles northeast of Meridian.

Tampa, a post-hamlet of Winston county, 10 miles west of Louis- ville, the county seat. It is on Butcha creek, an affluent of the Pearl river. Louisville is the nearest banking and railroad town. Population in 1900, 48.

Tapouchas. See Indians.

Tarbell, Jonathan, a general officer of volunteers in the United States army, from New York, who settled in Scott county at the close of the war 1861-65. In 1869 he was appointed probate judge by Gen. Ames, and a justice of the supreme court by Governor Al- corn in 1870. "He was a man of fair ability and extraordinary industry, a ready and voluminous writer," says Garner. Senator Lamar wrote that he was esteemed in Mississippi as an upright judge and his reputation for integrity was unquestioned. After the action of the legislature in 1876 providing for age retirement, he resigned and removed to Washington, D. C., where he died.

Tarbert, a post-hamlet in the extreme southwestern corner of the State, in Wilkinson county. It is about 20 miles from Woodville, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town. Popula- tion in 1900, 35.

Tarpley, Collin S., was born in Petersburg, Va., 1802. He re- moved with his parents to Nashville, Tenn .; studied law in the office of A. V. Brown and Jas. K. Polk; was admitted to the bar; practiced his profession at . Pulaski, Tenn., until 1831, when he removed to Florence, Ala. In 1836 he removed to Mississippi and located in Hinds county. He secured a large practice; rose to eminence, and was appointed judge of the High Court (q. v.) in 1851. He was the promoter of the New Orleans and Jackson rail- road, and at his death was one of its board of directors. He took great interest in the industrial advancement of the State. He died in the spring of 1860.

Taska, a postoffice of Marshall county, 12 miles northwest of Holly Springs.

Tate, a postoffice of Amite county.

Tate County was established December 23, 1873, and was named for a prominent family of the region, of which the Hon. T. S. Tate (see below), was a member. The county has a land surface of 407 square miles. It is situated in the northwestern part of the State and was formed chiefly from the southern part of the older county of De Soto (q. v.), though Tunica and Marshall counties contributed each a small portion of its area. It was a part of the Chickasaw Indian cession of 1832. For the early history of the region com- posing Tate, see the three counties mentioned. The Governor was empowered to appoint the county officers, pending a general election for that purpose, and the county assumed its share of the debts of the parent counties and received its proper share of school and county funds. Governor R. C. Powers appointed the following county officers: Josiah Daily, Sheriff ; O. F. West, Clerk of the Chancery

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and Circuit Courts ; W. J. Pace, Treasurer ; J. R. Jackson, Assessor and Collector; E. J. Litsey, County Sup't of Schools; J. E. Matthews, Surveyor; T. S. Tate, J. V. Walker, J. P. Pickle, Eli Bobo, D. T. Neighbors, Members of the Board of Supervisors. The county was first represented in the Legislature by T. S. Tate and T. B. Garret, as Representatives, and J. H. Holloway and M. Campbell as Senators. It is one of the smaller counties, but has an abundance of natural resources and a prosperous and contented body of people. It is bounded on the north by the county of De Soto, Coldwater river forming part of the dividing line; on the east by Marshall county, on the south by Panola county and on the west by the Coldwater river which divides it from Tunica county. The county seat is Senatobia, a thriving little town of 1,500 inhabitants, in the south central part of the county, on the line of the Memphis division of the Illinois Central R. R. It is a shipping point for large quan- tities of cotton, corn, fruits and vegetables from the rich country surrounding it, and enjoys the advantage of a close local market at Memphis, only 37 miles distant. Its name is a Choctaw Indian word meaning "white sycamore." In the northern part of the county, also on the railroad, is the prosperous town of Coldwater (pop. in 1900, was 557). The villages of Strayhorn, Arkabutla, In- dependence and Tyro are the largest settlements away from the railroad. The Memphis division of the Illinois Central R. R., runs north and south through the center of the county, and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., cuts across the extreme southwestern corner, affording it good shipping facilities. The county is watered by the Coldwater river on its northern and western boundary, and the tributary creeks, Senatobia, Arkabutla, Hickahala, Jim Wolf, Bear Tail and Strayhorn. Over one-half of its farm acreage is now improved, the balance is well timbered with all kinds of oaks, gum, poplar, beech, walnut, elm, etc. In the extreme western part, an extension of the bluff formation crosses the county north and south, the rest of the county is undulating, level on the river and creek bottoms. The soil is rich and fertile for the most part and pro- duces excellent crops of cotton, corn, oats, wheat, rye, sweet and Irish potatoes, peanuts, and all the vegetables and fruits common to the latitude. The climate is mild and the region is generally health- ful. Of late years, considerable attention has been given to the live stock industry, for which the region is well adapted, and fruits and vegetables are now grown for market as well as home consumption. Some small factories and mills are doing a prosperous business in the county, a total of 69 being given by the census for 1900.

The following statistics, taken from the census of the United States for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms 3,704, acreage in farms 218,340, acres improved 120,504, value of land exclusive of buildings $1,722,810, value of buildings $563,630, value of live stock $665,292, total value of pro- ducts not fed to stock $1,404.020. Number of manufacturing estab- lishments 69, capital invested $155,590, wages paid $36,290, cost of materials $145,476, total value of products $247.260. The popula-

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tion of the county in 1900 was whites 8,439, colored 12,179, total 20,618, increase over the year 1890, 1,365. The total population in 1906 was estimated at 22,000.

There are 55 white and 46 colored schools in the county. It is well supplied with telephone service, affording means of inter- communication with nearly every part of the county. The public roads of the county are worked under the contract system and the main thoroughfares are in fine condition. Among the pioneers of Tate county may be mentioned: John Crawford, who settled about 7 miles northeast of Senatobia; Thomas Williams, who located about 3 miles south of Senatobia; Thos. W. Dean, who settled in the northeastern part of the county ; Wm. Carter, Thos. Eason, Seth Woolard, Buck and Samuel Crocket, Thomas Lewis, and Capt. Wm. J. Floyd.

The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Tate county in 1905 was $3,180,479.50 and in 1906 it was $3,751,- 880.05, which shows an increase of $571,400.55 during the year.

Tatesville. This old village, like that of Tatumsville elsewhere described, was situated not far distant from the town of Senatobia in Tate county, formerly DeSoto county. It was a rival of Tatums- ville and lay only a mile north of that village. Founded by the Hon. Thos. Simpson Tate, who was the prominent merchant of the place, it became a prosperous little town of about seventy-five to a hundred people, but succumbed, like its rival Tatumsville, to Senatobia, when the Mississippi and Tennessee railroad was com- pleted to that place in 1855. Among the business concerns of the old village were Tate & Arnold, general merchants; George B. Wool- ard, cabinet maker, and James Barbee, saddler and harness maker.

Tatum, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Tallahatchie county, about 8 miles northwest of Grenada, the nearest railroad and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 20.

Tatumsville. This was an extinct village in DeSoto, now Tate county, and was situated about two miles west, and one-half mile north of the town of Senatobia. It was founded by Herbert Tatum, who did a general mercantile business, and had in its prosperous days a population of about 100 inhabitants. A few stores and shops composed its business. Dr. John T. Atkinson, Jack Browder, and Col. Wm. Ferney were citizens of the old village. It was here that Herbert Tate shot and killed Dr. Woodard. There was once a beautiful cemetery here, which is now overgrown by a native forest of large trees. When the Mississippi & Tennessee railroad, now the Illinois Central, was completed as far as Senatobia in 1855, the old village was absorbed by that town. Soon after the close of the war in 1865, the last building in Tatumsville had been moved away.

Taylor, an incorporated post-town in the southwestern part of Lafayette county, on the Illinois Central R. R., 6 miles south of Oxford. It was named for an early settler of the place. Population in 1900, 101.

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Taylor, John, one of the first judges of the supreme court of Mis- sissippi, was the son of a small farmer and deputy sheriff of West Chester, Pa. With a very limited education, but some familiarity with law methods gained by attending court with his father, he be- gan the reading of law at the age of eighteen years. In 1804 he was licensed to practice and immediately made the river voyage to St. Louis to begin the work of his profession. In 1805 he pro- ceeded to New Orleans, but finding many there on the same errand, he returned to Natchez. "The May term of the Superior court was then in session. There was a criminal case pending, which from the character of the parties, excited peculiar interest. Young Tay- lor volunteered for the accused and displayed remarkable acute- ness and dexterity in the examination of witnesses. His speech to the jury was rough but forcible. It betrayed his ignorance of grammar, but wonderful mental power. He obtained a verdict of acquittal, was immediately retained in a dozen cases, and in a few weeks had an extensive practice." (J. F. H. Claiborne.) In 1808 he was appointed adjutant of the Territorial regiment of cavalry. He was elected to the general assembly in 1813, and in 1817 to the constitutional convention. When the first session of the legislature in October, 1817, was compelled to adjourn without electing judges, because of the yellow fever, Governor Holmes appointed Taylor to succeed Leake as Territorial judge, holding over, and in January following he was elected by the legislature judge of the supreme court for the Second district, and made pre- siding judge, or "chief justice." He died at Natchez in May or June, 1820. He was a bachelor, lived simply, and "when he had money to spare loaned it to his friends without interest."

Taylorsville, a post-town in the southern part of Smith county on the Laurel branch of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 23 miles northwest of Laurel. It has telegraph, express and banking facili- ties, and has grown at a rapid rate since the coming of the railroad. A branch of the Bank of Laurel was established here in 1902. The Signal, a non-partisan weekly newspaper, was established here in 1901, T. W. Jarvis being the editor. Population is about 400.

Tchula, an incorporated post-town of Holmes county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 65 miles north of Jackson. It has telegraph, express and banking facilities, a money order postoffice and an oil mill. The historic old town of Rankin, now extinct, (q. v.) was situated on the Tchula and Yazoo City road, about 5 miles from Tchula. The Tchula Bank was established in 1897 with a capital of $15,000. Population in 1900, 398; the popu- lation in 1906 was estimated at 500.

Teachers' Association. The first State Teachers' association met in the hall of representatives at Jackson, in 1838. Its consti- tution was drafted by Solomon Tift. Of this association, Chancel- lor Edward Mayes said in 1889: "The venerable Dr. Phillips was a member, and I suppose that Dr. Phares is now the only surviving member. Its work was supplemented by that of various local organizations, some of which were institutes conducted on much

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the same plan as they are now. The State organization, however, was handicapped by the great difficulty of travel in those days, and dissolved after four or five years."

The organization was revived after 1865, and in recent years its annual meetings have been well attended. In 1903 the association appointed a committee, composed of Superintendents Ellis, of Lauderdale county, Cook of Columbus and Bass of Greenville, to formulate a graded course of study and a teachers' manual for the schools of the State, to be presented to the legislature for adoption. (See School System.)

Teasdale, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Talahatchie county, about 10 miles north of Charleston, the county seat. Popu- lation in 1900, 36.

Teasdale, Thos. Cox, was born in Sussex county, N. J., Decem- ber 2, 1808. He became pastor of the Baptist church at East Ben- nington, Vt., in 1830, and afterward preached at Philadelphia, New Haven, Conn., Pittsburg, Pa., Springfield, Ill., and Washington D. C., before coming to Mississippi. He was pastor of the First Baptist church at Columbus, 1858 to 1863, when he went to the front to minister to the soldiers. After the fall of Atlanta he re- turned home, and in 1869 was elected corresponding secretary of the Sunday School board of the Southern Baptist convention; entered upon general evangelistic work in 1871; accepted the chair of rhetoric at the East Tennessee university at Knoxville in 1813. He returned to his home at Columbus, Miss., in 1885, and died April 4, 1891. He is the author of "Reminiscences of a Long Life," and other works. "Dr. Teasdale's life has been one of great activity and usefulness. He has baptised over three thousand per- sons on a profession of their faith in Christ, witnessed the conver- sion of some fifteen thousand souls under his ministry, preached about fifteen thousand sermons; published several pamphlets and books, the principal of the latter of which is a volume of his 'Re- vival Discourses ;' edited at different periods three religious peri- odicals ; assisted in establishing the Orphans' Home in Mississippi; contributed materially in building up other institutions of learning and religion ; and conducted through most of his public life a very large correspondence."-(Borum's Sketches.)

Teckville, a postoffice of Lafayette county, on the Tallahatchie river, about 15 miles northwest of Oxford, the county seat.

Tecumseh. This famous Indian character was a Shawnee, born in one of the towns of that nation in southwestern Ohio. The Shawnee people were great wanderers and sojourned some time in the South before the American Revolution. They were, per- haps, more closely allied to the Muscogee nations than any other of the northern red men. Tecumseh was a man of great ability. and intense patriotism, who gave his life to the improvement of the condition of his people. He endeavored to form a union of the tribes in the Northwest, so that they could treat with the United States as a unit, in the sale of territory, and sought to relieve his people from the curse of the frontier traffic in intoxicating liquor

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as well as the equally dangerous influences that threatened the purity of the Indian blood. In this work he was greatly aided by his brother, who was known as the prophet, and supplied the relig- ious element of the national movement. The British colonial authorities yet maintained some claim to interfere in behalf of the Indians against the United States, and Tecumseh negotiated for British assistance in support of his league. After Madison's ad- ministration began, there was a strong movement to resent the op- pressive acts of the British government, which had been endured with more or less patience by President Jefferson, and in 1811 war became probable. There was then an alliance of some sort be- tween Tecumseh and the British, and Tecumseh came South in the summer and fall of 1811 to persuade the Muscogee nations to join the confederation.

The famous Shawnee accompanied by a party of twenty war- riors, visited the Chickasaws first, but that nation, notably friendly to the United States, refused to permit him to address their coun- cil. He next spent several weeks among the Choctaws, and was given audience before a grand council at the home of Mingo Mo- shulitubbee, on the banks of one of the small lakes on the plan- tation known as the Blewett Chester place, near the boundary of Noxubee and Lowndes counties. The council was attended by Pushmataha, Hoentubbee, Puckshenubbee, John Pitchlyn and David Folsom. (W. A. Love, M. H. S., VII, 373.) Hoentubbee is quoted (Halbert and Ball, Creek War) that the Shawnee party, clothed in buckskin, armed with rifles and tomahawks, bore the red war paint on their faces and bosoms. All were adorned with plumes of hawk and eagle feathers, save Tecumseh, from whose scalp lock hung two long crane feathers, one white denoting peace among the Indian nations, the other red to symbolize war on the "Long Knives." There were silver bands about their wrists and arms and foreheads, and a few wore silver gorgets suspended from their necks. There was a faction among the Choctaws, principally in the Six towns, that was disposed to favor Tecumseh, but the great leaders were firm against war, and Tecumseh went into the Creek nation, where he found a stronger faction disposed to join him. The war council with the Creeks is given an imaginative description in Claiborne's Mississippi, and it is said by reliable authorities that the speech there quoted is entirely a product of imagination. His talk was of a general attack by the Indians upon the whites, from the great lakes to the gulf. "Hillis Hadjo (mad medicine man) was won over to the scheme. A great comet was interpreted as a war signal from heaven, and an earthquake shock as the stamping of. Tecumseh's foot at Detroit. Colored wands were distributed among those Indians who would join in the alliance. with the British, and these hostiles, on that account were called Red Sticks (batons rouges)." Tecumseh's brother and his war party were defeated at Tippecanoe, Indiana, by Gov. William Henry Harrison, during Tecumseh's absence. After his return he aided

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Encyclopedia of Mississippi History Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, Vol. II, Part 92

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