USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I > Part 104
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professors to take charge of the college until they could decide upon the choice of a president. The present year, C. B. Dubuis- son, Esq., of Philadelphia, one of these professors, was unani- mously elected president and was inaugurated on the 6th of July, 1835. Under the new president, who is a finished scholar and a very amiable and energetic man, the college has become very. flour- ishing and is rapidly advancing to permanent literary distinction. Professor Symmes, a graduate of the University of Virginia, and an able scholar, is professor of mathematics. Under these two gentlemen, and the professor in the primary department, planters may now have their sons as well educated as at the north."
"On the 2nd day of June, 1835, the first appropriation was made for the foundation of a library" for the College. (Jefferson Col- lege pamphlet of 1840.) The period 1833-38 was another period of marked decline in the affairs of the institution, and in the latter year the total enrollment of students was only 23, of whom, only five were in the collegiate department. At the close of the ses- sion in 1838, the president and faculty all resigned, and the ensu- ing year was spent in the reorganization of the college, the erec- tion of new and commodious buildings, repairs, and in enclosing and improving the grounds. In 1840, the work of the college was resumed, and an elaborate catalogue and historical sketch of the college was widely disseminated. Oct. 21, 1841, the college suf- fered a serious loss in the destruction by fire of its main building, involving a pecuniary loss of $30,000; 500 valuable volumes of the library were burned, and a much more serious loss was the de- struction of such archives of the Territory of Mississippi as had not been removed to Jackson.
The authorities of the college had hoped that the State would not again demand the payment of the debt of $10,000 due it from the institution. But, in 1854, judgment was entered against it for the amount, which the college could ill afford to pay on account of the large shrinkage in its assets, since the prosperous statement issued in its catalogue of 1840. Consequently, pressure was brought to bear on the legislature, and the debt was cancelled in 1859, on the payment of the costs of the suit by the college. At the same time the legislature loaned it 75 stand of arms, a most inadequate response to its application "for aid in the establishment of a normal department, and in placing the school on a military footing." "During the session of 1860 the Legislature passed an act transferring to the college a collection of specimens in natural history and geology, made by Prof. B. L. C. Wailes in connection with the State Agricultural and Geological Survey, and at that time deposited in the State Capital at Jackson." (History of Edu- cation in Mississippi, Mayes.)
As the walls of the main building, burnt in 1841, were of brick, it was repaired, refitted, and again used in 1842. The college now entered on one of its prosperous periods, and in 1845 Professors Jacob Ammen, John Rowland and Orrick Metcalfe were placed in charge of its affairs. In October, 1850, President Ashbel Green,
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son of Dr. Ashbel Green, long the president of Princeton College, was placed in charge. Rev. Charles Reighly, Rev. E. J. Cornish, J. J. Critchlow and the Rev. W. K. Douglass were successively in charge of the institution down to the year 1863. At the conclusion of the session of 1863, "the doors of the institution were closed by the stern pressure of war," and from that time until November, 1865, the buildings of the college were used for a military bar- racks for the Federal troops. For the seven years following, Mr. Jesse Andrews was in charge of the work of the college, and finally in 1872, the present head, Prof. J. S. Raymond, "was elected presi- dent, and authorized to employ an assistant professor. Tuition was made free, and the educational advantages afforded by the the institution extended without charge to all male white pupils from Adams and adjoining counties. With occasional modifica- tions, this system of free scholarships continued in force until the expiration of the session of 1875, when regular rates of tuition were again imposed." (History of Education in Miss., Mayes.) Under the efficient control of President Raymond, the venerable institution has had a fairly successful and uneventful career, down to the present time. It is now in a flourishing condition, and is well patronized by the youth of that section of the State. In its long history of 103 years, it has been, essentially, an academy and a preparatory school, rather than a college proper, and Mr. Mayes says "it is believed that it has never yet graduated a student with an academic degree. Among its students have been the sons of Audubon, the celebrated naturalist, J. F. H. Claiborne; B. L. C. Wailes, Senator and Governor A. G. Brown, and Jefferson Davis." { Its beautiful grounds now comprise about 80 acres, adorned with a wealth of forest and ornamental trees. It has two large brick main buildings, three and a half stories in height, in good repair and of imposing appearance. The library is well selected and contains over 2,000 volumes. It is well equipped with the latest philosophical and scientific apparatus. The military feat- ure of the college is now, as during most of its career, quite prom- inent.
Jefferson County, first called Pickering, was established April 2, 1799, by the following proclamation of Winthrop Sargent, the first Territorial Governor of Mississippi: "I do ordain and order by these letters made patent, that all and singular the lands lying and being within the boundaries of the Mississippi Territory * * * should constitute two counties-the division of which shall be a line, commencing at the mouth of Fairchild's creek, and running direct to the most southern part of Ellicottville; thence easterly along the dividing ridge of the waters of Cole's and Sandy Creeks, so far as the present settlements extend, and thence by a due east line to the territorial boundary-the southern or lower division of which is named, and hereafter to be called Adams, and the northern or, upper division, the county of Pickering." Within its extensive boundaries as thus outlined, were embraced the upper portion of the narrow fringe of white settlements, along the Mississippi, form-
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ing a part of the so-called Natchez District, during the 18th cen- tury. The present area of Jefferson is about 519 square miles, embraced within the following limits : All that region lying between the southern boundary line of Claiborne county, (q. v.) and the northern line of Franklin and Adams counties, (q. v.), and west of the Choctaw boundary line drawn from a point, where the line between townships 9 and 10 intersects the same, south to a point where it is intersected by the line between townships 7 and 8, to the Mississippi river.
It received its present name January 11, 1802, in honor of Pres- ident Thomas Jefferson. As early as the year 1768, and again in 1772 and 1780, we find the English and Americans forming settle- ments within the region then known as a Spanish province. Many of the first American settlers of Jefferson county were from the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland, among whom the names of Green, Moss, Dixon, Harrison, Wood, Magruder, Dunbar, Benoit, Nutt, Nolan, Montgomery, Calvit and Hunt are prominent. They settled along Cole's creek, in the region around Petit Gulf, where Rodney now stands, and near the present town of Union Church in the western part. Henry Green lived on the banks of a branch of Cole's creek, in the immediate vicinity of the old town of Green- ville, the original settlement there being called Greenbay. He came from Virginia with his brother, Thomas Abner Green, and the two were the pioneers of the old family, whose descendants are still numer- ous in Jefferson county, and are scattered throughout the south- west. Joseph K. and Thomas Marston Green were sons of Thomas Abner Green, Thomas Marston being the second delegate to Con- gress from the Territory. The old Green mansion near Cole's creek was famous for its substantial architecture and lofty columns. Abijah Hunt was the pioneer of the Hunt family. The upper part of old Greenville was called Huntley, after him. He was a mer- chant there and erected the first gin in the county, to which all the surrounding planters resorted with their cotton. He fell in a duel with George Poindexter in 1811, and as he was a bachelor, his nephew, David Hunt, inherited his stores and gin and subsequently amassed a large fortune. The first Methodist minister in the county was the Rev. Tobias Gibson, who was sent to the Territory in 1799 as a missionary, and established societies at Washington, Greenville, and on the Bayou Pierre. He died in Warren county in 1804, leaving many descendants. Rev. William Montgomery, a Presbyterian missionary, came to the county in 1802. He became a permanent resident in the Scotch Settlements. Through his mis- sionary efforts, extending over a period of forty years, several churches of his faith were established. The first Baptist missionary that came to the county was David Cooper. He settled near Green- ville, and was very successful in his ministrations in this and adjoining counties for more than thirty years. He married the widow of Gen. F. L. Claiborne and later removed to Soldiers Retreat, near Washington, where he died. The Rev. Abram Cloud was the first Episcopal minister to settle in the county. He lived
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at Greenville and maintained churches both there and on the Bayou Pierre for a time. He was very active in public affairs, and was a public spirited and useful citizen. He is buried near Green- ville.
The first county officers of Pickering county, appointed May 6, 1799, were: Roger Dixon, Richard Harrison, William Thomas, Samuel Gibson, George Wilson Humphreys, and Tobias Brashear, Justices of the Peace and of the Court of Common Pleas; also Mor- decai Throckmorton and John Smith, Justices of the Peace; Thomas Green, Treasurer; William Ferguson, Sheriff; Henry Green, Cor- oner ; John Girault, Judge of Probate, Clerk Prothonotary and Register.
The following county officers were appointed in 1802: Cato West, Thomas Catoct, Jacob Stampley, Henry Green, Zachariah Kirk- land, John Hopkins, Robert Trimble, James Stewart, Justices of the Peace; John Girault, Clerk; John Brooks, Sheriff. The Chief Justices of the County Courts, down to the year 1813, successively, were Cato West, John Shaw, Edmund Hall, Thos. Fitzpatrick, Joseph Green and Thomas Hinds.
Much of the early emigration to the county came in over the public road known as the Natchez Trace, which ran north from Natchez through Jefferson county, to the distant white settlements on the Cumberland, Tennessee. This public road was infested by bandits in the early years of the last century, notorious among whom was the celebrated Mason and Harp Gang, whose history is else- where detailed. One of the most startling occurrences in the early history of Jefferson was the violent death of the bandit Mason, whose gory head was brought to Greenville, and the reward of $2,000, offered by Governor Claiborne for Mason's capture, dead or alive, was claimed by two strangers. These two men were recog- nized as members of the notorious gang themselves, and were ac- cused, tried, condemned and hung near Greenville. They were prosecuted by George Poindexter, and the old field near Greenville, where they expiated their crime, still goes by the name of the gallows field.
The cause of education early engaged the attention of citizens of Jefferson county, and a society was incorporated by the General Assembly for the establishment of academies and the diffusion of knowledge. This society was chartered Jan. 8, 1807, and was called the "Franklin Society of Jefferson County." Its members were Cato West, Thomas M. Green, Thos. Fitzpatrick, John Shaw, Dan- iel Beasley, Charles B. Howell, Wm. Snodgrass, David Snodgrass, Edward Turner, John Hopkins, Henry D. Downs, James S. Rollins, Thomas Calvit, Robert Cox, Henry Green, Felix Hughes, Arm- strong Ellis, Jacob Stampley, John Brooks, Thomas Hinds, Wil- liam Thomas, and Robert McCray. The association did much to further the cause of learning and morality, and established two schools, a male and a female, which flourished for many years. The female school later became a highly successful seminary for young ladies, under the management of Hon. David Ker, and his
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accomplished wife and daughters. It was located near old Green- ville.
The first requisition for troops to aid in the National defence was made by Governor Claiborne upon the Territory of Mississippi in 1806, when the Spaniards, under General Herrara, marched with twelve hundred men upon the Sabine, entered the territory of the United States, and claimed the river of Anoyo Hondo as the proper boundary between Mexico and the United States. At this time Jefferson county furnished a fine body of cavalry, known as the Jefferson Troop, under the command of Capt. Thomas Hinds, which, with the cavalry company from Adams county, were despatched to Natchitoches. The troop was in service for eight months at this time with the Federal forces. The same body of men formed part of Gen. F. L. Claiborne's forces in 1807, sent to oppose the further advance of Aaron Burr down the Mississippi river. Some officers of the Jefferson Troop accompanied Colonel Burr from Claiborne's camp, at the mouth of Cole's creek, to the house of Thomas Calvit, where he surrendered. A detachment of the same troop proceeded to the mouth of the Bayou Pierre, and received the surrender of the prisoners, sixty in number, together with their boats, shot and other munitions.
In the year 1809, the first joint stock banking company of the Territory was established by the General Assembly, styled "the President and Directors, and Company of the Bank of Mississippi." On its first board of directors were three prominent citizens of Jefferson county : Abner Green, Abijah Hunt and Cowles Mead.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1817, we find Jefferson county represented by a brilliant quartet of men : Cowles Mead, Cato West, Joseph E. Davis, and H. J. Balch. Col. West was a native of Fairfax county, Virginia, and came to Jefferson county before territorial days and located at Pickering. He was one of the wealthiest planters of his day and was appointed secretary of the Territory in 1801, when W. C. C. Claiborne was appointed gov- ernor, and was for a time acting governor, when Governor Clai- borne was sent to New Orleans to receive the Louisiana Purchase from France. Cowles Mead was also secretary of Mississippi Ter- ritory, and was acting governor in 1807, when Aaron Burr's flotilla came down the Mississippi. Governor Mead is given credit for handling the Burr matter with great tact and good judgment. The conference between Mead and Burr took place at the home of Thomas Calvit in Jefferson county. The fine old mansion is still standing.
Jefferson county is quite irregular in shape and is bounded on the north by Claiborne county, on the east by Copiah and Lincoln counties, on the south by Adams county and on the west by the Mississippi river. The original county site until 1825, was at Green- ville (q. v.), near the mouth of Cole's creek, but no trace of the old town remains, except the site of the gallows, which is still pointed out. Greenville was the fourth station from Natchez on the old Natchez Trace, distant about 28 miles. The present county
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seat is Fayette, near the center of the county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. (population 604 in 1900). It was laid out in 1825 and named for the Marquis de Lafayette. There are no large towns, some of the more important ones being the old settle- ments of Rodney, Harriston, Church Hill and Union Church. Rodney was incorporated in 1828, and until 1864, was an important ship- ping point on the river in the northwestern part of the county. Harriston is at the junction of the two lines of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., which cross the county, and is a thriving town of about 300 inhabitants. Besides the Mississippi river on the west, the county is watered by the two branches of Cole's creek, which run west and unite six miles before reaching the Mississippi, together with their numerous tributaries and several other small streams. The transportation facilities of the county are excellent, both by rail and by water. The character of the land varies from the fertile bluff formation in the west to thin pine lands in the east, with considerable areas of fertile river and creek bottom lands. The soil produces from one-half to two bales of cotton per acre and from fifteen to sixty bushels of corn. Good yields of oats, sugar-cane, rice, sorghum, peas, vegetables and fruits of all varieties are to be had. The timber of the region consists of all kinds of oaks, beech, poplar, pine, hickory, pecan, gum, walnut, cherry, locust, and cypress.
The twelfth census of the United States for 1900 gives the fol- lowing data for Jefferson county: Number of farms 3,575, acres in farms 219,018, acres improved 112,110, value of the land exclusive of buildings $1,296,080, value of the buildings $580,940, value of live stock $642,117, and total value of products not fed to stock $1,558,058. Number of manufacturing establishments 55, capital $147,929, wages paid $15,935, cost of materials $71,570, and total value of products $128,990. The population in 1900 consisted of 4,020 whites, 17,272 colored, a total of 21,292, and an increase of 2,345 over the year 1890. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $2,153,290 and in 1906 it was $2,388,732.16, which shows an increase during the year of $235,442.16.
Jefferson Davis County. The creation of this county was author- ized by act of the Legislature, approved March 31, 1906. It was carved from the territory of Lawrence and Covington counties, and is situated in the long-leaf, or yellow pine region of the state. At a special election in April, 1906, the county site was located at the flourishing town of Prentiss (q. v.), named for Mississippi's gifted adopted son and silver-tongued orator, Sergeant Smith Pren- tiss. The above act defined the boundaries of the county as follows : "For a point of beginning, commence where the present line be- tween Covington and Lawrence counties intersects the old Choc- taw boundary line, thence westward along the old Choctaw boun- dary line to a point where the same is intersected by the line be- tween Sections 11 and 12 in Township No. 9, north, of Range 20, west; thence due south along Section lines to the line between
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Townships 6 and 7, Range 20 west ; thence due east along said Town- ship line one mile; thence due south to the boundary line between Lawrence and Marion counties ; thence due east along the boundary line between Lawrence and Marion counties to the southeast corner of Lawrence county, as the same now stands; thence due north along the present boundary line of Lawrence and Marion counties to the southwest corner of Covington county; thence due north along the present boundary line between Lawrence and Coving- ton counties to where the same intersects the old Choctaw boundary line, the point of beginning. And that part of Covington county contiguous to the above described territory bounded as follows, to-wit: For a point of beginning, commence where the present boundary line between Lawrence and Covington counties inter- sects the old Choctaw boundary line; thence due south along said boundary line between said counties to the line between Townships 5 and 6, in Range 18, west (the southwest corner of Covington county) ; thence due east along the southern boundary line of Cov- ington county to where the same is intersected by section line between Sections 34 and 35, Township 6, north, of Range 16; thence due north along section line to Bowie creek; thence northwest- wardly up the middle or thread of said creek to where the same crosses the line between Townships 7 and 8; thence due west along said township line to the line between Ranges 17 and 18, west ; thence due north along said range line to the old Choctaw boundary line; thence westwardly along the old Choctaw boundary line to the point of beginning." The new county is attached to the second Supreme Court District, the fifth Chancery Court District, the eighth Circuit Court District, the eighth Senatorial District, the sixth Congressional District, and the second District for the elec- tion of Railroad Commissioners. It assumed its pro rata share of the indebtedness of Lawrence and Covington counties, and received its proportionate share of all funds in the treasuries of those coun- ties at the time of the passage of the above act. The county is traversed by two railroad lines, which provide it with excellent shipping facilities-the Mississippi Central and the Columbia branch of the Gulf & Ship Island. For a history of the region embraced by Jefferson Davis county, see sketches of Lawrence and Coving- ton counties. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1906 was $3,015,893, which ranks it as one of the wealthiest and most prosperous counties of the State.
N. B .- When the sketches covering Lawrence and Covington counties, and the various towns and villages of those counties, now embraced within the limits of the new county of Jefferson Davis, were written, the county of Jefferson Davis had not been created ; hence, said towns and villages appear in this work as located either in Lawrence or Covington county.
Jefferson's Letter. The house of representatives of the Missis- sippi territory, at its session in 1802, adopted a congratulatory address to President Jefferson, to which he made the following response :
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To The House of Representatives of the Mississippi Territory : Gentlemen: I receive with great pleasure the address of your honorable house of the 20th of January, and thank you for the sen- timents of affection, of approbation, and of confidence, which it expresses. The interesting portion of our country which you oc- cupy is worthy the fostering care of the General Government. Impressed with a full sense of the duties I owe to your situation, I shall not fail to fulfill them with solicitude and fidelity. With local advantages so distinguished, a fertile soil, genial climate, and precious productions, the day cannot be distant when, strong in population and rich in resources, you will, by the addition of your wealth and strength, amply retribute to your sister States the care and protection under which you will have been nurtured, nor shall we doubt your assistance in fortifying in our minds a strict adherence to the Constitution and to those Republican prin- ciples which the patriots and heroes of '76 established and conse- crated. I pray you to be assured of my fervent wishes for your safety and prosperity, and to accept the homage of my high respect and consideration. Th. Jefferson.
April 2, 1802.
Jeffords, Elza, was born near Ironton, Ohio, May 23, 1826. He spent his early life in Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar in 1847. He served in the Union army of Tennessee from June, 1862, to December, 1863. After the war he settled in Mayersville, Miss., and was a judge of the High Court of Errors and Appeals in 1868 and 1869. He was elected in 1882 to the 48th Congress as a Republican, and died in Vicksburg, March 19, 1885.
Jerico, a hamlet in the northern part of Itawamba county, on the East Fork of the Tombigbee, 10 miles north of Fulton, the county seat. Population in 1900, 28.
Jerome, a postoffice of Madison county.
Jersey, a postoffice in Lamar county, 15 miles northeast of Pur- vis, the county seat.
Jessamine, a hamlet of Jefferson county, on the Yazoo & Missis- ippi Valley R. R., 6 miles north of Fayette, the county seat and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 47.
Jessie, a post-hamlet of Leake county, 5 miles southwest of Car- thage, the county seat. Population in 1900, 37.
Jewel, a hamlet in the southern part of Neshoba county, 12 miles south of Philadelphia, the county seat. Population in 1900, 52.
Joe, a postoffice in the southeastern part of Rankin county, 20 miles southeast of Brandon, the county seat.
Johns, a post-hamlet of Rankin county, on Campbell's creek, 13 miles southeast of Brandon, the county seat, Population in 1900, 32.
Johnson, John L., president of Hillman college (q. v.), was born in Spotsylvania county, Va .; graduated in 1859 at the university of Virginia; served as chaplain of the 17th Virginia infantry and was in charge of hospitals at Lynchburg; was president of Roan- oke female college, Va., and Mary Sharp college, Tenn., and was 15 years professor of English in the University of Mississippi
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