Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 107

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1030

USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I > Part 107

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).

The judicial divisions were reorganized in 1840, to make eleven circuits, court to be held in each county twice a year. The judges were then: George Coalter, H. F. Caruthers, C. C. Cage, A. G. Brown, Henry Mounger, H. S. Bennett, J. H. Rollins, James M. Howry, Stephen Adams, M. L. Fitch, V. T. Crawford.

Said Governor Brown (1842) "Our State was the first in the Union, and perhaps in the civilized world, to elect judicial officers by popular suffrage. It was a bold experiment in the science of government, and by some it has been condemned in unqualified terms, as calculated to corrupt the judiciary and endanger the faithful administration of justice. Others are still in doubt wheth- er so great an innovation on the usual mode of appointing judges will not in the end be productive of evil. But much the greater number of our people are satisfied with the system and wish to see it perpetuated. I was among its earliest advocates, and experience has strengthened me in my conviction of its superiority over all others." But he suggested that judges and all officers not political in character should be chosen at an election separate from the election of congressmen and governor." An attempt was made to amend the constitution accordingly, but it failed because enough people did not take the trouble to vote upon it.

Gov. Matthews, in his message of 1850 commenting on the delays and miscarriages of justice incident to the common law rules of pleading, and advocated the adoption of a simplified code of pleading similar to that used in the chancery courts.

The constitution of 1861 made no change in the judicial system, but the legislation caused by the war interfered with its operation. "The functions of the lower courts were to a considerable extent suspended by an act of the legislature in 1861," which practically closed them, so far as civil business was concerned. All actions for debt or for the enforcement of contracts were supended until twelve months after the close of the war. All sales under trust deeds, mortgages and judgments were likewise prohibited. What- ever may have been the opinion of the bar as to the constitutional- ity of such legislation, none of them ever had the temerity to bring the question to a test. Moreover it was made unlawful to prose- cute suit against any soldier in actual service. These acts prac- tically left the courts with criminal jurisdiction only, and as no inconsiderable number of the criminal cases were settled by the military authorities, it is reasonable to suppose that the business

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of the courts was nominal." Court officers were exempt from con- scription, but deputy clerks, and all but one of the deputy sheriffs in each county, were made liable to conscription in 1864. Unusu- al powers were granted by the legislature to meet the exigencies of war, such as the removal of the records, and the replacement from memory of records destroyed. (Garner, Reconstrution, 40- 42.) In fact, Mississippi was more or less under martial law, to the derangement, suppression or subordination of civil law, from 1865 to 1870.

Whatever may have happened in 1861-65, it was the opinion of the supreme court afterward, "That the laws of the State, civil and criminal, as they stood at the date of the secession ordi- nance, continued in force afterward, precisely as before, unaffected by that ordinance, or by the war, or by the deposition of the State magistrates in the month of May, 1865. The laws themselves were not suspended during the administrations of General Canby and Provisional Governor Sharkey, but only their administration was temporarily suspended." The terms of all officers were held to have terminated in May, 1865. Gov. Sharkey issued a procla- mation, July 1, 1865, generally re-appointing the judges and clerks of probate courts, county boards and officers and justices, but not the circuit and chancery judges.

As a natural result of the license of war and the State and Con- federate military regulations, there was great confusion regarding the ownership of cotton, horses and mules, in 1865. Military tri- bunals were the only resorts for justice until Provisional Gover- nor Sharkey revived the replevin laws by proclamation, authorizing summary adjudication of disputes before two justices of the peace. July 12, by another proclamation he created Special Courts of Equity to try disputes, mainly regarding cotton contracts, and from time to time he regulated the functions of these courts which, despite his best efforts were very unpopular. The constitutional convention of 1865 made an ordinance by which these courts were "recognized to be in existence," provided for appeal to the High court, and declared that these special courts should cease to be after the re-establishment of the regular system of courts; the special equity courts "shall not be recognized beyond the then unfinished and instituted business of the same," and their records should pass to the circuit courts. The legislature attempted in 1865 to close these courts by transfer of the unfinished business, but Gov. Humphreys vetoed the bill because it was the evident intention of the Convention to permit the special courts to finish their business on hand. On the same ground a bill to wind up the special equity court at Jackson was vetoed, in February, 1867. In 1869 the supreme court ruled that these courts had been fully empowered under the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States army.

Otherwise, except by providing for petty courts deemed neces- sary on account of emancipation, the constitutional convention of 1865 made no change in the judiciary.

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The legislature of October, 1865, created county courts, particu- larly to take cognizance of prosecutions by information for petty crimes, as authorized by the amended constitution. Special courts of the same powers were established in the towns of Jackson, Okolona, Grenada, Meridian and Corinth. In 1866 the probate judges were made the sole judges of these county and special courts, and terms were fixed at different intervals in various coun- ties. (Mayes).

Under this legislation the circuit and other courts resumed their sessions in November, 1865. In organizing the circuit court of De Soto county Feb. 19, 1866, Judge Trotter said: "It is up- wards of four years, I believe, since a court was organized and holden in De Soto county." But the military government con- tinued, to assert the power to set aside the doings of the courts, until 1870.

In 1868 Gen. Gillem by proclamation created boards of arbitra- tion to settle disputes between employers and laborers. In a cer- tain case he set aside a decision of one of these courts, and an ap- peal was taken to the circuit court. Judge Tarbell, a Northern man, sustained the general commanding. On appeal to the su- preme court of the State, two justices denied that the military commander, though he had large powers regarding political ques- tions and police duties, was authorized to set aside the judgment of a court in a civil case. Judge Tarbell, who had meanwhile been appointed to the Supreme court, dissented. (Welborne vs. May- rant, 48 Miss. 653.)

Judiciary, 1870-1906. The constitution of 1869 again delegated the right of the people to choose the judges, the appointing power being given to the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate. The judicial system consisted of a supreme court of three judges; circuit courts, judges to be appointed for six years, the districts to be arranged by the legislature; a chancery court in each county, chancery districts to be created, with a chancellor of four years' term in each, to hold court at least four times a year in each county; two clerks, for the circuit and chancery courts, in each county, "a compentent number of justices of the peace ;" an attorney-general of the State, and district attorneys. The judi- cial article of this constitution was prepared by Judge R. A. Hill, as the fruit of his experience in Tennessee and Mississippi, was approved by some of the ablest lawyers of the State, and adopted by the convention through the efforts of George C. McKee, chair- man of the judiciary committee and the most influential member. The radical changes were the appointment of judges, which is continued, for similar reasons, in the constitution of 1890, and the blending into one of the probate and equity systems, which is also adopted in the later constitution. (President's Address, 1890, State Bar Assoc.) The legislature of 1870 created 15 circuits, and the circuit judges appointed by Governor Alcorn were, J. M. Smiley, M. D. Bradford, W. M. Hancock, B. B. Boone, G. C. Chandler, A. Alderson, Uriah Millsaps, Robert Leachman, J. A.

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Orr, O. Davis, C. C. Shackleford, Ephraim S. Fisher, Jason Niles, W. B. Cunningham, George F. Brown.

The chancery districts were 20 in number, and the first chancel- lors appointed were, J. M. Ellis, O. H. Whitfield, W. G. Hender- son, A. E. Reynolds, G. S. McMillan, D. P. Coffy, J. J. Hooker, E. Stafford, E. G. Peyton, D. N. Walker, Wesley Drane, T. R. Gowen, Edwin Hill, E. W. Cabaniss, Austin Pollard, Thomas Christian, Dewitt Stearns, J. F. Simmons, Samuel Young, Theo- doric Lyon.

These chancery courts took the place of the old chancery system and the county probate courts.

County courts, particularly for the petty misdemeanor business, were also authorized by the constitution of 1869, which adopted the amendment of 1865, but the county courts were abolished by the legislature of 1870, and the business transferred to the circuit courts and magistrates.

The jurisdiction of justices of the peace was increased to $150 and after the legislature of 1870 conferred upon them the jurisdic- . tion of the county courts of 1865, they became an important part of the judicial machinery.

In 1875 there was adopted by popular vote the third amend- ment to the constitution, which was inserted by the legislature of 1876, authorizing the legislature to divide the State into a conven- ient number of chancery districts, chancellors to be appointed in the same manner as circuit judges, for a term of four years, court to be held in each county twice a year. Under this amendment the legislature of 1876 reduced the number of districts and chancel- lors from 26 to 12. A further reduction was made to six in 1888.

By the constitution of 1890 "not much change was made in the judiciary provisions. The supreme judges must be chosen from their respective districts as well as for them, for terms of nine years. The terms of chancellors and circuit judges are fixed at four years. If suits are brought into the circuit court, when they should have been brought into the chancery court, they shall not be dismissed, but transferred, and vice versa. The chancery court is given jurisdiction to decree possessions, rents, improvements and taxes, in all suits to try title and remove clouds; and in all cases in which it had jurisdiction auxiliary to courts of common law it may exhaust jurisdiction, although the legal remedy may not have been exhausted or the legal title established by a suit at law, and it may entertain suits on the bonds of fiduciaries or public officers for property received, or wasted, or lost by neglect or fail- ure to collect, or suits involving inquiry into mutual accounts. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace is raised to $200." (Ed- ward Mayes, in Memoirs of Mississippi.)

Under the code of 1892 and amendments there were ten circuits and seven chancery districts, until 1904, when there was a re- districting with eleven circuits and eight chancery districts.

In 1886 Gov. Lowry gave particular attention to the abuses growing out of the payment of witness fees in criminal cases by

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the public. The payment was made by the State before 1876 and after that by the counties, but equally fell upon the people, though the transfer made an apparently great reduction of State expenses. The governor said: "The administration of criminal law is grossly scandalized by the frequent instances of convictions of petty charges (in the circuit courts), followed by a fine of $1 and a fee of $10 or $20 to the district attorney and other costs. In some of the districts of this State, the fees of district attorneys amount to thousands of dollars, far more than is realized by the school fund from the convictions he procures. There are 152 circuit courts annually held in this State at a cost of from $200,000 to $300,000. Probably half the time of the 152 courts is consumed in the trial of petty misdemeanors. This is a great, and it seems a growing evil."

In 1894 Gov. Stone said in his message: "There is something radically wrong in the matter of costs in criminal proceedings in the courts of justices of the peace. It often happens that the al- leged offender is fined from one to five dollars and the bill of costs runs up to $25 or $30, and sometimes $40 or more, and the result is an indefinite term on the county farm for a very trivial offense. It is charged that in some instances there are great abuses of the law in which large numbers of witnesses are summoned for no other purpose than to swell the bill of costs."

In his message of 1898 Gov. McLaurin recommended a return to the elective system of 1832-65. "The system of appointing judges and chancellors is a legacy left us by a government formed under a constitution framed by a heterogenous convention of non- resident adventurers and spoilsmen, in the place of an elective sys- tem which we had given a fair trial and with which we were en- tirely satisfied. . . The theory of our government is that we have three separate and independent departments-Executive, Legislative and Judiciary-and that it is a government of the peo- ple, by the people and for the people. To make this true, in fact as well as in theory, each department should come directly from the hands of the people."

An amendment to the constitution, providing for election of supreme, circuit, and chancery judges by the people, in the various districts, was submitted to popular vote at the gen- eral election in 1899, and received 21,169 votes for, and 8,643 against. The legislature of 1900 inserted the amendment in the constitution, and passed a law adjusting the judiciary thereto, and providing for appointments to fill vacancies. The consti- tution provides that amendments must receive "a majority of the qualified electors voting," to be adopted. The total vote for governor at this election was 48,280. The governor made appointments under the act of legislature, but several test cases were brought. Judge Robert Powell, though not com- missioned under the law of 1900, held a regular term of circuit court in Lincoln county under his former commission, which would have been yet effective if the amendment were a nullity. On quo

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warranto proceedings, in the circuit court, it was held by a special judge that the amendment was void, and on appeal to the supreme court this judgment was affirmed, May 30, 1900, on the ground that the amendment had not received the required majority.

The circuit judges appointed in 1876 were: J. S. Hamm, S. S. Calhoon, J. W. C. Watson, James M. Smiley, William Cothran, J. A. Green, B. F. Trimble, Upton M. Young, A. G. Mayers, James M. Arnold, Samuel Powell. In 1878: J. B. Chrisman and Ralph North. In 1880: J. W. Buchanan. In 1882: J. W. Buchanan, W. S. Featherston, A. T. Roane, B. F. Trimble, J. M. Arnold, S. H. Terral, A. G. Mayers, S. S: Calhoon, Warren Cowan, T. J. Whar- ton. In 1884: Chrisman and North re-appointed. In 1885: Wil- liam M. Rogers. In 1886: J. H. Wynn, Charles H. Campbell. In 1887: L. E. Houston. In 1888: Terral and Mayers re-appointed. In 1889: George Winston, John G. Gilland, Ralph North, J. B. Chrisman, R. W. Williamson, James T. Fant, William P. Cassedy. In 1892: Eugene Johnson and C. H. Campbell. In 1893: Newnan Cayce. In 1894: A. G. Mayers, S. H. Terral, William P. Cassedy. In 1896: Robert Powell, William K. McLaurin, Z. M. Stephens, F. A. Montgomery, W. F. Stevens, John W. Fewell, Green B. Huddleston, T. A. Wood. In 1897: E. O. Sykes. In 1898: John R. Enochs, Jeff Truly. In 1900: Robert Powell, Patrick Henry, E. O. Sykes, T. A. Wood, F. A. Montgomery, W. F. Stevens, Jeff Truly, J. R. Enochs, Frank E. Larkin, G. Q. Hall, P. H. Lowrey. In 1901: George Anderson, James H. Neville, E. O. Sykes. In 1902 : John R. Enochs, Samuel C. Cook, Jeff Truly. In 1903: A. McC. Kimbrough, D. M. Miller, Will T. McDonald, J. B. Boothe, M. H. Wilkinson. (Mississippi Register).

Chancellors. E. Stafford and W. A. Drennan were appointed in 1872-73 to fill vacancies. The appointees in 1874, some of them the subject of much political dispute, were Thomas Walton, E. H. Osgood, C. A. Sullivan, Hiram Cassedy, Jr., W. B. Peyton, J. D. Barton, J. J. Dennis, W. D. Frazee, P. P. Bailey, L. C. Abbott, H. W. Warren, Rasselas Boyd, R. B. Stone, William Breck, Thomas Christian, J. F. Simmons, T. R. Gowan, A. E. Reynolds, J. N. Campbell. In 1875 the appointees were: H. R. Ware, R. Boyd, J. J. Dennis, J. N. Campbell, R. B. Stone, C. C. Cullens, E. G. Peyton, E. Hill, O. H. Whitfield, J. B. Deason, G. S. McMillan, W. G. Henderson. In 1876, under Stone's administration, the ap- pointees were: George Wood, Charles Clark, L. Haughton, R. W. Williamson, U. M. Young, J. C. Grey, E. G. Peyton, Jr., T. Y. Berry, L. Brame, T. B. Graham, A. B. Fly. In 1878: W. G. Phelps, Ralph North, J. B. Morgan. In 1880: L. Haughton, A. B. Fly, W. G. Phelps, R. W. Williamson, F. A. Critz, George Wood, T. B. Graham, E. G. Payton, Jr., H. S. VanEaton, U. M. Young. In 1882: J. G. Hall, Ralph North, Warren Cowan. In 1883 : Launch McLaurin, Sylvanus Evans, Baxter McFarland. In 1884: F. A. Critz, T. B. Graham, E. G. Payton, Jr., R. W. Williamson, B. T. Kimbrough. In 1886: W. G. Phelps, Warren Cowan, J. G. Hall, W. R. Trigg. In 1887 : Launch McLaurin, Baxter McFarland,

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Sylvanus Evans. In 1888: T. B. Graham. In 1890: H. C. Conn, B. T. Kimbrough, Claude Pintard, Sylvanus Evans, Baxter Mc- Farland, W. R. Trigg. In 1892: W. T. Houston, T. B. Graham. In 1894: B. T. Kimbrough, A. H. Longino, H. C. Conn, Claude Pintard. In 1895: Baxter McFarland. In 1896: N. C. Hill, T. B. Graham. In 1897: A. M. Byrd. In 1898: James C. Longstreet, A. H. Longino, H. C. Conn, W. C. Martin, A. McC. Kimbrough. H. L. Muldrow. In 1900: N. C. Hill, Stone Deavours. In 1901 : A. M. Byrd. In 1902 : H. C. Conn, James C. Longstreet, W. P. S. Ventress. In 1903: J. F. McCool, C. C. Moody, R. B. Mayes, Ju- lian C. Wilson, H. L. Muldrow. (Mississippi Register).

Under the act of 1904, the judges and chancellors of the circuit and chancery courts were in 1905 as follows: Circuit Court- First district, E. O. Sykes, Aberdeen ; Second, Will T. McDonald, Bay St. Louis; Third, J. B. Boothe, Sardis; Fourth, A. McC. Kin- brough, Greenwood ; Fifth, J. T. Dunn, Eupora; Sixth, M. H. Wil- kinson, Gloster ; Seventh, D. M. Miller, Hazlehurst; Eighth, John R. Enochs, Brandon ; Ninth, O. W. Catchings, Vicksburg; Tenth, Robert F. Cochran, Meridian; Eleventh, Samuel G. Cook, Clarks- dale. District attorneys, in the same order, George T. Mitchell, Pontotoc; J. R. Tally, Poplarville; W. A. Roane, Oxford; S. D. Neill, Indianola; T. U. Sisson, Winona; J. B. Webb, Summit; J. B. Greaves, Jackson; R. S. McLaurin, Brandon; James DeLoach Thames, Vicksburg; J. H. Currie, Scooba; Earl Brewer, Clarks- dale.

Chancery Court-First district, W. J. Lamb, Corinth; Second, J. L. McCaskill, Brandon ; Third, J. C. Wilson, Water Valley ; Fourth, W. P. S. Ventress, Woodville ; Fifth, R. B. Mayes, Hazle- hurst; Sixth, James F. McCool, Kosciusko; Seventh, Percy Bell, Greenville ; Eighth, T. A. Woods, Gulfport.

The law regarding terms of judges and appointments to vacan- cies is exhaustively discussed in the report of the attorney-general for 1903-05.

Judson Institute, the first manual training school in Mississippi, was projected by the Baptists of Hinds county, in 1835. They pur- chased a section of land on credit and started the school upon it, at Society Ridge, five miles south of Raymond. Large subscrip- tions were made to support the venture, but it succumbed to the financial crash of 1837, and after one year in operation, was sold to one Taylor, who conducted an academy of the usual sort.

Juliet, a hamlet of Alcorn county, 9 miles south of Corinth, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was recently discontinued and it now has rural free delivery from Rienzi.

Katie, a hamlet of Covington county, 12 miles east of Williams- burg, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was discon- tinued in 1905, and mail now goes to Dont. Population in 1900, 235.

Katzenmeyer, a postoffice in Warren county, about 13 miles north of Vicksburg, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R.

Kay, a postoffice of Pike county. .

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Kearney, a post-hamlet of Yazoo county, on the Sunflower river, about 18 miles southwest of Yazoo City. Population in 1900, 22; population in 1906 estimated at 50.

Keel, a postoffice of Lafayette county, 10 miles northeast of Oxford, the county seat.

Keirn, a hamlet in the northwestern part of Holmes county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 6 miles north of Tchula, the nearest banking town. The postoffice here was discontinued in 1905, and mail now goes to Cruger.

Kellis Store, a post-hamlet of Kemper county, on Sucarnoochee creek, 9 miles north, northwest of Dekalb, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 27.

Kellum, a hamlet in the western part of Alcorn county, 15 mile's southwest of Corinth, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was discontinued in 1905, and it now has rural free delivery from Dryrun, Prentiss county.

Kelly, a post-hamlet in the northern part of De Soto county, near the Tennessee line, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., about 14 miles from Hernando, the county seat. Population in 1900, 56.

Kemp, a hamlet in the southern part of Montgomery county, on McCurtain creek, 13 miles southeast of Winona, the county seat. The postoffice is discontinued and the mail now goes to Kilmichael. Population in 1900, 18.

Kempe, James, was a native of Castlefin, County of Donegal, Ireland, and was one of the "United Irishmen" of 1798, compelled to flee to America, wrote Anthony Campbell, the last survivor of these Irish immigrants in Mississippi. Henry S. Foote had it that he was born in Virginia, and that there he fought a duel, over pol- itics, in which he killed his opponent, Bernard Hooe, a Federalist. The affair was famous, and the principal cause for the anti-duelling law of Virginia. Afterward, Dr. George Graham, of the same county, (Prince William), a widower, married a surviving sister of Hooe, while Kempe became the ardent admirer of Graham's daugh- ter. The latter match was prevented by friends who considered it forbidden by the previous occurrences, and Miss Graham married a wealthy bachelor, Mr. Bird, who died in a few months, this event being followed, as soon as propriety permitted, by the marriage of Kempe and the young widow. They disposed of their property and moved to Natchez, where they ruled over a great plantation and were happy. Kempe succeeded Benjamin Farrar as captain of the Adams troop of horse and won distinction in the New Orleans campaign, not long after which he died. leaving several children. Says Foote: "Among the daughters who sprang from him was a Mrs. Howell, of whom, I am told, Mrs. Jefferson Davis is the daughter."

Kempe, who became a colonel of cavalry, died at Natchez in 1820, leaving a numerous family of sons and daughters. One of the daughters, as Foote said, married William B. Howell, of Natchez, son of an old revolutionary officer and governor of New Jersey.

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Campbell wrote in 1837, "What a clutch of true blues there will be between the blood of Howell and Kempe."

Kemper Affair. On August 11, 1804, the Marquis of Casa Calvo, late governor of Louisiana, yet remaining at New Orleans, com- plained to Gov. Claiborne that the indulgence that had been granted by the Baton Rouge government to the Kemper party had failed to have a good effect, as he had just been informed that while Reuben Kemper, a citizen of New Orleans, was writing threatening letters to Judge Alexander Sterling, his brothers, Nathan and Samuel Kemper, were arousing the Baton Rouge and Tunica districts to insurrection. Two or three bands of their fol- lowers, about a hundred in all, were riding over the country ; they had made an attempt to capture the governor, Col. Charles de Grand Pré, and surprise the fort at Baton Rouge, and, failing in, that, had taken in custody the captain of militia, Don Vincent Pin- tard, the magistrate, John O'Connor and a planter Champnes Terry. They had hoisted a flag, bearing seven stripes, white and blue, with two stars, indicating an effort to establish an insurrec- tionary government. Gov. Claiborne was asked to prevent the Kemper party from finding refuge in Mississippi territory, and he responded that "the insurgents in West Florida had received no encouragement from the United States or its officers."

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 107

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association Number of Pages: 1030

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1030