Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 37

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 37

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After the Carolina revolution of 1719 the lords proprietors sur-

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rendered the charter to the king and accepted a cash consideration (except Lord Carteret, who took land) for their interests.

Another treaty with Spain, at Seville, in 1729, authorized a joint commission to pass upon the "respective pretensions in America, founded on treaties, whether with respect to the limits or other- wise." But this seems to have led to no result.

The river Altamaha was a natural boundary in the coast region, midway between the Savannah and St. John's, which were the undisputed limits of settlement of the two rival nations. For this reason General Oglethorpe proposed to occupy the country from the Savannah up to the Altamaha for Great Britain, with a phil- anthropic and military frontier settlement.

This colony was independent and distinct from Carolina, except in military affairs. Oglethorpe was the military head of both colonies, and he gave much of his time to war on the Spanish. He maintained a garrison at the south end of Cumberland island, asserting the English right to what was recognized later as the extreme southern frontier point of the United States; but this was done, said a governor of Georgia, by authority of the governor of South Carolina, not of Georgia.

After a treaty had been signed in 1762, for the cession of all that Spain claimed as Florida, to Great Britain, the governor of South Carolina began the granting of land in immense tracts, south of the Altamaha, as if the ancient bounds of Carolina were unaffected south of the Georgia plantations. Wright, of Georgia, protested, not setting up any charter claim of Georgia southward, but because such an enclosing of Georgia would be fatal to her prosperity ; because the policy of granting large tracts to a few in- dividuals was contrary to good policy, and because "the pretense for this measure is the charter to the proprietors of Carolina," under which "they might just as well pretend a right to grant St. Augustine, Pensacola and Mobile." The South Carolina gov- ernor was heard, on his side, before the board of trade, at London, when he pleaded in justification of his acts, that the charter bounds of Carolina had not been impaired, that Georgia was set in the midst of the older colony, and that the only reason the Carolina government had not previously granted settlers the lands up to the St. Johns was because of the desire not to "give umbrage to the Spaniards."

In 1763 the Spaniards withdrew altogether, and the British gov- ernment was free to assign any limits, up to the Gulf. The Caro- lina claim to the St. Johns was ignored. The region south of the

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Altamaha, up to the St. Marys, was then annexed to Georgia, upon the advice of the board of trade, which had been considering the dispute between Georgia and South Carolina.

All south of the St. Marys in the east and the line of 31° in the west, was embraced in the new provinces of the Floridas. This was soon followed by a commission to Governor Wright, covering all the westward pretensions of South Carolina, except what might lie between a westward line from the source of the Savannah river and the south line of North Carolina. These westward limits would have a more reasonable appearance on the map if the rivers assigned as boundaries had their sources farther apart.

As to the westward extension, before the Seven Years' war, it was limited by the adverse possession of France, whose claims extended eastward to the sources of the Tennessee river. The Mis- sissippi river began to be a recognized limit of pretension in 1763. There was no attempt at settlement by Carolina within the bounds of the State of Mississippi. But the merchants of Charleston ex- tended the commercial supremacy of the old colony throughout the northern area prior to the Revolution. When Perier was gov- ernor of Louisiana (1727-35), "the English had influence enough to set the Talapouches (Creeks) on Pensacola, which certainly shows great influence to the west. The expedition was unsuccess- ful, however, because Perier informed the invaders that if they did not retire they would send the Choctaws against them. This was effectual, for the Talapouches were far from home. They retired and Pensacola was saved."-(Hamilton, Col : of the South.)

. The only settlements in the west, were, before the Revolution, annexed to the government and jurisdiction of West Florida, by the king.

After the peace of 1783, in the words of Justice Johnson of the United States supreme court, (1827), regarding this annexation south of the Yazoo line, "the United States, Spain, South Carolina and Georgia, succeeded to the disputes of Great Britain, France and Spain, relative to the same tract of country.

"The original title of South Carolina, under the grant to the lords proprietors, was unquestionable ; and she contended, that she had never been legally divested of soil or sovereignty. Georgia founded her claim on the commissions to her governor, Wright, which comprised, within its jurisdiction, the territory in question ; and the United States claimed it as a conquest from the British province of West Florida. While Spain insisted that it was a part of Louisiana or Florida, and as such, ceded to her by the treaty

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of 1783. Finally, South Carolina, by the treaty of Beaufort, relin- quished her claim to Georgia, and the United States. settled her claim, by taking a cession from Georgia of the land in contro- versy." (Harcourt vs. Galliard).

Carondelet, Francois Louis Hector, Baron de, a colonel of the royal armies of Spain, succeeded Miro, on December 30, 1791, as governor and intendant of the provinces of Louisiana and West Florida, including the then inhabited parts of Mississippi. When he received this appointment, he was governor of San Salvador, in the province of Guatemala. He was a native of Flanders, and had, by his acknowledged ability and unremitting exertions and zeal, risen to rank and importance in the service of Spain. In the fall of 1797 he departed for Quito, having been appointed presi- dent of the royal audiencia in the province of that name. The baron was a short, plump gentleman, somewhat choleric in his disposition, but not destitute of good nature. He was firm and prudent, with a good deal of activity and capacity for business. (Gayarré, Louisiana.)

Carondelet Intrigue. As the negotiations between the United States and Spain regarding navigation of the Mississippi and con- firmation of the treaty limits of 1782 were progressing, there were menaces of invasion of the Spanish possessions by the Georgia land company, by Gen. Clark and others in the French service, and by a Canadian force aided by the Indians under Brant. To meet these, especially the France menace, the fort was built at Walnut Hills, and to countercheck the American advance in what is now Tennessee, a fort was begun later at the Margot or Chickasaw bluffs, near the site of Memphis. When Godoy agreed to the de- mands of the United States in 1795, and signed the treaty of San Lorenzo, it was to use the United States as a shield against British invasion from Canada. At the same time, under directions from the Spanish government, the governor of Louisiana was doing all he could to carry out the established policy of Europe and restrict the United States to the Atlantic seaboard. It was impossible to restrict the people, hence Miro had intrigued with Wilkinson for the secession of the west. Carondelet, the successor of Miro, made his last effort in this direction, a year and more after the treaty of San Lorenzo had been signed by the Spanish prime min- ister.

Carondelet had been using an intelligent Englishman, Thomas Power, as his chief agent. He had been sent into Kentucky, whence he returned with information that was favorable enough to per-

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suade Carondelet to make a serious effort. There was great dis- satisfaction about the whiskey tax, that resulted in a rebellion in Pennsylvania, and the Jeffersonians did not like the Federal policy of friendship with England and hostility to France. Gen. Gayoso de Lemos, of Natchez, was put at the head of a military expedition to fortify the Margot bluffs, and build a stockade that would keep the banner of Spain flying at that important point. Power accompa- nied the expedition, to meet the Kentucky cabal by appointment, and bring them and Gayoso together. He reached Kentucky in the same month in which Pinckney arrived at Madrid, on the sugges- tion of Spain that a treaty could be made.

Pinckney soon found that the policy at Madrid was to offer the United States equal rights on the Mississippi and the boundaries yielded by Great Britain, if the United States would make an al- liance with Spain and guarantee the safety of Louisiana. The game at New Orleans, as revealed by Power's mission, was to de- tach the people south of the Ohio, from the United States. Power met Judge Sebastian, at Red Banks, through whom he was put in communication with Innis and Nicholas, other old allies of Wil- kinson. They were informed that the king of Spain was "willing to open the navigation of the Mississippi to the western country," under regulations to be agreed upon. Accordingly, the Kentucky cabal deputed Sebastian to go down the Ohio, and meet Governor Gayoso, of Natchez, who was waiting at New Madrid. Sebastian could not honestly have said much to encourage Gayoso, for the great victory of Wayne over the Indians in the previous year had practically dispelled all doubts about the ability of the United States to hold the west and defend the pioneers. But he entered into negotiations with him, in behalf of the "western country," it seems, and a commercial agreement was reached, except that Sebastian wanted river importations into New Orleans to be free of duty, and Gayoso stuck for four per cent. Such was the ac- count afterward given by Judge Harry Innis. On Gayoso's sug- gestion, Sebastian went with him down the river to confer with Governor Carondelet, arriving early in January, 1796, after a stop at Natchez. Sebastian seemed in a fair way to gain his point, when he was informed by Carondelet "that a courier had arrived from Havana with the intelligence that a treaty had been signed between the United States and Spain ; which put an end to the business between them. Judge Sebastian, after vainly urging the Spanish governor to close this sub-negotiation, in the expectation that the treaty would not be ratified, returned to Kentucky by the

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Atlantic ports." (Butler's Kentucky.) "Sebastian and Power sailed together for Philadelphia," says Gayarré, "no doubt on a mission from the Spanish governor." Reference to the article, "Nav- igation and Limits," will show that Godoy informed Pinckney, at Madrid, October 28, 1795, that a messenger had been sent to the governor of Natchez to suspend the building of a fort at Margot bluffs.

It was charged in the court martial trial of Wilkinson in 1811 that $9,640 was sent to New Madrid by Carondelet in January, 1796, and some time in the following summer taken by Thomas Power to Louisville and delivered to Philip Nolan, by the direction of Wilkinson.

Power was instructed to remind Wilkinson that the people were dissatisfied with the Federal government on account of the internal revenue tax on whiskey, the treaty of friendship with England, and the hostility toward France. Spain was now the ally of France, and appealed to Wilkinson to make his people independent and happy. "Can a man of your superior genius prefer a subordinate and contracted position as the commander of the small and insig- nificent army of the United States, to the glory of being the foun- der of an empire-the liberator of so many millions of his country- men-the Washington of the West. Do not hesitate to grasp the golden opportunity of acquiring wealth, honors and im- mortal fame. . Should Spain be forced to execute the treaty of 1795, and surrender all the posts claimed by the United States, then the bright vision of independence for the western people, and of the most exalted position and imperishable renown for yourself, must for ever vanish."

Power presented to those whom he expected to seduce in Ken- tucky an elaborate statement of what Spain would do (See Gayar- ré's Louisiana, III, 359). The cabal was to inform the people by publications of the disadvantages of remaining longer associated with the eastern States, the difficulties in which they would be entangled, "if they do not speedily recede from the Union," and the benefits they will certainly reap from secession." "The danger of permitting the federal troops to take possession of the posts on the Mississippi, and thus form a cordon of fortified places round them, must be particularly expatiated upon." The gentlemen who should embark in this patriotic task were made aware that Gover- nor Carondelet would appropriate $100,000 to their use, and any one who should make sacrifices for the cause would be compen- sated additionally. There should be a declaration of independence,

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and taking possession of Fort Massac by the troops of the new gov- ernment, which would be supplied by Spain, free, with arms and munitions of war, also $100,000 to pay the expenses of raising and maintaining the troops. The north boundary of Florida should be the Yazoo line, as in British times, but if his Majesty should have forts northward, then the line should run from the Missis- sippi to the Tombigbee so as to include the northernmost forts on both streams. His majesty would also reserve the Chickasaw bluffs as a military post. The eastern boundary of Florida would be regulated later. His majesty would keep the Indians quiet, and join with the new government in reducing them to such dominion as should be necessary. His majesty would not interfere with the constitution or laws of the new government, nor lessen its independence, or endeavor to acquire undue influence in it, but would defend and support its independence. The people were to be assured that the political changes in Europe had made it altogether unlikely that his majesty would carry the treaty of San Lorenzo into effect, but he desired to open up the free navigation of the Mississippi to the people of the western country, and as soon as they should declare themselves "independent of the Federal government" he would "grant them privileges far more extensive, give them a decided preference over the Atlantic States in his commercial connections with them, and place them in a situation infinitely more advantageous, in every point of view, than that in which they would find themselves, were the treaty to be carried into effect."

It appears that when Philip Nolan came down the river with Astronomer Ellicott in February, 1797, he came as a messenger from Wilkinson to Gayoso, at Natchez, warning him to beware of George Washington and his "spies," and carefully conceal Wil- kinson's name. In June, 1797, Ellicott was informed of Power going northward again, and notice was sent to the general govern- ment and to friends of the government in Tennessee and Kentucky.

A letter from the secretary of war August 25, 1797, to Gen. Wil- kinson, who was then in command of the army in the west, on ac- count of the sudden death of Wayne, says that letters from Ten- nessee showed that Power had been arrested and examined before a magistrate in Tennessee, and had produced as his business an official communication to Gen. Wilkinson from Gen. Gayoso giving the Spanish reasons for delay in evacuating the Mississippi river posts. Power and Wilkinson met in the fort at Detroit about the time that the secretary of war wrote this letter. Wilkinson sub-

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sequently sent the messenger under escort by way of the Maumee and Wabash rivers to Fort Massac. The governor of the North- west territory was ordered to cause Power's arrest and send him to Philadelphia, which was prevented by the prompt action of Gen- eral Wilkinson. Power reached New Orleans in October follow- ing. (Martin's Louisiana.) This was about the time that Ellicott, waiting for permission to run the boundary line, was in camp at the spring that now bears his name, and was making a plat of the future town of Washington. Power brought advice from Wilkin- son that the western people were satisfied with the results prom- ised by the treaty of 1795, and were now exasperated with Spain as an ally of France in depredations upon American commerce, so that it was highly in the interests of Spain to promptly comply with the treaty. "The general also complained that his connection and his correspondence with the Spanish governor had been di- vulged; that all his plans had been defeated and the labor of ten years had been lost; that he had now burned all his correspon- dence and destroyed his ciphers, and that duty and honor forbid the continuance of the intercourse. Yet he still indulged the hope of being able to manifest his confidence in the Baron; for it was probable that he would receive from the Federal government the appointment of governor over the Natchez district when surren- dered agreeably to treaty, when he should not want an opportunity of promoting his political projects." (Martin's Louisiana, quoted by Monette.)

In July, Baron Carondelet had received notice of promotion to the government of Quito, and was succeeded by Gayoso.

Ellicott wrote from Natchez, Nov. 14, 1797, that a few days after "Murray" came down to visit Carondelet, Power was sent up the river on a "trading voyage," with cipher despatches to Gen. Wilkinson, Sen. Brown, Judge Sebastian, and another, all of whom received pensions from Spain. Power had met Wilkinson at Cin- cinnati "in September last year; they affected for some days to be upon bad terms, but were privately closeted at night. The design of detaching the western country from the Union, is but a small part of the general plan, which is very extensive and em- braces objects of immense magnitude ; nevertheless, to ensure suc- cess, this point must be first carried; which being effected, and by the system of promotion adopted by the court of Madrid, Governor Gayoso will be at Quito, and the Baron de Carondelet in Mexico, about the same time. So soon as this arrangement takes places, or sooner, if the necessary officers can be corrupted, a general in-

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surrection will be attempted, and cannot fail of success if the first part succeeds. General Wilkinson is to proceed from Kentucky with a body of troops through the country by way of the Il- linois into New Mexico, which will be a central position; the route has already been explored. Nine-tenths of the officers of the Louisiana regiment are at this time corrupted; and the officers of the Mexican regiment, which is now in this country, are but little better. The apparent zeal of the Spanish officers on the Missis- sippi, for the dignity of the crown, is only intended to cover their designs, until the great plan, which is the establishment of a new empire, is brought to maturity."

Carpenter, a station in the northwestern part of Copiah county, on the Natchez division of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 6 miles south of Utica, the nearest banking town, and about 24 miles northwest of Hazelhurst, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. The town has several stores, churches, a good school and is flourishing. Population in 1900, 100. In 1906 it had a population of at least 200.

Carpet Baggers. A considerable number of Union soldiers set- tled in Mississippi when they were mustered-out, and they, and others who went home without knowledge of the situation, at- tracted immigrants from the West. Cotton was selling at an enor- mous price and lands were going "for a song." The newspapers advertised plantations for sale at ridiculous prices, and the pur- chase of them was an attractive investment. The Northern im- migrants rented as well as bought, and some came as ordinary laborers. They had the impression that their experience in the greatly advanced agricultural methods of their home regions would enable them to revolutionize the cotton culture, and that they could do better with the negro laborers than their former masters could do. "It is not too much to say that a majority of the North- ern planters were unsuccessful, and with the inauguration of the reconstruction policy in 1867, they virtually abandoned the busi- ness and became office holders. It is incorrect, therefore, to call them carpet baggers. They did not go South to get offices, for there were no offices for them to fill. The causes which led them to settle there were purely economic and not political. The genuine carpet baggers who came after the adoption of the reconstruction policy were comparatively few in number." (Garner, "Recon- struction," p. 136.) An instance is cited of Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts, who was said to have sunk $30,000 on a plan-

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tation in Issaquena, and attributed his failure to inability to manage negro laborers.

Wiley P. Harris said in a public speech in 1875, "If any two hundred Southern men, backed by a Federal administration, should go to Indianapolis, turn out the Indiana people, take pos- sessions of all seats of power, honor and profit, denounce the peo- ple at large as assassins and barbarians, introduce corruption in all the branches of the public administration, make government a curse instead of a blessing, league with the most ignorant class of society to make war on the enlightened, intelligent and virtuous, what kind of social relations would such a state of things beget between Mr. Morton and his fellow citizens and the intruders? When these people first flocked into the State they thought or assumed that they represented the majesty of an offended nation, and like the order of men to which they belong expected to act the part of public patrons, to be surrounded by clients and to pass amongst us amid salaams and genuflections ; but they were instant- ly undeceived. We have ever since the war prayed earnestly that the true representatives of the Northern people might come among us; their mechanics, their farmers, their professional men, the rep- resentatives of their industries. We got only the chevalier d'in- dustrie, and we know him at sight."

Col. Charles Baskerville, of Noxubee, testified before the con- gressional committee in 1871: "We call no men 'carpetbaggers' except those who come there to control the offices of the country and interfere offensively in the management of political affairs. A gentleman resides there who was on General Sheridan's staff (Major Holman). He is a large planter. He is a clever gentleman. He has never interfered offensively in politics or tried to hold all the offices in the country. There is no prejudice against Northern men ; they are heartily welcomed; but there is a prejudice and hatred against the carpet baggers, as we call them, those who come there for the express purpose of holding office, who never invest anything into the community, and who seem to take no in- terest in the welfare of the State. . They attend meetings in company with the negroes; they associate principally with the negroes; they associate very little with the better class of peo- ple."

The influence of the "carpet baggers" on the negroes was bad and demoralizing. They taught and proclaimed social equality ; sought as a means of political power to fill the minds of ignorant

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negroes with hatred for their former masters, and exploited pub- lic office as a means of private "graft."

Carriere, a station in the northwestern part of Hancock county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R. It is about 18 miles by rail southwest of Poplarville, and about 24 miles northwest of Bay St. Louis, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, an express office and a bank, the Bank of Carriere, established in 1906. It is a thriving lumbering town. Population in '1900, 308, and in 1906 it was estimated at 450.

Carroll County is an irregularly shaped county located in the north central part of the State and was established December 23, 1833, being erected cut of territory ceded by the Choctaws by the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. It was named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and is bounded on the north by Grenada and Montgomery counties, on the west by Leflore county, on the south by Holmes county, and on the east by Montgomery and Attala counties. The original act defined its limits as fol- lows: "Beginning on the Big Black river, at the northeast corner of Holmes county, and running from thence up said river to the point at which the line between ranges 6 and 7 east crosses said river; from thence north, with said line between ranges 6 and 7 east, to the line between townships 21 and 22; from thence west, with said line between townships 21 and 22, to the Tallahatchie river ; from thence down said Tallahatchie river to the northwest corner of Holmes county ; and from thence an eastern direction with the northern boundary of Holmes county to the place of beginning." Its original area was about 908 square miles; its present area is 615 square miles, after portions of the present counties of Grenada, Montgomery and Leflore were taken from its original territory. The old settlements of Leflore, Shongalo, and Middleton, now extinct, were settled early in the 30's and are points of historic interest. (See Middleton for a list of early settlers in that vicinity.) The county seats are Carrollton and Vaiden, the former, named for the home of Charles Carroll, is a town of 700 inhabitants in the central part of the county on the line of the Southern railway; the latter, said to have been named for Dr. C. M. Vaiden, a resident planter, is a town of 600 inhab- itants in the southeastern part of the county on the line of the Illinois Central railway. Other towns in the county are Jefferson, Sydney, Blackhawk, Hemingway, Coila, North Carrollton and McCarley. About nine miles east of Greenwood in Carroll county is the picturesque old home of Greenwood Le Flore, the last and

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 37

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