USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I > Part 42
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Black river, at which the line between townships 16 and 17 crosses the same; from thence, up said Big Black river, to the point at which the line between ranges 6 and 7 east crosses said river ; from thence north, with said line between 6 and 7 east, to the line be- tween townships 21 and 22; from thence east, to the line between ranges 11 and 12 east; from thence south with said line between ranges 11 and 12 east, to the line between townships 16 and 17; and from thence west, with said line between townships 16 and 17, to the Big Black river, the place of beginning," comprising an area of over 900 square miles or 25 townships. The present area is only about 372 square miles. It was rapidly settled during the 30's and 40's from the neighboring States and the older parts of Mississippi, and by the year 1850 had attained a population of 11,402. It was named for the Choctaw Indians, the word "Choc- taw" meaning according to Gatschet, "flathead", or, according to another authority, "charming voice", because of the musical apti- tude of the tribe. It is bounded on the north by Webster county, on the east by Oktibbeha county, on the south by Attala and Win- ston counties, and on the east by Attala, Webster and Montgomery counties. The county has a land surface of 372 square miles. The first county seat was at Greensboro, now in Webster county. (q. v.) When Montgomery county was formed from part of Choctaw, in 1871, it was found expedient to move the seat of jus- tice to a more central location. La Grange was accordingly chosen and a new court house built there in 1872. G. W. Gunter donated 40 acres of land on which the town was built. It was situated in the northern part of the county, about two miles south of the Big Black river. In the early part of 1874, the courthouse was burned-it was believed by incendiaries-who wished to have the county divided in order to create a Republican county out of part of it. All the county records were destroyed. The Repub- lican majority in the Legislature again divided the county in 1874, to form the present county of Webster, first called Sumner. The seat of justice for Choctaw was then moved to the present site of Chester, near the center of the county. Soon after this La Grange was abandoned and only a postoffice remains. Though its life was brief, La Grange had a number of prominent inhabitants, among whom were Capt. J. B. Dunn, F. A. Critz, S. R. Boyd, J. R. Mullens, Capt. R. F. Holloway, D. B. Archer and J. W. Pinson, lawyers, A. R. Boyd and J. W. Robinson, physicians, and Seward, Boyd & Co,, J. M. Petty, G. W. Gunter, and Allen Philly, mer- chants. Courts are also held at the important town of Ackerman,
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which is a thriving place of 1,200 inhabitants, on the line of the Illinois Central railway, running from Lexington and Kosciusko to West Point. Other towns in the county of more or less impor- tance are French Camp with 259 inhabitants, Dido with 53 peo- ple, Weir with 91 and Pinto with 40. The head waters of the Big Black river are in this county and yield it a good water supply. Good railroad facilities are provided by the branch of the Illinois Central railway which crosses the southeastern part, by the Southern railway which penetrates its extreme northwestern bor- der, and by the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R. which passes through the county from north to south. Since the advent of railroads the county has increased rapidly in wealth and impor- tance and the region seems to have a prosperous future before it. There is a considerable timber growth consisting of oak, beech, pine, hickory, gum, etc., and the soil is capable of producing good crops of cotton, corn, oats, wheat, sorghum, potatoes, grasses, with an abundance of all the fruits and vegetables suitable to the latitude. Over seventy thousand acres are now under cultivation and settlers are coming in rapidly. The general surface of the land is undulating and hilly with a rather light sandy soil, but there are large areas of rich bottom lands which are extremely fertile. Schools and churches are numerous throughout the county and the railroads afford ready communication with the outside world. Manufactures have attained some start, but are not of much importance as yet. The United States Census for 1900 shows that there were 2,189 farms with a total acreage of 217,591, of which 70,290 acres were improved; total value of the land exclu- sive of buildings was $696,070, total value of buildings was $326,- 890, total value of live stock $408,692, and the total value of the products was $744,388. The statistics of manufactures in the county for 1900 are as follows :- Total number of establishments 47, capital invested $83,112, cost of materials $52,063 and the value of the products $111,391. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $1,105,364 and in 1906 it was $1,359,739.37, which shows an increase of $254,375.37 during the year. The population in 1900 consisted of 9,451 whites, 3,585 colored, a total of 13,036 and an increase over 1890 of 2,189. The population is increasing and in 1906 was estimated at 15,000.
Choctaw Land Frauds. A census taken after the treaty, made . the Choctaws number 19,554. Major Armstrong emigrated 15,- 000, leaving, as he supposed only 4,554. In 1837 the war depart- ment estimated that there were but 750 heads of families in the
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State, and on that basis Congress was induced, over the opposition of the Mississippi legislature and delegation in Congress to author- ize a commission to receive claims for land. When the first board was organized 1,349 persons registered as having been heads of families at the date of the treaty, and 1,200 more registered with the second commission. To satisfy their claims would require 2,549 sections, and making a reasonable addition for children, the amount of land necessary to satisfy these claims would be about 3,700,000 acres. The total area sold by the Choctaws was 7,796,000 acres, of which 5,000,000 had been disposed or by 1842. The claims of the Indians would be met with land scrip, which would cover all the remainder and leave a large surplus that could be used to take land in Louisiana and Arkansas. The proposition meant, Col. Claiborne said, a scheme to rob the public domain of about $6,000,000 worth of land.
Under the act of Congress in 1842, J. F. H. Claiborne was ap- pointed member of a commission to examine and adjudicate the unsettled Choctaw claims arising out of the treaty of Dancing Rab- bit, and in December of that year received at Hopahka, the claims of some 250 heads of Choctaw families. The claims appeared to be regular, were supported by testimony, and it was invariably asserted that the claimants had not within five years after the treaty made any contract or assignment of the claim. Later the commis- sioner of Indian affairs was informed by Gen. Reuben H. Grant of Noxubee, that these claims were "mostly frauds," and should be reexamined. An investigation was made by T. J. Word, as spec- ial agent and evidence secured which indicated that the In- dians making claims had been the victims of speculators. Claiborne in August, 1843, advised the commissioner to suspend action al- together until a thorough investigation was made. A commission was appointed for investigation, to sit in November. The board of commissioners subpoenaed witnesses, and set a meeting at Hills- borough in November. On his way there, at Jackson, Col. Clai- borne learned that the speculators had sent a delegation to Wash- ington to induce the department to issue script, regardless of the disclosures, and he caused a sensational newspaper article to be printed for the purpose of arousing public sentiment against them .. His own story was that he had a friend write the article, which he copied, and gave the editor the impression that he was the author, in order to screen his friend.
At Hillsborough, Seargent S. Prentiss appeared for certain claimants, and when Claiborne proposed to employ H. S. Foote
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and John Irvin to aid T. J. Word as counsel for the United States, Prentiss raised the question of Claiborne's compentency to act on the board, on account of his newspaper article. Next day Claiborne formally protested against the right of his colleagues Tyler and Graves, to judge his competency, and left the board. He under- stood his life was threatened by the crowd that was collected. Subsequently he was challenged to a duel by Col. John B. Forester, who had charge of the Indian emigration, and by Mr. Prentiss, but he refused to recognize either challenge.
In January, 1844, in a memorial to Congress, he averred his be- lief that further gross and extensive frauds were in contemplation ; that the Indians had been deceived and betrayed by an organization of unscrupulous men who had played upon their desire to remain in Mississippi to defraud them of their rightful claims; that all of this could be proved before a tribunal if one could be protected from violence and bloodshed; but such a commission as had been established was ineffective; that the Indian claimants were kept under a system of espionage and debt by the conspirators, and made "convenient instruments for the accomplishment of a fraud, not in- ferior in extent and infamy to the one so memorable in our early an- nals, every record of which was ordered by the legislature of a sov- ereign State to be burned with fire from heaven, that the attention of all mankind might be drawn to its enormity."
When Claiborne's memorial was read in Congress, Jacob Thomp- son, after a hard struggle, in which he was opposed by John Bell, of Tennessee, secured a reference to the committee on Indian Af- fairs, of which Thompson was chairman, and the committee sus- tained Claiborne's views, breaking up the great speculation.
Choctaws. See Indians.
Cholera. The first wide-spread epidemic of cholera is said to have been in India in 1817. In 1830 it appeared in Europe, creating frightful havoc.
After ravaging the north Atlantic cities in 1832, the disease pen- etrated the Ohio valley and came down the Mississippi, where the people had been horrified for twelve months by the reports of its deadly and mysterious progress. Niles Register in May, 1833, noted that a good many cases had appeared at Vicksburg, and at Natchez there was great excitement and "the largest meeting of the people ever had in this city, because of the finding of the bodies of several negroes, thrown into some of the gullies, and slightly covered with earth, and the consequent spreading of the report that the cholera was killing the people so fast that the survivors
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had not time to bury them. It appears that the bodies found were those of slaves, that had belonged to certain negro traders, who to avoid the expense of interment had thus disposed of their remains."
The disease swept over the State, and the many deaths resulting, profoundly affected the minds of men. It was especially fatal to the negroes, but the mortality was not very great, about fifteen to twenty on large plantations. The disease lingered along the river for two years.
In 1848, starting again in Asia, the cholera appeared at New Orleans, in December, and 3,000 or more died within six weeks at that city. Thence it spread westward, on the route of travel to California, cutting off hundreds of the gold seekers. Maj .- Gen. Worth and a third of the 8th U. S. infantry were among the vic- tims. It ascended the Mississippi slowly, though people were dy- ing on the steamboats as they journeyed up the river. In March a third of the negroes on the Tarbert plantation in Wilkinson county died. "Flatboats drifted in at landings with every soul on board dead. In "Stack island" reach, one of the largest planters, Dr. Duncan, of Natchez, lost over 133 hands and the entire crop on his place, where he usually made between 3,000 and 4,000 bales of cot- ton." It was generally only about 15 minutes from the attack be- fore the victim was in collapse, cold as ice- and dying. In April the epidemic seemed to have ceased, but it broke out again after a severe frost about April 15. While the disease prevailed many suffered with dull pain in the head and swollen eyes. The popular medicine was a dose composed of 20 grains of calomel, 10 grains of camphor and 10 grains of red pepper. This compound was swallowed by the spoonful as a preventative. (William Dunbar Jenkins, M. H. S. Publ. VII, 271.)
Chotard, a post-village in the southwestern part of Issaquena county, on the Mississippi river, about 22 miles south of Mayers- ville, the capital of the county. Population in 1900, 111.
Chotard, Henry E., was a son of Jean Marie Chotard, a native of Brittany, France, who was an officer on the island of San Domin- go and married a daughter of Governor Lefont. He returned to France at the time of the insurrection, thence came to America and made his home in Adams county about 1805. His first wife died on the way to France, and he was married a second time in Georgia. Henry, a child of the first marriage, entered the United States army in 1808, and was promoted to major for gallant conduct on the staff of General Jackson at New Orleans. He had the duties of adjutant-general. While stationed at Baton Rouge, he married
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Frances, a daughter of Capt. Stephen Minor, of Natchez. He re- signed from the army in 1821, to make his home upon a plantation of several thousand acres near Natchez, which bore the name of Somerset. He became a large landholder and a man of wealth and influence, before his death in 1870.
Chozettas. See Indians.
Christian Church. The Christian church is not as strong in Mississippi as it is in the central States and the West. The first organization was effected at Battle about 1838 by Gen. William Clark. This church was about eight miles from Jackson, and Gen. Clark was its pastor, preaching once a month for many years. A little later another church was organized at Utica by Jefferson H. Johnson. Several churches were soon after established in Wilkin- son county by Wm. E. Mathes, and one at Columbus, the -latter being organized in 1838 by Talbert Fanning and James A. Butler, two prominent ministers of the denomination. Gen. William Clark and Jos. E. Mathes organized a congregation in Jackson in 1841, which, before the war, was one of the wealthiest and most influen- tial in the State. Its first pastor was T. W. Caskey, who served through the war as a chaplain in the Confederate army and was a man of much zeal and talent. Since the war the pastors at Jack- son have been Elisha Pinkerton, Elder Snow, Geo. A. Smythe, Joseph Sharp, Robert Mayes, T. A. White and M. A. Harmon. Besides the work for foreign missions the church maintains an evangelist in the State. F. W. Caskey began this State evangelical work in 1844 and was followed by William E. Hooker and Robert Ursey. B. F. Manire one of the ablest and most zealous men of the church, worked throughout the State for many years, indepen- dent of any board.
The war greatly interrupted this work and impeded the growth of the church for many years. Its preachers and members bore their part in the great struggle faithfully, but their loss was very heavy and the work before the survivors a very trying one.
The Mississippi Christian Missionary convention was organized in 1884 with D. B. Hill as president. This convention holds annual sessions for the purpose of reviewing the work of the past and planning for the future. The evangelists under this convention have been Joseph Sharp, A. C. Smither and John A. Stephens.
The church had a flourishing institution of learning before the war, Newton College, near Woodville. It was opened in 1843 to both sexes. A great many useful men and women were educated at this college, but it closed at the outbreak of the war.
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Several attempts were made to establish a church paper, begin- ning with the Unitist in 1875, edited by S. R. Jones. But the only successful one is that of Rev. M. F. Harmon, who has been publish- ing the Christian Messenger for a number of years.
The church has in Mississippi about 10,000 members and one hundred and twenty-five churches. Its greatest strength is in the Middle and Central states, where it has about 1,350,000 members and about thirty schools, colleges and universities.
Christine, a postoffice of Tunica county.
Chritton, a postoffice of Coahoma county.
Chulahoma, an incorporated post-village in the southwestern part of Marshall county, located on Cuffawa creek, about 10 miles southwest of Holly Springs, and about 48 miles southeast of Mem- phis, Tenn. Chulahoma is an Indian word meaning "red fox." It has a money order postoffice, three churches and an academy. Population in 1900, 57.
Chunkeyville. An extinct village in Lauderdale county, ab- sorbed by Chunkey Station, Newton county, on the A. & V. R. R.
Chunky, a postoffice of Newton county, on the Alabama & Vicks- burg R. R., 18 miles west of Meridian. It has a money order post- office, two rural routes, two churches, several stores, a good school, a saw-mill and a cotton gin. The town is growing rapidly and is in a flourishing condition. It had a population of 76 in 1900, and in 1906 the population was estimated at 300.
Church Hill, a post-hamlet of Jefferson county, about 14 miles northeast of Natchez, and 3 miles from the Mississippi river. The region about Church Hill was settled at a very early day. Writing of the early settlements of Jefferson county, the late Col. John A. Watkins, of New Orleans, La., says: "In the southwest, the Maryland settlement, with Church Hill as a common center, we find Wood, Baker, Green, Skinner, Young, Shields and many others." Only a few miles to the northeast was the famous old town of Greenville, the first county seat of Jefferson county, now extinct. (See Old Greenville.) The population of Church Hill in 1900 was 107.
Civil Rights Bill, see Reconstruction.
Clacks, a postoffice on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., in the northern part of Tunica county, about 12 miles northeast of Tunica, the county seat. Population in 1900, 40.
Claiborne County is located on the Mississippi river in the southwestern part of the State, and constituted a part of the old Natchez District which was settled by the French, Spaniards,
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English and Americans during the eighteenth century. It was the fourth county erected while Mississippi was a Territory and was established January 27, 1802, during the administration of William C. C. Claiborne, Mississippi's second territorial governor. His name is perpetuated in that of the county. The original act of the General Assembly recites that Jefferson county shall be divided as follows :- "Beginning on the river Mississippi at the mouth of the Petty Gulph creek; thence running up the main branch of said creek four miles, or to its source, should not exceed four miles; thence, by a line to be drawn due east, to the eastern territorial line, and all that tract of country, north of the above mentioned creek, an east line, south of the northern boundary of said territory, and east of the Mississippi river, shall compose a county, which shall be called Claiborne." The act of June 29, 1822, defining the boundaries of the several counties of the State, declared that the dividing line between the counties of Claiborne and Jefferson should be as follows: "Beginning on the bank of the Mississippi river, at the lower end of the Petit Gulf Hills, run- ning thence a direct course to the most northern part of the tract of land known by the name of Robert Trimble's, on Tabor's creek of Bayou Pierre, continuing the same course until it shall inter- sect the South Fork of Bayou Pierre, at Elijah L. Clarke's wagon ford on said creek, thence up said creek to the township line be- tween townships 9 and 10, thence pursuing said line east to the old Choctaw boundary line." The first civil officers of the county, commissioned Jan. 30, 1802, were William Downs, G. W. Hum- phreys, James Stansfield, Ebenezer Smith and Daniel Bwinch, Justices of the Peace; Samuel Cobwin, Sheriff; Mathew Teirney, Clerk; Samuel Gibson, Coroner. The old towns of Grand Gulf, Brandywine and Buckland were prosperous settlements in the early part of the last century. Grand Gulf was the shipping point on the river for Port Gibson, and as late as 1858 had 1,000 to 1,500 inhabitants. The course of the river changed to the west and de- stroyed the town. The county has a land surface of 505 square miles. The beautiful old town of Port Gibson is the county seat and is part of a tract of land once owned by a Mr. Gibson, who donated a town site on Bayou Pierre, six miles from the Missis- sippi. It was the seat of culture and wealth before the days of the Civil War and about it clustered the home of many families whose names are familiar in the annals of the State. Here lived the Archers, Humphreys, Magruders, Vertners, Van Dorns, Bur- nets, McCalebs and many others. "The Hill", the famous old
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home of Judge P. A. Van Dorn, was built on a commanding emi- nence overlooking the town, but has lost its former beauty and is now sadly decayed. About seven miles southeast of the city is located the old home of the unfortunate Harmon and Margaret Blennerhasset, called "La Cache" to indicate the retirement from the world of Burr's misguided associate. Only ruins remain today to serve as a memory. During the Civil War, Port Gibson was the scene of much hard fighting while Grant was forcing his way to Vicksburg. Of late years the region has had a prosperous re- vival, trade and manufactures have increased materially, and the town of Port Gibson has grown in size from 1,524 people in 1890, to 2,113 in 1900. Numerous small towns are sprinkled over the county among which may be mentioned, Hermanville, Martin, Tillman, Carlisle, Rocky Springs, Ingleside, St. Elmo, and Grand Gulf, the last named village above referred to being an early rival of Port Gibson for the county seat, and at one time the seat of a thriving river trade. The county is located in a rich agricultural section of the State and is bounded on the north by Warren county, on the east by Hinds and Copiah counties, on the south by Jef- ferson county and on the west by the Mississippi river. The two main lines of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railway traverse the county and yield it excellent rail transportation privileges, while the Mississippi and Big Black rivers, forming its western and northern boundaries, give it exceptional water facilities. The cen- tral portions of the county are well watered by the North and South Forks of the Bayou Pierre; a fine water power exists at Scutcheloe Falls, and numerous springs of good water are to be found, so that it may fairly be termed one of the best watered counties in the State. There is considerable timber in the county of the popular, walnut, magnolia, pine, gum, hickory, and oak species. The surface of the land is broken and hilly in places, the balance is undulating and level. The soil is quite fertile and pro- duces cotton, corn, rice, oats, field peas, potatoes, sorghum, sugar cane, melons and all kinds of fruits and vegetables suitable to the latitude. The pasturage is especially good and is well suited to stock raising. Manufactures have attained a considerable growth ; a cotton mill and a cotton seed oil mill have been located in Port Gibson and today nearly $600,000 are invested in manufacturing industries throughout the county.
The twelfth census returns for 1900 show that there were 42 manufacturing establishments in Claiborne county, which were capitalized at $559,411, that a total of $77,204 was paid in wages,
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that $404,051 was the cost of materials, and that $651,324 repre- sented the total value of the products. The returns for agriculture show that there were 2,970 farms in 1900, with a total acreage of 222,490, of which 116,424 were improved, that the total value of farms exclusive of buildings was $1,393,790, that the value of the buildings was $490,000, that the value of the live stock was $553,- 126, and that the total value of agricultural products not fed to stock was $1,111,750. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $3,026,052 and in 1906 it was $3,240,900.75, which shows an increase over 1905 of $214,848.75. The population, in 1900, consisted of 4,565 whites, 16,222 colored, making a total of 20,787, which is an increase of 6,271 over the returns for 1890. As the negroes are leaving the county in considerable numbers it is supposed that the population is not increasing.
Claiborne, Ferdinand Leigh, notable in the military history of Mississippi, was a native of Sussex county, Va., brother of William Charles Cole Claiborne. His military service began Feb. 23, 1793, when he was appointed ensign in the First sublegion under Gen. Anthony Wayne. He joined the army in Ohio, was promoted to lieutenant in June, 1794, took part in the famous battle on Maumee river, was assigned to the First regiment in 1796 and promoted to captain, October, 1799. He was stationed in the recruiting service at Richmond and Norfolk, after the close of the war in the North- west, and subsequently returning to that region, served as acting adjutant-general of the army. Jan. 1, 1802, he resigned and re- moved to Natchez, where he became a merchant, and married a daughter of Col. Anthony Hutchins. He was elected to the general assembly in 1804. After the close of his brother's administration he was appointed colonel of the militia regiment of Adams county, to suceed Osmun, and was selected to command the detachment that marched to the support of Gen. Wilkinson for the Sabine campaign in 1806. In the fall of 1807 Governor Williams revoked his commissions as magistrate and colonel, on account of troubles between them. Governor Holmes asked the president to commis- sion him brigadier-general of the militia of the Territory; the leg- islature joined in the request in 1809, and he was so commissioned in 1811, his appointment being proclaimed by the governor, Sept. 28. He had charge of the organization of the Mississippi militia regiment for the United States service in 1812, and served as col- onel of the same Sept. 6, 1812, to Feb. 23, 1813, at Baton Rouge. March 1, 1813, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volun-
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