Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 46

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 46

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).

MISSISSIPPI

Saratoga" boomed as a signal of arrival, a vast concourse of peo- ple gathered, a welcoming address was spoken by Chancellor Quit- man on the boat, a ball was given next night, and a dinner on Sat- urday, at which 250 sat down. Chief Justice Turner presided, assisted by Beverly R. Grayson, Adam L. Bingaman and William N. Mercer. The toasts were "The Declaration of Independence, The Memory of Washington, Adams and Jefferson, The Union, Internal Improvements, The Chevalier-Paul Jones [recently died], The Ladies of Mississippi," etc. This was in spite of in- tensely partisan feelings which prompted newspaper criticisms of the reception as "nauseous adulation."

Clayton, a post-hamlet of Tunica county, on the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Valley R. R., 6 miles south of Tunica, the capital of the county, and the nearest banking town. It has a money order post- office. Population in 1900, 25.

Clayton, Alexander M., was born in Campbell county, Va., Jan- uary 15, 1801; studied law at Fredericksburg, and was admitted to the bar in 1823. Beginning the practice at Louisa Courthouse, he was married there, after which he removed to Clarksville, Tenn., and formed a partnership with William Turley. After the death of his wife, in 1832, he was appointed United States judge in the Territory of Arkansas. A year later, debilitated by an attack of cholera, he resigned and returned to Clarksville, and in 1837 he moved to the newly opened country in Mississippi, and settled on a plantation near the present village of Lamar in Marshall county, where he continued the practice of law. In 1842 he suc- ceeded Justice Trotter in the High court of errors and appeals, and in 1844 was elected for a full term. He delivered a series of opinions involving the question of limitation of estates, which in- culcated the doctrine of independence of the antiquated technicali- ties of the English law. In 1850-51 he was prominent in the States Rights movement, looking toward secession, and consequently was defeated for reelection to the supreme court. He was after- ward in the practice as a partner of J. W. C. Watson, of Holly Springs, until appointed by President Pierce, consul to Havana. On his return from Cuba he made his home at Memphis. He was a delegate to the Charleston convention of 1860, and in 1861, re- turning to Mississippi, was a member of the secession conven- tion. He was the author of the address setting out the causes of secession, was one of the deputies to the Montgomery congress, and was appointed by President Davis judge of the Federal court in Mississippi, which caused considerable comment because of the

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exclusion of the former judge, Samuel J. Gholson. After the ces- sation of the government of 1861-65, he was appointed to the cir- cuit bench to succeed Judge Trotter, deceased, and, being later elected to the same office, held it until removed under the later re- construction measures. He was first president of the board of trus- tees of the university, and a director and prominent promoter of the Mississippi Central railroad. After the close of his public service he resided at Lamar, until his death in October, 1889. He is the author of the commentary on the law of the limitation of estates, in George's Digest Reports, 1872, the sketch of the Judiciary of Mississippi, in Claiborne's History, and centennial address, His- tory of Marshall county, 1876.

Crayton, George R., was a native of Athens, Ga., born October 6, 1808, son of Augustine S. Clayton; was elected to the Georgia legislature in 1834; removed to Columbus, Miss., in 1836; met A. G. McNutt in discussion on the question of repudiation in 1837; was candidate for governor against Albert Gallatin Brown, repu- diation candidate, in 1843; and was a member of the secession con- vention of 1861. He died at Athens, Ga., in 1867.

Cleary, a postoffice in the western part of Rankin county, 10 miles south of Jackson.

Clem, a post-hamlet in the northwestern part of Covington county, on Bowie Creek, about 15 miles northwest of Williams- burg, the county seat.

Cleo, a hamlet in the northeastern part of Jones county, 6 miles east of Laurel. It has rural mail delivery from Laurel. Popula- tion in 1900, 40.

Cleveland, one of the two seats of justice of Bolivar county, is an incorporated post-town and an important station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., in the southeastern part of the county. It is located in a fine cotton region and is a trade center of impor- tance. It has a telegraph office, express office, bank, newspaper office, saw mills, etc. The Cotton Exchange Bank was established in 1900, and now has a paid up capital of $49,000. The Enterprise is a Democratic weekly established in 1899, C. S. Glassco, editor and publisher. There are several churches and a good school. The town is provided with electric light and water works. Its population in 1900 was 479, which is now estimated at 1,200.

Cliff, a post-hamlet in the north-central part of Itawamba county, 12 miles north of Fulton, the county seat. Population in 1900, 20.

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Cliftonville, a post-village of Noxubee county, 9 miles east of Brookville station on the M. & O. R. R., the nearest banking town, and 12 miles northeast of Macon, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, and telephone service, 3 stores, and a steam mill. Population in 1900, 150.

Clinton is situated ten miles west of Jackson, in Hinds county, on the line of the Alabama & Vicksburg railroad. It is now a little college town of about one thousand inhabitants, but is rich in historic associations and was the home of many distinguished men, as well as a center of education and refinement. Clinton first appears in the history of the State as Mt. Dexter, a temporary Indian agency, and the old settlement, which immediately adjoined its southern boundary, was known as Mount Salus, the "Mountain of Health," until the year 1828. In the fall of that year, the inhabi- tants of Mount Salus changed its name to Clinton, in honor of Governor Clinton of New York. On Feb. 12, 1830, Clinton re- ceived its charter from the Legislature. Walter Leake, third gov- ernor of the State, came to Hinds county about 1823, bought a large tract of land, and with slave labor built himself the first brick house in the county, calling it "Mount Salus." The old home is still in the possession of his descendants. At Mount Salus were located the first land office and the first postoffice in the State. Mail was received in Gov. Leake's "quaint little letter-box," which is now in the Department of Archives and History, and the land office was established after the treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, for the purpose of disposing of the Choctaw lands acquired under "The New Purchase". The location of Mount Salus, and its abundance of pure spring waters rendered it a health resort of prominence in the early days. Its two old houses of entertain- ment, Spring Hill Hotel and Gray's Inn, were constantly filled with guests coming to partake of the waters from its delicious springs. The town was early connected by stage line with Jack- son, Vicksburg, and Natchez, making use of the "Natchez Trace" to the latter town. To accommodate the heavy traffic, a State road between Mount Salus and Vicksburg was opened in 1820, and completed to Jackson in 1826.

Clinton is preeminently associated with its two old institutions of learning, Mississippi College, and Hillman College. The former institution had its beginning in 1826 in a charter granted by the Legislature to Hampstead Academy at Mount Salus, and it began an active career in the fall of 1827 under the name of "Mississippi Academy", which, next to Jefferson College, is the oldest male

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college in the State. The Legislature changed its name in 1830 to Mississippi College, and since that time it has had a somewhat checkered, though a highly useful career. It emerged victorious from its early years of poverty and many disheartening changes in denominational control, and ranks today as one of the highly successful institutions for advanced learning for young men. It numbers among its thousands of students some of the South's most distinguished sons. The history of Hillman College runs parallel to that of Mississippi College. It commenced its career as the Central Female Institute in 1853, and was for sixteen years under the immediate control of the Central Baptist Association, whence its name. June 24, 1891, the Board of Trustees changed its name to "Hillman College" in honor of its distinguished pa- trons, Dr. Walter Hillman and Mrs. Adelia M. Hillman, his wife. It is the pioneer among the surviving colleges of the State, in the higher education of young women, and numbers among the 5,000 students on its rolls since 1857, many of the most gifted women of the South. Besides the two noted institutions above referred to, private schools were taught in Clinton by the Rev. Daniel Com- fort, Dr. Hewlett, Mrs. Cary, Mrs. Theyer, and Philip Werlein, the top of the old Spring Hill Hotel being utilized for the Werlein school. Here is also situated the Mt. Hermon Female Seminary, for the eduction of negro girls, presided over by Miss Sarah A. Dickey.

Clinton aspired to be the capital of the State in the early days, and in 1829 was only defeated by one vote, that of Major John R. Peyton of Raymond, in her supreme ambition. The feeling aroused against Major Peyton in Clinton was intense and resulted in the famous duel between him and Judge Caldwell, fought on the Ray- mond road, about a mile from the town. On the same spot, in 1835, was fought the fatal duel between Judge Caldwell and Sam- uel Gwin.

The Clinton and Vicksburg railroad company was incorporated in 1831, and is the second oldest railroad in the State. In its palmiest era, before the war, Clinton had forty stores, five hotels, two livery stables and a weekly newspaper, The Clinton Gazette. Clinton Lodge, No. 16, organized June, 1834, was the parent of the Masonic Lodges at Jackson and Vicksburg. The town shipped 20,000 bales of cotton a year, and handled more cotton than any point between Vicksburg and Meridian.

On September 4, 1875, occurred the celebrated race riot at

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Clinton, which was the indirect cause of the reestablishment of white supremacy in the State.

Among the distinguished men who resided in or near Clinton and are associated with its history are, Cowles Mead, whose beau- tiful old home, "Greenwood," stood about a mile northwest of Mount Salus; Samuel Gwin, register of the land office at Mount Salus; Dr. William M. Gwin, U. S. marshal for the District of Mississippi; Henry Goodloe Johnstone; Amos R. Johnston, an eminent lawyer, and father of Captain Frank Johnston, and Dr. Wirt Johnston; Hiram G. Runnels, afterwards governor; Henry S. Foote, later governor and U. S. senator; Dr. Walter New, who served in the War of 1812 and was surgeon of the "Wasp", when she engaged and defeated the "Frolic", Edmund Richardson, the millionaire cotton king, who once clerked in Clinton; Thomas J. Wharton, afterwards attorney general and circuit judge; Will- iam L. Sharkey, afterwards chief justice and provisional governor ; Dr. George Stokes, the great opponent of "Know-nothingism"; and Gen. Patrick Henry, Gen. John R. Jefferson, Caswell R. Clif- ton; also Drs. W. L. Wydown, George S. Banks, Bruce Banks, E. G. Banks, and J. B. Williamson; John T. Freeman, James Hamilton, J. B. Hamberlin, E. C. Eager, Alex. Newton, Thos. Ford, and Consider Parish, eminent divines.

The celebrated toast of Governor Foote aptly epitomizes the estimation in which historic old Clinton is held: "Here's to Jack- son, the seat of government, to Raymond the seat of justice; to Amsterdam, the port of entry ; and to Clinton, the seat of learning." In composing the above sketch, liberal use has been made of the admirable article on "Historic Clinton", by Charles Hillman Brough, Publications of the Miss. His. Soc., Vol. VII, pp. 281-311.

Clinton Riot, 1875. This was towards the close of the political campaign of 1875, the culmination of the negro domination, when the color line had become sharply drawn. The whites, practically all united in the Democratic organization, were organized in clubs, or companies, and the negroes, on the other hand, had a similar organization. Generally these organizations were of a military character and equipped to give battle. In the course of the cam- paign barbecues were announced at Utica and Clinton in Hinds county, and Vernon, in Madison county, on the same Saturday, September 4. It was advertised that the Clinton meeting would be addressed by Governor Ames. It is stated by Charles Hillman Brough, in an exhaustive article on this subject (Miss. Hist. Publ. VI, 53), that the meetings were for joint debate, also that it was

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feared the Republican managers desired to precipitate a disturb- ance to serve as a pretext for putting the State under military control. The Democratic executive committee sent out orders for the clubs in the western part of the county to gather at Utica and those in the east at Clinton. T. N. Shelton writes that at Utica the "western clubs turned out in full, and we easily captured a body of negroes, numbering over 1,000, many of whom had come from Copiah and Claiborne counties, without a harsh word being spoken or a shot fired, and stationing guards conveniently to watch them, kept them together for several hours listening to Democratic speeches and applauding Democratic doctrines, and then gave them a dinner and sent them home happy." B. S. White, who nearly lost his life at Clinton, testified: "I swear that I went to that ground with no expectation of a difficulty ; a difficulty was that day expected at Utica, and many white men had gone there to prevent it." (Affidavit, 1875.) The negroes arranged a great political demonstration at Clinton, having a cavalry procession of "fully a thousand", the horses gaily decorated with ribbons, and the dusky riders exuberant with partisan spirit. As they marched to the place of meeting on Moss Hill, they cried, "Down with the Democrats," "What do they call this place, we can clean it out," "I'd like to see a Democrat," etc. Governor Ames did not attend, but the fact that Judge Amos R. Johnston, and Capt. H. T. Fisher, editor of the Pilot and one of the State printers, came from Jack- son to address the meeting, is evidence that trouble was not in- tended or anticipated by the managers of either party. But some of the negroes were aggressive and ominous remarks were made. The Democratic investigating committee reported: "An invita- tion was extended to all persons to attend the Republican meeting and barbecue at Clinton. There was to be a joint discussion. Ac- cordingly perhaps sixty or seventy-five white men went to the grounds. There were from one thousand to twelve hundred negro men present. There were probably twenty or thirty white men with pistols on their persons-not more than fifteen of whom par- ticipated in the fighting." The committee also believed two or three hundred of the negroes were armed, went to Clinton antici- pating a fight "and seized as a pretext for the affray a quarrel be- tween a white man and a negro." Among the white men was a party from Raymond, led by Capt. B. S. White. According to his testimony, Johnston's speech was heard by the negroes with im- patience and disorder, but they resented any noise during Fisher's speech. Soon after Fisher began, some white man made an in-

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sulting remark, and there was a disturbance threatened, which White suppressed. Presently a quarrel started in the bottom about a hundred yards distant, and this White would have com- posed, if Caldwell, a negro leader, had not come up and abusively ordered the white men off the ground. Firing then began, the negroes having densely surrounded the few white men with White. This crowd scattered, two negroes having been killed and several wounded, but soon another crowd advanced, firing, and the White party retreated, pursued by the blacks who killed Mar- tin Sivley and Frank Thompson in a cruel and barbarous way, and very nearly killed White with clubs. Charles N. Chilton, a white man who had left the meeting, was murdered in his door yard. Among the wounded or injured were Calvin Wells, Jesse Whar- ton, Rice and Robinson. Mayor Lewis, who was fired at several times as he left the grounds, feared an attack on the town and telegraphed Vicksburg and Jackson for assistance. No attack was made that night, but several negroes were killed in the town on suspicion of complicity in the riot. Volunteer bodies of armed white men started by train from Vicksburg and Jackson. It is re- lated that the Jackson train was delayed until nightfall by "ob- structions placed on the track by negroes, who were hiding in thickets all along the ivay with their guns pointed at the train" (Brough), and the Vicksburg party was delayed by fear of ob- struction. "No accurate estimate has been made or can be made of the number of negroes killed after the arrival of the troops; suffice it to say, that a mild reign of terror existed in the com- munity for several days subsequent to the riot, because everyone feared that the negroes would burn the town and massacre men, women and children." (Brough). The number killed was esti- mated by Judge Alderson as fifty, by others as less. The negroes generally fled to the woods and swamps, and many sought refuge at the capitol and United States courthouse at Jackson. Maj. Al- len, commanding the army post at Jackson, visited the scene, ac- companied by two lieutenants, and it was agreed that the volun- teer soldiery should put an end to the killing. By local authority Col. Harding was made "military governor," and quiet was soon restored. Investigations were made by a committee of the State Democratic committee, by the county grand jury, and by the Boutwell committee of Congress. (See Boutwell report, p. 295). The Democratic committee report was printed as "Campaign Doc- ument No. 2," in which the riot was called "a premeditated mas- sacre of the whites." The popular view was expressed in a con-

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temporary letter by Thomas Dabney, an Old Line Whig: "They commenced at Clinton on their old game of getting up riots and then calling on Grant for troops to suppress them-these troops to be used afterward to control elections. They succeeded in get- ting up their riot, which was put down by our own people after so sanguinary a fashion as to strike them with a terror not easily described."

Cloud, a hamlet in the eastern part of Panola county, about 10 miles southeast of Batesville, the county seat. The postoffice was discontinued in 1905 and it now receives rural free delivery from Central Academy.

Cloverhill, a post-village of Coahoma county, and a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 6 miles north of Clarksdale, the capital of the county, and the nearest banking town. Popu- lation 50. It is located on the plantation of J. T. Fargason of Memphis, one of the most beautiful plantations in the delta. One of the largest paper-shell pecan orchards in the State is near the village.

Clyde, a post-hamlet in Lamar county, 18 miles north of Purvis, the county seat, and a station on the Mississippi Central R. R. There is a large saw mill and a turpentine still located here. The population in 1906 was estimated at 250.

Coahoma, an incorporated post-town in the northern part of Coahoma county, 6 miles by rail east of Friar's Point, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. Coahoma is an Indian word meaning "red panther." The town has a church and a public school. Friar's Point is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 171.

Coahoma County was established February 9, 1836, and is lo- cated in the northwestern part of the State in the fertile Yazoo Delta region. The name "Coahoma" is a Choctaw word signify- ing "red panther." The act creating the county defined its limits as follows: "Beginning at the point where the line between town- ships 24 and 25 of the surveys of the late Choctaw cession inter- sects the Mississippi river, and running thence up the said river to the point where the dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians intersects the same; thence with the dividing line to the point where the line between ranges two and three of the survey of the said Choctaw cession intersects the same; thence with said range line, to the line between townships 24 and 25 aforesaid, and thence with the said township line to the beginning." The county has a land surface of 592 square miles. It constitutes one of the numerous counties formed from the Choc-

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taw cession of 1830. It is bounded on the north by Tunica county, on the east by Quitman and Tallahatchie counties, on the south by Bolivar and Sunflower counties, and on the west by the Mis- sissippi river.

The following is a list of the county officers two years after the county was established: L. Baker, Henry Weathers, James W. Lunsford, Alfred Holsell, David B. Allen, members of the Board of Police; S. Swearingin, Aaron Shelby, G. B. Warren, Allen Tackett, William Tunstall, John Miller, Justices of the Peace; William M. Cador, Sheriff; Euophilus Huff, Coroner; Aaron Shelby, Judge of Probate; Charles P. Robinson, Ranger; John L. Dabney, Surveyor; Bushrod B. Warner, Circuit Clerk; John D. Shaw, Clerk of the Probate Court; Hector J. Palmerton, Assessor and Collector; John Austin, Ira Piper, Matthew Huff, John R. Jones, Constables.

Port Royal (q. v.) was once the county seat of Coahoma county. It was a rival of Friar's Point, five miles up the Mississippi river. In the early days the county seats of the Mississippi river coun- ties were always located on the banks of that stream. When Port Royal was cut off from the river in 1848, its fate was sealed and the county seat of justice was located at Friar's Point, which still remained a river town. The latter place had a population of 750 (census of 1900), and received its name in honor of Robert Friar, one of its earliest settlers. County courts are also held at Clarks- dale, which is now the largest and most important town in the county, and had a population of about 6,000 in 1906. Clarksdale was named for John Clark, a brother-in-law of Gov. Alcorn, whose beautiful home, Eagle's Nest, is in this county. The main line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railway, together with four branches of the same road, afford the county excellent railroad facilities. From Coahoma in the northeastern part of the county, two branches cross in a southwesterly direction, one of which, branching at Clarksdale, crosses the southeastern part of the county. With its good rail connections, Clarksdale is an excep- tionally favorable location for manufacturing establishments.

No more fertile soil can be found in the State than in this county. It is a rich alluvium deposited through the centuries by the over- flow of the Mississippi. It produces abundant crops of cotton, sugar cane, potatoes, hemp, alfalfa, pecans, etc .; in fact almost any crop grown in the United States can be raised here. Much of the timber with which the county was originally covered has been cleared away for the plantations, but there still exist large

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areas of valuable hardwood forests. Since 1900 there has been unusual activity in the matter of clearing farms, with a consequent large increase in real estate values. Intersected by the Sunflower river, and by other rivers and bayous, the natural drainage is per- fect, and renders the region well adapted to truck-farming.

There are several turnpike roads in the county, and Coahoma county has taken the lead of all the delta counties in the construc- tion of good roads. It has recently appropriated $100,000 for building new roads and repairing the old ones. A large force of men is constantly employed in this work under the supervision of an experienced road builder. The county has contracted for a large steel suspension bridge across the Sunflower river at Clarks- dale, and it is the policy of the present board of supervisors to replace all wooden bridges with steel ones.

The U. S. census for 1900 gives the following data covering agriculture, manufactures and population: Number of farms in the county, 4,055; total acreage in farms, 195,491; acres improved, 121,905 ; value of the land exclusive of buildings, $4,337,050 ; value of the buildings, $873,120; value of the live stock, $830,688; total value of products not fed to stock, $2,365,867. Number of manu- facturing establishments, 78; capital invested, $830,481; wages paid, $139,944; value of materials used, $483,119; total value of products, $831,979. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $4,046,707 and in · 1906, it was $4,650,177, which shows an increase of $603,470 during the year. The population of the county in 1900 was 26,293; an increase of 7,951 over 1890; of these 3,081 were white, and 23,212 colored. The estimated population in 1906 was over 30,000.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 46

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