USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I > Part 49
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letter, presenting the scheme of a committee, which was then chosen. Sargent stated that only two weeks' notice was given of the election, and the Tensas and Tombigbee districts could not par- ticipate ; that at Natchez only forty persons met to select two dele- gates, neither of which joined in the acts of the committee; that out of 143 male inhabitants on Big Black and Bayou Pierre only twenty took part in the election. Daniel Clark wrote that the com- mittee was not chosen by the people at large, and of the original thirty-five members about twenty seceded, declining to follow the leaders, who went ahead with the support of the minority.
The committee made an address to the governor August 26, the essence of which, said the governor, was to reprobate generally his appointments, and assert that the governor had been misled by Ellicott, who was charged with inciting violence and faction during the Spanish occupation. The committee, said Hunter, was anxious for a general accommodation, and animated with a hope of inspir- ing a system of measures capable of embracing that object, they were ready to admit that the governor had been misled. The memorial to the governor, written by Cato West, chairman, which is printed in Claiborne's Mississippi, pp. 211-12, dwells mainly upon Ellicott; asks that the people have the privilege of electing their militia officers, that the field officers should be Americans never concerned in foreign intrigues, and the magistrates of the same character ; declares that the laws to punish treason and arson with forfeiture of property were contrary to the constitution of the United States.
There was also an address to the governor and judges, raising the objection that the laws were not adopted from the codes of some State, as required by the ordinance of 1787. Sargent under- stood that the committee was willing to assume the responsibility of suggesting his appointments and that he should call upon the people to point out the laws that should be adopted. He replied verbally that he and the judges had no object but the welfare of the people ; that the code they had adopted they would cheerfully amend in so far as it was shown to be unadapted to the circum- stances of the people; "that as to the appointments within the ter- ritory, they would remain with myself, for so my sovereigns had ordered that I had no reason whatever (their remarks notwithstanding) to be dissatisfied with my appointments; that innuendoes and insinuations against the gentlemen in commission generally, or even an individual of them, could not operate a re- moval-that the proceeding was disingenuous and wicked-that
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direct charges of malconduct, substantiated by facts, should alone influence me."
The governor understood that his visitors considered themselves courteously treated, and that the committee adjourned to the close of September.
November 1 the governor reported that the committee had sent an agent (Narsworthy Hunter) with representations to Congress, copies of which had been given the governor after the agent's de- parture, which was taken through the Indian country without a passport, contrary to regulations. The governor observed that there had been a falling off from the committee, and suggested that the government investigate the relative standing of the sub- scribers to Mr. Hunter's authority. He positively declared that the people were yet "unfitted in any view of the matter for that sec- ond stage of order, which a very few of its inhabitants have at this time solicited. We are fortunately endowed with some characters that would do honor to any country-dispassionate men of culti- vated minds, and more firmly attached to good order by families and wealth, but they are not numerous." He took leave to remark that Mr. Hunter "seems to me, a very inconsistent and intemper- ate young man."
Col. Hunter appeared at Philadelphia as agent of a committee chosen by the inhabitants of Mississippi territory, and presented two petitions, one for legislation to protect settlers in regard to land claims, and the other reciting grievances in connection with the Sargent administration. These were signed by Cato West, William Erwin, John Bolls, Felix Hughes, N. Hunter, Ebenezer Smith, Joseph Calvit, David Greenleaf, Samuel Gibson, Thomas Calvit, Thomas M. Green, Gerard Brandon, Francis Smith, Eben- ezer Dayton. (Claiborne Mss.) These petitions were referred January 13, 1800, to a committee of the house, of which William Charles Cole Claiborne, a young man sitting as representative from Tennessee, was chairman, and the other members were Messrs. Griswold, Henderson, Nott and Bartlett. (An abstract of the proceedings before Congress is given in J. F. H. Claiborne's Mississippi, pp. 213-18.) Mr. Hunter represented that the gover- nor would never be able to organize the militia; that all the prin- cipal officers that possessed the confidence of the people had uni- formly resigned their commissions; that the whole country was influenced by an idea that the ordinance of 1787 had been wan- tonly abused in legislation and the constitution of the United States as wantonly violated; that the administration from its ear-
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liest operations had proved repugnant to the public will and fatal to the happiness of society ; that the governor exacted exorbitant fees for passports and marriage licenses ; that he had recommended a tax levy of over $10,000 in Adams county, which was manifest prodigality ; that the territory was anxious for participation in the lawmaking power through representatives; that there had been an alarming depopulation of the district, under the lead of Dr. White, and a number of inhabitants were preparing to move into the Spanish dominions. "Various circumstances may have com- bined in producing this dereliction," said Mr. Hunter, "but we do not hesitate to say that the morose, arbitrary contumacy of Gov- ernor Sargent are among the primary causes." In support of the prayer for a general assembly Col. Hunter stated that the popu- lation was about six thousand white and as many black as white, and the annual cotton product about $750,000 worth. The testi- mony of Governor Claiborne (letter to Madison, Feb. 16, 1802), is of remarkable interest, as it was written nearly a year after Sargent's "contumacy" had ceased to be material. "That a decided major- ity of the people of this territory are Americans in principles and attachments, I do verily believe. But (to my great mortification) there are persons here, on whose judgments and hearts former attachments have made unfortunate impressions, favorable to monarchy, and inimical to every government that recognizes the Rights of Man. Several families from Kentucky, Tennessee and this Territory have lately emigrated to the province of Louisiana, and it is feared that their example may be followed by others. The facility with which lands may be acquired under the Spanish authority, and the prevalence of an opinion that the subjects of Spain are exempt from taxation, are probably the principal induce- ments to this abandonment of their country."
When Governor Sargent was advised of the charges made he called on the court to take action in regard to the statement that he had recommended such a tax levy, and the court of quarter ses- sions responded, in a statement of August 6, 1800, signed by Wil- liam Dunbar, Thomas Wilkins, Abram Ellis, John Collins, Hugh Davis and William Kenner, denying the truth of Hunter's repre- sentation. In October the grand jury of the supreme court, at Natchez, indicted Hugh Davis for defacing the record of this statement of the court, and indicted Narsworthy Hunter for libel in his representations to Congress.
The governor defended himself in communications to the sec- retary of state, "Marriage is to be obtained upon the publication
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of the banns for three holy days, at the expense of seventy-five cents, or the governour may license specially without publication," in which case the fee was eight dollars, to cover the trouble of af- fidavits, etc .; for passports the fee was $20. He had been in the habit of charging similar fees in the Northwest territory; on va- rious occasions he represented to the government that his salary was insufficient to pay expenses. On the subject of taxation he represented that he was paying $119 taxes on his wife's property of 2,690 acres, while the six or seven members of the Mississippi committee, for Adams county, together paid $120. Daniel Clark's statement in a letter to Congressman Claiborne was that the es- timates for taxation originated wholly in the court of general quar- ter sessions, and that he made the estimate of 1799 himself, intend- ing it to provide for the building of bridges, and that the actual levy, for Adams county, outside of road work at 50 cents a day and tavern licenses, which brought in about a thousand dollars, was $3,540, out of which they had to pay for the jail, built on credit at a cost of $3,300. He said regarding appointments : "When Governor Sargent saw that all the friends and partizans of Colonel Hutchins would hold no office in the government, he was obliged to appoint others in the room of the gentlemen, who, to his great mortification, refused him their active aid and their counsel"; that Doctor White was disappointed by Congress re- garding an office in the territory; that the population of the terri- tory did not exceed 4,500, and there were only half as many blacks (a statement otherwise substantiated), and the annual cotton product was worth about $240,000. "The most respectable half of the territory were then, and are now, not in the smallest degree discontented ; nor had any part of the territory cause to be. We are a flourishing and happy settlement. Plenty smiles around our dwellings; and not the necessaries only, but the luxuries of life abound among us. I have not heard any discontented, except a certain number who did not enroll with alacrity in the militia; the alleged cause is, that the Governour would not allow them to choose their own officers." That "the committee is loud and clam- orous, those whom they have branded with the name of faction are humble and silent ;" that Governor Sargent's great offense to the complainants was that he had not given exclusive confidence to gentlemen "who by an act of expatriation have long since for- feited all claim to the friendship of the United States." A curious commentary on one of the statements of the committee was the fact that in Congress a bill was introduced to permit those own-
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ing slaves in the Spanish limits to bring them into Mississippi territory, suspending the Territorial act to that extent for one year. "Numerous Americans were anxious to move into the ter- ritory and bring with them their slaves," (Claiborne's Mississippi, 216, note).
The Congress, however, took action without waiting for the gov- ernor's defences. Mr. Claiborne reported favorably regarding the prayer for a general assembly in the territory, and recommended a bill curtailing the governor's veto power. Congressman T. T. Davis, of Kentucky, was active in support of the committee, charg- ing the governor with usurpation. The house was Republican and disposed to grant any request of the Mississippi committee; the senate was Federalist, and determined to support the governor. The house passed a resolution disapproving of the governor's fee of eight dollars for tavern licenses, and the fees to the supreme judges ; but the senate postponed action on the subject. It was the year of the election which finally resulted in the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson. (See General Assembly.) The law, as passed, made no change in the governor's prerogative. In Decem- ber a house committee was appointed to investigate the acts of Governor Sargent, and in the course of its deliberations a petition was received from Mississippi, numerously signed, asking the sus- pension of the act regarding a general assembly, until a majority of the inhabitants should request one. Finally, on March 3, 1801, the day before the inauguration of Jefferson, the committee of the whole house took up the report of the special committee, which reported the following resolution: "Resolved, that there does not appear cause for further proceedings on the matters of com- plaint for maladministration against Winthrop Sargent, as gov- ernor of the Mississippi territory." By vote the house refused to adopt the resolution, the division being on party lines. Among those voting against the resolution were Representatives Claiborne, Williams and Holmes, afterward governors of the territory, under the supremacy of the Jeffersonian party, which now began and continued for many years.
Commodore, a post-hamlet of Attala county, about 18 miles east of Kosciusko, the county seat.
Common School Fund. (See School System.) The constitution of 1869 provided :
"There shall be established a common school fund, which shall consist of the proceeds of the lands now belonging to the State, heretofore granted by the United States, and all the lands known
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as swamp lands, except the swamp lands lying and situated on Pearl river, in the counties of Hancock, Marion, Lawrence, Simp- son and Copiah, and of all lands now or hereafter vested in the State by escheat or purchase or forfeiture for taxes, and the clear proceeds of all fines collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal laws, and all moneys received for licenses granted under the general laws of the State for the sale of intox- icating liquor or keeping of dram shops; all moneys paid as an equivalent for persons exempt from military duty, and the funds arising from the consolidation of the Congressional township funds and the lands belonging thereto, together with all moneys donated to the State for school purposes; which funds shall be securely invested in United States bonds and remain a perpetual fund, which may be increased but not diminished, the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated for the support of free schools."
In the first year of the Alcorn administration, 1870, something over $200,000 was received in the treasury, applicable to this fund, but the greater part of the payment was in State warrants, and the auditor reported that on account of their depreciation in value the purchase of United States bonds was impracticable. Up to the close of that period, in 1876, only $66,000 had been invested in United States bonds, but there was an accumulation of book ac- count to the amount of $700,000 or $800,000.
Superintendent Cardozo said in 1875, the school fund derived nothing from the fines, forfeitures, etc., as the legislature per- mitted the payment of them in State warrants, which were then cancelled instead of being turned over to the fund, as obedience to the constitution would have required.
In 1875 Governor Ames recommended the abandonment of an attempt to support a perpetual fund for education. The present generation needed schools more than any later generation would. So he favored amending the constitution to divert to the general purposes of government all the special sources of revenue of the school fund, save the proceeds of land donated by congress.
An amendment was adopted in 1875, requiring the payment of fines, etc., in United States money, for distribution to the coun- ties, of which Governor Ames said in 1876: "The moneys here- tofore distributed to this fund are not required to be invested and the interest only used in support of schools, but the entire amount may be used each year."
The debt of the State to the fund, at that time, was $817,646,
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and afterward it was not increased, but was included in the debt statements as "Common School fund, old account."
After 1875 the "common school fund" was, the receipts from liquor licenses, fines, forfeitures, and land redemptions, annually distributed. In 1890 the State was distributing about $300,000 annually among the counties, as school fund. About two-thirds of this was the proceeds of liquor licenses, fines and forfeitures, and the remainder was transferred from the general State revenues raised by taxation. After that the school fund was as presented in the constitution of 1890.
As for the fund collected in 1870-76 and never applied, Governor Stone recommended "the passage of an act to cancel the indebted- ness of the State to the Common School fund, which amounts to $817,646. This amount stands on the books to the credit of the Common School fund, while no interest is paid upon it, and the schools are supported by direct taxation. Since the constitutional amendment of 1876, there can be no objection to the passage of such an act." No action was taken, but in the official reports of 1882 and later the "Common School fund" was stated as no longer an indebtedness, "for the reason that the constitutional provision under which it arose has been amended so as to accomplish the purpose for which it was raised in a different and more effectual way." It has been omitted from the debt statements by the treasur- ers since 1895.
The provision of the constitution of 1890 was: "There shall be a common school fund which shall consist of the poll tax (to be retained in the counties where the same is collected) and an addi- tional sum from the general fund in the State treasury, which to- `gether shall be sufficient to maintain the common schools for the term of four months in each scholastic year. But any county or separate school district may levy an additional tax to maintain its schools for a longer time than the term of four months. The com- mon school fund shall be distributed among the several counties and separate school districts in proportion to the number of edu- catable children in each, to be determined from data collected through the office of the State superintendent of public education, in the manner to be prescribed by law."
Under this clause of the constitution the poll tax was treated as part of the general fund.
This section was amended in 1900-02, to read: "There shall be a County common school fund, which shall consist of the poll-tax to be retained in the counties where the same is collected. and a
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State common school fund, to be taken from the general fund in the State treasury, which together shall be sufficient to maintain the common schools for the term of four months. . The State common school fund shall be distributed among the several counties. (Otherwise the section is unchanged).
There is therefore, no permanent State school fund, except the Chickasaw fund (q. v.) applicable to a part of the State only, and this fund is a debt of the State, requiring taxation each year to keep up the interest. This fund arose from a part of the million acres and more donated by Congress for the support of education. (See Sixteenth sections, Seminary fund, Finances, and McLaurin and Longino Adms.)
Como, or Como Depot, is a prosperous and growing town on the line of the Illinois Central R. R., in the northern part of Panola county. It is distant 44 miles from Memphis and lies in an un- usually fertile region. The town was established in 1856, and was incorporated in 1870. Among its pioneers were J. K. Stratton, merchant; George Tait, physician; Wm. Horton and Jim Bates, its first ministers; other early pioneers were Lay and Dick Sher- rod. The Union Church (Methodist and Baptist), erected in 1839, was the first church. Como has an excellent two-story school building, and a number of prosperous mercantile and manufactur- ing establishments. It is supplied with express and telegraph facilities and a system of water works. Among its industries are the Como Compress Co., a canning company, three ginnery plants, and an oil mill. The Bank of Como was established in 1900, and its present capital and surplus are $51,000. It ships annually an average of 15,000 bales of cotton. The total assessed valuation of its real and personal property is $600,000; rate of taxation, 10 mills ; its debt is an $8,500 bond issue for its water works system. Its population is estimated at 900 for 1906.
Complete, a post-village of Lauderdale county, 3 miles northwest of Meridian. Population in 1900, 75.
Compromise of 1850. See Quitman's Administration.
Compton, William McCorkle, was born at Madisonville, Ky., March 14, 1833, and graduated at Jefferson medical college in 1854. He began the practice of medicine in Marshall county, Miss., was a surgeon in the Confederate States army in 1861-65, a member of the legislature of 1861, and of the constitutional con- ventions of 1865 and 1869 (q. v.) He was made superintendent of the Lunatic asylum at Jackson by Governor Alcorn, and ably filled that position during the period of its great enlargement and
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revival after the war period. After eight years he returned to Holly Springs, where it was his hope to establish a private asylum. He was president of the State medical association, a member of the State board of health and of the International medical con- gress at Philadelphia in 1876, and was among the most prominent physicians of the South. He died at his home in Holly Springs, of yellow fever, October 23, 1878, after having given faithful serv- ice to his neighbors during that dark and terrible year.
Conehatta, an incorporated post-town in the western part of Newton county, about 10 miles from Decatur, the county seat, and nearest railroad town. It has a money order postoffice. Popu- lation in 1900, 149.
Confederate Cemeteries. The first appropriation by the State seems to have been in February, 1867, during the administration of Governor Humphreys, when the legislature appropriated $1,000 to assist the Ladies Vicksburg Confederate cemetery association.
An article contributed by Dr. R. W. Jones to the 8th volume of the Historical Society publications, covers this subject, and refer- ence is made thereto. The main burial places of soldiers are near the sites of hospitals or battlefields. Okolona was a place of rendezvous and hospital, the Ross Gates college and the Presbyterian church be- ing mainly used for hospitals. About a thousand are buried there, mostly unknown. Port Gibson has its battle cemetery, also Hern- ando. At Grenada are buried 170, with one grave marked "Jacoby." Names were not preserved at Jackson, and the Federals buried the dead at Corinth, Baker's Creek and Raymond. The University of Mississippi was a hospital, and 700 or 800 were buried near there. At Meridian, an important headquarters, and at Lauderdale and Marion, near by, about 600 are buried. About 1,800, mainly from the battlefields of Shiloh, Corinth and Harrisburg, are buried at Columbus. At Canton there are about 350 graves; 300 or more at Holly Springs; at Newton about 100 graves commemorate the hospital and sixty or more a terrible railroad wreck in 1863. At Macon are the graves of 300; at Magnolia 200; 300 at Iuka. Near Vicksburg a large but unknown number were buried in 1862 and 1863. These are the main cemeteries, and Dr. Jones estimates the list at 9,000, besides those buried on battle-fields.
Confederate Monument. "In June, 1891, the monument erected at Jackson to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers and sailors of the State who fell in the war between the States was unveiled. The ceremony was performed in the presence of twenty thousand people, the veil being lifted by Jefferson Davis Hayes, the grand-
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son of the ex-president of the Confederacy. The monument was erected principally through the efforts of the patriotic women of Mississippi. On top of the shaft is the figure of a Confederate sol- dier, and in the vault is a life-sized statue of Jefferson Davis. The monument, including the vault, bears several appropriate inscrip- tions." (Riley's History of Miss.)
Congress, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Chickasaw county, about 12 miles south of Houston, the county seat. Popu- lation in 1900, 26.
Congress, Confederate States. At the State convention of Jan- uary, 1861, it was ordained that the delegation of the State in the United States congress should represent the State in any congress that might be organized by the seceding State. This delegation was Jefferson Davis and Albert G. Brown, senators, and Reuben Davis, L. Q. C. Lamar, William Barksdale, Otho R. Singleton and John J. McRae, representatives. They did not serve in that ca- pacity, however. The first legislative body formed by the seceding States was the Southern convention at Montgomery, for the fram- ing of a constitution and plan of government, and there was no session of a regular congress until after senators and representa- tives had been elected under the provisions of the Confederate States constitution.
The "Southern Convention," also called the provisional congress, assembled at Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 4, 1861, adjourned in March, and met again April 29. Its subsequent sessions at Richmond began July 20, 1861, Sept. 3, 1861 (one day), Nov. 18, 1861, final adjournment, Feb. 17, 1862. Mississippi was represented in this body by Wiley P. Harris, Walker Brooke, William S. Wilson (resigned April 29, 1861), William S. Barry, James T. Harri- son, Alexander M. Clayton (admitted Feb. 8, 1861, resigned May 11), J. A. P. Campbell, Jehu A. Orr (admitted April 29, 1861), Alexander B. Bradford (admitted Dec. 5, 1861). In the committee organization of the provisional congress in February, Clayton was chairman of the judiciary committee; Brooke was chairman of patents and member of committee on organization of executive de- partment ; Barry was on the finance committee; Harris on judiciary and public lands ; Harrison on postal affairs and printing; Wilson, on patents; Campbell on territories and accounts.
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