Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 65

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 65

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).

Permanence was given to this necessary department of educa- tion, by a clause in the Constitution of 1869 which reads as fol- lows: "It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide by law for the support of institutions for the deaf, dumb and blind." In the Constitution of 1890 this clause was reenacted.

The institution was reestablished in 1871, under the superinten- dence of Dr. J. L. Carpenter, and had nine inmates in January, 1872. The residence of E. M. Yerger was purchased, and with the addition of a wing, this was the home of the institution. The expenditures of this with maintenance, etc., the first year, was $46,000.

March 18, 1902, the institution was destroyed by fire. The chil- dren were all saved from injury, and next day sent to their homes. The legislature, then in session, made an appropriation for tempor- ary cottages, which were built upon the old grounds at a cost of about $20,000, so that the institution was not long suspended. On the second anniversary of the fire the governor approved an act of the legislature of 1904 creating a commission to select and pur- chase grounds for a new institute building at a cost not exceeding $25,000, and construct a building to cost not more than $75,000. Grounds were purchased on West Capitol street, and a building begun in October, 1904, and completed and occupied in December, 1905, at a cost of $73,965. It is 256 feet frontage, 216 feet deep in the center, a rotunda in the center from the first floor to the roof, through which it is lighted and ventilated; the building is equipped with electric light and steam heating. Included in it, besides bedrooms, class rooms, and offices, are two play rooms,

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museum, library, chapel, dining room, etc. A great part of the expense of the new institution was met by the proceeds of the sale of the old grounds as city lots.

This building is "comfortable, convenient, up-to-date, handsome, attractive, imposing, suitable in all its appointments and peculiarly adapted to the needs of the deaf children." Supt. Dobyns, familiar with the best buildings of the sort in the United States, asserts that, "as a center building of a system, Mississippi has the most suitable the most convenient and the most up-to-date of all."

Under the superintendency of J. R. Dobyns who was appointed in 1881, many improvements have been made. He introduced articulation teaching, and the teaching of trades, and also had ac- commodations provided for colored deaf mutes, in a separate build- ing for which an appropriation was made in 1883. The institution has about 150 students in all departments including kindergarten. Some are taught by the combined system, some by oral method alone, others by the manual method. Mechanical drawing, clay modeling, sewing, cooking, sloyd, carpentry, wood turning, carv- ing, machine-shop work, and printing are all taught.

The following is a list of the superintendents of the School: John H. Gazlay (deaf) 1854-1855; Momfort (deaf) 1855-1856 ; A. Pomroy 1856-1856; A. K. Martin, A. M. 1856-1860; A. G. Scott, A. M. 1860-1862; (closed on account of War 1861-5, 1862-1870) ; J. L. Carter, M. D., 1871-1876 ; Chas. H. Talbot, A. M., 1876-1881; J. R. Dobyns, A. M., LL. D., 1881.

A board of trustees is appointed by the governor, of which he is ex-officio chairman. The State has expended in support of the institution, 1886-1905, $367,703.

Deasonville, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Yazoo county, 4 miles west of Vaughan, and about 20 miles from Yazoo City. It has a church, several stores and a money order postoffice. Pop- ulation in 1900, 125 ; estimated in 1906 to be about 400.

Deborah, a hamlet of Coahoma county, 5 miles east of Clarks- dale. Postoffice was discontinued in 1905 and it has rural free de- livery from Lyon.

Decatur, the county seat of Newton county, is a post-town on · the new line of the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., about 70 miles east by north of Jackson. It was named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, and was settled in 1836. Some of its first set- tlers were: Samuel Hurd, James Ellis, Myer Bright, Willis R. Norman, Isaac Hollingsworth, J. H. Wells, W. S. Nimocks, E. S. Loper, and Isham Dansby. With the advent of the railroad the

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town has grown rapidly both in population and in the volume of its business. It handles several thousand bales of cotton annually, has a number of good general stores, good schools, two churches, and a bank-the Bank of Decatur, a branch of the Bank of Hick- ory. Among its industries are a steam saw-mill, a steam grist-mill and cotton gin combined, and a tannery. The population in 1906 was estimated at 250.

Deen, a post-hamlet of Covington county, 6 miles southwest of Williamsburg, the county seat. Population in 1900, 70.

Deerbrook, a post-hamlet of Noxubee county, located in the Horse Hunters Prairie region, the best agricultural district in the county, about 10 miles northeast of Macon. It has two stores, and a fine cotton gin. Population in 1900, 66.

Deeson, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Bolivar county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 15 miles by rail from Rosedale the seat of justice. Gunnison is the nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice; also a large cotton seed oil mill. Its population in 1900 was 110.

De Kalb, the capital of Kemper county, is an incorporated post- town, 13 miles southwest of Scooba which is on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., and about 42 miles north of Meridian. Scooba is the nearest railroad, telegraph, express and banking town. De Kalb lies in a good farming region, and two miles distant is Sucarnochee creek, a good mill-stream. The Southern Star, a Democratic weekly established in 1898, is published here, Crawford Gewin, editor and publisher. It has several good stores, five churches, and a courthouse, and jail. Near the courthouse is a fire-proof vault for the records of the county. Population in 1900, 240. The town is not increasing in population.

Delay, a post-hamlet of Lafayette county, about 14 miles south- east of Oxford, the county seat. Population in 1900, 23.

Delisle, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Harrison county, on the Wolf river, 6 miles northeast of Bay St. Louis, the county seat, of Hancock. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 76.

Delmar, a postoffice of Jefferson county.

Delta, a post-hamlet of Panola county, 12 miles west of Sardis, one of the seats of Justice for Panola county, and the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 20.

Dengue. The Natchez "Southern Galaxy" of August 28, 1828, said : "Dengue-This is the name of a very harmless epidemic now prevalent in our city, and which, perhaps by its novelty, has well-

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nigh kicked the presidential question out of doors. Good, of two evils give us the least ; give us anything but a bore. . . The correct pronunciation of the name of the disease is dangay. It originated, we believe, in South America and has swept nearly the whole of that part of the continent. It is now universally prevalent through the south of the United States, sparing scarcely an individual, black or white. Cases in fact have been reported as far north as New York." A humorous description was given of the attack of the disease. One, perhaps laughing with a friend, "suddenly changes his joyous visage to a horrid contortion." He is racked by pains; the doctor bleeds him, and administers snake- root tea and a warm bath. In a few hours he ventures out of his nest again, but afraid to shake hands or sit down.

Denham, a post-hamlet of Wayne county, on Bucatunna creek, 8 miles east of Waynesboro, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. Population in 1900, 27.

Denmark, a post-hamlet of Lafayette county, 12 miles southeast of Oxford, the county seat. Population in 1900, 75.

Dennis, a post-hamlet in the south-central part of Tishomingo county, 17 miles directly south of Iuka, the county seat, and near- est railroad and banking town. It has a money order postoffice. A large saw-mill and cotton gin are located here and the town is prospering.

Denny, a post-hamlet in the extreme northern part of Jackson county, connected with Lucedale on the M. J. & K. C. R. R., by a short spur line. It is distant 38 miles from Pascagoula, the county seat. Population in 1900, 100.

Dent, Louis, a native of St. Louis, emigrated to California in 1846 with Gen. Kearney, practiced law in that country, was a can- didate for congress and a member of the first constitutional con- vention of California. Two of his uncles, Benjamin and George, had lived in Mississippi during the territorial period. In California he married a daughter of Judge Baine, a former prominent Whig of Grenada, Miss. Before 1861 Ulysses S. Grant, then an officer of the regular army, married his sister at St. Louis. After the oc- cupation of western Mississippi by the army under Gen. Grant, he leased an abandoned plantation in Coahoma county, where he resided when Grant was elected president. Afterward he made his home at Mile House, and when the Eggleston wing of the Re- publican party in Mississippi sought the presidential influence he was in opposition. He was nominated for governor of Mississippi by the Conservative Republican element in 1869, and was supported

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by many Democrats. Though President Grant refused his ap- proval Judge Dent made an active campaign, but was overwhelm- ingly defeated.

Dentville, a post-hamlet of Copiah county, about 10 miles north- west of Hazlehurst, the county seat. Population in 1900, 32.

Denver, a hamlet in the eastern part of Lincoln county, about 8 miles southeast of Brookhaven, the county seat. The postoffice was discontinued here in 1905, and mail now goes to Perch. Popu- lation in 1900, 30.

Deovolente, a post-hamlet of Washington county, on the Yazoo River, 6 miles northeast of Belzoni, the nearest railroad and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 50.

Derby, a postoffice of Pearl River county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., 6 miles southwest of Poplarville, the county seat and nearest banking town. There is a saw milling plant located here. The population in 1906 was estimated at 100.

Derma, a postoffice of Calhoun county, 6 miles southeast of Pittsboro, the county seat.

De Soto, a thriving little station of Clarke county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R. and on the Chickasawhay river, 5 miles south of Quitman, the county seat and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice and two churches. Population in 1900, 258.

De Soto. After the disastrous expedition of Narvaez, 1527-28, the vast region, called Florida by the Spaniards, was neglected for a few years. The Spaniards imagination, however, was much in- flamed by the wealth found in Mexico and Peru, and the next to try his fortune was Hernando de Soto, the son of an esquire of Xerez de Badajoz, who had been with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and was eager to rival the exploits of Cortes and Pizarro. Concerning this expedition of De Soto, we have fairly satisfactory records, chief among which are several contemporary and inde- pendent narratives of the progress of the march translated from the original Spanish, viz :- "Narrative of the Gentlemen of Elvas" (supposed to be Benedict Fernandez), which is the longest and best; "The narrative of Louis Hernandez de Biedma," the factor of the expedition ; the highly colored and unreliable, "The History of Hernando de Soto and Florida," by Garcillaso de la Vega, com- piled from oral narratives of three of De Soto's companions, and written in 1591; the official report of the expedition which Rod- rigo Ranjel, the secretary of Soto, drew up from his diary of the march, on reaching Mexico, and accepted as the standard as to

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dates and the order in which towns and provinces are named, and which is preserved for us in the History of Oviedo in an abridged and incomplete form. We have also the Delisle and other early maps, purporting to give Soto's route. The independent narratives of the Gentleman of Elvas, Biedma and Ranjel, as well as those used by Vega, present a remarkable agreement, both in the main narrative as to course and events, but also as to names of places. In 1537 De Soto solicited and obtained a grant of the province from Rio de las Palmas to Florida, as ceded to Narvaez, as well as of the province discovered by Ayllon ; he was required to conquer and occupy Florida within a year, erect fortresses, and carry over at least 500 settlers to hold the country ; provision was made for di- vision of the gold, pearls, and other valuables of the conquered caciques, and provision was also made for the maintenance of the Christian religion and of an hospital in the territory. He set sail from Spain, in 1538, with an ample armament, and in 1539 landed at the Bay of Espiritu Santo (Tampa Bay), so-called because he reached it on the Feast of Pentecost. He had with him 620 chosen men and declared that the enterprise was undertaken for God alone. He traversed with his army great portions of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and in the third year of his wandering, reached what he had long sought, the Mississippi, known to him as the "Rio del Espiritu Santo." The exact point at which De Soto crossed the Mississippi is in con- troversy, but is believed to have been a few miles below Memphis. Mr. T. H. Lewis, in his critical analysis of the route of De Soto's expedition (see M. H. S. vol. vi, p. 455) locates it either at Council Bend or Walnut Bend, in Tunica county, in a straight line some 25 to 38 miles below Memphis. The Gentleman of Elvas gives us this description of the great river: "The river was almost half a league broad. If a man stood still on the other side, it could not be discerned whether he was a man or no. The river was of great depth, and of a strong current : the water was always muddy : there came down the river continually many trees and timber, which the force of the water and stream brought down," which is unmistak- ably a description of some of the physical features of the Missis- sippi. In the presence of his army, De Soto named it "El Rio Grande de la Florida," and which name it retained for over one hundred and thirty years. After a year of futile wandering through the vast regions to the west of the Mississippi, Soto despaired of finding his El Dorado in that dirction, and determined to push to the shores of the Gulf and there build two brigantines, in order to

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send to Cuba and to New Spain for aid. He finally reached the Mississippi on his return, April 17, 1542, in the vicinity of Arkan- sas City and a few miles south of Arkansas river (see Route of De Soto, Lewis, M. H. S., vol. vi, p. 460). Here he sickened and finally died, May 21, 1542. His successor Luis de Moscoseo after a long march into Texas finally returned to the Mississippi, and conducted the miserable remnant of the expedition down that river in brigantines to the Gulf, and thence to Mexico. The expedition of De Soto was comparatively barren of results and added very lit- tle to the knowledge of the continent, as no steps were taken to note the topography of the country or the language of the various tribes.

DeSoto County, established February 9, 1836, was one of the twelve counties formed in that year from the territory originally belonging to the Chickasaw nation and ceded by the Indians under the Treaty of Pontotoc in 1832. The county has a land surface of 551 square miles. The original act defined its boundaries as fol- lows :- "Beginning at the point where the northern boundary line of the state intersects the Mississippi river, and running thence down the, said river, to the point where the line between townships 2 and 3 intersects the same; thence with the said township line, to the line between ranges 9 and 10 west; thence south with the said range line to the center of township 6; thence east through the center of township 6, according to the sectional lines, to the center of range 5 west; thence north through the center of range 5 west, according to the sectional lines, to the northern boundary line of the state; thence west with the said boundary line to the place of beginning." Its original area was about 24 townships, or about 864 square miles. December 23, 1873, it contributed to form the new county of Tate all that portion of its southern area south of a line defined as follows: Beginning at a point where the line be- tween ranges 9 and 10 west intersects the Coldwater river, and running thence up said river to the point where the line between townships 3 and 4 intersects the same; thence east with said town- ship line to the center of range 5 west, the present eastern boun- dary line of the county. It was organized during the first admin- istration of Governor Charles Lynch, and was named after Her- nando De Soto, the celebrated discoverer of the Mississippi. It is located in the extreme northwestern part of the State, bounded on the north by the state line which divides Mississippi from Ten- nessee and on the east by Marshall county; Tate county, whose history is closely associated with that of DeSoto county, adjoins

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it on the south, the Coldwater river making part of the boundary between them; the Mississippi river touches it for a few miles on the west and Tunica county completes its western boundary. Its county seat is Hernando just south of the center of the county, a place of 700 inhabitants and one of the historic old towns of the State. It was originally called Jefferson and was organized in 1836 by a bill introduced by Senator A. G. McNutt of Warren county. It became the home of many wealthy and prominent families, whose glory before the war is told by the remains of their handsome homes. It was the home of Col. Felix Labauve, who was one of its earliest settlers and quite a remarkable char- acter. A native of France, of distinguished ancestry, and coming as a child to the new world, he was identified in later years with the history of Mississippi. His bequest of $20,000 for the educa- tion of poor youths of DeSoto county, makes him deservingly remembered as one of its wisest benefactors. Other towns in the county are Eudora, Cockrum, and Olive Branch. The main line of the Illinois Central railway crosses DeSoto county from north to south, passing through Hernando. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railway, which connects the Delta with Memphis also crosses the western part of the county, and the Kansas City, Mem- phis & Birmingham passes through the northeast portion. Most of the county belongs to the Yellow Loam section of the State and its general surface is level and undulating. A small portion of the county is hilly and the extreme western part is Mississippi bottom land, alluvial and fertile. The county contains considerable valuable timber and the soil produces cotton, corn, oats, wheat, to- bacco, sorghum, and all kinds of grasses, fruits and vegetables in abundance.

This is essentially an agricultural region as the census returns for 1900 will show. There were in that year 3,726 farms in the county with a total acreage of 257,771, of which 151,066 acres were improved. The value of the land exclusive of the buildings was $2,262,390 ; the value of the buildings was $780,860; the value of the live stock was $736,242 and the value of the products was $1,667,155. There were, according to the same authority, 61 man- ufacturing establishments in the county, capitalized at $193,477, paying $23,000 in wages, using $70,822 worth of materials and with a total product of $162,564 in value. The total assessed valu- ation of real and personal property in the county in 1905 was $2,726,906 and in 1906 it was $3,000,130, which shows an increase during the year of $273,224. The population in 1900 consisted of

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whites 6,233, colored 18,518, a total of 24,751 and an increase over 1890 of 568. The total population in 1906 was estimated at about 26,000.

De Soto in Mississippi. There have been many attempts to trace the aimless wanderings of De Soto through the Gulf States in 1539-42, and many divergent views have resulted. There is gener- al agreement among the best authorities that he spent the winter of 1540-1 in the northern part of the State of Mississippi in the Chickasaw country, traversed the northeastern part as far north as the Tennessee river, and crossed the northern part in the effort to reach the Rio del Espiritu Santo, of which he evidently knew. Prof. T. H. Lewis has made a scholarly attempt to trace his route in detail from Taliepacana to Huchasene, wherein it is shown that after De Soto fought the bloody fight of Mavilla, on the north bank of the Alabama, at which is now Choctaw Bluff, in Clarke county, he proceeded in a northerly (?) direction and arrived on Thursday, Nov. 18, 1540 at Taliepacana, in the province of Pafal- laya. (A term sometimes applied to the Choctaws is "Pasfallaya," meaning long hair. Halbert thinks "Pafalya may be worn down from the Choctaw words "Pashi falaia.") Coming a few days later to a large river believed to be the Tombigbee, they made a pirogue that they might have means to cross the river. They followed the Tombigbee north, taking the pirogue with them, and early in De- cember arrived at a town on the east bank, whose lord was called Apafalaya, in the province of Pafalaya. Dec. 9, they left the river and traveled for six days over bad roads, swamps and rivers and came to the river Chicaca on the 14th. Chicaca river was on the east side of the Tombigbee, probably in the northern part of Mon- roe county. They crossed this stream on the 16th and De Soto and some of his cavalry arrived at the town of Chicaca late the same evening. "Chicaca was a town of 200 fires and was situated on a hill extending north and south, which was watered by many little brooks." It was located one mile northwest of Redland in Pontotoc county. Here De Soto spent the winter of 1540-1. Jan. 3, 1541, he dispatched an expedition to Caluca, a fertile province of more than 90 towns, in what was probably the northeastern part of Mississippi. Prof. Lewis thinks that this expedition reached the Tennessee river in Tishomingo county, and learned at that time of its connection with the Mississippi. At this time also, De Soto made war on the province of Sacchuma, (Chocchuma) located on the lower Tallahatchie river. After the Indians attacked and burned their town of Chicaca, March 4, De Soto "moved to Chica-

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cilla, located on a savanna, one league to the northward, set up forges in great haste, and manufactured lances, saddles and tar- gets," as the Spaniards had lost nearly everything when the town was burned. Marching north from Chicacilla, they crossed the Tallahatchie, at or near New Albany, in Union county, and on April 30, they turned westward through a region where, accord- ing to Elvas, "the land is low, abounding in lakes." Ranjel says they passed over bad roads leading through woods and swamps. This route westward to the Mississippi lay wholly within the State of Mississippi, for, had they gone toward Memphis, they would have traversed a hilly region instead of one of swamps. Fin- ally, on May 8, they reached the Mississippi at what is believed to be a point in Tunica county. On June 18, the army crossed the Mississippi at either Council Bend or Walnut Bend, from 25 to 38 miles below Memphis. (M. H. S. vol. vi. P. 455.)

Devall, a postoffice of Jones county, 12 miles southwest of Ellis- ville, the county seat.

Dewitt, a postoffice in the southwestern part of Benton county, 3 miles distant from the station of Potts Camp, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., and 15 miles from Ashland, the county seat.

Dexter, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Marion county, about 18 miles from Columbia, the county seat, and the nearest railroad and banking town. It has a money order post- office. Population in 1900, 45.

Diamond, a post-hamlet of Wayne county, 8 miles north of Waynesboro, the county seat.

Diaz, a post-hamlet in the extreme northern part of Wayne county, located on Eucutta creek, an affluent of the Chickasaw- hay river, about 15 miles northwest of Waynesboro, the county seat.

Dickerson, a post-hamlet of Coahoma county, located on Horse Shoe Lake, and on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 5 miles south of Friar's Point, the seat of justice and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 43.

Dickey, a hamlet of Amite county, about 11 miles east of Lib- erty, the county seat. The postoffice here was discontinued recently, and mail now goes to Bates Mill, a station on the Lib- erty-White R. R. Population in 1900, 20.

Dickson, David C., came to Mississippi from Georgia as a phy- sician, in which profession he was eminent. He was elected from Pike and Franklin counties to the constitutional convention of

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1817; was a member of the first State senate, and was elected brigadier-general of militia, 1818. His wife was Letitia Harris.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 65

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