Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 71

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 71

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).

Evans, Marion Mckay, is a son of William J. Evans, and was born in Handsboro, Miss., July 5, 1850. After leaving the Salem high school in Greene county, when he was 16, he engaged in mer- cantile business, and has been in this business since, first in his home town, then at Moss Point, and now at Mt. Olive. He has always been active in politics and Masonry, having been grand master of Masons in Mississippi in 1889. In 1889 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the State, and served from 1890 to 1896. From 1896 to 1900 he was a member of the Mississippi Railroad Commission.

Evanston, a postoffice in the extreme northern part of Jackson county, one mile south of the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., and 36 miles north of Pascagoula, the county seat.

Evansville, a post-village of Tunica county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 4 miles south of Tunica, the county seat and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Pop- ulation in 1900, 103.

Everett, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Simpson county, on Strong river, 6 miles from Mendenhall. Population in 1900, 52.

Evergreen, a hamlet in the southwestern part of Itawamba county, 10 miles from Fulton, the county seat. The postoffice here was discontinued in 1905 and it now receives rural free deliv- ery from Dorsey.

Exeter, a postoffice of Yazoo county, 13 miles south of Yazoo City.

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Exodus. "A partial failure of the cotton crop in portions of the State, and the unremunerative prices received for it, created a feel- ing of discontent among plantation laborers," wrote Governor Stone in his message of 1880, "which, together with other extran- eous influences, caused some to abandon their crops in the spring [1879] to seek homes in the West. For a time the planting interest in the Mississippi valley was seriously threatened; but the excite- ment soon subsided, and the supply of labor continued about equal to the demand." The movement is also to be considered as a se- quel of the loss of political power by the negroes after the political revolution of 1875. Not very long after that event Mississippi negroes were prospecting for homes in Kansas, and there were stories circulated even as far as England, of harsh attempts to suppress such a movement, which, with the ebullitions of the "Okolona States," embarrassed the efforts of the State Board of Immigration. Both business and agriculture were depressed and the period may perhaps be considered as the culmination of the craze for growing cotton on credit which followed 1865. It was also a time of protest by white farmers, as evidenced by the Green- back party and the demand for railroad regulation.

There was a negro convention at New Orleans April 17, 1879, which, despite the opposition of former leaders, adopted a resolu- tion that the negroes should migrate from the South. The Missis- sippi Valley Labor Convention met at Vicksburg, May 5, with the object of allaying the prevailing excitement, and there was a large attendance of planters and representative negroes. Resolutions were adopted demanding the repeal of the agricultural lien law, which was blamed for permitting practices that created distrust and unrest ; they called on "the colored people here present," to deny the false rumors of free lands, mules, etc. in Kansas, and advised the negroes, if they desired to emigrate, to do so freely, after fulfilling their contracts and providing means for travel. Two days later there was a colored convention at Nashville, Tenn., which adopted resolutions demanding social and political equality, a compulsory system of education, etc., advised the negroes to emigrate, and asked an appropriation from congress in aid of the scheme. A convention of cotton planters at Greenville May 28 adopted a memorial to the Northern people which revealed the fear that boats were to be sent to take away the negroes, declared that secret emissaries had persuaded the negroes that the United States government was now to make good the supposed promise of donations of farms, in the west, and appealed against encour- agement of the movement. Seven thousand refugees had reached Kansas by the first of August, and a relief society was organized there to keep them from starvation.

The stream of emigrants was later turned to Indiana. In De- cember, 1879, Senator Voorhees secured the appointment of a Sen- ate committee of investigation, on the ground that the exodus was for the colonization of Republican votes.

Senator Lamar wrote to a friend: "From the first moment when

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the agitation of the negro exodus question began I have looked upon the movement (if it were only real) as the dawn of a new and grand era for the South. Doubtless there would be great embarrassments, and even bankruptcies, among the large planters ; no doubt a very large number of negro emigrants would be sub- jected to great suffering and mortality. But these would be the incidents of all great social transformations. It would be the beginning of a veritable reconstruction of the South." Of the negro race itself: "The only mode by which they can ever get rid of their characteristics as a parasitic race (sticking on to a civ- ilization without partaking of its nature and identity) is to remove it from the structure to which it is attached. The disap- pearance of negro labor has no terrors for me. I would hail it as the beginning of a glorious Southern renaissance." (Mayes' Lamar, p. 415.)

There was another migration in November, 1886, after cotton picking. This was first noticeable in Hinds and Rankin county, whence the negroes moved to "the Swamp," or river delta. By the middle of December the movement was so great as to leave many of the interior plantations without labor. The negro population in the delta had increased 115 per cent. in the decade 1870-80, while the whites made little advance. The proportion of whites to negroes in the delta was then one to eight-in some counties the negro majority being much greater-and the tendency is to even greater ratios. The movement of 1886 was doubtless hastened by the failure of the cotton crop, but had its root in a general dissatis- faction with conditions, and found occasion in the rebuilding of the levees, which promised new security for the plantations in "the Swamp." There was also a new demand for labor in the delta on account of the installation of saw mills by Northern lumbermen, who had made heavy purchases of woodland. In Monroe county, while the landowners were anxious regarding the prospect, the negroes held a convention, and resolved that the rent of lands should be paid in kind, so that land owner and land worker would share the risk of market fluctuations ; that leases should be for long time; tenants should keep up fences, ditches, etc., and the cotton seed other fertilizers produced by the tenants should be returned to the lands. The concentration of the negroes in the delta tends to the diversification of agriculture in other parts of the State and makes for greater prosperity.

Exploration of the West. Thomas Jefferson, in December, 1783, suggested to George Rogers Clark the exploration of an overland route to the Pacific. Three years later, while minister at Paris, he persuaded the famous Connecticut traveller, John Ledyard, to find a way from the Pacific to the Missouri river, and Ledyard had almost completed his journey across Asia when he was turned back by the Russians. After Jefferson became president, he se- cured an appropriation for an exploration under the pretext of ex- tending commerce, and selected his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, formerly an officer in the Mississippi army of occupation,

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1798, to head the expedition. Lewis received instruction in the use of astronomical instruments from Andrew Ellicott, at Lancas- ter, Pa., and, accompanied by William Clark and a small party, set out in May, 1804, up the Missouri. Meanwhile, the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon was made, and Jefferson, seeking infor- mation of the country, sent seventeen questions to Gov. Claiborne and William Dunbar, of the Mississippi territory, and Daniel Clark, pears that Thomas Hutchins had published a map of the Missis- sippi from the mouth of the Ohio down, and there was a map of the coast, made by Don Juan de Langara in 1799, but none of the maps gave a correct idea of the coast between the Mississippi and the Sabine. Dr. John Sibley, a Massachusetts refugee beyond the Mississippi, despite the watchfulness of Vidal, supplied Claiborne with a sketch of the interior, showing the importance of Natch- itoches.

. consul at New Orleans. From the correspondence of Clark it ap-

Claiborne and Sibley supported the administration position that West Florida was included in the purchase to the east, while Dun- bar and Clark, more familiar with the region, (Ellicott also) main- tained the Spanish view of the matter. None of them believed the United States had any claim west of the Sabine. Jefferson now proposed an expedition to explore the Red and Arkansas rivers and asked William Dunbar to lead the expedition, which was to be outfitted at New Orleans and Natchez. Dr. George Hunter, of Philadelphia, selected to accompany the expedition because of his knowledge of mining, arrived with a load of stores and presents for the Indians, at Natchez, July 24, 1804. Meanwhile, there had been trouble with some of the Osage Indians, and the main expe- dition was postponed. Spanish hostility was also to be expected, as Salcedo, the Spanish captain-general, had issued orders pro- hibiting Americans from approaching or attempting to mark the frontier. So Dunbar and Hunter undertook a visit to the Hot Springs at the head of the Arkansas. They set out Oct. 16, 1804, Dunbar and a negro servant, Hunter and his son, and a sergeant and 12 enlisted men, and made a four months' tour, described in Dunbar's Journal, published in the Annals of Congress ; in "Docu- ments Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana," by William Dunbar, 1904; and in the Hunter Journal. After his return, the correspondence continued between Jefferson and Dun- bar, and after several men had been considered as leaders of the Red river expedition, Capt. Thomas Freeman was selected, to act under Dunbar's supervision. Freeman suggested Dr. Carret Pendergast and Dr. Fred Seip, both residing near Natchez, as botanists, but the president chose Dr. Peter Custis, and Dunbar selected as his assistant Lieut. Humphrey. Claiborne, at New Orleans, obtained a passport for the expedition, as a scientific enterprise, from Casa Calvo, Spanish boundary commissioner. The Spanish were very jealous of the American encroachment, and the Texas officials were suspicious of Casa Calvo at New Orleans. John Minor, of Natchez, given a passport by Casa Calvo in 1804, to visit Texas on royal

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business-really for an exploring expedition-was watched and sent back. The governor of New Mexico sent armed expeditions among the Pawnees to set them against the Americans. When Casa Calvo set out for an expedition among the Indians also, Clai- borne instructed his military outposts to prevent him from returning to New Orleans. Events were culminating toward the Red river campaign. Freeman, Custis and Humphrey set out, in April, 1806, with a small party of soldiers, commanded by Capt. Richard Sparks. They made a detour of the Great Raft in the river, proceeded up the Red some 200 miles above Natchitoches, and reached the Caddo Indian villages, where they were turned back by a Spanish force under Don Francisco Viana, and the Amer- ican flag, hoisted at the village, was cut down. Diplomatic corres- pondence, and the military movements under Gen. Wilkinson, fol- lowed. Jefferson sought to send Freeman and Lt. James B. Wil- kinson up the Arkansas river in 1807, but no appropriation was made, and it was 13 years before another government expedition traversed the region west of Mississippi. (I. J. Cox, Early Ex- ploration of Louisiana, 1906).

Extra, a postoffice of Covington county.

Fair, a hamlet in the eastern part of Amite county. The post- office here was discontinued in 1905 and it now receives rural free delivery from Summit.

Fairdale, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Simpson county, 12 miles south of Mendenhall. Population in 1900, 24.

Fairground, a postoffice of Neshoba county.

Fairport, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Noxubee county, 13 miles from Macon, the county seat.

Fair River, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Lincoln county, located on Fair creek, an affluent of the Pearl river, 10 miles east of Brookhaven, the county seat. Population in 1900, 92.

Fairs, State. Resolutions of the legislature in January, 1840, approved the State agricultural convention to be held at Jackson that month; recommended the Mississippi Farmer, published at Raymond; and advised county fairs and cattle shows.

The Agricultural Bureau was established by a law of 1857, and organized by electing T. J. Hudson president and J. J. Williams secretary. This was rapidly followed by the organization of 30 coun- ty associations, of which 21 held fairs in 1859. The State fair of No- vember, 1858, was held under the direction of the Bureau aided by the State agricultural society; the latter disbanding as a separate organization. The State aided in establishing the fair grounds at Jackson, to the amount of about $7,000. The second fair was held in 1859. As to the condition of agriculture, the secretary reported in 1859 that "subsoiling is practiced to an extent hitherto unknown, while hill-side ditching and horizontal furrows have become almost universal." An immense number of improved plows were being shipped into the State. In Jackson there was a plow and wagon factory manufacturing plows equal to those produced at Boston and Philadelphia. Steam machinery was being introduced. In the

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two years past more fine live stock had been introduced into the State than for any six or eight preceding; some said for any twenty.

Several State Fairs were held between 1870 and 1880. At these fairs splendid exhibits of the State's resources were made, and they were largely attended by the people of this and other States. The Association finally became indebted to a Philadelphia premium house and its property was sold to pay the debt. It was bought by Col. Jones S. Hamilton, who held two fairs about 1881 and 1882.

The Mississippi Fair Association was organized in 1887, with Dr. P. WV. Peoples as president, O. J. Waite, secretary and Dr. Samuel S. Carter, treasurer. These gentlemen with Dr. B. Lemly and F. A. Wolf formed the board of directors. A fair was held in the autumn of 1887 in a building back of the old capitol, which cost about $25,000. The exhibits were very fine, and there were many fine horses and good races. The premiums and purses amounted to about $5,000. The weather was bad, and the Association lost money. In May, 1888, there was another meeting, but no races. The attendance was good, and the Association made expenses. In the fall of that year the last State Fair was held. The date was postponed to the middle of November on account of the yellow fever. The exhibits were good, but the weather was bad, and it was not a financial success.

The act to incorporate the Mississippi State Fair association, approved March 1, 1884, permitted the association to use the bottom lands belonging to the State between the old capitol and Pearl river. Governor Stone said in 1894 that for years no fair had been held or attempted to be held, and the lands were leased from year to year to individuals.

The first Industrial Exposition was held at the old capitol in the fall of 1904. The officers of the Association were R. E. Kenning- ton, president ; W. J. Davis, vice-president ; J. F. McKay, secretary and manager ; D. J. Morrison, treasurer. The board of directors were : R. E. Kennington, A. C. Jones, D. S. Brown. C. A. Fransioli, John Lorenz, D. J. Morrison, W. J. Davis, E. W. Strauss, Geo. F. Bauer, E. A. McQuaid, H. E. Blakeslee and J. F. Mckay. There were splendid exhibits of the State's resources, and the exposition was a success, the attendance being 15,000 people. Encouraged by this success another exposition was held Nov. 22 to Dec. 2, 1905. This was on a still larger scale and its success was still greater. There was an attendance of 35,000 people.

Faisonia, a post-hamlet of Sunflower county, situated on the Sunflower river, 5 miles north of Indianola, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. It lies in a rich cotton growing section and ships large quantities of cotton annually. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 82.

Falcon, a postoffice of Quitman county.

Falconer, Kinloch, was secretary of state of Mississippi from January to September, 1878. He had been in office less than a

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year when he died of yellow fever at Holly Springs, his former home, September 23, 1878. Governor Stone wrote of him: "No man possessed, in a higher degree, the confidence and love of the people. Full of promise, and in the vigor of manhood, he sacrificed his life in the cause of suffering humanity."

Falin, a postoffice of Simpson county, about 10 miles northwest of Mendenhall.

Falkner, a post-hamlet of Tippah county, on the Mobile, Jack- son & Kansas City R. R., between Ripley and Middleton, Tenn., 8 miles north of the county seat. It has two churches and a school ; also a saw mill and a cotton gin, and is situated in the best agricul- tural district in the county. Its population in 1900 was 100.

Falkner, William C., was born in Knox county, East Tennessee, July 6, 1826. He was of Welch descent, and his forefathers had been pioneers in Tennessee. The family removed to Missouri, where his father died, and he was cast upon his own resources while yet a lad. He walked to Ripley, Miss., at the age of 17, seeking em- ployment. He had a hard struggle, but secured an education, studied law and achieved success in his profession. In 1847 he mar- ried Holland Pierce, who died a few years later leaving one child, J. W. T. Falkner, a State senator in 1900. In the Mexican war Falkner was first lieutenant of a company in the Second Mississippi regiment. In 1851 he married Elizabeth Houston Vance, of Ala- bama, and engaged in planting. He was an old line Whig and had much influence in politics, but refused office. In 1860-61 he or- ganized a volunteer company, the Magnolia Rifles, which was as- signed to the 2d regiment, of which he was elected colonel. Going to Virginia he was particularly distinguished for bravery, at the first battle of Manassas. Later in the war he commanded a regi- ment of mounted men in Mississippi. Subsequently he became prominent as an author and man of business. He was the pro- moter and chief builder of the Ripley & Middleton Railroad, of which he became president. In 1876 he was a Tilden elector. Col. Falkner's first novel was "The White Rose of Memphis." He published two other books, "The Little Brick Church," a novel, and "Rapid Ramblings in Europe." He was elected to the legisla- ture Nov. 5, 1889, but was shot on the streets of Ripley the same day, and survived only a few hours.

Fallback, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Bolivar county, about 15 miles northeast of Greenville. Population in 1900, 20.

Fame, a postoffice of Webster county, about 6 miles northeast of Walthall, the county. seat.

Fannin, a post-village of Rankin county, 11 miles north of Bran- don, the county seat, and the nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice, two churches and a school. Population in 1900, 150. It is surrounded by an excellent farming country.

Farar, Benjamin, the founder of a prominent family of Adams county ; married Mary Ellis, who had Spanish title to 600 arpents on Buffalo creek. He was prominent in the early territorial period,

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and particularly as captain of the Adams troop, with Francis Sur- get and John Linton as lieutenants.

Farmers' Institutes. This method of popular education is con- ducted under the auspices of the Agricultural and Mechanical col- lege. Both Gen. Lee and Gov. Stone urged the importance of this work to the agricultural interests of the State, and the legislature made the first appropriation of $1,000 in aid of the project in 1900, and has since increased it to $3,000. Most of the institute work is still done by the faculty and station workers of the college. Institutes were held in nearly every county of the State in the summer of 1904, and proved an effectual means of communicating to the people the results of the experiments in agriculture for which the United States expends in the State every year more than $15,- 000, and for whcih the State appropriates even a larger amount.

Farmington, an old town in what was then Tishomingo county, now Alcorn county, located a few miles northeast of Corinth. (See Tishomingo County.) There is now little more than a mill, a gin, a Baptist church, and the old cemetery left to mark the site of the town. Some of the tombs in the cemetery date back as far as 1820. As late as the beginning of the war, the old town had a large population and a postoffice, but it was completely destroyed by the Federal forces when they marched on Corinth. Many descendants of its old settlers now live in Corinth.

Faroe, a post-hamlet in the south-central part of Smith county, 6 miles south of Raleigh, the county seat. Population in 1900, 48.

Farrell, or McLemore Station, a post-village of Coahoma county, on the Riverside division of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 10 miles by rail south of Friar's Point, one of the two county seats of justice. It is a cotton shipping point. A money order postoffice is maintained here. Population in 1900, 200.

Favre, Simon, a pioneer of Hancock county, had his home on the eastern bank of Pearl river, was a planter and "a well-educated and very agreeable gentleman." He was selected by Gov. W. C. C. Claiborne as one of the four first magistrates of the parish of "Viloxy" in Orleans territory, January, 1811. In the summer of 1812 the inhabitants on Pascagoula and Pearl river and of Tam- many parish were alarmed regarding the attitude of the Choctaws of the Six towns, and Gov. Claiborne sent Favre to investigate the situation. Agent Dinsmore, not understanding the object of the agent, put him under arrest and took him to Washington, where apology was made and he was handsomely entertained.

Upon the organization of Hancock county he was appointed lieutenant-colonel commanding the militia. He was very useful in securing the aid of the Choctaws against the Creeks. Aug. 1, 1813, Gov. Holmes mentioned in correspondence the absence of Col. Favre at Mobile and his subsequent death.

Fayette, the county seat of Jefferson county, is 26 miles east, northeast of Natchez, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. It is 6 miles east of the historic old town of Greenville (now extinct, q. v.), the original county seat of Jefferson county. Dr. Franklin

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L. Riley thus speaks of the removal of the seat of justice to Fayette : "On the first day of February, 1825, the General Assembly of Mississippi passed an act authorizing the election of five commis- sioners to select a permanent location for the seat of justice of Jefferson county This commission was granted power to purchase at a price not exceeding twenty dollars an acre, or to receive by donation, not less than two nor more than fifty acres of land upon which a county site was to be laid off. The place chosen was to be called 'Fayette,' in honor of General Lafayette, who was at that time in the United States as the nation's guest. The commission had authority to select Greenville. The night before the election, however, a mob, which favored the removal of the seat of justice to a place nearer the center of the county, wrecked the court house, a frame structure, built of hand-sawed poplar lumber. This sealed the fate of Greenville and settled the question of removal in favor of the present town of Fayette, which is six miles east of the first county seat." (M. H. S., pub. vol. v., p. 346.) The town lies in a fine agricultural district, has three churches, a female college, a newspaper office, and telegraph, express and banking facilities. The Jefferson County Bank was established here in 1901, with a capital of $25,000. The Chronicle, a Democratic weekly, estab- lished in 1866 by W. A. Marschalk, is now edited and published by Geo. V. D. Schober. It is an incorporated post-town with a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 604. A fine new court house was built in 1901 at a cost of about $40,000. On the public square stands a beautiful Confederate monument, erected in 1905, at a cost of about $2,500, inclusive of the iron fence surrounding it.

Fearns Springs, or Winstonville, a post-hamlet of Winston county, 18 miles west of Shuqualak, and 15 miles southeast of Louisville, the county seat and nearest banking town. A money order postoffice is maintained here ; also a store and a church. Pop- ulation in 1900, 129.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 71

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