Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 77

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 77

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Fort Louis de la Mobile was built by the French in 1701, 12 leagues above the present city of Mobile, on the west bank of the river. It was the chief settlement of the colony until 1709-10, when, on account of a rise in the river in the spring of 1709 which flooded the fort and all the houses in the vicinity, Governor Bien- ville constructed a new fort on the present site of Mobile. This fort was reconstructed later with brick, after the manner of Vau- ban with bastions, half-moons, deep ditches, covered way, and glacis, with houses for the officers, and barracks for the soldiers, and was mounted with 16 cannon. After 1720 it was known as Fort Conde. A fort and large magazines were also constructed on Dauphine Island, where many of the colonists had their habi- tations.

For a description of the first fort at Biloxi see "Fort Maurepas". The settlement here was known as Old Biloxi, and in 1717, when the channel at Dauphine island had become choked with sand, de l'Epinay and de Bienville decided to make use of the harbor at Ship island, and ordered a new fort to be constructed on the main- land opposite. They selected a place one league west of Old Biloxi for a site. The transport ship Dauphine, commanded by M. Berranger, having arrived, and brought a great number of carpenters and masons, they were put to work on the new fort. This was known as New Biloxi; also as Fort Louis. In 1719, Fort Maurepas was burned, and never reconstructed. A fort and maga- zines were also constructed on Ship Island.

The first fort built by the French on the lower Mississippi was in 1700, about 28 leagues from the mouth of the river, and below the English Turn. This was abandoned in 1705. About the time of the establishment of the capital of the colony at New Orleans in 1722, they fortified the extreme mouth of the river at the Balize (q. v.). Subsequently strong fortifications were erected at New Orleans.

Fort Rosalie at Natchez, and Fort St. Peter on the Yazoo have been elsewhere described. (q. v.)

The French fort in the Illinois district was called Fort Chartres. It was about 25 miles above the village of the Kaskaskias. It was

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the headquarters of the commandant of Upper Louisiana, and was deemed one of the strongest French posts in North America.

"When," says Dumont, "M. le Blanc sent men to take posses- sion of the grant made him on the Yasoux River, a hundred and forty leagues from the capital, the little garrison, kept till then by the company (Western) at that place, retired to the Arcancas post, then commanded by the Sieur de la Boulaye. There is no fort in the place, only four or five palisade houses, a little guard house and a cabin, which serves as a store house. This French post was established as a stopping place for those going from the capital to the Illinois. It was located three leagues from the mouth of the Arkansas river. The Arkansas or Quapas Indians dwelled a league away. The settlers sent by John Law located a league from the post in the depths of the woods, where they found a beautiful plain surrounded by fertile valleys, and a little stream of pure, clear water."

Fort Natchitoches was established in 1718 by Governor Bien- ville on Red river, about 75 leagues from the Mississippi. It was used as a barrier against the Spaniards, to prevent their entering Louisiana. In 1719, the French under la Harpe, established Fort St. Louis de Carlorette, 150 leagues above Natchitoches, on the right bank of the river, in N. lat. 33° and 35', as a sign of the jurisdiction of the French in that part of Louisiana, since called Texas.

Fount, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Simpson county, 12 miles east of Mendenhall. Population in 1900, 35.

Fox, a postoffice of Montgomery county, 3 miles northeast of Winona, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town.

Fox, Andrew Fuller, of West Point, was born in Pickens county, Ala., April 26, 1854. He studied law at Grenada, Miss., and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He was elected state senator in 1891, but resigned the position to accept the office of United States attorney for the northern district of Mississippi, to which he was appointed June 27, 1893. He resigned this position in 1896, and was elected to the 55th congress. He served till 1903.

Foxtrap, a postoffice of Noxubee county, 14 miles east of Macon, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town.

Francis, a postoffice of Bolivar county.

Franklin, a post-village of Holmes county, about six miles south of Lexington, the county seat, the nearest railroad and banking town, and about 9 miles southwest of Durant. Population in 1900, 80.

Franklin Academy. This institution was founded by the Frank- lin society, named in honor of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, which had its first meeting at Greenville, after the adoption of a constitu- tion, Jan. 4, 1806. Cato West was president, Thomas Fitzpatrick, vice-president ; Daniel Beasley, secretary; Thomas M.Green, treasurer. Other original members were Thomas Hinds, Henry D. Downs, Robert Cox, John Shaw, John Hopkins, James S. Rol-

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lins, Charles B. Howell, David Snodgrass, Thomas and Joseph Calvit, William Thomas.

At a meeting June 14, Henry Green and Edward Turner were proposed as new members. Mr. Hinds, chairman of the committee, reported that Edward Turner offered a house and lot in Greenville as a house of instruction for the Franklin Academy, at a rent of $100 a year if paid in advance, and the Rev. David Snodgrass of- fered to take charge of the academy for six months at $50 a month, "finding myself." At the next meeting, in August, Armstrong Ellis, Robert McCray, William Snodgrass and Feliz Hughes were made members. The Turner proposition was accepted, Felix Hughes was chosen principal of the academy, and tuition was fixed as follows: reading, writing and common arithmetic, $20 a year; higher branches, $30.

Franklin Academy, Columbus. In the year 1821 a remarkable event occurred. Franklin academy of Columbus was established. It should be remembered that at that time all the northern, central and southern portions of the State were a wilderness. Nominally within the limits of the State, they were yet Indian country. The county of Monroe (now Monroe and Lowndes approximately) had been acquired by treaty from the Chickasaws in connection with some other lands taken into Alabama; and it constituted an oasis of burgeoning civilization in the midst of a wide desert of savagery. Here, then, in 1821, was established Franklin academy, which was and is a sixteenth section school, and was by twenty-four years the first free school of note and permanent establishment in the State; and which, while founded in a period when it was criminal to teach a negro to read, now counts on its roster of near one thousand pupils, about five hundred blacks." (Address by Chancellor Ed- ward Mayes, 1889.) The school is particularly notable as an in- stance of what might have been obtained generally from a proper use of the proceeds of the Sixteenth Sections (q. v.) The academy has become the high school of the city in latter years.

In the early days it had two separate departments for men and women, and offered an advanced college course; had a steady in- come, two substantial brick buildings, and an attendance of about 200 pupils. It has gone through periods of depression and re- organization, but has kept its doors open through all this time. Public sentiment demanded the broadening of its curriculum to acommodate more of the poorer classes, and this resulted in a large increase in attendance. Another substantial building has been erected and acommodations for negro pupils added. Its incorpora- tion into the general public school system has also increased its income considerably.

Franklin County is one of the oldest counties in the state, having been established December 21, 1809, while David Holmes of Vir- ginia was serving as territorial Governor. The county has a land surface of 555 square miles. The original act of the General As- sembly recites that the part of Adams included within the fol- lowing boundaries shall be known by the name of Franklin county :

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"Beginning at the point where the basis meridian line intersects the river Homochitto, and pursuing the said meridian line until it intersects the line dividing the counties of Adams and Jefferson, thence pursuing the last mentioned line to the western boundary of Washington county, thence pursuing the last mentioned line until it intersects the northern boundary of Amite county, thence along the said last mentioned boundary line to the point where it intersects the said river Homochitto, and thence pursuing the meanders of said river to the beginning." The northern, southern and western lines of the county have not been changed, but its extensive eastern area has been taken to form new counties and the present eastern line of the county is drawn from a point one mile east of the range line between ranges 5 and 6 east, south on section lines one mile from said range line to the township line between town- ships 4 and 5. The area now embraced within its limits formed a part of the old Natchez District, whose eastern limits were near the present eastern boundary of the county. The names of a few of the early civil officers of the county were: Bailey E. Chancy, Daniel Cameron, Bartlett Ford, Joseph Robertson, David Thompson, John Thompson, Jesse Guice, George Knox, Justices of the Quorum . (1818-1821) ; John G. Witherspoon and Charles C. Slocumb, Sheriffs ; Peter McIntyre, Surveyor ; George Knox, Stephen Owens, George Gray, Wm. B. Smith, Abner Read, Thos. Meridith, Daniel Guice, Justices of the Peace; Moses Martin, William Collins, Treasurers ; John Cameron, Judge of Probate, and Bartlett Ford, Justice of the County Court. It received its name in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Its pioneers did their full share in the early upbuilding of the com- monwealth and it was ably represented in the constitutional con- vention of 1817 by John Shaw and James Knox. It is bounded on the north by Jefferson county, on the east by Lincoln county, on the south by Amite county, and on the west by Adams county. The county seat is located at the little town of Meadville at the center of the county, a place of 250 inhabitants, named for Cowles Mead, second Secretary of the Territory. Knoxville and Hamburg, each containing about 200 inhabitants, are located on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., and, with Little Springs (population 157), are among the more important towns. The main line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R. runs through the western part of the county and serves as an outlet for its products. The Homochitto river traverses it from the northeast to the southwest, forming its border line for a few miles, and with the numerous tributary streams, provides the county with ample water facilities. The surface of the county is undulating, and broken and hilly in parts, with an extensive area of level bottom lands. The timber consists of long leaf pine, oak, hickory, walnut, poplar, magnolia, cypress, etc. The soil is that common to the long leaf pine region of the state, being rather light and sandy in the hills, a little more compact on the lower lands and quite fertile in the creek and river bottoms. The county is well adapted to dairying and stock raising

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as the pasturage is excellent. The region produces all the crops common to the latitude including fruits and vegetables and the yields are fairly good. Very little manufacturing is done in the county and its interests are almost exclusively agricultural. The twelfth census for 1900 reported that there were 1,903 farms in the county, with an acreage of 243,107, of which 66,096 were improved. The land, without the buildings was valued at $846,060, value of the buildings $316,350, value of the live stock $403,653 and the total value of the products $843,772. There were 33 manufacturing estab- lishments, capitalized for $87,115, paying wages $23,000, using ma- terials valued at $65,759 and producing goods to the total value of $127,340. The total assessed valuation of real and personal prop- erty in the county in 1905 was $1,288,955 and in 1906 it was $2,067,- 038 which shows an increase of $778,083 during the year. The population in 1900 consisted of 6,873 whites, 6,805 colored, a total of 13,678 and an increase of 3,254 over 1890.

Franks, a postoffice of Neshoba county, on the south bank of the. Pearl river, about 10 miles west of Philadelphia, the county seat.

Frazier, a postoffice of Sunflower county.

Frederick, a postoffice in Panola county, 8 miles southeast of Batesville. Courtland is the nearest banking town. The town was located in 1886 by Frederick A. Lamb, who, with his father, established a general store there and named the place "Frederick." It has a cotton gin and is a good inland trading point. Fredericksburg, Battles, see Army of Northern Virginia.

Freedmen's Bureau. "The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands' originated in the exigencies of the Vicksburg campaigns-the abandonment of plantations along the river by their owners and the flocking of the slaves to the Union lines. Gen. Grant had 50,000 freedmen in his camps along the Mississippi river shortly after the fall of Vicksburg. He endeavored to interest people of the North in caring for them, sending the Rev. Mr. Fiske, chaplain and superintendent of "contrabands," (as the refugees were called), to solicit supplies of clothing, etc. Under the eman- cipation proclamation, all slaves in Mississippi were free, by force of war, and in an order of August, 1863, this new status was pro- claimed by Grant. So far as the United States military power extended in Mississippi, the system of free labor for wages was established under the oversight of the provost marshals, the pre- scribed wages being equal to one-twentieth of the value of the crop. Abandoned plantations were leased to persons who employed the freedmen, and in some cases freedmen themselves took charge of plantations. Plantation owners not hostile to the United States were generally undisturbed, but the lands of the hostile were con- fiscated. The object was stated to be the occupation of the river border by a friendly population, to assist in preventing the ir- regular warfare on river traffic. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas was in charge in Mississippi, in the latter part of 1863, and published an elaborate code of regulations. A considerable number of Northern men leased the abandoned and confiscated lands, and as cotton

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sold at $250 a bale, the profits seemed immense. Thomas estimated that about 160 plantations would be leased in 1864. But, as these plantations were more or less exposed to Confederate or partisan raiders, the work was not particularly attractive and involved mil- itary protection and stringent orders of retaliation. The United States treasury department adopted a code of regulations in the spring of 1864, and provided for colonies of freedmen. The main "home farm,' was at Davis Bend, the deserted plantations of the Davises. Later other colonies were established at Camp Hawley, north of Vicksburg, at DeSoto landing, and at the town of Wash- ington. In the spring of 1864, the bill creating the Bureau came before congress. (Garner's Reconstruction, 249-53) but it did not become a law until about the close of the war. At that time the various post commanders of the Union army issued proclamations declar- ing the slaves to be free and admonishing their former owners to treat them as free, as had been proclaimed by Grant in August, 1863. At the same time the freedmen were advised to remain at home and work, and various commandants forced those who had flocked to the towns to return to the plantations.

The Freedmen's Bureau law was passed March 2, 1865, and was one of the last laws approved by President Lincoln. Lands which had been abandoned or confiscated, the commissioner of the bureau was empowered to set aside to refugees or freedmen in tracts not to exceed forty acres, for their use as renters for three years, the occupants then to have the right of purchase of such title as the United States might have. Maj .- Gen. O. O. Howard was appointed commissioner May 20, 1865, and assistant commissioners were ap- pointed in each State, the official in Mississippi being Col. Samuel Thomas. The State was divided into three sub-districts, under subordinate officers. In February, 1866, congress attempted to amend the act by reserving three million acres of public land in the South, yet unsold, for the purpose of renting to freedmen, but it failed of passage over the president's veto. Another amendment, passed in July, 1866, to perfect the distribution of abandoned and confiscated lands, was much milder than the February bill in the proposed manner of enforcement, before military tribunals. This was enacted over the president's veto. "The law made the agents of this bureau guardians of the freedmen, with power to make their contracts, settle their disputes with employers and care for them generally." (Herbert, "Why the Solid South.")

The organization in Mississippi included besides the State and district commisioners a State superintendent of education, an ad- jutant-general, inspector-general, surgeon-in-chief, and in Decem- ber, 1865, 58 local agents (all military officers) and 67 teachers. At one time there were nearly 100 medical officers and attendants. Nine hospitals and two dispensaries were established, and, in the summer of 1865, 182,899 rations were given out to freedmen adrift and destitute on account of the disturbed condition. In 1866 there were eight districts, each under two or three officers. The head-

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quarters for the State were at Memphis until moved to Vicksburg in March, 1865.

July 1, 1865, President Johnson directed that the Bureau should restore all abandoned lands to the owners who had taken the amnesty oath or received special pardon. In December Col. Thomas had restored 90 plantations, including 45,000 acres, and retained possession of 35,000 acres and 42 pieces of city property. All of this class of property had been restored by Nov. 1, 1867. There was more delay in restoring some of the confiscated property, which the Bureau used for the support of freedmen. The plantation of Joseph E. Davis was restored to him Jan. 1, 1867, and he was allowed rent from March, 1866.

Of the general condition of the negroes in 1865-66, the report of B. C. Truman to President Johnson said: "Last summer the negroes, exulting in their new found freedom, as was to have been expected, were gay, thoughtless and improvident; and as a con- sequence, when the winter came hundreds of them felt the pinch- ings of want, and many perished." A very large majority of the former slave owners regarded the negro with genuine commisera- tion." "He also noted that the negro preferred industrial asso- ciation with the Southern men to that with the Northern men who had rented plantations. "Being once assured of their liberty to go and come at will, they generally return to the service of the south- erner."

Col. Thomas issued circular after circular advising the negroes to resume regular work on the plantations. "Every effort seems to have been made to impress upon them a sense of their ob- ligations to society and to civil government." (Garner). He even exhorted the negroes that the vagrant laws were right in principle, that they must find work and avoid suspicion of vag- rancy. "Some of you have the absurd notion that if you put your hands to a contract you will somehow be made slaves. This is all nonsense, made up by some foolish, wicked person."

As early as the winter of 1865-66 Col. Thomas, after a tour of the State, reported that freedmen generally had contracted with their old masters, were treated better than he had expected, that their freedom was generally recognized and their industry and good order praised ; that it was not necessary to enforce the vagrant laws in the towns, and the demand for labor exceeded the supply.

A failure of crops in 1866-67 caused much suffering. By author- ity of congress, aided by the secretary of war, the Freedmen's Bureau, issued rations to 12,000 persons, from May to September, 1867, of whom about 5,000 were white. "Large quantities of sup- plies were also contributed from benevolent persons in the North." (Garner).

A military inspector reported to Gen. Gillem early in 1868, that "I believe there is a combination on the part of a great many plant- ers to hold off in respect to hiring laborers, expecting the govern- ment to compel them to work, and thereby be enabled to get them for their food and clothing alone." The Freedmen's Bureau sent

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out a circular to correct the impression which "seems to prevail among many persons in the State that the government intends to advance supplies or money to planters to aid them in cultivating their crops this year (1868)," as well as warning freedmen that the idea of lands to be furnished them by confiscation was a "delusion." Farmers were urged to use the Bureau to obtain labor, and avoid famine by growing wheat and corn. Col. Scully, along the Yazoo, found the freedmen "in a destitute condition, mainly because they will not hire out to farmers and planters the reasons as-

signed for this are that the wages offered are too low, being about one-third of the compensation given last year." In northern Mis- sissippi the conditions were reported generally very satisfactory, both as to crops and labor. (Journal Const. Conv. 1868, 224-8).

The Freedmen's Bureau courts were instituted to protect the freedmen from discrimination in consequence of their exclusion as witnesses in the civil courts. They were soon abandoned upon an agreement between Col. Thomas and Governor Sharkey that negro testimony should be admitted. All Freedmen's Bureau courts were discontinued Nov. 1, 1865, and at the same time the Bureau ceased the issue of marriage licenses, and all objection to the enforcement of the vagrancy laws was withdrawn. The bureau, however, employed lawyers to appear in the courts for colored liti- gants.

"Col. Thomas' administration was marked by numerous con- flicts between the military and civil authorities, and his course was the subject of constant complaint by the whites. He was super- seded, early in 1866, by Gen. Thomas J. Wood," (Garner) late dis- trict commander. Wood advised the freedmen to make contracts, but refused to enforce the State law requiring them to make con- tracts. He was succeeded in January, 1867, by Gen. Alvan C. Gil- lem, the last State commissioner. In that year the duties of that po- sition were merged in those of the military district commander. Generals Steadman and Fullerton, visiting the State as special agents in June, 1866, did not observe great benefit from the bureau. The minor officials, they said, "had the idea that the bureau was established simply for the freedmen." Garner says "the chief ob- jection of the Southern white man to the bureau was that it estab- lished a sort of espionage over his conduct." In July, 1868, con- gress directed that the bureau should be withdrawn from the sev- eral States, and its operations, with the exception of the education and county divisions, were discontinued Jan. 1, 1869.

In his life of Lamar, (p. 153), Edward Mayes writes: "Its ten- dency was to create in the minds of the blacks both a suspicion of the laws of the State and a belief that they were outside of and superior to those laws. Filled, as its offices principally were, with men who were adventurers, bargainers, blackmailers, seekers after office, the negroes were banded into clubs and leagues needless for any legitimate purpose, taught to parade the streets in military array with arms and drums, were massed to be voted, and so were taught to regard the Southern whites as their political enemies

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by nature; while, on the other hand, the whites themselves were inspired with disgust for the Bureau and contempt for its work, and also with a despair of ever reaching the reason of the negroes in political matters by any argument or appeal." (Also see Hum- phreys' Adm., and School System).

Freedom, a postoffice of Calhoun county, situated on the Schoona river, four miles north of Pittsboro, the county seat.

Freeman, a postoffice of Lauderdale county, about 10 miles north- west of Meridian.

Freeman, John D., a native of Cooperstown, N. Y., came to Mis- sissippi early in manhood, and began his career as a lawyer at Grand Gulf, then a prosperous town, where he was successful and was elected district attorney. He married a daughter of Judge George Adams, and making his home at Natchez, became a partner of J. S. B. Thacher. In 1841 he was nominated by the Democrats for attorney-general and was selected by William M. Gwin to can- vass the State in support of repudiation of the Union bank bonds. He displayed remarkable ability as a campaigner, and was elected. By reelection he held this office ten years. He was the author of the first volume of reports of decisions of the Chancery court of Mississippi, published in 1844. In the political strife regarding the extension of slavery in 1850 he was opposed to Quitman and Davis, and in the fall of 1851 was elected to Congress as a Unionist. He served one term, 1851-53. Subsequently he resided at Jackson. He afterward removed to Colorado where he died.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 77

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