Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 79

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 79

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Frostbridge, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Wayne county, about 12 miles from Waynesboro, the county seat.

Froston, a postoffice in the northwestern part of Yalobusha county, about 10 miles from Coffeeville, the county seat, and the nearest railroad and banking town.

Fuller, a post-village in the northeastern part of Jones county, about 14 miles from Ellisville, the county seat. The station of Brady, on the Laurel branch of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., is the nearest railway point. Population in 1900, 100.

Fulton, the capital of Itawamba county, is an incorporated post- town on or near the east bank of the Tombigbee river, 50 miles south of Corinth and 58 miles north of Columbus. Tupelo is the nearest railroad town. It lies in a good farming district. Consider- able lumbering is done here. It has a church, a bank and a news- paper, the Herald, a Democratic weekly established in 1886. A branch of the Bank of Tupelo was established in 1905. Population in 1900, 171. The population in 1906 was estimated at 250.

Furrs, a post-village of Pontotoc county, 9 miles east of Pon- totoc, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town. Pop- ulation in 1900, 66.

Fusky, a postoffice of Neshoba county, 10 miles northwest of Philadelphia, the county seat.

Gaines' Trace, see Roads.

Gainesville, a post-village in the southwestern part of Hancock county, on the Pearl river, 8 miles north of Pearlington, the nearest

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banking town, and 25 miles west of Bay St. Louis, the county seat. It has two churches and several stores. Population in 1900, 227.

Galena, a post-hamlet of Marshall county, 10 miles southwest of Holly Springs, the county seat. Population in 1900, 50.

Galilee, a postoffice in the extreme southeastern corner of Rankin county.

Gallatin .- This old place was long the county seat of Copiah county (1824 to 1872), but it was missed by the railroad (Illinois Central), and finally lost the county seat to the thriving town of Hazlehurst, on the railroad. These misfortunes destroyed the life of the town and its very site is now a cultivated field. The old town was situated about five miles west of Hazlehurst and was in- corporated in 1825. Its roll of distinguished men is a long one and included such names as Albert Gallatin Brown, the brilliant and successful politician ; Judge E. G. Peyton, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi; L. B. Harris, Merry Harris, Judge H. B. Mayes, Judge of the Probate Court for many years ; Judge "Jack" Millsaps, also Judge of the Probate Court for several terms; Thomas A. Willis, afterwards Circuit Judge, and Col. Ben

King, all well known lawyers who practiced at Gallatin. (See Copiah county for additional list of early residents of Gallatin). Mrs. North and Mrs. King kept the two hotels of the town; in its prosperous days it also had two banks, a boy's high school and a girl's academy. The Southern Star and Gallatin Argus were pub- lished here; the latter was owned and edited by Col. J. L. Power, and was afterwards merged into The Copiahan and moved to Hazle- hurst in 1859. It further appears that the old town was well sup- plied with drinking places and had its "dens and dives and card tables and race tracks, and enjoyed the reputation of having a man killed once every week for pastime." The historian Claiborne re- lates an incident of the political campaign of 1835, when Governor Runnels was seeking a re-election, and Franklin E. Plummer pur- sued him over the State like a political Nemesis, and taunted him with being a plagiarist. He says: "They met at Gallatin on the day of the election. Runnels was like a mad bull, tearing up the earth, and indulging in most profane language, and was so carried away by passion that he broke down in his speech and lost the vote of that large county on which his re-election depended. Mr. Plum- mer stood in the street perfectly calm, made a speech that pleased all parties, and though the county was largely Democratic, and gave a large majority to all the other Democratic candidates, he carried it for his friend, Judge Lynch, the opponent of Runnels." (2). (1). Riley's "Extinct Towns and Villages of Mississippi." (2). Claiborne's "Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State."

Gallman, an incorporated post-town in Copiah county on the Illinois Central R. R., about five miles below Crystal Springs. It was named for a leading citizen of the place. Like Crystal Springs, it ships large quantities of fruits and vegetables-strawberries, tomatoes and cabbages being the chief items. It lies in a splendid fruit district. There is a church and several large stores. It has

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an excellent school where the county commencements are held and its citizens are noted for their hospitality to visitors who attend these commencements. The population of the town in 1906 was estimated at 200.

Galloway, Charles Betts, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, September 1, 1849. His early home was in Canton, Mississippi. In 1868 he was graduated from the University of Mississippi, and in the fall of the same year was admitted to the Mississippi con- ference of the Methodist church, when he was only 19 years of age. The next year on his 20th birthday he was married to Miss Hattie E. Willis, of Vicksburg, Miss. He very soon rose into prominence, both in his own conference and in the church at large. While still - a young man he filled some of the most important charges in the conference. From 1882 to 1886 he was editor of the New Orleans Christian Advocate. In 1882 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the University of Mississippi, and in 1899 the North- western University of Evanston, Illinois, conferred on him the de- gree of LL. D. In 1866 he was elected a bishop in the Methodist church, and has since then been one of the prominent figures not only in the church but in the nation. He was one of the most ac- tive workers in the local option campaign in Mississippi, and is still one of the strong forces in the temperance cause. In 1886 he was fraternal messenger to the General conference in England, and was a member of the Ecumenical conferences of 1891 and 1901. He has officially visited the missions of his church in for- eign lands in 1894, 1897, 1901, and 1903. He is very prominent in educational work. Not only is he president of the Board of Trus- tees of Vanderbilt University and Millsaps College, but is an au- thoritative speaker in all important educational meetings of the country. He is an enthusiastic student of the history of Missis- sippi, and has contributed largely to the publications of the Mis- sissippi Historical Society. In addition to these publications and to various magazine articles, he has written: The Life of Linus Parker, Handbook of Prohibition; Open Letters on Prohibition; Methodism, a Child of Providence; A Circuit of the Globe; Mod- ern Missions; Christianity and the American Commonwealth.

Gallway, a village in the west-central part of Union county, 10 miles west of New Albany, the county seat. The postoffice here was discontinued in 1905, and it now has R. F. D. from Myrtle. Popu- lation in 1900, 73.

Galvez, Bernardo de, was born in Malaga, Spain, in 1755. His uncle, Jose de Galvez, marquis de Senora, began a career of great prominence as private secretary for Grimaldi, reformed the Mexi- can government in 1771-74, and then was made president of the great council of the Indies. Matias, father of Bernardo, was made captain-general of Guatemala in 1781, defeated the English inva- sion in 1782-83, and was promoted to viceroy of Mexico. He en- couraged fine arts, the publication of the first newspaper and a banking system. Bernardo, at 16 years of age, was called to court by his uncle and made a cadet in the regiment of Walloon guards.

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Going to France in 1772 he served three years as a subaltern in the regiment of Cantabria. In 1775 he took a captaincy under Gen. O'Reilly in the war in Algiers, and gained the rank of col- onel and brigadier. In 1776, he was appointed second in com- mand in Louisiana, and colonel of the Creole regiment. When Gov. Unzaga was ordered to Caraccas, Galvez was appointed pro- visional governor of Louisiana, beginning his duties Feb. 1, 1777, being then hardly more than 21 years of age. His great achieve- ments during the American revolution are narrated in "Spanish Dominion," "Spanish Conquest.". He urged a liberal policy towards the inhabitants of the Natchez and Baton Rouge dis- tricts, and advocated the opening of the port of New Orleans to trade with American ports. After the conquest of Baton Rouge, Mobile and Pensacola, he was given command of an army and fleet to capture Jamaica, but this project was checked by the de- feat of the French fleet by Admiral Rodney. Galvez took posses- sion of the Bahamas, which were subsequently exchanged with England for East Florida. After the peace of Versailles he was made a count, lieutenant-general and captain-general of Cuba, and the Floridas he had won. His father died in 1784, and he was appointed to succeed him, becoming viceroy of Mexico, retaining his oversight of Louisiana and the Floridas, June 17, 1785. He reformed the administration of the mines, rebuilt the old theatre, repaired causeways, and on the site of the ancient summer palace of the Montezumas, Chapultepec, built a palace that was so strongly fortified that enemies incited suspicions in Spain that he aimed at independence. It is said that this drove him into melan- choly, from which he sought diversion so fiercely in the chase that he died from over-exertion, Nov. 3, 1794. M. de Pontalba wrote of him, "He was distinguished for the affability of his manners, the sweetness of his temper, the frankness of his character, the kindness of his heart and his love of justice." "He had that noble- ness of mien," says Gayarre, that gracefulness of manner, that dignified and at the same time easy affability for high and low which, in persons of his rank, never fail to win the heart. He was a man of profuse magnificence in his habits and the gorgeous dis- plays which he used to make on public occasions, were much to the taste of all classes of the population. His wife, who was a na- tive of Louisiana, was of surpassing loveliness, and as charitable, gracious and intelligent as she was beautiful."

Gama, a postoffice in the northwestern part of Simpson county, about 16 miles from Mendenhall.

Gandsi, a post-village of Covington county, 8 miles east of Williamsburg, the county seat. There is a large saw milling plant located here. The town is on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R.

Gant, a postoffice of Carroll county.

Garay's Expedition, see Espiritu Santo.

Garcia, formerly a postoffice of Issaquena county. Mail now goes to Grace.

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Garden City, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Franklin county. It is one mile from Knoxville, a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., and about 15 miles from Meadville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 52.

Gardner, a postoffice of Amite county, about 8 miles northeast of Liberty, the county seat.

Garlandville .- This old settlement is reputed to be the oldest town in Jasper county and was first settled in 1833. It had a most inviting site, level and healthful, and covered with a splendid grove of hardwood trees. A large emigration of wealthy planters was attracted to the region and gave the place its importance before the War between the States. (See Jasper county.) War brought ruin to the old place and it is now an insignificant village of about 125 inhabitants with little to remind one of its splendid past.

Garner, James W., was born in 1872 on a farm in Pike county. He attended the public schools of his county, and in 1888 entered the Agricultural and Mechanical college at Starkville, where he worked his way through and graduated in 1892. He then became a teacher in Lincoln and Marion counties, and in 1895 and 1896 was an instructor in the Mississippi summer normal. In the lat- ter year Mr. Garner entered the University of Chicago as a gradu- ate student in political economy and history. After two years study he became instructor in political science and history in the Bradley Polytechnic institute at Peoria, Ill. Two years later he accepted the offer of a Fellowship in Columbia university, New York. Subsequently he was a member of the faculty of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. Dr. Garner is the author of "Recon- struction in Mississippi," published in 1901, also, in association with Senator Lodge, of a history of the United States, published in 1906. He is now professor of political science in the University of Illinois.

Gattman, a post-village in the eastern part of Monroe county, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., about 18 miles east of Aberdeen, the county seat. A money-order postoffice is maintained here. Population in 1900, 111.

Gault, a postoffice of Lafayette county, 9 miles south of Oxford, the county seat.

Gautier, a post-hamlet of Jackson county, at the mouth of the Pascagoula river, one mile from West Pascagoula station, on the L. & N. R. R. Population in 1900, 27; in 1906, it was estimated at 150.

Gayoso de Lemos, Don Manuel. "As the governor of an arbi- trary monarch, he was certainly entitled to great merit. It ap- peared, in an eminent degree, to be his pride to render the situa- tion of those over whom he was appointed to preside as easy and comfortable as possible; and in a particular manner he directed his attention to the improvement of the country by opening roads, which he considered the arteries of commerce. He was educated in Great Britain, and retained to a considerable degree, until his death, the manners and customs of that nation, especially in his

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style of living. In his conversation he was easy and affable, and his politeness was of that superior cast which showed it to be the effect of early habit, rather than an accomplishment merely in- tended to render him agreeable. His passions were naturally so strong, and his temper so remarkably quick, that they sometimes hurried him into difficulties from which he was not easily extri- cated. It was frequently remarked of him, as a singularity, that he was neither concerned in traffic, nor in the habit of accepting douceurs, which was too frequently the case with other officers of His Catholic Majesty in Louisiana. He was fond of show and parade, in which he indulged to the great injury of his fortune, and not a little to his reputation as a good paymaster. He was a tender husband, an affectionate parent, and a good mas- ter." (Ellicott's Journal.). Gayoso married a Miss Watts, of New Orleans, following the example of Galvez, Miro and Piernas.

In July, 1792, then being lieutenant-colonel of the Louisiana regiment, he was appointed commandant and governor of the Nat- chez district, a position he held until promoted to govenor-general of the provinces of Louisiana and West Florida, in which office he was installed August 1, 1797. During his administration of Natchez and its dependencies, he was entrusted with the impor- tant mission to New Madrid, in 1795, involving negotiations with the Kentuckians supposed to be willing to separate from the United States. He made treaties with the Chickasaws and Choc- taws, and in general had extensive powers over the region now known as Mississippi and East Tennessee. While yet governor at Natchez he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in the royal armies. He enjoyed the respect and esteem of a large num- ber of the most intelligent inhabitants, says Wailes. "He appears to have been just and upright in his administration and to have advanced as far as in his power the interests of the district. The city of Natchez, on the hill, was founded by him, the land being purchased and the town laid off under his direction, and various public improvements were executed or commenced under his or- ders." On his plantation, two miles from the fort, he built the famous home known as Concord, much of the material for which was imported from Spain. After his death the place was sold to Stephen Minor. Only a few years ago (1900) the historic mansion was destroyed by fire.

Gayoso died at New Orleans, July 18, 1799, in the forty-eighth year of his age. "He died extremely poor, leaving nothing to his heirs but a large amount of debts. He was a spendthrift in the full sense of the word." (Gayarre.) The same historian of Lou- isiana intimates that the convivialities of his recent entertainment of Gen. Wilkinson, predisposed him to the fatal disease, which Intendant Morales reported to Madrid was "a malignant fever, of the nature of those which prevail in this country during the summer, and the dangerous character of which was known only a few hours before it terminated fatally." The Intendant added, "the general had no time to lose in fulfilling the last duties of a Chris-

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tian, and making his testamentary dispositions, and joining with himself in a reciprocal pardon for their fallings-out."

Geeville, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Prentiss county, about 9 miles from Booneville, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 30.

Geological Survey. In January, 1850, Gov. Matthews recom- mended a geological survey, such as had been made or begun, in Tennessee and Alabama. "The Geological Society of this place (Jackson), notwithstanding its limited knowledge of the science of geology, has discovered in the immediate vicinity, vast beds of marl, possessing highly fertilizing properties, also extensive mines of gypsum of the purest quality. Extensive mines of iron, ochre- of the best quality, and an earth supposed to be porcelain, have been discovered in the northern portions of the State." Conse- quently an act was passed, approved March 5, establishing a pro- fessorship of agriculture and geology in the University of Mis- sissippi, half of the annual appropriation of $3,000 to be expended in a survey. Dr. John Millington, then professor of Chemistry, was appointed to this chair by the trustees, in addition to his other duties, and in 1851 Oscar M. Lieber, of South Carolina, was ap- pointed assistant geologist. The latter made a study of the Yazoo delta, resigned in the following January, and his place was taken by Prof. B. L. C. Wailes (q. v.). His report of 1854 was printed at Philadelphia, and is a work of great value, but not of much de- tail in geology. "He traces correctly the northern limit of the Grand Gulf rocks from the Mississippi across Pearl river to Bran- don, and describes its occurrence in southwestern Mississippi." When Lewis Harper (properly Ludwig Hafner, a political refugee from Germany, who had taught natural science at Greenville, Ala.), was appointed to the professorship in the university to suc- ceed Millington, Wailes resigned. Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, profes- sor of physics, was requested to secure an assistant geologist, to take the place of Wailes, and while on a visit North, selected E. W. Hilgard. Before coming South, Hilgard visited Robert Dale Owen and his assistants in the Arkansas survey, at New Harmony, Ind., and obtained advice of great value. He began his work in the field in 1855. Gov. McRae recommended that the survey be separated from the university professorship, and be put under the charge of the governor, but no action was taken. Hilgard gives an ac- count of his labors in a history of the survey, (Miss. Hist. Publ. III, 214), and notes his obligations to Tuomey, geologist of Ala- bama. Harper was compelled to resign his professorship in No- vember, 1856, but he succeeded in having the legislature pass an act creating the office of State geologist, with an office and lab- oratory at the penitentiary, and providing for the publication of his "Preliminary Report on Geology and Agriculture," which bears the imprint of E. Barksdale, Jackson, 1857, but was really printed at New York. Hilgard says "it is a literary, linguistic and scien- tific curiosity and probably unique in official publications of its kind." Its circulation discredited the author to such an extent that

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he resigned toward the close of 1857. Hilgard, then acting as chemist to the Smithsonian institute, was tendered the office and accepted it, beginning the duties early in 1858. With the consent of the governor he transferred the office and laboratory to the uni- versity and took the field again. He published a report of the condition of the survey for the legislature of 1858-59. He had now. determined the succession of the various strata of the tertiary rock, and devoted the season of 1859 to filling in the details, com- pleting an accurate account of the rocks and soil of the entire State. He exhibited a collection of soils and marls at the State fair of 1859 at Jackson, and had the manuscript of his great report so far along in December, that the committee of the legislature was persuaded it should be printed. An appropriation was made for publication, but it was required to be done at the South if the extra cost did not exceed ten per cent. Governor Pettus declared the work should not be done in the north at any price, and Barks- dale and Hilgard together undertook to bear the extra expense of printing at Jackson, though the map was ordered from New York. From his interview with Owen, Hilgard was persuaded that chem- ical analysis of the soils, to determine their agricultural adapta- tion, was his most important work. Prevalent opinion was con- trary to this in 1860, consequently he is entitled to honor as a pioneer in this work. So thoroughly did the legislature recognize its value that, though it suspended the survey during the war, $1,250 was appropriated annually for soil analysis, but circum- stances diverted the work to military objects. Federal soldiers made havoc in the geological collections at the capitol, but Hil- gard saved the collections at Oxford. Meanwhile, the report, printed by Barksdale in 1860, remained in the binder's hands at St. Louis, until 1866, when it was received at Jackson for distribu- tion. George Little, formerly of Oakland college, as assistant geologist in 1866, examined the loess region along the Louisiana line. In October of the same year Hilgard accepted the chair of chemistry at the university, and Little was made State geologist. He also accepted a professorship at the university in 1868, and Eugene A. Smith, of Alabama, as assistant geologist, carried on field work in soil and marls through 1869-71. Hilgard was again State geologist until the fall of 1872, when the appropriations ceased for the survey. "It has not been revived since," wrote Dr. Hilgard in 1900, although so far as I am aware the act of 1860 has never been legally rescinded. No provision for the publication of the unpublished results has ever been made by the State." For list of publications (in scientific reports) on the geology of the State, see Miss. Hist. Soc. Publ., III, 233.

The Legislature, at its session of 1906, provided for a geological and topographical survey of the State. The Act was approved, February 9, 1906, and placed the survey under the direction and control of a commission composed of the Governor, the Chancel- lor of the State University, the Director of the Department of Archives and History, the President of the A. & M. College and

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the Superintendent of Education. Gov. James K. Vardaman, Chancellor R. B. Fulton, Director Dunbar Rowland, President J. C. Hardy and Superintendent H. L. Whitfield constitute the first commission. The commission held its first meeting April 9. 1906, and organized by electing Gov. Vardaman Chairman and Director Rowland Secretary. At a meeting held April 14, Prof. Albert F. Crider, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the Uni- versity of Mississippi, was elected State Geologist and Director of the Survey. An investigation of cements, clays and lignites is now under way. The Director is assisted by Dr. W. N. Logan, Professor of Geology at the A. & M. College and Prof. C. S. Brown of the State University. The United States Geological Survey co-operates with the State Survey in its work.

Geology. Hilgard's geological map accompanying his report of 1860, shows the oldest rock in the extreme northeast, jutting from Alabama into Tishomingo and Itawamba counties-the mountain limestone of the Carboniferous period. This is overlaid, as far as it may extend westward and southward-and in its absence, the older rocks are overlaid-by the more recent deposits classed as Cretaceous, Tertiary and Post Tertiary. The oldest of the Cre- taceous is the Eutaw sand, overlaid in order by the Tombigbee Sand, Rotten Limestone and Ripley, the western limit of which is a curved line through or about Scooba, Starkville, Houston, Pon- totoc and Ripley. Between that line and the Yazoo the rock ex- posed is the Lignitic of the Tertiary age, overlaid, in a belt across the State south of Canton, by the Claiborne and Jackson forma- tions, south of which the main part of the State is occupied by the Grand Gulf formation, bordered on the coast by the pleocene, and along the river, by the bluff formation of the post-tertiary, which extends along the Yazoo river northward. Between the Yazoo and the present bed of the Mississippi river is the comparatively recent river bottom deposit.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. I, Part 79

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