Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 119

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1032

USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 119

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).

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$800,900, value of buildings $351,890, value of live stock $425,348, total value of products $909,761, expenditure for labor $26,490, for fertilizers $16,220. The number of manufacturing establishments 30, capital invested $49,074, wages paid $4,999, cost of materials used $20,111, total value of products $40,066. The population in 1900 consisted of whites 8,192, colored 5,932, total 14,124, increase over 1890, 2,035. Since the last census returns the population has rapidly increased and in 1906 was estimated at 17,000. The in- crease in land values have been wonderful and, in the last 3 years real estate values have increased fully 400 per cent. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Winston county in 1905 was $1,292,682 and in 1906 it was $2,551,968.50, which shows an increase of $1,259,286.50 during the year.

Winston, Fountain, of Adams county, a prominent public man, was elected lieutenant-governor in 1831, and was a member of the State senate from Adams county from 1826 until his death at Natchez, November 30, 1834.

Winston, Louis, in honor of whom the county of Winston and town of Louisville are named, first appears in the records of Mis- sissippi Territory as attorney-general for the Tennessee river country when it was organized as Madison county. In that region there was a vigorous planting of the Winstons, already noted in the affairs of Virginia and North Carolina, where a town is named for Joseph Winston, a famous patriot partisan during the Revolu- tion. A grandson of one of the original Winstons in Madison county became a well-known governor of Alabama. Louis Win- ston evidently became a resident of western Mississippi, as he was secretary of the constitutional convention of 1817, and in January, 1821, was elected judge of the Second circuit and of the supreme court, to succeed Judge Taylor, deceased, Bela Metcalf being his unsuccessful opponent. This office he held for four years. He was afterwards a circuit judge under the constitution of 1832.

Winterville, a post-village and station in the northwestern part of Washington county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi R.R., 6 miles due north of Greenville, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 100.

Wisdom, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Harrison county, 4 miles east of the Gulf & Ship Island R.R., and 30 miles north of Gulfport, the county seat. Wiggins is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 63.

Women Colonists, First. On the 24th of April, 1704, the ship Pelican, of fifty guns, arrived in Mobile Bay with troops and pro- visions for the colony, and having on board, two grey nuns, and twenty-three poor girls, the first women who had come to Louis- iana. The girls were under the special care of Father Huet, and were certified by the French minister to be of irreproachable char- acter. They were very modest and virtuous, and were married within a month to different Canadians. The descendants of these pioneer women still inhabit the seaboard of Alabama and Mis- sissippi. Their names were Francoise de Boisrenard, Jeanne Cath-

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erine Berenchard, Elizabeth le Penteau, Marianne Decoudreaux, Marie Noel, du Mesnil, Gabrielle Sanart, Marie Therese Brochou, Angelique Fayard, Marguerite Fayard, Marguerite Tavenier, Eliz- abeth Deshays, Marie Philippe, Louise Housseau, Madeline Douane, Marie Dufesne, Marguerite Geuchard, Reine Gilbert, Francoise La Fontaine, Gabrielle Binet.

Women Immigrants of 1721. Every effort had been made by the Western Company since its organization in 1717 to establish the French settlements of Louisiana on a permanent basis. Thou- sands of colonists had been transported at the expense of the com- pany, and enormous quantities of supplies. There was a great dearth of women, however. We find the priests complaining of the propensity of the colonists, particularly the Canadians, for Indian wives. On the 5th of January, 1721, the ship la Baleine arrived at Biloxi, and among her passengers were 81 young women, who were sent over at the request of the directors of the company. They had been selected by the bishop of Paris from one of the public institutions of that city, the Salpetriere, where they had been reared and educated from childhood. They arrived under the charge of Sisters Gertrude, Saint Louise and Marie. Each one was provided with a marriage outfit, and none was to marry without the consent of Sister Gertrude. On their arrival, a sentinel was placed at the door of their lodging, and suitors were permitted to see them by day and make a selection. All were soon provided with husbands, as their numbers failed to satisfy the demand for wives.

Women, Rights of. "One of the most unique cases in our early reports is that of Fisher vs. Allen (2 Howard, 611), in 1837, in- volving the question of the right acquired by the husband of a Chickasaw Indian woman to property she owned at the time of her marriage. It was held that as the marriage in that instance had taken place before the act of the legislature of 1830, which abolished the tribal customs of the Indians, had been passed, the rights of the parties were governed and fixed by the tribal cus- toms. By these, the husband acquired no right to the property of the wife, which she owned at the time of the marriage, or to the subsequent acquests and gains, and that no part was subject to the debts of the husband." (A. M. Clayton.) This was in ad- vance of the laws of civilization, which perpetuated the patriarchal relations. Two years later, February 15, 1839, the legislature passed an "Act for the protection and preservation of the rights of married women," which tradition ascribes to the persuasive efforts of Mrs. T. B. J. Hadley, wife of a prominent state officer of an earlier period, the same eminent authority also preserving a suggestion that a prominent member of the legislature, who was heavily in debt, was anxious to marry a wealthy lady without in- volving her in his own financial ruin. "The statute provided that any married woman might become possessed of property in her own name and as her own property and free from liability for her husband's debt, provided the same should not come from her hus-

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band after marriage. . An act of February 28, 1846, se- cured to her the profits of her lands and the production of her slaves. Afterward, the supreme court having decided that the terms of the statutes were not such as to secure to her the fruits of her personal labor and skill, in 1871 that was done by law." First in the constitution of 1869, and later in the constitution of 1890, it is provided "that the legislature shall never create by law any distinction between the rights of men and women to acquire, own and enjoy property of all kinds."

The above act of 1839 was the first on that subject passed by any of those States of the Union that adhered, like Mississippi, to the ancient common law methods. Maine took a similar step forward, two years later.

The independent right of married women to make contracts was recognized first, in a limited way, by an act of legislature in 1846, in connection with the ownership and management of slaves. The act of 1857 further recognized this right of individuality in the woman, and validated her contracts for "family supplies and neces- saries, education of her children, carriage and horses, buildings on her lands and materials therefor, or for work and labor done for the use of her separate property ;" but only her estate was lia- ble. In 1871, and more completely by the act of 1880, she was put on the same footing as a single woman or a man in the making of contracts of any kind and liability thereunder. (Mayes, Legal and Judicial History, Memoirs of Miss., I, 123.)

The constitution of 1900 provides: "The legislature shall never create by law any distinction between the rights of men and women to acquire, own, enjoy and dispose of property of all kinds, or their power to contract in reference thereto. Married women are hereby fully emancipated from all disability on account of coverture. But this shall not prevent the legislature from regulat- ing contracts between husband and wife; nor shall the legislature be prevented from regulating the sale of homesteads."

Woodburn, a village in the southern part of Sunflower county, situated on the Big Sunflower river, 7 miles south by west of Indianola, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. It has a money order postoffice, and telephone service. Population in 1900, 300.

Woodland, a post-hamlet and station of Chickasaw county, on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R.R.,10 miles south of Houston, one of the county seats of justice. It has a saw and grist mill, a cotton gin, 2 churches, and a good school. In 1906 the population was estimated at 200.

Woodlawn, a postoffice of Yazoo county, 7 miles east of Yazoo City.

Woodruff, a postoffice of Washington county.

Woods, Thomas H., was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, in 1838. His father, Rev. Hervey Woods, moved to Kemper county, Miss., in 1848. This was Judge Woods' home till 1872, when he moved to Meridian. He was educated at Williams college, Mass., and

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began the practice of law in 1859, at DeKalb, the county seat of Kemper. He was the youngest member of the secession conven- tion of 1860; enlisted as a private in the first military company raised in Kemper county ; became captain of his company, and was severely wounded at Malvern Hill. After the war he was attor- ney for the Third district, was removed by the reconstruction officials, again elected in 1871, and reelected in 1875, but resigned in 1876 to devote himself to his large practice. He was elected to the legislature in 1881, but declined reelection, and also declined an appointment as United States district attorney, offered by President Cleveland. In 1889 Gov. Lowry appointed him associate justice of the Supreme court to fill out an unexpired term, and in 1891 Gov. Stone reappointed him for the full term of nine years. At the close of this term he retired to private life, and is now liv- ing at Meridian.

Woodville, the county seat of Wilkinson county, is situated at the highest point in the county on a perfect water shed, 15 miles west of the main line of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R.R., and connected with it at Slaughter, La., by a branch road of the same line 42 miles long, of which it is the northern terminus. It is 145 miles from New Orleans, 35 miles south of Natchez, and 15 miles east of the Mississippi river. It is 460 feet above sea level, and is 8 miles north of the Louisiana state line. It is an incorporated post-town, with telegraph, express and banking facilities.

When Wilkinson county was established in 1802, the county court was first held at Fort Adams, but was moved a little later to Pinckneyville, and finally to Woodville, a few years later. In 1831, only three years after the first railway in the United States was in actual operation, the citizens of Woodville incorporated the West Feliciana Railroad Company to build a railroad from Woodville to St. Francisville, or Bayou Sara, on the Mississippi river in Louis- iana. This was the first line of railroad constructed within the borders of the State, and the first railroad shops were located at Woodville. There is a large sandstone quarry near Woodville, which was first opened up by Judge McGehee, in 1832, when the courthouse was built. Here, before the war, was located one of the largest and most complete cotton mills in the State, the Edward McGehee Mill, destroyed by the Federal forces during the war. Here, also, were located a number of famous schools in the early history of the State: Wilkinson Academy, located near the town, and not far from the site of the old cotton factory, was a prominent school, where Jefferson Davis received his early education, as did many of the early settlers. The Wilkinson Female Academy was incorporated here in 1819, and the Misses Ann Theodosia and Amanda Calder taught here for many years in a log house. The Woodville Classical School for boys was incorporated in 1839, Mr. Chapman being the teacher. The following year the Woodville Female Academy was incorporated by the Methodist Episcopal church. William H. Halsey and Mrs. Halsey were the teachers. The Woodville Female Seminary was chartered in 1861. The

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present building was purchased in 1862 by Judge. McGehee, and the name of the institution has been changed to the McGehee College for girls. During a portion of the war the college building was used as a hospital.

The Bank of Woodville was established in 1900 with a capital of $20,000. The Republican, one of the oldest newspapers in the State, and the oldest in the county, is published here. It is a Democratic weekly, and its first issue was Saturday, Dec. 2, 1823, W. A. A. Chisholm, editor and proprietor. It is now owned and published by Robert Lewis. The Wilkinson County Appeal (col- ored, Methodist), was established here in 1902. Woodville has a system of water works, four hotels, two good schools, seven churches (two colored), an oil mill and cotton seed delinter, and a carriage factory. The city debt is $20,000, assessed valuation of property, real, $1,420,775 ; personal, $859,730 ; the tax rate is 12 and one-half mills; population in 1900, 1,043.

Wool Market, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Harrison county, on the Biloxi river, 10 miles northeast of Gulfport, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. Population in 1900, 60, and in 1906 it was estimated at 200. There is a large turpentine distillery here.

Wooten, a postoffice of DeSoto county, 5 miles northeast of Hernando, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking sta- tion.

Word Thomas J., a native of Surry county, N. C., and a mem- ber of the house of representatives of that State in 1832, moved to Mississippi and located at Pontotoc; he was elected to the 25th congress as a Whig (see Congressmen) ; was appointed by the Choctaw Indian commissioners in 1843 to investigate the Choc- taw land claims, and was counsel of the United States during the investigation.

World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. Under the act of Congress of 1890, Robert L. Saunders, Jackson, and Dr. Joseph M. Bynum, Rienzi, were appointed members of the National Com- mission from Mississippi; Fred W. Collins, Summit, and Joseph H. Brinker, West Point, were named as the two alternates. On the National Board of Lady Managers from Mississippi were: Mrs. James W. Lee, Aberdeen ; Mrs. John M. Stone, Jackson; al- ternates, Mrs. George M. Buchanan, Holly Springs; Miss Varina Davis, Beauvoir. As the Legislature failed to pass the necessary appropriation bill, Mississippi had no State building and no State Board of Commissioners, though an appropriation of $25,000 was made for exhibits.

Worth is a postoffice in Neshoba county, 7 miles west of Phila- delphia, the county seat.

Wortham, a postoffice and station in the south-central part of Harrison county, on the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad, 14 miles by rail north of Gulfport.

Wren, a hamlet in Monroe county, 13 miles northwest of Aber- deen, the county seat. It has 3 stores and an excellent high school.

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Wren, Woodson, was postmaster at Natchez in 1837, the time of the general suspension of specie payments by the banks. Or- ders were sent out by the postmaster-general requiring the pay- ment of coin for postage stamps, and when notice was duly given at Natchez, a public meeting was held and a committee, of which Stephen Duncan was chairman, was appointed to treat with the postmaster. Wren replied that all he would ask would be cur- rency that the mail contractors would accept of him, and this not being promised, he maintained the rule of the departments, where- upon the meeting resolved to make arrangements with the post- master of some neighboring town. The postmaster at Grand Gulf printed his own paper money to make change with, promising payment in Mississippi bank paper.

Wright, a post-hamlet and station of Bolivar county, on the Riverside division of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroad, 3 miles by rail north of Rosedale.

Wright, Daniel W., one of the first members of the High court of errors and appeals, was born in eastern Tennessee and reared near Huntsville, Ala., where his father was a pioneer settler. He began the practice of law in that region, and about 1822 removed to Mississippi and settled at the town of Hamilton, Monroe county. He was said by Reuben Davis to be "profoundly read as a lawyer and really a brilliant speaker." His election to the high court was in 1833, and he served until 1838, when he resigned. His wife died about this time and he retired also from the practice and made his home with a daughter at Pontotoc until his death a year or two later. It appears that he was not so distinguished on the bench as he had been before the jury. He also had an un- fortunate experience in connection with the Choctaw land frauds. In January, 1836, he asked the legislature to investigate the charges that "alleged frauds and perjuries to an enormous extent had been recently committed in the purchase by various indi- viduals of claims to Indian reservations" under the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, he being charged with complicity in the same. While awaiting investigation he would vacate his seat on the bench of the High court. After investigation, a committee of the house reported that there was no testimony that he "had any knowledge of the frauds attempted to be practiced by his partner Colonel Fisher, in purchasing Indian floats."

Wyatt. This was an early boom town in Lafayette county, thir- teen miles north of Oxford, at the supposed head of navigation of the Tallahatchie river, but was unable to long survive the financial panic of 1837. (See Lafayette county.) Its early settlers foretold a city that would outrank any other in northern Mississippi and would rival Memphis in importance. They expected it to be made a port of entry and had it incorporated in 1838. It was named for Wyatt Mitchell, one of its enterprising promoters. Says Dr. F. L. Riley: "A. Gillis and Thomas H. Allen organized at this place a real estate banking company which surrounded the surrounding country with its shin plaster issues. We are told that the expres-

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sion 'as good as A. Gillis's bill' was for a time a synonym of all that was sound and stable in business transactions." The town was for a while an important shipping point, and boats plied be- tween it and New Orleans. Speaking of its volume of business, Dr. T. D. Ison of Oxford, Miss., related that in 1835 he saw its streets "as much crowded by trade wagons as is now the Front Row of Memphis in the cotton season." In its palmiest days it contained fourteen business houses and a large and pretentious hotel. The river was bridged at this point and a turnpike built across the river swamp.

The "battle of Wyatt", a cavalry skirmish, occurred.here in 1864.

Besancon wrote thus of the town in 1838: "Wyatt is a flourish- ing, healthy town, situated about twelve miles from Oxford, on the northern bank of the Tallahatchie, in the direction of Holly Springs. This is as high, it is supposed, as steamboats will ever be able to ascend the Tallahatchie."

Wyatte, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Tate county, 16 miles east of Senatobia, the county seat, and nearest railroad and banking town. It has one store, two churches and a school. Pop- ulation in 1900, 42.

Yale, a post-hamlet of Itawamba county, 11 miles northeast of Fulton, the county seat. Population in 1900, 21.

Yalobusha, a post-hamlet of Yalobusha county, 6 miles southeast of Coffeeville, the county seat, and the nearest railroad and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 18. There is a fine mineral well here and its waters are highly complimented for their curative qualities. There is a good hotel for the accommodation of guests.

Yalobusha County was established December 23rd, 1833, and most of its area lies within the territory acquired from the Choc- taw Indians in the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, 1830. The original act defined its boundaries as follows: "Beginning on the line be- tween townships 21 and 22, at the point at which the line between 8 and 9 east crosses the line between townships 21 and 22, and running from thence north, with the said line between ranges 8 and 9 east, thirty miles; from thence west, to the line between ranges 3 and 4 east; from thence south with said line between ranges 3 and 4 east, to the line between townships 21 and 22, and from thence east to the place of beginning." It was originally a large county, containing an area of 25 townships or 900 square miles, but surrendered part of its territory to Calhoun county in 1852, and a large part of its southern area to Grenada, when that county was created in 1870. It now contains an area of 501 square miles, and is bounded on the north by Panola and Lafayette coun- ties, on the east by Calhoun county, on the south by Grenada county and on the west by Tallahatchie county. The old bound- ary line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw cessions bisects it from northwest to southeast. Its name "Yalobusha" is an Indian word, meaning "tadpole place", and was suggested by the river of the same name which waters its, territory. Emigration was rapid into this region during the 30's and early 40's, from the older

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states on the east and north and from the older settled parts of Mississippi. By the year 1837, Yalobusha had attained a popu- lation of 4,355 whites, and 4,215 slaves; by the year 1840, there were 12,248 people in the county including slaves, and 17,258 in 1850. The first white child born, in the county was James D. Haile, recently deceased. Three of the earliest settlements in the county were at Hendersonville, Sardinia and Preston, all of which are now extinct. Hendersonville was four miles south of Coffee- ville on the site of an old Indian village. Says Captain Lake, who lived there in 1834, "It was here that Col. T. C. McMacken, the celebrated hotel keeper, in the early history of Mississippi, began his career. The mercantile firms of this town in 1834 were: Mar- tin, Edwards & Co., John H. McKenney, Armour, Lake & Bridges, H. S. & W. Lake, and McCain & Co. The physicians were Thomas Vaughn, Robert Malone, and Murkerson. The following citizens were then living at that place: Thomas B. Ives, Murdock Ray, justice of the peace; Stephen Smith, blacksmith ; Alfred Mc- Caslin, blacksmith, and Joshua Weaver, Constable." Beaten by Coffeeville in its efforts to become the county seat, the town rap- idly decayed. Sardinia, on the Craig plantation near the Yacona river, one mile north of the present church of Sardinia, was once a place of about 150 people. Here lived in the early days, the Bradfords, Kuykendalls, Bensons, Craigs, Carringtons, Reeds, and Dr. Moore. The town had become dead by 1856, owing to the rivalry of the towns along the railroad. Preston was located near Scobey, and about fourteen miles north of Grenada. Settled in 1835, it once had about 250 people and was incorporated in 1840. Here lived the Simmons family, the Harpers, Bridgers, Townes, Calhouns, Doctors Sutton, Payne, Neville, and the Rev. Hayward; Duke & Co., and Evans & Co. were mercantile firms. When the station of Garner sprang up on the railroad in 1858, most of Pres- ton's inhabitants moved there, and the Simmons residence is the only reminder left of the old place. A few of the earliest settlers of Yalobusha county, besides those above mentioned, were Wm. W. Mitchell, Green D. Moore, Grief Johnson, Stewart Pipkin, Charles J. F. Wharton, Rev. Wm. A. Bryan, John Lemons, Wm. Metcalf, Dr. W. B. Rowland, Dempsey H. Hicks, William Win- ter, Robert Edsington. Some of the early County officers were: David Mabray and James H. Barfield, sheriffs; Matthew Clinton and John W. McLemore, judges of the Probate Court; Davidson M. Rayburn, clerk of the Probate court; Robert C. Malone and Murdoch Ray, county treasurers; Virgil A. Stewart, Thos. B. Ives, Wm. B. Wilbourn, Robert Edrington, Allen Walker, James Minter, George Thompson, and L. R. Stuart were all early mem- bers of the legislature for Yalobusha county.

The county seat was located at Coffeeville, March 27, 1834, and the place received its name in honor of General John Coffee. The first county court was held the same year, presided over by Judge Matthew Clinton. It is now a town of about 600 inhabitants, on the line of the Illinois Central R. R., and has a fine brick court-

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house, costing about $25,000. The largest town in the county is Water Valley (pop. in 1900, 3,813), situated in the northeastern corner on the line of the Illinois Central R. R. The city is grow- ing at a rapid pace and forms a second circuit and chancery court district for the county. It has an abundance of fine brick and earthenware clay, and a large amount of valuable timber in its im- mediate neighborhood. It is a manufacturing place of importance, containing railroad machine shops, Yocona cotton factory and Shaw's foundry and Agricultural Implement Works, etc. Oak- land, in the extreme western part of the county on the I. C. R. R., is one of its oldest and best towns. It was incorporated in 1848. Its population (Census of 1900) was 209. The Oakland Academy was incorporated in 1841. Tillatoba (pop. 115) and Scobey (pop. 146) are stations on the Memphis division of the I. C. R. R. The main line and the Memphis division of the I. C. R. R. provide the county with excellent shipping facilities. The county is well watered by the Yocona and Schoona rivers and their numerous tributary creeks, and numbers of good mill sites are available. The general surface of the region is undulating and hilly, level on the river and creek bottoms. It is on the western edge of the Yellow Loam section of the State, and the soil is a mixture of clay and sand and fairly productive, but very fertile on the bottom lands. The products are corn, cotton, oats, sorghum, wheat, rye, sweet and Irish potatoes; the various fruits and vegetables, com- mon to this section of the State, are raised both for home con- sumption and for the northern markets. Pasturage is good throughout the year and the live stock of the region is now valued at more than $500,000. Some lignite or brown coal has been found in the county. There are about 100,000 acres of improved lands and on the balance are to be found valuable tracts of timber, con- sisting of the various kinds of oak, hickory, beech, poplar, gum, cypress, etc. Manufactures have attained considerable develop- ment, a total of 57 establishments being listed by the last census.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 119

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 1032