Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 21

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 21

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Maud, a postoffice of Tunica county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 10 miles by rail south of Tunica, the county seat.

Maxie, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Perry county, at the junction of the main line of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R. with its Columbia branch; it is 18 miles southwest of New Augusta, the county seat, and has a money order postoffice and an express office.

Maxime, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Bolivar county, on the Riverside division of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 12 miles north of Greenville, and 22 miles by rail south of Rosedale, the county seat. Population in 1900, 42.

Maxwell, a post-hamlet of Benton county, 5 miles northwest of Ashland, the county seat. Population in 1900, 49.

May, a postoffice of Smith county.

Maybell, a postoffice in the western part of Jones county, situated on Leaf river, 12 miles from Ellisville, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town.

Mayersville, the capital of Issaquena county, is an incorporated post-town located on the Mississippi river, about 70 miles north of Vicksburg. The nearest railroad and banking point is Rolling Fork. The town was named for David Mayer, an extensive land owner in the region about Mayersville. This section was originally settled in the early forties by Ambrose Gipson, who bought a large body of land on the river in the northern portion of the county. Mayers- ville is an important shipping point, and the region about it pro- duces an enormous quantity of cotton annually. It has three churches, a courthouse, and one newspaper, the Spectator, a Demo- cratic weekly established in 1887, edited by George Robinson. Pop- ulation in 1900, 250.

Mayes, Daniel, was born February 12, 1792, in Didwiddie county, Va .; son of Robert Chappell Mayes and Agnes (Locke) Mayes : His mother was a daughter of Richard Locke of Prince George county, Va. Robert C. Mayes was a son of Matthew Mayes, who married Martha Chappell of Prince George county. Matthew Mayes, a Revolutionary soldier, was a descendant of Rev. William Mayes, who immigrated to Virginia in 1611. The latter preached at Kequoghton, near Hampton, and died at Jamestown about 1665. Robert C. Mayes moved with his family to Fayette county, Ky., in 1794, and from that place moved to Christian county, where he died. Daniel Mayes was educated in private schools, after which he read law and began the practice in Christian county. From that place he moved to Lexington, Ky., and continued the practice of law; removed to Mississippi and engaged in the practice at Jackson, 1838-50; New Orleans, 1850-52, and at Jackson again in 1852-61. He was a member of the Kentucky legislature in 1826. His opportunity for political advancement in Mississippi was

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small, owing to the fact that he was a Whig, a minority party in Mississippi. In 1845 he was a candidate for attorney-general but was defeated with the party. He was a close, personal friend of Henry Clay and his ardent supporter. His church connection was with the Christian Church, and during the latter part of his life he preached lay sermons. As a lawyer he ranked with the ablest who have honored the State. He died at Jackson, February 6, 1861.

Mayfield, a hamlet of Montgomery county, 16 miles east of Winona, the county seat. The postoffice here was recently discon- tinued and it now has rural free delivery from the station of Sibley- ton, on the Southern Ry.

Mayhew, an incorporated post-town in the northwestern part of Lowndes county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., 89 miles north of Meridian, and 12 miles west of Columbus. "In 1818," says Clai- borne, "under the auspices of the American Presbyterian Board of Missions, the Rev. Messrs. Kingsbury, Byington, Gleason, Hooper, Touse, and Cushman, with their families, and Dr. Pride and Misses Burnham, Foster and Thacher, established themselves near what is now Mayhew Station, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R. They gave their settlement the name of Mayhew." It is also known as Mayhew's Station. It has a church. Population in 1900, 139.

Mayton, a postoffice in the southeastern part of Rankin county, about 20 miles from Brandon, the county seat.

McAdams, a post-hamlet of Attala county, on the Aberdeen branch of the Illinois Central R. R., 8 miles west of Kosciusko, the county seat and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 15; in 1906, it was estimated at 60. It has a gin, a saw mill and a good general store.

McBride, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Jefferson county, about 18 miles from Fayette, the county seat. Population in 1900, 60.

McCain, a postoffice of Webster county, situated on Sobola creek, an affluent of Yalobusha river, 6 miles northwest of Walthall, the county seat.

McCall Creek, a post-hamlet of Franklin county, situated in the eastern part of the county, on the creek of the same name, 14 miles distant from Meadville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 25.

McCallum, a postoffice of Perry county, situated on the Hast- chatchee river, and a station on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., 8 miles by rail south of Hattiesburg. It has a large saw mill, a gin and a turpentine distillery.

McCardle, William H., was a native of Kentucky. He came to Mississippi in the early days; married in Claiborne county ; was a warm friend of Col. A. K. McClung, the noted duelist; edited papers at Vicksburg and served through the war as a Confederate. After the war he edited the Vicksburg Times. Colonel McCardle severely criticised the congressional plan of reconstruction, which Gen. Ord was endeavoring to put in operation preparatory to the re-admission of Mississippi as a State of the Union. He was ar- rested by a squad of soldiers, Nov. 13, 1867, on the general charge

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of impeding the execution of the reconstruction laws, and tried be- fore a military court on the specific charges of denouncing General Ord as an usurper and despot, defaming the character of an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, and advising voters to remain away from the polls. On application, a writ of habeas corpus was issued by Judge Hill of the United States court, who, upon a hearing, held that the reconstruction acts were constitutional and sustained the action of the commanding general. On appealing to the su- preme court of the United States, McCardle was admitted to bail and released from custody, but before a decision could be reached congress passed an act depriving the court of jurisdiction in the case. Col. McCardle was subsequently associated with Gen. Rob- ert Lowry in the authorship of a history of Mississippi.

McCarley, or McAnerney Station, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Carroll county, on Big Sandy creek, and a station on the Southern Ry., 4 miles distant from Carrollton, the county seat and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 70.

McClung, Alexander Keith, was born in Fauquier county, Va. His mother was a sister of Chief Justice John Marshall. He was reared in Kentucky and educated for the navy, in which he served some time, making several voyages, and fighting several duels. When he came to Mississippi in 1832 he was an exceedingly hand- some young gentleman of twenty-three years, with aristocratic tastes, but no great financial resources, it being understood that he had run through with his patrimony. Soon after his arrival he was Foote's second in the second Foote-Prentiss duel, and out of this grew a duel of his own, in which he killed a young man called General Allen. A subsequent duel terminated fatally to his antag- onist, Menifee. "He was a lawyer by profession, and had doubtless mastered the legal science," says Foote, "but had never been much concerned in practice. He was a man of high literary culture and might be called the ablest and most polished writer among Missis- sippians." One of his peculiarities was a life-long grudge against Gov. Alcorn because the latter was once quicker than he in re- senting an impertinence to a lady. He belonged to the aristocratic lineage of Kentucky ; was an athelete, tall and symmetrical ; to his friends he was kind and generous. During the Harrison campaign he supported the Whigs with a brilliant newspaper at Jackson, "The Crisis," and again in 1844 he published a campaign paper, "The True Issue," and greatly strengthened his reputation. It is said that Prentiss quoted from him in a speech without giving credit, and the result was an interview between the two men at Spengler's, in which serious results were avoided by the tact and good humor of Prentiss. He delivered the oration before the leg- islature upon the death of Henry Clay, a masterly effort. Upon the organization of the regiment of Mississippi Rifles at Vicksburg in 1846 he was elected lieutenant-colonel, and had command of the regiment until it was joined by Col. Jefferson Davis at New Or- leans. (See Mexican War.) On the return of the regiment after its one year's service, he was nominated by the Whigs for con-

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gressman from the second district. The Democrats nominated W. S. Featherston, a gallant line officer in the same regiment. "They were both able stump speakers, fluent, and well-informed upon the political history of the country ; and each could point to a record of brilliant service on the battlefield. Col. McClung had been side by side with Col. Jeff Davis in the splendid charge of the First Mississippi regiment at Monterey, and had been severely wounded upon the walls of the fort. This wound had confined him to his room for six months, and he pointed to the crutches upon which he leaned as being in themselves sufficient tokens of his claims upon the popular vote, he feeling himself in no wise inferior to Featherston in honesty or intellect. It was manifest that a strong sympathy was everywhere felt for the crippled hero, but this was overcome by the paramount consideration of individual loyalty to party, and Featherston was elected. Very possibly it is from this defeat, which he took much to heart, that we may date the first symptoms of that deep melancholy which afterward clouded the noble spirit of McClung, and which culminated in the awful tragedy of his self-inflicted death." (Reuben Davis, Recollec- tions.)

In the memorable political campaign of 1851 he was conspicuous as a Unionist. Afterward, in Pierce's administration, when some frontier regiments were organized, he sought a commission, and upon being thwarted in this hope, being deeply in debt to his friends, he ended his life by suicide. (For McClung as an orator see Rowland, Vol. IV., P. M. H. S. page 376.)

McComb, a city of Pike county, on the Illinois Central R. R., and at the junction of the Liberty-White R. R., 8 miles north of Magnolia, the county seat, 105 miles distant from New Orleans, and 78 miles south of Jackson. The town was named for a former owner of the Mississippi Central, now the Illinois Central R. R. It is in the heart of the pine district, is possessed of a highly equable climate, adapted to the pro- duction of all the vegetables and fruits of this zone. It has fine educational and religious advantages, and is an important shipping, commercial and manufacturing point. Fruits and vege- tables are shipped from here in large quantities to the Chicago and other northern markets. The Illinois Central R. R. maintains here the largest and most complete railroad shops within the State, and employs a large number of men in building and repairing cars and locomotives. The town is possessed of two banking institutions, with a total invested capital of $150,000, has three hotels, an excel- lent system of water works, an electric lighting and power plant, six educational institutions and nine churches. There are three public schools, a business college, a convent and a female college; the churches consist of an Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Christian, two Methodist and three Baptist. Among the manufac- turing enterprises now in the city are cotton mills, a saw mill, planing mill, brick yard, ice factory, bottling works, a steam laundry, machine shops, car shops, and cotton gins. Two newspapers are

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published here, the Enterprise, a Democratic weekly established in 1889, edited by R. B. May, and the McComb City Journal, a Demo- cratic weekly edited and published by R. T. Quin and Ellis Hays.

The total city indebtedness in 1906 was $85,000; the assessed val- uation of the real property was $1,265,333; personal, $487,919; tax rate, 12 mills. The population in 1900 was recorded at 4,477; in 1890 it was 2,383. The city is growing rapidly and the estimated population in 1906 was between 6,000 and 7,000.

McCondy, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Chickasaw county, 10 miles southeast of Houston, the county seat. The nearest banking town is Houston, 13 miles to the northwest. Population in 1900, 62.

McCool, an incorporated post-town in the northeastern part of Attala county, is a thriving little station on the Aberdeen division of the Illinois Central R. R., 18 miles by rail northeast of Kos- ciusko, the county seat, and 14 miles southwest of Ackerman. The Bank of McCool, a branch of the Grenada Bank, is located here. The town was named for the Hon. James F. McCool, Chancellor of the 6th Chancery court district of Mississippi, and former speaker of the house of representatives in the Mississippi legislature. Pop- ulation in 1900, 317; the population in 1906 was estimated at 400.

McCoy, a hamlet of Pearl river county. The postoffice has been discontinued at this place, and mail now goes to Poplarville.

McCrary, a postoffice in the eastern part of Lowndes county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., 8 miles east of Columbus, the county seat.

McDill, a postoffice in the northeastern part of Scott county, 12 miles distant from Forest, the county seat. Lake is its nearest railroad and banking town.

McDonalds Mills, a postoffice in the northern part of Perry county, 14 miles from New Augusta, the county seat. Richton is the nearest banking town.

McGehee, Edward, was born at Oglethorpe, Ga., November 18, 1786, and reared on his father's plantation in that State. He came to Mississippi in a flatboat from Wheeling about 1808; built a log house in Wilkinson county ; went to Georgia and married Mar- garet L. Crosby in 1811, and returned to Mississippi on horseback with his bride. Mr. McGehee pushed to completion the West Feliciana railroad, which cost $35,000 per mile. It reached Wood- ville about 1837 and was the first road in the State and fifth in the United States. He became the owner of the road after the war. He was one of the founders of the Woodville Bank, and of one of the first cotton factories in the State about 1849 ; purchased the plant and operated it until it was burned by the Federals dur- ing the war. He founded Bethel church in 1811: founded Wood- ville Female Academy, which was burned in 1849; founded the present college for girls at Woodville ; gave large sums to churches and colleges in Mississippi and Louisiana. He shunned public of- fice, but was induced to serve a few terms in the legislature. He declined to accept the position of secretary of the treasury offered him by President Zachary Taylor; was the administrator of Pres-

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ident Taylor and filled many places of trust. He was very pros- perous as a planter ; his fields stretched out as wide as a feudal estate, while his servants numbered more than a thousand. His residence, Bowling Green, built of brick with massive pillars in 1825, at great cost, was one of the most attractive in the South. It contained thousands of books, but was burned with its contents by a negro regiment after the war. He was in favor of negro colonization in Africa, and, before the war, seriously thought of planting a colony of his own servants in that country. He died October 1, 1880, aged ninety-four.

McHenry, a post-village of Harrison county, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 25 miles north of Gulfport. It is situated in the long leaf yellow pine region, and lumbering and farming are the chief industries of the locality. It has several good stores and churches. a splendid school, a bank and a newspaper office. The State Bank was established here in 1902 with a capital of $15,000; the News is a local weekly, owned and edited by Oscar Grace, established in 1901. It has a large planing mill and brick yard. Population in 1900, 350; estimated in 1906 to be 1,200.

McIvor, a postoffice in the central part of Panola county, and a station on the Sardis & Delta R. R., 6 miles west of Sardis, one of the county seats of justice and the nearest banking town.

McKenna, Constantine. One of the Irish priests sent over from the college of Salamanca in 1787 to convert and hold the English in West Florida. He began to be "cura parroco" at Mobile, in December, 1789, and he "is probably the best known of the Spanish priests." (Hamilton, Colonial Mobile.) The testimony taken in proof of the death of Sainneville LeDuc from fever at the home of John Girault in October, 1788, shows that Constantine McKenna was the priest who administered the last unction. Gregory White was also connected with the religious establishment.

McLain, a hamlet on the western border of Greene county, and a station on the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., 18 miles west of Leakesville, the county seat. It has a money order post- office.

McLain, Frank Alexander, of Gloster, the representative of the Seventh Mississippi district in the Congress of the United States, was born on a farm near Liberty in Amite county, Miss., on January 29, 1852, a son of Enoch Bateman and Nancy (Berryhill) McLain. His ancestors were originally natives of Scotland, the first family to leave that country immigrating to Robeson county in North Carolina in 1776. Subsequently, in 1803, the branch to which Congressman McLain belongs removed to Tennessee and in 1812 to Amite county, Miss. Enoch Bateman McLain was a member of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's cavalry of the Confederate army in the Civil War, and since the close of that struggle has been engaged in planting and mercantile business. The subject of this sketch at- tended the public schools of Amite county and for a year was a student at the Woodlawn institute in the East Feliciana Parish, La., under the instruction of Rev. Mr. Relyes and Rev. Samuel H.

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Hayden. He then matriculated at the University of Mississippi and was graduated at that institution in 1874 with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts. From 1875 to 1879 he was a teacher in the public schools of the state, devoting his spare moments of those years to the study of law. In September, 1879, he was admitted to practice in the courts of the state and began the practice of his profession at Liberty. In 1885 he removed to Gloster. In politics Mr. McLain is a Democrat and as such was elected in 1881 for a term of two years as the representative of Amite county in the lower house of the state legislature, and upon the expiration of his term in that office he was elected district attorney for his judicial district and was twice re-elected, serving continuously from January, 1884, to Jan- uary, 1896. In the latter year he voluntarily resigned his office to continue private practice in Gloster. When the Constitutional con- vention of 1890 met he was one of the Floater delegates, having been elected to represent Amite and Pike counties. He was nominated by the executive committee to fill out the unexpired term in Con- gress of the late Hon. William Franklin Love and was elected with- out opposition. He has been re-elected at every successive election since that time. In religious affairs Mr. McLain is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and in a fraternal way is identified with the Knights of Pythias. On March 6, 1879, at Magnolia, Miss., he was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Ann Tyler, daughter of William G. and Lindsay (Connally) Tyler, of Tylertown. Mrs. McLain died at Washington, D. C., March 13, 1900, leaving besides her husband three children-Mary (McLain) Hines, Enoch Bate- man and William Tyler.

McLaurin, a post-village of Perry county, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., about 12 miles south of Hattiesburg. It was named for Gen. McLaurin, the first president of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R. Population in 1900, 300.

McLaurin, Anselm Joseph, United States senator from Mississippi, ex-governor of the state and one of the distinguished members of the bar of this commonwealth, has left an indelible impress upon the annals of his native state in both a public and civic way, while his influence in the broad field of national legislation has been exerted with such consummate discrimination and fidelity as to cause addi- tional honor to mark his career and to incidentally touch the state which has honored him with offices of so distinctive trust and re- sponsibility. Senator McLaurin maintains his home in the attractive little town of Brandon, Rankin county, and here he was born on March 26, 1848, being a son of Lauchlin and Ellen Caroline (Tullus) McLaurin, the former of whom was born in Marlborough district of South Carolina, where his parents located upon their immigra- tion from Scotland, while his wife was born in Simpson county, Miss., and was reared on a farm in Smith county. Her maternal grandfather, John London, was a valiant soldier in the Continental line during the War of the Revolution. When a young man Lauchlin McLaurin removed to Smith county, Miss., where he became the owner of a large and valuable plantation and

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held precedence as one of the influential citizens of that section of the state, having represented his county in the state legislature sev- eral terms. The future governor and United States senator was the eldest in a family of eight sons, and it may be said that all are to- day well known and honored citizens of Mississippi. Anselm J. received his preliminary educational training in the best schools of his native county and then continued his studies in Summerville institute, in Noxubee county, which was at that time one of the leading educational institutions of the state. Here he was a member of the junior class of 1867. During the latter portion of his col- legiate course he also prosecuted the study of law under the effective preceptorship of Professor Puttick, showing marked power of as- similation and thoroughly grounding himself in the minutiæ of the science of jurisprudence, so that he secured admission to the bar of his native state in 1868 at Raleigh, Smith county. In that place he engaged in the active practice of his profession, while his energy and talent were sufficiently potent to make his novitiate of com- paratively brief duration ; he soon built up an excellent practice, his clientage being of representative order and he came into prom- inence in public and civic affairs in an incidental way. In 1871 he was elected district attorney for the fifth judicial district, proving an able prosecutor and serving four years. He then, in 1876, removed to Brandon, where he has since maintained his home and where his labors in his profession have brought to him distinction as one of the leading members of the bar of Mississippi. He has gained distinctive prestige as a criminal lawyer and has been identified with some of the most important causes presented in the Federal and state courts. He is a man of high scholarship and is especially well versed in the learning of the law, while his powers as a trial lawyer are of most brilliant order and have been shown in their full strength in many a sternly contested case, while his services as a public speaker have been in much demand, especially in the realm of prac- tical politics. In 1879 he was elected to represent Rankin county in the state legislature, making an excellent record in the connection and being elected as representative from the state at large in 1880 and presidential elector for state at large in 1888. In 1890 he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and was one of its most prominent and active members. In February, 1894, he was elected to the United States senate, but in the following year retired therefrom, having been honored with election to the office of gov- ernor of Mississippi, in which capacity he served four years, giving one of the most independent, duly conservative and businesslike administrations the state has yet had. In January, 1900, there came to Governor McLaurin the further distinction of being again chosen to represent his state in the United States senate, and he was re- elected, his present term to expire on March 4, 1913. His able ser- vices in the senate are matters of record and need no special words of commendation in this connection, while the continuation of his tenure of office indicates the estimate placed upon his labors by his fellow citizens. He is one of the leaders

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in the ranks of the Mississippi Democracy and the cause of the party has ever found in him a most loyal and aggressive advo- cate and supporter. In a fraternal way the Senator is identified with the Masonic order, the Knights of Honor, the Knights of Pythias and the United Confederate Veterans. His eligibility for membership in the last mentioned organization is predicated from his having served as a member of Company K, Third Mississippi cavalry, during the last few months of the Civil War, his fealty to the Confederacy being of the most unequivocal order. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On Feb. 22, 1870, Senator McLaurin was united in marriage to Miss Laura Rauch, who was born in South Carolina and reared in Smith county, Miss., being a daughter of John and Epsilon (Roberts) Rauch. Senator and Mrs. McLaurin have ten children, namely: Stella May, Delta Epsilon, Daisy Ellen, Laura Fostina, Mary Louise, Irene Catherine, Anselm Joseph, Jr., Sallia C., Jean Wallace and Laura Rauch.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 21

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