Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 35

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 35

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the beauty of the architecture. Still other country homes, typical of the proud old aristocracy of the region, and over whose descrip- tion did space permit one would fain linger, are those of the Met; calfe's, Gillespies, Jenkins, the Bennetts, the Williams; Cherry Grove, the home of James Surget; Laurel Hill, once the home of Doctor Mercer, and now descended to Mr. James Butler, with its beautiful Gothic chapel built to commemorate "a father's love for his only daughter;" Auburn, the stately brick and stone mansion of Mr Stephen Duncan; Woodlands, ample in proportions, and with wide-spreading galleries, long in the possession of the Turner family, and now owned by Mr. E. H. Ratcliff ; stately Ashburn, built by Mr. Austin Williams in 1835 and burned in 1874, but re- membered for its fine great hall, beautiful staircase and its perfect symmetry; Linden, home of the Connor's, surrounded by over ninety feet of pillared veranda and set in the midst of handsome grounds; The Briars, the unpretentious but comfortable home of the Howells, now owned by Mrs. Irving; it was here that Jefferson Davis wooed and married Miss Varina Howell; Arlington, on the edge of the town, and approached by a winding avenue of water oaks, was the former home of Judge S. S. Boyd and famed for its paintings and fine old library; it is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Wm. Benneville Rhodes; Llangolan, built by Gen. Dahlgren- and commanding a wide sweep of country; Melrose, the former home of Mrs. Mary T. McMurran, now owned by Mr. George M. Kelly; Devereux, the beautiful old home of Mrs. Bayard Shields ; Homewood, owned by the Balfour family, and Landsdowne, the G. M. Marshall home. Thus the list of stately old country homes might be extended almost indefinitely. The same is in a measure true of the many beautiful city homes, numbers of them replete with historic interest. Only a bare mention of a few of them will be attempted-these the older ones. Ravenna, the comfortable and artistic old home of Mr. Oren Metcalfe; the old Fisk mansion, successively owned by Robert Fisk, Henry Chotard, G. M. Davis, and the grandson of the latter, Mr. George Kelly; now, consider- ably enlarged, it is the seat of the well known Stanton College, a school for young women; Stanton Hall, built by Frederick Stanton in ante-bellum days, and now owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Andrew G. Campbell, is a handsome and luxurious home; Rosalie, suggesting in its name old Fort Rosalie, is the fine brick home of Mr. S. E. Rumble, overlooking the bluffs; Magnolia Vale, home of R. F. Learned, and the only one in Natchez beneath the bluffs, is unsurpassed by any in the beauty of its lawns and gardens; the former home of Dr. F. A. W. Davis, now owned by his daughters, with its extensive grounds and beautiful garden ; the Towers, well set back from the road, and very quaint in architecture, is the for- mer home of Mr. John Fleming, now owned by Captain and Mrs. Buck; The Burn, the Walworth home; Dr. Stratton's home, Sun- set-Lodge; Melmont, the home of Mr. S. McDowell, set in spacious grounds amid a lovely grove; and the handsome old residence of Mrs. E. M. Britton constructed of stuccoed brick with Ionic col-

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umns reaching to the second story; it was built by Mr. Thomas Henderson; also Dunleith, one of the handsomest mansions in Natchez, surrounded by beautiful grounds, and now the residence of Mr. Joseph N. Carpenter.

Natchez is further embellished with many fine old church edi- fices. The Presbyterian church was erected in 1829; its architec- ture is simple, massive and dignified; has a clock in the church tower, and has a deep gallery running around three sides; Strat- ton Chapel, of classic design, is a noteworthy modern addition. Trinity Episcopal church was built in 1825 ; its style of architecture is simple in design, but substantial and dignified. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is of old Gothic architecture and was erected in 1841. The Methodist church is a large substantial building on Jefferson street, built of brick. The Baptist congregation, a large and growing one, will soon have a structure of more ample propor- tions. Another handsome church edifice is the Temple B'Nai Israel. There are also a number of colored churches. Among the eleemosynary institutions of Natchez are a well conducted hospi- tal, supported by the State, county and city, and three homes for orphan children-two Roman Catholic and one Protestant, the lat- ter, as we have recorded, was organized in 1816, and made a state institution in 1821. The city is amply provided with educational facilities. In addition to Stanton College, already mentioned, there are two large Roman Catholic schools, seven private schools, and an up-to-date system of public schools. The city has recently completed a fine brick building for white children at a cost of $35,000 ; it also supports a good school for colored children. Nat- chez College is a colored institution. Only six miles from Natchez is Jefferson Military College (q. v.) combining the dignity of age and the vigor of youth.

Modern Natchez boasts a first-class opera house, equipped to accommodate the best of traveling companies ; also three clubs, all admirably housed-the Elks, Standard, and Prentiss; the hotel accommodations of the city are also ample and first-class in every particular. Generally speaking, the city is possessed of all the conveniences which go to make up the modern, metropolitan city. It has two progressive newspapers, The Democrat, a morning paper, and The Evening Bulletin ; there are two commercial bodies, the Cotton and Merchant's Exchange, and the Progressive League, which are active in furthering the commercial interests of the city. Five large banking institutions with a combined capital of $625,000 minister to the financial needs of the city. Its transportation wants are amply provided for by three railroads now in operation: The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley, a part of the Illinois Central system ; The New Orleans & Northwestern R. R., recently purchased by the Gould system: The Natchez. Red River & Texas Ry., now in operation to the Black river. The Gould system is rapidly com- pleting its line along the west shore of the Mississippi, and the surveys of the proposed Natchez & Gulf R. R. are complete. These in time will add to the already excellent railroad facilities

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of the city. Natchez is the home port of four steamboat lines and all through boats on the river make the port of Natchez. There is a good street car service with six miles of track, which is being rapidly extended. There are also excellent systems of water works and sewers, with mains 13 miles long and a capacity of 2,500,000 gallons; also three fire companies, furnished with every modern equipment. Two express companies; two telegraph companies, and a long distance telephone with an extensive local exchange, are other modern utilities. The cotton industry of the city is enormous; it annually handles 90,000 bales of the staple, and a proportionate amount of the by-products, utilizing two compresses, two cotton seed oil mills, two modern gins, and a delinting mill. There are also two large cotton mills. Other important manufac- turing enterprises, which enter into the industrial makeup of the city are, an ice plant with a daily capacity of 80 tons; a modern saw-mill; two sash, door, and blind factories; a planing mill, two large, modern brick yards; a gas plant; two electric light plants ; two lumber yards, and a foundry and boiler factory. Natchez has twenty wholesale houses doing an annual business of over $15,000,- 000; and, with the exception of Vicksburg, is the largest whole- sale city in the State; two hundred and twenty-five retail stores supply every want of its citizens.

The total assessed valuation of property in Natchez is $4,565,- 483; the city tax levy is 16 and 12 mills; the total indebtedness is $396,034, $320,000 of which is a subscription to the 6 per cent. bonds of the N. O. & N. W. Ry. The population of Natchez in 1900 was 12,210, and a population of over 15,000 was claimed in 1906. Its lofty elevation and fine natural drainage make Natchez one of the healthiest cities in the land.

Natchez District, Boundary. As noted elsewhere, the district of Natchez was one of the two areas to which the British government acquired title by treaty with the Indians during the West Florida period. "About the year 1778," according to a manuscript left by Col. Anthony Hutchins, "the survey of the line of Natchez district was made. The surveyors commenced running this line, accord- ing to agreement, but arriving at the Stony spring [Rocky spring, in Claiborne county], about twelve miles east of the Grindstone ford on Bayou Pierre, the Indians perceived that the course they were going would take from them their favorite ball ground on the bank of the Yazous. They refused to proceed any further. The surveyors suspended the work, and after both parties made representations to Governor Chester, he agreed that the Indians should have their way. They took the surveyors to the Yazous, and made them set their course from the point they selected, about six leagues up the river, to strike the former line at the Stony Spring, where they had left off. The goods to pay for this land arrived and were delivered to agents who, taking advantage of the war that broke out between the English and the Spaniards, gave but a small part to the Indians, who have ever since com- plained."

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In 1790 the boundary was the subject of negotiation between the Indians and Spanish, at the Treaty of Natchez.

At the Fort Adams treaty in December, 1801, the region having been from 1779 to 1798 under Spanish government, Puck-shum- ubbee, as his name is given in the report, said that the old line began ."at the Homochitto; thence northwest to Standing Pines creek; thence, crosses the Bayou Pierre high up, and Big Black; thence, strikes the Mississippi at the mouth of Tallauhatche (Yazoo)." He said the land had been sold once before, before the coming of the American soldiers, but nothing paid, and he sug- gested that it would be just to give them compensation. It was agreed that the line should be resurveyed, but some disagreement arose about the starting point on the Yazoo, and General Wilkin- son took up the subject again at the treaty at Fort Confederation, in October, 1802, when the resurvey of the Mobile district was arranged for. The general wrote from the latter fort, October 17, 1802, "I experienced little difficulty in removing all obstacles to the reestablishment of the old boundary on the side of Natchez ; and, to remedy a defect which I have discovered in Purcell's line, I prevailed on the nation to authorize the chiefs of the Upper towns to make such alterations as may be found convenient and necessary." He started back at once, by horse, to the Yazoo, to begin the survey. Meanwhile the boundary was the subject of considerable correspondence on the part of Governor Claiborne, who reported in September, 1802, that the Choctaws were com- plaining that the settlers in the vicinity of Rocky Springs were get- ting on the Indian side of the line. John McKee, the Choctaw agent, believed there was danger of serious trouble if the settlers were not promptly removed. Consequently, Col. Daniel Burnet, of Jefferson district, was directed to order all settlers to keep at least one mile within the limits as supposed to be located, until a resurvey was made.

Not long afterward General Wilkinson began the survey, and from his camp wrote to Claiborne, November 11, 1802: "The mouth of the Yazoo, which is called for as the beginning of the old boundary, has, by a break of the Mississippi made through its banks, and the consequent desertion of its ancient bed, been shifted about six miles, which circumstance involves some difficulty with the Indian commissioners, and to this one more serious is added : the British surveyor left his east line entirely open, and, it would seem, five or six miles at the beginning of his south line. The Choctaws expect to see the old line and nothing less will satisfy them. It, of consequence, has become necessary for me to proceed to the Big Black river, in order to exhibit to them the marked trees, and from thence to retrace the line, back, as far as it can be discovered, after which I shall propose, on the ground of mu- tual accommodation, (and the proposition will be a fair and sound one) to continue the line to the first bluff on the Yazoo, above the inundations of the Mississippi and there to fix our beginning. Should I succeed, the United States will make a small acquisition,

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the Territory will be benefited, and the Indians will not be injured. In the promotion of this plan, I shall march for the Big Black as soon as I have closed this letter."

The general completed the survey at the national line, January 22, 1803, having been "somewhat perplexed to ascertain this boun- dary, which is not more obvious than an ordinary Choctaw trace. To ascertain my distance from the Mississippi, I shall measure Mr. Ellicott's traverse until I find some clear testimonial to satisfy me in this particular, and if not delayed by high waters I will reach Fort Adams the 27th or 28th."

Wilkinson's expenses, paid by the United States, were $2,155. He asked the governor to forward to Fort Adams, from the Indian goods at Natchez, the following as a reward to the Choctaw com- missioners and guides : "Three full trimmed long coats, blue and buff ; blue capots, red cuffs and capes ; five hats, three white watch- coats; six fine white shirts; four calico shirts; five pairs scarlet leggings, five blue flaps."

The district of Natchez, within the boundary line thus defined, was estimated at 2,031,800 acres. (Wailes, 1829.)

Natchez, District of. The Natchez district was of very great importance in the history of Mississippi because it was remarkably adapted to the necessities of the pioneer. The difficulties of open- ing a new country are so enormous that only the most favored spots can be utilized. Such was the region along the river, from Bayou Sara to the Yazoo river. It is a high and breezy upland, close to a great river that elsewhere had no limits put upon its destructive freaks in floodtime. The Natchez district was in com- parison to the rest of the country, as if it were a fertile abutment upon the ocean, where ships might anchor and load from the fields of grain. It contrasted sharply with the region beyond the river, where interminable swamps were hidden under immense forest trees, and gigantic vines. Of like forbidding nature, to the pio- neer, was the east shore of the river above the Walnut hills. These low lands were sometime to be of enormous value, but not until a great accumulation of wealth could be applied to them.

The Natchez highland was covered with hardwood forests, with no pine, but occasionally an enormous sassafras, such as was found nowhere else on the continent. There is no stone, and no running water except streams having their rise in the interior, cutting through these hills to the river. The soil yields easily to the ero- sion of water, and along the streams is cut into immense gullies and ravines, with precipitous heights. Abutting the Mississippi were the famous bluffs known as Walnut hills, Grand, Petit Gulf, Natchez and St. Catherine hills. "In primitive forest they pre- sented a most imposing appearance." Lofty timber covered them from base to summit. The river, approaching the hills closely in a few places, and at an angle always, and deflected at a sharp an- gle, gives the bluffs an outlook over vast stretches of the murky waste of water. "The scene is sombre, but grand, especially when lighted by the evening's declining sun." When no foliage hides

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the festoons of long gray moss, "the dead gray of the entire scene in winter is sad and melancholy as a vast cemetery." "These hills are peculiar. They are drift, thrown upon the primitive formation by some natural convulsion, and usually extend some twelve or fifteen miles into the interior. They consist of a rich marly loam, and when in a state of nature were clothed to their summits with the wild cane, dense and unusually large, a forest of magnolia, black walnut, immense oaks, and tulip trees, with gigantic vines of the wild grape climbing and overtopping the tallest of these forest monarchs. ' Here among these picturesque hills and glorious woods, the emigrants fixed their homes."-(Sparks, Memories.)

Commencing a century before, the French had conquered the land for them from the Indians ; of the ancient Natchez people only a scattered remnant existed in distant places. There was no dan- ger from savage jealousy, and in some places the clearings of the French remained to afford the new comers an easy foothold.

The ruins of Fort Rosalie, abandoned by the French since the Natchez massacre, were occupied by British troops in the summer of 1764, under the protection of a war vessel in the river. The works were repaired and fitted up for a garrison, under the name of Fort Panmure. Of the French inhabitants, Claiborne says : "There is no record of any settlement." The English board of trade represented to the king, in March, 1764, that there was "very considerable settlements upon the east bank of the Mississippi," above the 31st degree of latitude. Pickett, in his history of Ala- bama, says, "The French population, along the east side of the Mississippi, to the Walnut Hills, was considerable, and, when they ascertained that British laws had been extended over them, many retired across the river, south of Manchac. Others, assured that they would not be disturbed, either in the enjoyment of the Cath- olic faith, or in their rights and property, remained in the country." But the French historians, noting the records of arrivals of ref- ugees from the Illinois and Alabama counties, do not mention any from the Natchez, perhaps because of their nearness.

This British military post was outside of the limits then as- signed to the province of West Florida; and within the region assigned by the royal proclamation for the use of the Indians. But, in order to open to settlement the beautiful and fertile lands along the river, the limits of West Florida were extended north- ward to a line running due east from the mouth of the Yazoo river. As is stated in the article British West Florida, the commissions to the governors do not show that this was done, under seal, until 1770. The new line permitted the granting of land on the Missis- sippi northward to the Yazoo, and on the waters of Mobile, after the Indian title had been extinguished by treaty.

In response to the efforts of the British to attract immigration, the attractions of the Natchez highlands became widely known. Landspyers were soon on the ground from the older colonies, and "adventurers", as colonists were then called, began to arrive at Pensacola and Mobile from distant parts of the British empire.

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In 1765 the North Carolina settlement began below Baton Rouge. Some of these families, says Wailes, subsequently removed to the neighborhood of Natchez. But the little stockade, called Fort Bute, on the Manchac, was not built until December, 1766, to pro- tect the workmen who were clearing the bayou of obstructions to navigation. Before that, a frigate in the bayou was the fortress of British power. References to the "tide of immigration" and the pouring in of settlers, in this period, does not seem to be justified by the facts. Mentioning the Carolina adventurers, Hamilton says (The Colonization of the South) : "Others emulating them pressed over the Alleghanies to the Mississippi country, and, exploring and hunting, began the trade to New Orleans. By the irony of fate, on their overland return the adventurers were by the Choc- taws robbed of all they had made. We find speculators even in 1768 discounting the future and securing warrants of survey for large tracts of land about Natchez. Thus the Earl of Eglinton (the Colonel Grant of the South Carolina wars) got twenty thou- sand acres, and Samuel Hannay and associates five thousand. John McIntosh obtained five thousand contiguous to Fort Bute, George Johnstone ten thousand at Baton Rouge, and Daniel Clark, afterward a famous name, showed his foresight by locating three thousand at Natchez, one thousand at the head of Lake Maurepas and five hundred more near Fort Bute."

The statement by Wailes (Historical Outline) is: "In January, 1768, the first grants of which we have any record were made under the authority of the king's proclamation, grants to retired military and naval men. They were executed by Montfort Browne, lieutenant-governor of the province of West Florida at Pensacola, among the first being two grants of 3,000 and 2,000 acres to Dan- iel Clark, a reduced captain of the Pennsylvania troops, and clerk of the council under Browne. These grants were situated on the St. Catherine, about three miles south of Fort Panmure, and em- braced lands that had been in part cleared and improved under the French government. Similar grants were made to others, by Lieutenant-Governor Brown, in the following year. Grants dated in January, and to the 19th of March, 1770, were signed by Elias Durnford, as lieutenant-governor. No subsequent grants are known to have been made during this, or the following year. In 1772, and each of the succeeding years to the 3d of September, 1779, numerous patents, many of them for tracts of large dimen- sions, were granted by Governor Chester."

Spanish relations and other matters of high policy caused re- moval of the troops in 1769. "During the withdrawal of troops." says Hamilton, "one John Bradley received possession of Fort Panmure with the duty of keeping it in order and defensible the project of settling the Mississippi remained a favorite idea of the province and in 1770 this began in earnest. It would seem that some eighteen families of immigrants with negroes set- tled down about Natchez, and Chester promptly applied for troops to protect them. Gage, of course, opposed it, and expressed

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astonishment that avidity for lands should make people scramble thither through the deserts. The necessity may be shown by a report to Haldimand in 1772 that the materials of Fort Bute had been destroyed and the writer turned out by the help of Spanish officers ; but this seems to stand unsupported. The jealousy of the Spaniards, however, might well be aroused, for Durnford reports that three hundred persons from Virginia and the Carolinas were then settled on the Mississippi, and three or four hundred families were expected before the end of summer. As a result the posts at Natchez and Bute were ultimately repaired and some sort of government instituted on the Mississippi."

It is evident that there were little settlements, of a permanent character, before the commission to Gov. Chester and the Treaty of 1770, by which John Stuart, superintendent of Indian affairs, obtained from the Choctaws the title to the area which afterward became known as the District of Natchez. A boundary line was run, defining an area of 2,031,800 square miles.

According to Holmes' Annals, before the summer of 1773 had passed, four hundred families from the Atlantic seaboard advanced through the wilderness to the Monongahela and Ohio river and de- scended in boats for the Natchez country. Durnford made an even more hopeful report of immigration, but it does not seem to have greatly affected the Natchez district, according to other observa- tions.

The earliest important settlements were made by Northerners, under grants direct from the king, one dated 1767, known as the Ogden mandamus, and one of date 1775, known as the Lyman mandamus. They were orders on the governor to survey for. Capt. Amos Ogden, of New Jersey, 25,000 acres where he might choose, and for Maj .- Gen. Phineas Lyman, of Connecticut, 20,000 acres where he might select. These were the foundations of the impor- tant Swayze and Lyman settlements. The Swayzes brought a Congregational colony from New Jersey, the first Protestant re- ligious movement into the Southwest. They sailed from Perth Amboy to Pensacola, in 1772, then proceeded by way of Manchac and the river to where they settled, on the Homochitto. The Ly- mans organized a considerable colony, that sailed from Connecti- cut and came up the river by way of New Orleans in 1775 to settle on Bayou Pierre and the Big Black. (See Lyman Colony.)

"We have the testimony of some of the early settlers, who sur- vived to an advanced age, and whose statements have been pre- served," says Wailes, "that in 1776, twelve years after the English first occupied the fort at Natchez, the town then consisted of only ten log cabins and two frame houses, all situated under the bluff. The site of Fort Rosalie was overgrown with forest trees, some of them more than two feet in diameter; several old iron guns were lying about, supposed to have been left by the French. About seventy-eight families, dispersed in different settlements, consti- tuted the whole population of the district, few of which, accord- ing to these statements, had emigrated to the country previous to

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 35

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