Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 43

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 43

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).

Art. 3d. Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent ; and in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be in- vaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress ; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

Art. 4th. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of Confedera- tion, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled and conformable thereto. (The remainder of this article related to taxation and public lands.)

Art. 5th. (Provided for division of Northwest territory into States, each to be admitted on an equal footing with the original States when it had 60,000 free inhabitants, and to "be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government," these

365

MISSISSIPPI

restrictions being modified by proviso so that the only requirement regarding population was the "general interest of the confederacy.")

To the above was added the following :

Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- tude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted ; Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the per- son claiming his or her labor or services.

The motive power behind the adoption of the ordinance was an association of New England Revolutionary soldiers, who wanted to buy land and start a colony on the Ohio. They desired the pro- hibition of slavery, and it was acceded to, apparently as part of. a general compromise under the original proposition of Thomas Jefferson. (See Ordinance of 1784.) This ordinance was amended after the constitution was adopted, so that the powers reposed in congress were exercised by the president with the consent of the senate. The ordinance was extended to the "territory South of and River Ohio" [Tennessee], and to "the Mississippi territory," with the exception in each case of the prohibition of slavery, to which the representatives of Georgia and the Carolinas objected, the question being a matter of serious discussion in congress. But the importation of slaves into Mississippi territory from foreign lands was prohibited.

It is said of the Ordinance by Edward Mayes (Goodspeed's Memoirs) "It contained a summary of many of the propositions which subsequently found their way into the bill of rights of the State constitution and into the fundamental conditions. Such was the short and simple code of laws under which the infant common- wealth was inaugurated. Whether the Spanish occupation had in fact displaced the common law, as asserted by our supreme court; or not, as maintained by Robert J. Walker and Judge Clayton; certain it is that, on the organization of the Territorial government, that admirable system, by the very terms of the two acts just re- cited (the Territorial act and the Ordinance) became the basis of all the jurisprudence of Mississippi. Not so unconditionally, however, as to defeat the highest end of all law-the welfare and happiness of the people. In numerous cases our Supreme court has decided that the common law of England is the law of this State only so far as it is adapted to our institutions and the circum- stances of our people; that it may be repealed by statutes, or varied by usages which by long custom have superseded it."

O'Reilly, a postoffice in the southeastern part of Bolivar county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 5 miles south of Cleve- land, one of the seats of justice, and the nearest banking town.

Orion, an extinct village in Scott county, located in the south- western part of the county, not far from the present railroad town of Morton. We are told that a lively business was carried on at

366

MISSISSIPPI

the place in the early days, but it was abandoned before the War 1861-1865.

Orion, a post-hamlet of Marshall county, 12 miles southwest of Holly Springs, the county seat. Population in 1900, 20.

Orizaba, a hamlet of Tippah county, 7 miles south of Ripley, the county seat. It has rural free delivery from Blue Mountain, the nearest railroad station, 4 miles northwest. It has 2 churches and 3 stores. Population in 1900, 79.

Orizaba, Old, an extinct town in Tippah county situated seven miles south of Ripley, the county seat. See Tippah county. The old settlement grew up around a Cumberland presbyterian church which was established at that place in 1837. A wealthy and pros- perous body of people occupied the surrounding region. The town attained a growth of about one hundred and fifty inhabitants by the middle of the last century. Says Mr. Joel A. Hearne, of Rip- ley, Miss., "the last business that was done there was to burn all its stores and outbuildings in 1882."

Orphan's Home. Governor Humphreys, in his message of Oc- tober, 1866, recommended to the care of the legislature "the Or- phan's Home for the children of the State, many of whom are children of deceased Confederate soldiers, established at Lauder- dale Springs," and acknowledged the receipt of $9,000 from "the noble ladies of Baltimore through the hands of their treasurer, Mrs. Charlotte Latrobe, a loved daughter of Mississippi," a fund which had been increased from the same source to $18,000.

Orvilla, a postoffice of Wilkinson county, situated on Buffalo Bayou, 7 miles east of Woodville, the county seat.

Orvisburg, an incorporated post-town of Pearl River county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., about four miles north of Poplarville, the county seat, and the nearest banking town. The chief industry is lumber. Population in 1900, 435.

Orwood, a post-hamlet of Lafayette county, 12 miles southwest of Oxford, the county seat and the nearest banking town. Taylor, 8 miles east, is the nearest railroad station. Orwood Academy is located here, J. D. Stormant, principal. Population in 1900, 106.

Osborn, a post-hamlet of Oktibbeha county, on the Aberdeen branch of the Illinois Central R. R., 7 miles by rail northeast of Starkville, the county seat and nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 100.

Osmun, Benajah. A veteran officer of the American revolution, who came to Natchez district in 1790, accompanying the Forman party. He had previously been overseer of the plantation of Gen- eral Forman in New Jersey. In the Revolution he enlisted as a private, which was his condition when captured at the battle of Long Island. He was again a prisoner of war in 1780, was made a lieutenant in 1781, and retired at the close of the war with the brevet rank of captain. He was one of the first militia officers under Gov. Sargent, and, December 1, 1800, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel commanding the militia of Adams county, until he resigned December, 1806. He continued in the same command,

367

MISSISSIPPI

and contributed materially to the success of the organization, then a matter of great anxiety. Claiborne wrote of him, in September, 1802, that "from his military experience and great zeal for the good of the service, I have already received from him much assistance in organizing the militia." He reported that the territorial brigade was under Osmun's command, and he recommended to the secre- tary of war, General Dearborn, that Osmun be commissioned as brigadier-general.

"Colonel Osmun settled a plantation at the foot of Halfway hill, near Natchez, became wealthy, and there died, a bachelor, at a good old age." (Forman's Narrative.) His nearest neighbor and intimate friend, at Halfway hill, was Major Guion, and a memorable event of their lives was the entertainment of their old comrade, Aaron Burr, in 1807. Osmun was one of his two bondsmen when the former vice president was arrested. Colonel Osmun's death was in 1816.

Osyka, an incorporated post-town in the southern part of Pike county, near the Louisiana border. It is an important station on the Illinois Central R. R., and ships a considerable amount of cot- ton. The Big Tangipahoa river flows through the town. It has four or five churches and a good school. The Bank of Osyka was established here in 1902 with a capital of $23,000. It has large lumbering interests and three large brick yards. Its population in 1906 was 900.

Otoe, a postoffice of Jasper county, situated on Rahomo creek, an affluent of Leaf river, about 18 miles southwest of Paulding, the county seat.

Otto, a postoffice of Washington county, situated on the right bank of the Sunflower river, about 22 miles southeast of Green- ville.

Ouda, a post-hamlet of Smith county, about 12 miles southeast of Raleigh, the county seat. Population in 1900, 46.

Overbey, a postoffice of Simpson county, 10 miles northeast of Mendenhall.

Overpark, a hamlet in the extreme northeastern part of De Soto county, about 18 miles from Hernando, the county seat. The postoffice at this place was discontinued in 1905, and it now has rural free delivery from Olive Branch, the nearest railroad sta- tion.

Overton, a postoffice in the northwestern part of Alcorn county, near the west bank of the Hatchie river, 16 miles west of Corinth.

Ovett, a money order post-town, in the southeastern part of Jones county, on the Big Bogue Homo, about 15 miles southeast of Ellisville, the county seat. It is on the Mobile, Jackson & Kan- sas City R. R., and is a prosperous town.

Owens, a post-hamlet of Holmes county, on the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Valley R. R., 6 miles east of Lexington, the county seat and nearest banking town, and 7 miles west of Durant. Popula- tion in 1900, 48; population in 1906 estimated at 75. There is a

368

MISSISSIPPI

very popular mineral well located in the town and the place is quite a resort during the summer season.

Oxberry, a post-hamlet of Grenada county, about 13 miles west of Grenada, the county seat. Halcomb is its nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 45. It has a saw mill and a fine cotton gin.

Oxford. The little city of Oxford, the county seat of Lafayette county is located on a beautiful ridge of land, and is a wide-awake prosperous town. It is the seat of the University of Mississippi, the State's highest institution of learning. It was also the seat of the Union Female College, an institution which maintained a contin- uous existence since its first incorporation in 1838, under the name of the Oxford Female Academy until 1904. In 1854, the Academy was placed under denominational control, that of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and reincorporated by the name of "The Union Female Colleges." The institution has been recently made a training school for boys and an important feeder for the State University. This fine old academy was the second institution of learning to be established in the Chickasaw cession of 1832, the Hernando Academy being the first.

The main line of the Illinois Central railroad runs through Ox- ford and gives it ready communication with the outside world. The first settler on the present site of Oxford was Dr. Thomas D. Isom, an honored resident of the town up to the time of his death a few years ago, who rose to eminence in his profession and was afterwards a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1890. He built a log cabin here and opened a store and soon a small settlement grew up at this point, which was incorporated by the Legislature in 1837. Besancon writing of the town in 1838 tells us that it was "located near the center, (of the county) on sections twenty-one and twenty-eight, range three, township eight.

It is only one year and a half since Oxford was laid out into town lots, and yet it now numbers four hundred inhabitants. It is healthy, finely watered, and one of the most pleasant towns in all that region. Its public buildings are a courthouse, erected, by do- nation, and tax on the proprietors of the soil, at an expense of twenty-three thousand four hundred dollars-a jail at the expense of three thousand nine hundred dollars, raised in the same manner -both of brick. There are as yet no churches, but arrangements are made for the erection of two. Oxford has two hotels, six stores, and two seminaries of education, one conducted by Zadock Cottrell and lady, the other by W. W. McMahon." The competition over the selection of a site for the State University was a spirited one, and Oxford was selected by the Legislature in joint session on the sixth ballot, thereby defeating the other contestants, Mississippi City, Brandon, Monroe Missionary Station, Louisville, Kosciusko and Middleton. The choice was made on the 26th day of January, 1841, and in conformity to a previous act of the Legislature, a fine section of land, adjoining the town, had been bought and condition- ally donated to the university by the citizens of Oxford and Lafay- ette county. The institution was finally chartered in February,

369

MISSISSIPPI

1844. In the fall of 1848 the actual work of the university was started.

The population of Oxford in 1900 was 1,825, an increase of nearly 300 inhabitants in one decade and was estimated at 2,000 in 1906; the people are cultured and liberal-minded. A region well adapted to general farming lies about the town, and large tracts of valuable hardwood timber will eventually result in the establishment of profitable wood-working industries.

The Bank of Oxford and the Merchants and Farmers Bank are two splendid financial institutions. The Oxford Eagle, a weekly Democratic publication is the only paper published in Oxford. The Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Cumberland Presbyterian and Primitive Baptist denominations are all repre- sented by churches here.

The industries of the town are a splendid electric light and water plant, a cotton seed oil mill, an ice factory, a large Munger System cotton gin, planing mill, a fine brick and tile factory, a sand and cement block m'f'g. plant, three lumber yards and a pri- vate electric light plant. There are three first-class hotels, a fine brick court house and jail and one of the best government buildings in the State. Oxford has probably the best educational advantages of any town of its size in the State.

Oyster Commissioners. Laws of 1896 and 1898 put the regula- tion of oyster fishing and protection of the oyster beds on the coast under the control of the coast counties. The act of February 3, 1902, repealed these laws, and provided for a Board of Oyster commissioners of five members to be appointed by the governor, to meet monthly during the oyster canning season and have actual supervision of the industry. Any owner of oyster craft of over one ton burden is required to have a license, for which the charge is $2.50 to $15, vessels are to be conspicuously numbered, and a chief inspector is appointed by the board to patrol the reefs and prevent unauthorized fishing. A tax is levied upon packed oysters, and an Oyster fund is created in the State treasury, from which an ex- penditure of not exceeding $5,000 a year is authorized for cultiva- ting the oyster beds. The first appointments of the board, August 30, 1902, were, O. T. Cassibry, J. D. Minor, Frank J. Ladner, Frank Patenotte and J. A. Hattiestad, all residents of the coast and famil- iar with the industry. The board was organized at Gulfport in Sep- tember following, with J. A. Hattiestad as president and F. S. Hewes, Jr., was chosen secretary, and R. L. Mosley chief inspector. The receipts of the first year paid the expenses, about $12.000, and $2,000 surplus was paid into the State treasury. Upon the resig- nation of Mr. Hattiestad J. B. Chinn was made president. The members in 1905 were. K. L. Thornton, J. B. Chinn, O. T. Cassibry. J. D. Minor, Richard Mendes. A patrol boat was purchased in 1904. Four hundred oyster boats were licensed in the last year.

Mississippi has an area of about 450 square miles of salt water, after yielding the claims of Louisiana. "Of this an area of about 180 square miles has oyster beds scattered over it, covering about

24-II

370

MISSISSIPPI

one-fourth this area, or 45 square miles. In some places they are too thick, in others they are too thin, yet people fish where they are too thin, because the oysters are large, while beds of millions of barrels remain on reefs where they are too thick to grow large enough for use. Instead of 45 square miles of area being oyster beds, the entire square miles with proper handling can easily be converted into one solid mass of marketable oysters, thereby be- coming a veritable mine of wealth to the State." (W. A. White, author of oyster statute of 1896.) The senate committee of 1904 reported that half a million dollars was invested in the business at Biloxi alone, shipping $1,000,000 worth of oysters annually, the business employing four shippers and five large canning factories. "The oyster catch for this year will amount to 800,000 barrels, and the shrimp business amounts, at Biloxi, to 1,500 barrels, which are worth $60,000 in their raw state, and $200,000 in their finished state." The business along the whole coast was estimated to exceed $1,500,000 a year, 300 boats and 1,200 men being employed in the fishing and 1,000 men in the canneries. This volume of bus- iness depended largely on the right to fish in the waters claimed by Louisiana. There are canneries (1906) at Biloxi, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Scrantan.

Pachuta, an incorporated post-town in the western part of Clarke county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., 10 miles south- west of Enterprise. The name is a Choctaw Indian word mean- ing "possum creek," from the creek of the same name on which it is situated. Population in 1900, 131; in 1906, 250. The town has several good stores, two churches, a good school, cotton gin and a bank,-the Bank of Pachuta-established in 1905, capital $10,000.

Palestine, a hamlet of Hinds county, 5 miles south of Raymond, the county seat and nearest railroad town. The postoffice here was recently discontinued, and it now has rural free delivery from Ray- mond. Population in 1900, 36.

Palmer, a postoffice of Perry county, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 4 miles south of Hattiesburg, the nearest banking town.

Palmetto Home, a village in the northwestern part of Yazoo county, on the Yazoo river, and a station on the Yazoo & Missis- sippi Valley R. R., 20 miles north of Yazoo City, the county seat, and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Pop- ulation in 1900, 156.

Palmyra. This old settlement is a post-hamlet in the south- western part of Warren county, 25 miles below Vicksburg, and was settled early in the last century. Though now but a place of about sixty people, it has had a long and varied history as a river town. An early traveller, who journeyed down the Mississippi in 1807 has described the town as he found it then. He says "It is about seven years since several families from New England commenced this beautiful settlement. The situation is almost a peninsula, formed by a continued bend in the river for an extent of four miles, the whole of which is cultivated in front, but the clearing

371

MISSISSIPPI

extends back only one hundred and fifty rods, where is a lake, and some swampy land, always inundated during the summer freshets_ There are sixteen families, who occupy each a front of only forty rods, so that the settlement has the appearance of a straggling vil- lage." After stating that the soil produced "17,000 pounds of cot- ton in seed from nine acres, which, allowing it to lose about three quarters in cleaning, left 500 pounds of clean cotton to the acre," he continues : "Palmyra is one of the most beautiful settlements in the Mississippi Territory, the inhabitants having used all the neatness and industry so habitual to the New Englanders. I think the lake and swamp behind Palmyra must render it unhealthy, and the pale sallow countenances of the settlers, with their con -- fession that they are usually subject to fevers and agues, when the- river begins to subside, confirms me in my opinion. (Cuming's Tour.)

Palo Alto. An extinct village in Chickasaw, now Clay county, which flourished before the War between the States. After the organization of Clay county in 1871, it was absorbed by the new town of Abbott.

Palona, a post-hamlet of Leake county, 10 miles north of Carth- age, the county seat. Population in 1900, 35.

Pandora, a postoffice of Chickasaw county, 10 miles north of Houston, the county seat.

Panic of 1813. Throughout the summer of 1813 there was great fear in western Mississippi that the hostilities of the Creek nation would involve the Choctaws, or a part of them, and bring upon the: ancient Natchez district the horrors of an Indian war, from which it had been exempt for over eighty years. This fear was particu -- larly felt after the Fort Mims Massacre, and in Jefferson and Clai -- borne counties, bordering on the Choctaw lands. In September, when the troops were being enrolled to go to the Tombigby, the apprehensions of the timid regarding being left alone, joined to the rumors of Choctaw sympathy with the hostile Creeks, started a panic, that swept over the two counties with startling effects. It was declared that the red men, in war paint, had been seen at Rocky Springs, or at Grindstone ford; smoke of burning homes. could be seen by the more imaginative. Women and children and movable effects were loaded in wagons and sent to Washington. Port Gibson was practically deserted. The men capable of bearing arms gathered to meet the foe. There was a recovery before many of the domestic caravans reached Washington, and most of them were turned back short of the destination. To restore confidence, it was determined to organize for defense.

Col. Daniel Burnet presided over a meeting at Port Gibson, on the 13th, at which a committee, composed of Maj. Clarke, Harmon Blennerhassett, H. Harmon, Col. Ragan, Capt. P. Briscoe, Wm. Briscoe and Thomas Barnes, reported that the alarm was ground- less, but three stockades should be built and one strong fort at a central point. A frontier committee was appointed, and a central

372

MISSISSIPPI

committee, which latter included Samuel Gibson, Harmon Blen- nerhassett, Daniel Burnet, Thomas Farar and Judge Leake.

According to a reminiscent article by John A. Watkins, the for- tification consisted of four blockhouses, protected by strong pali- sades, called Fort Shaw. The Tennessee troops bivouacked there one night, in 1815. Later, one of the blockhouses was used for a school house.

Panic of 1835. The South was much excited in 1832 and later by the reports of the Southampton negro insurrection, in Virginia, or plot for insurrection, which was followed by many hasty trials and executions. There was such a panic also, in earlier days, in New York city. In both cases there were those who denied the seriousness of the alarm, and claimed that confessions and exe- cutions alike were part of a strange and uncontrollable panic. On the other hand the records afford evidence of some fire behind the smoke. The Mississippi panic was in 1835, following the vis- its of Virgil A. Stewart, who travelled extensively through Mis- sissippi and several adjoining States, selling a pamphlet which pur- ported to be a revelation of a scheme for a general insurrection originated by John Murel, of Tennessee, negro stealer and horse- thief, and participated in by the noted outlaw Alonzo Phelps and the whole body of "Thompsonian" or "steam doctors." There had been in the same year as the Virginia panic, a bloody insur- rection of slaves in Jamaica, and the era was revolutionary every- where, both in Europe and America. Stewart found complete credence for his revelations, was given public honors in some places and hailed as a public savior. The result is thus described by Henry S. Foote, in his Reminiscenses, (pp. 251-62.) "Never was there an instance of more extravagant and even maddening excitement amid a refined, intelligent and virtue-loving people than that which I had the pain to witness in the counties of Central Mis- sissippi in the summer of 1835. Vigilance committees were orga- nized in some ten or a dozen counties where the negro population was most numerous, and where, of consequence, the slaveholding class was more sensitive to the cries of alarm which at this time literally rang through the whole community. The impres- sion prevailed that the insurrectionary movement was to com- mence in the interior counties of Holmes, Yazoo and Madison ;" that the slaves were to rise simultaneously, murder the whites, burn the towns, sieze all firearms and spread war over all the cotton country. At Clinton, night after night, the women and children were assembled at a central place, while the male popula- tion patrolled the surrounding country. The committees of safety sat daily, and some persons suspected of abetting the alleged in- surrection were brought before it, while others, "whose guilt seemed to be fully established, were hung without ceremony along the roadsides or in front of their own dwellings by those who had apprehended them. "A number of the poor Thompsonian em- pirics were taken up and either hung or severely whipped" ac- cording to the seeming force of the evidence. In Madison county

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 43

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