Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 57

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 57

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Pretoria, a postoffice located in the northeastern prairie region of Noxubee county, 10 miles east of Brookville, the nearest rail- road and banking station. Population in 1900, 16.

Prichard, a postoffice of Tunica county, located on the Cold- water river, and a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 10 miles east of Tunica, the county seat.

Primary Election Law. In his inaugural address (1900) Gover- nor Longino urged the enactment of a "uniform compulsory pri- mary election law," declaring that the supremacy of intelligence in the government of the State was of obvious importance, and it "must depend on white political supremacy." But people were growing impatient with "the dubious and devious methods of the party nominating machinery," and if "we would perpetuate white political union," the time was opportune for effective action. A bill passed the house that year, but was prevented from reaching a vote in the senate. In his message of 1902 the governor quoted the clause of the constitution of 1890, "The legislature shall enact laws to secure fairness in party primary elections, conventions and other methods of nominating party candidates," and added, "I beg to call the attention of the legislature to the fact that the existing statutes on the subject do not meet the constitutional requirement or amount even to a respectable makeshift."

The existing statutes were embraced in the code of 1892. The legislature of 1902 repealed the same except two sections, and adopted senate bill No. 1, now known as the primary election law, amended in 1904. It requires that "all nominations for State, dis- trict, county and county district officers made by the different parties of the State shall hereafter be made by primary elections,"

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which shall be governed by the election law in force at the time of such primary elections, with some exceptions provided. The county executive committees at such primaries shall discharge the functions imposed upon county election commissioners," and ap- point the primary election officers, all acting under the same rules and penalties as in general elections. The county executive com- mittee shall consist of 15 members, three from each supervisor's district. The organization of district party committees are also provided for. The State executive committee shall consist of three delegates from each congressional district. A State convention shall be held by each political party in 1904 and every four years thereafter, to select a State executive committee, delegates to the national convention, and to nominate presidential electors, each county to have a representation in the convention equal to twice its represetation in the house of representatives, the delegates to be selected by county delegate conventions in each county, the representation in which is also regulated. These county conven- tions choose a county executive committee, to hold four years. The first general primary is to be held between the 1st and 10th of August, and the second, if one is necessary, three weeks later. Any candidate who receives the majority of the popular vote cast for the office for which he is a candidate, in the first primary, shall be the nominee of his party for such office. If for any offices there is no majority nomination, then a second primary is ordered, in which, for any office, the two candidates that received the highest vote in the first primary are voted for. But, for the legis- lative and county nominations, candidates may agree to a plurality choice. Various other regulations are provided. "No persons shall be eligible to participate in primary elections unless they are qualified electors, intend to support the nominations in which they participate, have participated with the political party holding the primary within the two years preceding, and are not excluded from such primary by regulations of the party State executive commit- tee." The expenses of this system is borne by the party holding the primary, and the cost of ballots and booths is apportioned among the candidates, the charging of other expenses to candidates being forbidden. The name of no candidate is placed upon the official ballot in any general or special election, as a party nominee, who is not nominated in pursuance of the provisions of this act, and the election of any party nominee nominated otherwise shall be void. No political party is entitled to recognition in the ap- pointment of election officers unles it has made nominations ac- cording to this system. Nominations for United States senator are made at the primary elections under the same regulations gov- erning nominations of State officers. (See Longino and Vardaman Adms.)

Prince, a post-hamlet of Kemper county, 15 miles northwest of Dekalb, the county seat. Population in 1900, 23.

Princeton. This was an old Mississippi river settlement and was located about ten miles above the present, southern boundary of

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Washington county. It flourished during the early part of the last century, when it was an important shipping point, with over six hundred inhabitants, and was the original county seat of Washing- ton county. (See Washington county.) The county site was later moved to Greenville, when the old town began to decline. It is now quite extinct. It is said that "S. B. Lawson was one of the last merchants in the place," and that "in 1868 he sold the town site and remaining buildings to a colored man for $125." (See Goodspeed's Memoirs of Miss., Vol. I, p., 213.)

Priscilla, a postoffice of Washington county.

Prismatic, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Kemper county, 16 miles north of Meridian. Population in 1900, 40.

Proctor, a postoffice of Tippah county, 3 miles west of the Mo- bile, Jackson & Kansas City R. R., and 18 miles due north of Rip- ley, the county seat.

Prohibition. The later prohibition movement began in 1874, when the Temperance Banner was started by H. H. Hines at Jack- son. A law was secured that required applications for license to retail intoxicants to present a petition signed by a majority of the female citizens in the town or district. The Southern Prohibitionist was published at Columbus in 1881, with Revs. S. A. Steel and C. B. Galloway as editors. In the spring of the same year there was a public meeting at Jackson in the interest of prohibition, addressed by Col. W. L. Nugent and C. B. Galloway. Forty-four counties were represented in a State convention at Jackson, July 20, over which J. W. C. Watson presided. "There was a large and intelligent representation of colored citizens, as in every suc- ceeding annual convention." The organization was declared to be non-partisan. Col. Nugent was put at the head of the move- ment. In the following winter Francis E. Willard visited the State, and delivered an address at Jackson during the session of the legislature. Her efforts introduced the Women's Christian Tem- perance Union. (Handbook of Prohibition, Charles B. Galloway, 1886. See Liquor Laws and Const. Con. 1890.)

Prospect, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Newton coun- ty. Population in 1900, 20.

Puckett, a postoffice in the southeastern part of Rankin county, one mile west of Strong river.

Pulaski, a post-village in the southwestern part of Scott county, 10 miles southwest of Forest, the county seat. Morton is the nearest railroad and banking town. Population in 1900, 200.

Purvis, the county seat of the newly created county of Lamar, is a thriving station on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., situated about half way between Hattiesburg and Lumberton. It was named for the former owner of the depot site. Lumbering and farming are the chief industries of the locality. Two newspapers are published in Purvis-the Lamar County Record established in 1894, edited and published by J. R. Holcomb; The Echo, estab- lished in 1900, and owned and edited by Duck Wall. Both are Democratic weeklies. The Lamar County Bank was established

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in 1904 and has a capital of $30,000. Purvis has a money order postoffice, an express office, nine general stores, three churches, and an excellent school. A new court house was built in 1905 at a cost of $60,000. A large saw milling plant and turpentine still are located here. At least 8 saw milling plants ship from Purvis. Considerable cotton is also shipped from this point. The popu- lation in 1906 was estimated at 1,500.

Pushmataha, a postoffice of Coahoma county, located in the south- western part, on the Mississippi river, about 22 miles west of Clarksdale.

Quincy, a post-hamlet of Monroe county, on the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham R. R., about 14 miles northeast of Aber- deen. It has a church and a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 32.

Quinn, a hamlet of Pike county, situated on Bogue Chitto, 6 miles east of Summit, the nearest railroad and banking town. It has rural free delivery from Summit. Population in 1900, 40.

Quitman, the capital of Clarke county, is an incorporated town and important station on the Mobile & Ohio and the Mississippi Eastern railroad, 25 miles south of Meridian, on the Chickasawhay. river. The county seat was given the name of the second Chancel- lor of the State, John A. Quitman, as the county was named in honor of the State's first Chancellor, Joshua G. Clarke. The county seat was originally located in 1833 at the geographical center of the county, but was soon removed for some cause to Quitman, where it has since remained. The site for the court house was donated by John Watts, who died in the early seventies. It has two churches, a good school, an express office, a telegraph office, a newspaper office, a bank, eleven stores, and a large saw mill. The first newspaper in the county was established at Quitman about 1851, and was called the Quitman Intelligencer, A. C. Horn being the editor and J. T. Ballance, the publisher. "The Quitman Globe," a Democratic weekly, was established in 1902. It is published by The Quitman Printing Co. (Inc.) with S. H. Terral, pres., J. K. Kirkland, vice-pres., and Sam A. Leming, editor and manager. The Mississippi Lumber Co. located its extensive plant here in 1900, with a capital of $100,000. It is one of the largest lumber plants in the State, with a capacity of about 25,000,000 feet of lum- ber annually. It planes and manufactures all its lumber ready for the builder. The plant also has large holdings of timber lands and enough timber in sight to keep it running 25 years, employs about 300 men and has about 13 miles of standard gauge railroad. The Bank of Quitman was established in 1902 with a capital of $12,500. The town is surrounded by a good farming district and ships about 1,000 bales of cotton annually. The population was about 1,000 in 1906.

Quitman County was established late in the history of the State, February 1st, 1877, during the administration of Gov. John M. Stone, and was named in honor of Gov. John A. Quitman. The county has a land surface of 409 square miles. It was carved from

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the counties of Tunica, Coahoma, Tallahatchie and Panola. Its limits are defined as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner, of Coahoma county, and running thence south with the boundary of Coahoma county to the northeast corner of section 33, T. 28, R. 2 west; thence west on section lines to the range line between ranges 2 and 3 west; thence south on the range line to the south- west corner of T. 26, R. 2, west; thence east on the township line to the range line between ranges 1 and 2 east; thence north on said line to the boundary line between the Chickasaw and Choctaw ces- sions; thence northwest with the said line to the point at which it touches the western boundary of Panola county ; thence north with the said boundary to the northeast corner of T. 7, R. 10, west of the Chickasaw survey, thence west with the northern line of said township to the township line between townships 7 and 8; thence west with said tonship line to the beginning." The act creating the county directed that the county site be located by the Board of Supervisors at a point on the west side of Coldwater river, and that it be called Belen. The old boundary line between the Choc- taw and the Chickasaw cessions cuts across its northeast corner and forms the northeastern boundary for a short distance. It lies entirely within the Mississippi and Yazoo Delta Region, in the northwestern part of the State, is a narrow, irregular shaped body of land, bounded on the north by Tunica county, on the east by Panola and Tallahatchie counties, on the south by Tallahatchie county and on the west by Coahoma county. It is the most sparsely settled county in the State, has no towns or villages of any size, but possesses a soil of immense fertility with ample shipping facilities for its products. Settlers have begun to come in rapidly during the last few years. The white population is still very small indeed, numbering in 1900 only 1,258 souls. Belen, the county seat, is a small village of 177 people (census, 1900) in the western part, off the railroad, and was named for the battle ground where Gen. Quitman fought during the Mexican War. Other towns in the county are Sabino, VanBuren, Yarbrough, Darling and Sledge. The Yazoo & Miss. Valley R. R. traverses the county from north to south, branching at Yarbrough to run to Yazoo City and Durant. The Coldwater river flows from the north in a winding course through the center and unites near the southern border with the Tallahatchie and Yocona rivers to form the sluggish Yazoo. These streams, together with Cassidy's Bayou and Opossum Bayou, afford it good water facilities. There are 23,360 acres of cleared lands in the county according to the census of 1900. On the balance of the land is a considerable timber growth of very large white oak and cypress, red and sweet gum, poplar, black walnut and hickory. The soil is all alluvial, bottom land, and will produce from one to two bales of cotton per acre and from thirty to sixty bushels of corn. These are the principal crops, but oats, wheat, sorghum, millet and tobacco are also grown and do well when properly cultivated. Vege- tables and fruits also do well while Bermuda, Orchard, Herds, Johnson and other grasses, and red clover, grow luxuriantly. Pas-

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turage for stock is good the year through, grasses in summer and cane-brakes in winter. In common with most of the Delta Region, the healthfulness of Quitman county is now radically improved by tapping the artesian basin underlying it for pure cold water. The school and church privileges to be found here are fairly good considering the sparsely settled condition of the county.

The following statistics were taken from the twelfth U. S. cen- sus for 1900 and relate to farms, manufactures and population :- Number of farms 1,031, acreage in farms 56,813; acres improved 23,363, value of land exclusive of buildings $703,290, value of build- ings $125,360, value of live stock $190,900, total value of products not fed to stock $536,930. Number of manufactures 13, capital invested $66,653, wages paid $3,874, cost of materials $10,911, total value of products $30,604. The population in 1900 consisted of whites 1,258, colored 4,177, total 5,435, increase of 2,149 over the year 1890. The total assessed valuation of real and personal prop- erty in Quitman county in 1905 was $1,385,016 and in 1906 it was $1,483,457.50, which shows an increase of $98,441.50 during the year.

Quitman, John A., was born at Rhinebeck, N. Y., September 1, 1798. He was the grandson of a Prussian of some distinction, who resided near the city of Cleves, on a small island in the river Rhine. His son, Frederick Henry Quitman, born there, was edu- cated at the University of Halle, and was sent, as a missionary, to the Dutch island of Curacoa, where he married the daughter of the governor. Removing thence to New York State, he was a Lutheran pastor of distinction and president of the general synod of that church in the United States. John Anthony Quitman, the youngest of three sons, was educated at Schoharie and Chadwick, and before he was twenty-one was an instructor at Mount Airy college, near Philadelphia. His father had directed his education toward the ministry, and he was trained in modern and ancient languages, including the Hebrew, but his own taste was for the law. In 1820 he went west, to Chillicothe, Ohio, to teach and study, and passed the year's residence required for admission to the bar as clerk in the land office at Delaware, Ohio. But on his voyage to Ohio he had made the acquaintance of the wife and daughter of Judge Griffith, of New Jersey, and the advice of Mrs. Griffith that he should go to Mississippi, had great influence with him.

In 1821 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Ohio militia, made a master mason, and licensed to practice by the supreme court, October 22. Then he started out to ride horseback to Natchez, but was swindled in a horse-trade, and having no money to better himself, took steamer from Louisville. Arriving at Natchez, he presented William B. Griffith, then a famous lawyer, a letter of introduction from his mother, and was given a place in his office. In the course of a year he became a partner. December 24, 1824, he married Eliza, daughter of Henry Turner, of Wood- lands, near Natchez, a brother of Judge Turner, whose daughter was the wife of Mr. Griffith. In 1827 Griffith died, and Quitman

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took as a partner John T. McMurran, a young man lately from Ohio. It was a time of great extravagance, fees were large, litiga- tion abundant, and the firm rapidly gained wealth and importance. Quitman established here his home of "Monmouth." He was a man of stalwart frame, with powerful fists that he occasionally used aggressively. The wealth he acquired he dispensed royally.

In 1827 he became a candidate for the legislature, independent of politics, against the redoubtable Adam L. Bingaman, and won the honor by his feats of wrestling, boxing, running and shooting as well as by other abilities. He revised the militia code, and in 1828 was unanimously elected chancellor of the State. "He was the youngest man that had ever been raised to a judicial office of such dignity in any part of the Republic. He sustained himself well in this very responsible position, and to the entire satisfaction of all parties." (H. S. Foote.)

He seems to have first plunged into national politics in 1831-32, when he declared for ultra State sovereignty, joining Poindexter in opposition to Jackson. He was a candidate for the constitutional convention in 1832, and elected. He framed those sections of the constitution of 1832 relating to the judiciary; he was also the author of the original draft of the section, modified before adoption, which restricted the pledging of the faith of the State in support of banking enterprises, etc. This section was appealed to in 1841 to relieve the State of the incubus of Union bank bonds. After the convention he was elected by popular vote as chancellor of the State.

In 1833 the cholera invaded the State and two of his children died. In 1834 he resigned the chancellorship. His biographer says "those who disputed his decisions never doubted his conscientious- ness and integrity." Sparks wrote, (Memories, 346) : "His admin- istration was weak and wild; a vast number of his decisions or awards in chancery were overruled, and in disgust or from a con- sciousness that a chancery judgeship was not his specialty, he re- signed." He was known as a leader of the small party of Nulli- fiers; when they met in convention at Jackson, May 21, 1834, he wrote their address to the people. He had a very slight following in that respect in Adams county, but he was so personally popular that in December, 1834, he was elected to the State senate. In 1835, when Gov. Runnels refused to serve more than two years, exactly, the senate was called in special session to elect a president, who should be acting governor, and Quitman was chosen. As acting-governor he served until the governor-elect was inaugurated in January following. He sent a message to the legislature, taking advantage of the opportunity in a way unique among the messages of the governors of Mississippi in that period, dwelling at some length on the subject of "federal relations," "Centralism," and slav- ery. He further declared that the Five per cent. fund from the sales of public land of the United States was not "a gift or donation." He suggested a doubt if congress had any right to impose condi- tions regarding the public lands when the State was admitted to

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the Union. In regard to the omission in the Chickasaw treaty to reserve the school sections, he advised that the State declare the "contract" with the United States violated, and levy taxes on the land in disregard of the agreement that new settlers should have five years of grace. He urged with great force establishment of common schools (see Education), the encouragement of railroads of manufacturing, and an increase of banking capital.

He declined appointment to the supreme court, and became pres- ident of a company organized to build a railroad from Natchez to Jackson. He wrote his brother that he was president of the State Rights association, of the Anti-Abolition society, of the Anti-Gambling society, of the Mississippi Cotton company, of the Anti-Duelling society, of the Railroad company, director of the Planters bank, grand master mason, captain of the Natchez Fencibles, trustee of Jefferson college and Natchez academy, be- sides having charge of a cotton and a sugar plantation and 150 negroes.

Quitman was a great expansionist-a devout believer in "mani- fest destiny." After his service as acting governor his main thought was of the war in Texas, in which he was anxious to take part. His darling passion was the military. April 21, 1824, he had organized the famous Natchez Fencibles, of which he was yet the captain. When the news reached Natchez, in March, 1836, that Sam Houston was retreating before Santa Anna in Texas, Capt. Quitman organized a company of volunteers and set out for Texas, reaching San Jacinto in time to join the jubilation over the defeat of the Mexican troops. To avoid the neutrality laws of the United States, he and Felix Huston published a statement that they were going to travel up the Red river, but there was no secrecy about their intentions. This adventure cost him $10,000, but the expen- diture was cheerfully made. Later in the year he was a candidate for congress, but was defeated by the Administration candidate, Gholson, the vote being 9,676 to 8,897. A canvass for congress at that time cost about $10,000.

In 1837 he was elected major-general of militia, over William M. Gwin. In 1839, in company with Judge Thatcher, he visited Europe to sell bonds of the Planters bank and the Mississippi rail- road company. After his return he was deeply embarrassed finan- cially, but a few years of practice as a partner of McMurran served to restore his prosperity. January 8, 1840, he was commissioned justice of the High court, to succeed P. R. R. Pray, but he declined the honor. Next came on the repudiation question. He had op- posed the chartering of the Union bank, and he now argued that the State, having sold the bonds and taken the money, was morally bound to redeem the bonds. He opposed McNutt in 1843 and de- nounced the unseating of Prentiss.

He expected to be elected to the United States senate as a result of Foote's campaign against McNutt in 1845, but Foote was the choice of the legislature. Quitman "was deeply stung with what he considered ingratitude, and had good reason to consider treach-

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ery, and for a period he expressed himself with bitterness." (Clai- borne.) On the other hand Foote had a complaint of ingratitude and treachery against Quitman in 1850. (Reminiscences, p. 352.) The military movements on the Rio Grande now absorbed attention, and as major-general of militia he tendered his services to the gov- ernor, in preparing for war. Gov. Brown responded, "It will be your right to have the first command in case of a call, and that right will be respected so far as I have anything to do with the matter." When congress authorized the general call for troops, May 13, 1846, Quitman was mourning the death of children. But he tendered

his services to President Polk on the 21st, and started to Wash- ington. Polk was chilly, but the pressure of friends secured Quit- man a commission as brigadier-general July 1, He was back at Natchez July 28 and visited his desolate home. In his diary he wrote: "I was saddened and depressed, and should have felt alone in the world, but the mild spirits of my lost children came to fill my heart. The little group of angels, John, Edward, Mary and Sarah, seemed to gather visibly about me, and my mind was soothed with gentle and tranquil visions." Reaching the Rio Grande in August, he was soon assigned to brigade command. (See Mexican War.) He and Worth led the two columns into Monterey that compelled its surrender. Quitman's horse was shot, and he received a contusion from a fragment of shell. He did not admire General Taylor, and disapproved the terms of capitu- lation, writing to that effect to Robert J. Walker, secretary of the treasury, when the administration was condemning Taylor, who was defended by Col. Jefferson Davis. Quitman was there for a war of conquest and subjugation and annexation of the entire republic of Mexico. For gallant and meritorious service at the battle of Monterey he was commissioned brevet major-general, September 23, 1846. In January, 1847, he was ordered, with almost all of Taylor's army, to report to Gen. Scott. He took part in the siege of Vera Cruz; was associated with Commodore Perry in the Alvarado campaign, spring of 1847, and secured "two fine Mexican guns of the calibre of 18 pounds," which he presented to the State in the spring of 1848. In March, 1847, congress voted him a sword "in testimony of the high sense entertained by congress of his gallantry and good conduct in storming Monterey," and April 14, 1847, he was commissioned in the full rank of major-general, United States army. While marching to the front of the column that was pushing toward the capital city, he received this commis- sion. Brevet Maj .- Gen. Worth continued in command of the ad- vance, however, and Gen. Quitman, who considered himself the officer next in rank to Gen. Scott, asked for command accordingly. Scott replied that he would have the new volunteer regiments, when they arrived, to fill up his division. He submitted to this sit- uation, though his command was only part of a brigade. During the battles ending with Churubusco, he was in command of the depot at San Augustin. In the attack upon the castle of Chapulte- pec he commanded the column that advanced along the Tacubaya

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 57

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