Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 72

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 72

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cers was the ostensible cause of remonstrance. Judging from the words used by Sargent, he gave little opportunity for mutual ex- planation and conciliation.

The timber for a jail at Natchez arrived by the river, in Novem- ber, 1798, and on the 24th Sargent directed Peter Walker and Lewis Evans to select a site for the building, advising them to take counsel with Judge Bruin. This was the first public building of the territory, except as the government put in use the buildings left by the Spaniards.

At the same time, Col. West having remonstrated against the location of the prison for the upper district at Uniontown, where the inhabitants had offered to donate the land and build the jail, West was requested to give information of some other suitable place.

Upon Wilkinson's departure, in the spring of 1799, Sargent took possession of the Spanish building he had desired, establishing the secretary there, and using a small residence attached as an office and legislative hall. He afterward sought to obtain the building used as a hospital for the Adams county courthouse, but Sheriff Lewis was rudely repulsed by Maj. Cushing, then in command, though its use was loaned for a sitting of the supreme court pre- vious to October, 1799. Cushing professed to care nothing for the opinions of the secretary of state; he took orders from the secre- tary of war.

As the year 1798 drew to a close Sargent entreated the govern- ment to hasten to make some provision for settling the land dis- putes and uncertainties. He was yet without judges, except Bruin. Every delay made the work of making laws more arduous. At first the people would have welcomed almost any laws under the United States, "but being almost in a state of nature since their emanci- pation, the very mildest statutes, I am apprehensive, may be con- sidered as oppressive." He begged for legislation for their relief. "I pray it for the sake of the people, for the fair reputation and dignity of the United States, and for my own honour, peace and quiet. I am here, sir, a mere cipher, and tortured by ten thousand evils, which I cannot remedy or redress. My situation is dis- tressing, and but for the continuance of hope would be truly wretched."

In January, 1799, he issued a proclamation forbidding foreigners to enter the territory without a passport, hoping to keep out the Louisiana fugitives from justice, and as Wilkinson was complain- ing of losing men by desertion there was some negotiation author- ized between that officer and Gayoso, which resulted in a conven- tion the terms of which Sargent disapproved, denying the military power of arrest. Out of this and other conflicts grew a relation between governor and general that was dangerous to the former, for the facile Wilkinson was to be a greater figure than ever under the next administration, and Sargent was quite unadaptable to change.

Judge Tilton arrived January 10, 1799, bringing the seal and

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commissions, but nothing else that Sargent had asked for. Sar- gent, Bruin and Tilton then set about the necessary legislation, "though with much regret on my part," he wrote the secretary of State, "at the want of the laws of the several States, as we must be compelled to form our code from the volumes of the Northwest- ern territory, which I by no means can be induced to believe a very good basis." He was diffident of his own law knowledge, and anxious for the aid of Judge McGuire. A printing press was then in operation, and the laws were printed by Lieut. Andrew Mar- schalk, of Fort Sargent, as fast as compiled. These laws provided for a system of courts (see Judiciary) and by proclamation, April 2, 1799, the counties of Pickering and Adams were established, with the county seats at Villa Gayoso and Natchez. The judicial system and county organization provided for a large number of appointments, in Adams county over thirty, in addition to the mili- tia appointments, and in Pickering a smaller number. There was not much opportunity for appointments in the general government. Bernard Lintot was made treasurer-general and William Williams keeper of the seal for the Territory.

Dissensions soon arose, which resulted in the appointment of a committee, which sent addresses to the governor and judges, and appointed Narsworthy Hunter as its agent to congress (see Com- mittee of 1799). In November the governor was agitated by ad- vices that the Marquis de Casa Calvo, at New Orleans, was making negotiations with the Choctaw Indians, and he and Agent John McKee busied themselves to meet whatever foreign complication might be at hand. The proceedings of the Committee regarding the government inspired unauthorized meetings for the election of militia officers, which the governor forbade in a solemn proclama- tion to the commanders, January 1, 1800. He declared that "de- termined systematic opposition to sovereign will, as expressed in the ordinance for the government of the Mississippi territory and the laws which have been adopted by the constituted authorities, is a crime of so very alarming a tendency that I pray God this people may never commit it. The constitution requiring I should appoint all officers, I shall not directly or indirectly vio- late the trust."

Early in 1800 the Territory had a newspaper, the Mississippi Gazette, and a post route was established from Natchez to Knox- ville.

The territorial judges and governor convened again in a legis- lative capacity in May, 1800, when the governor advised that the inadvertent provisions of forfeiture of property as a punishment for treason and arson should be repealed. He had received the laws of New Hampshire, North Carolina and Kentucky, which it was hoped would be found useful.

It seems to be admitted on both sides, on occasion, that there was much lawlessness among the floating element during this period, though Messrs. West and Hunter contended it was not so before. Gov. Sargent frequently made caustic references to the

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subject. In a letter to Justice Daniel Clark, in June, 1800, he al- ludes to a case in which a Mr. Fero seems to have suffered. Gen. Wilkinson was interested in securing justice, and Sargent con- fessed horror at the atrociousness of the offense. "I would to God for the honor of our government there remained equal hope of the due investigation for the manifold outrages upon decorum and the municipal laws. . . I believe in your sympathy and ex- treme mortification at that apathy which has so strangely marked our character during the administration of the government of the United States-repeated murders (or I am misinformed) have passed unnoticed, though attended by circumstances of high ag- gravation." He also called attention to the "abominable" custom of duelling. One may infer from the laws, that the frontier cus- toms of "gouging" and other forms of mutilation were not un- known. The negroes had a good deal of freedom to make Saturday nights and Sundays hideous at Natchez, and the Indians, presuming upon the tardiness of the government in making treaties with them, imposed seriously upon the good nature of the settlements. Writing to William Dunbar, upon his resignation after the election in 1800, the governor said: "The murders, robberies and other enormous crimes committed within this terri- tory, and which have far exceeded any thing within my observa- tion in much more populous countries, imperiously command the collected wisdom and energy of the government to 'suppress.'"

The agitation before Congress by Hunter as the representative of the Committee resulted in a supplementary act establishing a general assembly in the Territory, and providing for an amicable satisfaction and extinction of the Georgia claims of domain. The settlers on the Tensas and Tombigbee rivers, in the ancient district of Mobile, formed the only settlement in the vast territory, outside of the Natchez district, and they were to be given one representa- tive among the nine in the house of representatives, and the two counties having four apiece. The governor hastened therefore to establish the county of Washington June 4, embracing all the terri- tory east of Pearl river, with the county seat at McIntosh's bluff. June 24 he called an election of representatives in the three coun- ties, to be held at the county seats on the fourth Monday of July, under the supervision of the sheriffs. Notice was also given that under the ordinance of 1787 a candidate for representative must have been a citizen of the United States for three years and be the owner of 200 acres of land, while a voter must have been a resident for two years and owner of fifty acres. These restrictions disqualified many from voting and more from election, as the oath of allegiance was generally administered in 1798. The representa- tives met September 22, at the government house in Natchez, and the session was stormy, as the opponents of the governor had carried the elections. (See General Assembly.)

Cato West, Thomas M. Green, John Burnet, Thomas Calvit, Henry Hunter and James Hoggett, were the names of the mem- bers called to meet in September, 1800. Anthony Hutchins and

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Sutton Bankes seem to have been elected, but the governor ques- tioned their right to seats, on the ground that they were not citi- zens of three years' standing. The house solicited the opinion of the judges on the subject of Hutchins. Washington county's elec- tion was too late to make McGrew's title to a seat acceptable to the legislature. William Dunbar, who had been a candidate in Adams county, declined to make a contest on the ground of dis- qualification of his opponents, as he was himself also disqualified under the citizenship requirement. He retired from the offices in which he had been serving the public.

The governor evidently made attempts to be conciliatory, but probably destroyed the effects of this by his effort to contest the election. There was a general disagreement between the gover- nor and representatives, illustrated by a handbill addressed to the people by the latter, signed unanimously, in November, and a vig- orous reply by the governor, which seems to relate to the election of Narsworthy Hunter as delegate to congress.

A movement was put on foot for a suspension of the act of con- gress. On account of the restrictions upon voters by the ordi- nance of 1787, the total vote in Adams county was only 142, in Pickering 92 and in Washington 72. This indicated an unfair apportionment. Besides, as Sargent wrote, Men of character and property, professional and commercial men, were denied suffrage. "Englishmen, Spaniards and apostacized Americans, it is morti- fyingly believed, are with a few exceptions the only persons en- titled to this privilege."

The grand jury of Adams county in November, Benjamin Far- rar, J. Pannele, Robert More, William Dunbar, jr., M. Stackpole, William Lewis, Nathan Swayze, Solomon Hopkins, Jeremiah Routh, Elias Fisher, Samuel Larms, Richard Swayze, recom- mended the suspension of the act of congress because it imposed a great expense upon a country already overburdened. Consequently a memorial to congress, to that effect, was circulated and signed by more than 400 inhabitants. (See Memorial of 1800.)

When the news of the election and inauguration of President Jefferson had reached Natchez, Sargent, early in April, 1801, ap- plied for leave of absence, as had been promised him when the government should be organized. Before taking his leave he was the recipient of appreciative addresses from the territorial judges, secretary and "most of the principal inhabitants," and from Lieut .- Col. Gaither, officers of the army at Fort Adams, and the gentle- men of their vicinity. In his response to the latter the governor, speaking with more than ordinary feeling, said: "The hosanna of the multitude has in no country been my lot, nor indeed has it ever been my desire ; but I had fondly hoped that, in a community of so much urbanity and politeness, my well meant endeavors should at least have shielded me from the cross." He sailed by way of New Orleans, reached Boston in May, and visited Presi- dent Jefferson on the 30th of that month ; but the appointment had already been made out to congressman W. C. C. Claiborne, though

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not yet announced. A letter from the department of state, June 16, advised him that the law provided that the secretary was au- thorized to act as governor only in cases of his death, removal, resignation or necessary absence, and inasmuch as his term ex- pired May 7, an emergency existed demanding an immediate appointment. "The various, and some of them delicate considera- tions, which at present mingle themselves with the designation of the individual for this purpose, have rendered it expedient, in the judgment of the president, that the station should be filled by an- other than yourself, whose administration, with whatever meritor- ious intentions conducted, has not been so fortunate as to secure the general harmony, and the mutual attachment between the people and the public functionaries, so particularly necessary for the prosperity and happiness of an infant establishment. In com- municating this determination, I have the pleasure to be authorized by the president, to add, that he wishes it to be understood, as not conveying any definitive opinion whatever with respect to your official or personal conduct, which might wound your feelings, or throw a blot on your character. With great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, James Madison."

Sartinville, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Pike county, about 22 miles from Magnolia, the county seat. Population in 1900, 32.

Satartia, a village of Yazoo county, situated on the Yazoo river, 20 miles southwest of Yazoo City, the county seat and the nearest banking town. It is 32 miles northeast of Vicksburg. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 146; population in 1906 was about 200. It has several good general stores, churches, a Masonic lodge, and excellent schools.

Saucier, a post-hamlet in the central part of Harrison county, on the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 18 miles north of Gulfport. Mc- Henry is the nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice and express office. Population in 1900, 110 ; estimated at 200 in 1906.

Saukum, a post-hamlet in the northeastern part of Wilkinson county, 14 miles from Woodville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 20.

Saulsbury, a post-hamlet in the western part of Lawrence county, about 10 miles southwest of Monticello, the county seat. Popula- tion in 1900, 25.

Sauvolle. M. de Sauvolle de la Villantray, poet, orator and sol- dier, was one of the most accomplished officers that ever went to Louisiana. Of high birth and fortune, he preferred a life of activ- ity to one of ease, and when he learned that M. d'Iberville was about to sail to Louisiana, he asked permission to join the expedi- tion. When d'Iberville had established his colony at Biloxi and protected them with a fort, he left for France in May, 1699, and appointed Sauvolle and Bienville his lieutenants during his ab- sence ; the first to command the fort, and the other as superintend- ent of the colony. When d'Iberville returned from France to the

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Mississippi in January, 1900, he brought commissions for the offi- cers of the colony. Sauvolle was made governor, Bienville .lieu- tenant and Boisbriant major. During the administration of Gov. Sauvolle, he was chiefly engaged in carrying out the instructions of d'Iberville with reference to the exploration of the Mississippi, and other streams of the surrounding country, and in perfecting friendly relations with the several Indian tribes, such as the Biloxis, Moctobis, Pascagoulas, Baiagoulas. He sent an expedition over- land to the Natchez to ascertain its distance from Biloxi, and the character of the intervening country. They reported they had found one river four days journey from the fort, which they be- lieved to be the Colapissas (Pearl) ; that the country of the Natchez was a beautiful region and that it was 50 leagues from here. In regard to pearls he writes that he had never actually seen any, but had been informed there were a great many in the Colapissas river. It was during his administration as governor that Bienville saw, at what has since been called the "English Turn," a small English vessel carrying 16 guns and commanded by Captain Barr, and induced the Englishman to return to the Gulf, either by per- suading him that the French were already well established on the Mississippi, or by the impudent assertion that the river was not the Mississippi at all, and the river he sought lay farther to the west. Governor Sauvolle has left us a narrative of great interest in his Historical Journal, because it gives the details of what took place when the first colony on Mississippi soil was established. His career in the new world was short and brilliant. August 21, 1701, he succumbed to the malignant fever which had devastated the ranks of the new colony, and was succeeded by the young Bien- ville.

There is no evidence from the letters or journal of M. de Sau- volle de la Villantray, that he was a brother of d'Iberville and Bienville, though often so stated by American historians. (See His. Coll. of La., p. 111, second series.) The same fact may be inferred from d'Iberville's letter of July 3, 1699, to Le Compte de Pontchartrain, wherein he says: "I left M. de Sauvol, naval ensign, in command, who is a man of merit, and capable of fulfilling his duty ; my brother, De Bienville, as King's Lieutenant, the Sieur Levasseur, a Canadian, as Major, with M. de Bordenac, the Chap- lain of the Badine, and eighty men as garrison."

Savage, a postoffice of Tunica county, on the Coldwater river, and a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 12 miles southeast of Tunica, the county seat and nearest banking town.

Savoy, a hamlet in the southern part of Lauderdale county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., S miles south of Meridian. The postoffice at this place was recently discontinued and mail now goes to Sterling.

Saw, a postoffice of Neshoba county, 8 miles west of Philadelphia, the county seat.

Sayle, a postoffice of Yalobusha county.

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Schlater, a village of Leflore county, on the Tallahatchie branch of the Southern Ry., 1 mile east of the old town of McNutt, and 12 miles northwest of Greenwood, the county seat. It has a money order postoffice, and two banks. Population in 1900, 100.

Schley, a postoffice of Simpson county, about 16 miles southwest of Mendenhall.

School System, Public. The land act of Congress of 1803 re- served from sale section No. 16 in every township of thirty-six sections, for the support of schools. Under this law there "might have been" now available to rent for the support of common schools, 835,000 acres of land. But most of this area was long ago leased for 99 years, for petty sums soon spent, and 174,500 acres were sold and the proceeds put in a fund which was used by the State, and on which the State yet pays interest, and has paid- millions. (See Sixteenth Sections and Chickasaw School Fund.) Congress, in the same act, donated 36 sections, or 23,040 acres, for the endowment of Jefferson college, also some land at Nat- chez. In 1815 there was a further donation of thirty-six sections, renewed in 1819, for the support of "a seminary of learning." This was the beginning of the Seminary fund (q. v.). Many years later there was another donation to endow an Agricultural college, which also became a State debt, instead of a source of revenue. The first State legislation, in 1818, authorized the justices of the county courts in each county, "to take charge of the lands given by the United States to the State of Mississippi," and provide for the erection of one or more schools, etc. For subsequent legisla- tion, see Sixteenth Sections. One famous school was founded, Franklin academy, at Columbus, in 1821. As to the status of edu- cation in the early days of the State, Governor Poindexter's mes- sage of 1821 is direct testimony. He had collected information from every county, and reported : "There is scarcely a seminary of learning among us worthy of the name; perhaps not one. The rudiments of the English language are taught in a few private schools dispersed over a wide extent of country, and even these meet with poor encouragement, and are often conducted by in- competent teachers. Jefferson college, which has been so richly endowed by the general government, and on which our liberality has been so freely bestowed, is comparatively an empty dome with pensioned preceptors." He recommended the legislature to cre- ate "a Literary Fund, to be raised by a moderate county tax annually," with three commissioners in each county to educate poor orphan children and care for the fund, so that it might ac- cumulate to a permanent capital for the maintenance of schools.

Accordingly the act of November 26, 1821, evidently written by Poindexter, created the Literary Fund, which was to receive "all escheats, confiscations, forfeitures, and all personal property accru- ing to the State as derelict," all fines not otherwise appropriated, and unclaimed estates. A State tax equal to one-sixth of the gen- eral levy, was imposed, and taxes against non-residents were ap- propriated to the fund. The governor and certain other State

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officers, presiding judge of the supreme court, chancellor, and three appointees, were to be incorporated as "President and Di- rectors of the Literary Fund." They could appoint an agent in each county, and five school commissioners. They were to send a committee once a year to inspect all educational institutions, and see that teachers in seminaries were qualified to teach the Greek and Latin languages. Above all it was their duty to "im- press on the minds of the children and youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety, justice and a sacred regard to truth, love to their country, humanity and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, chastity, modera- tion and temperance, and those other virtues which are the orna- ment of human society and the basis upon which the republican constitution is structured."

"Thus Mississippi stands foremost in the South and West, in this truly munificent design," said a contemporary newspaper. But the law seems to have been unpopular, as the tax of 6 per cent. was repealed and the money collected refunded to the coun- ties, by the legislature of January, 1823. The literary fund and its agents, and the township trustees of the school lands were sep- arate and distinct. The school land fund has always been a local affair, occasionally subject to special legislation, in individual cases.

White Turpin, treasurer of Jefferson college, was appointed escheator-general of the State in 1823, but Governor Brandon re- ported in 1827 that the duties of the office, the collection of escheats, had been entirely neglected except in the officer's home county. The Literary fund amounted to $8,844 in 1826, mostly loaned out at 10 per cent. On the suggestion of Governor Bran- don, the investment of the fund was ordered to be made in 120 shares of stock in the Bank of Mississippi. At the close of 1830, $30,000 had been invested in bank stock, and with a tax of one- tenth in operation, it was estimated that in two years a distribu- tion of dividends could be made.

In 1829, by authority of the legislature, Governor Brandon ap- pointed Peter A. Van Dorn, William Dowsing and James Y. Mc- Nabb as "agents to inquire into all the means and resources of this State which may or can be applied to the purposes of a gen- eral system of education suited to the various local interests of the citizens." Their report was submitted to a com- mittee of the House in 1830, Walter W. New, chairman, which reported full approval of the views of the agents of the supreme importance of primary schools, in order "to lessen the wide gap between the educated and the ignorant, and as placing it in the power of all to become acquainted with and consequently to appreciate the rights, privileges and blessings of an American citi- zen." But the committee could not approve the plan of appro- priating all the balance in the treasury to a school fund; instead "this legislature cannot adopt a wiser or more salutary policy, than to revive the Literary Fund law, as laying a better foundation

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· than any system which has been proposed or which has suggested itself." Later in the same year, the governor again noted the revival of education. Private schools and academies were springing up in every county.

In 1833 the Literary fund amounted to $50,000 in Planters Bank stock, and an apportionment of the same among the counties that. had contributed to it, was made, the fund to remain a part of the funded stock of the bank. Investments in the same stock were continued. Acting-Governor Quitman, in his message of 1836, said :

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 72

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