Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 77

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 77

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Senator Alcorn was succeeded by L. Q. C. Lamar, elected Jan- uary 19, 1876, for the term 1877-83, the two houses voting separ-

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ately and meeting in joint session to compare results. The aggre- gate was Lamar 114, blank 24. Lamar was reelected without op- position for the term 1883-89, but resigned March 5, 1885, to enter Mr. Cleveland's cabinet. In his place Gen. E. C. Walthall was ap- pointed March 7, 1885, by Gov. Lowry, and when the legislature met in 1886, he was elected for the remainder of the term, and afterward for the term 1889-95. One of the provisions of the Constitution of 1890 is that elections for full terms of six years can take place only at regular sessions, which are held once in four years, though elec- tions to fill vacancies can be made at special sessions. As Senator George's term would expire in 1893, and Senator Walthall's in 1895, both Senators were reelected at the regular session in 1892, Walthall for the term, 1895-1901. January 18, 1894, Senator Walt- hall, on account of ill health, resigned the remainder of the term ending March 4, 1895, and the legislature, being in special session, elected A. J. McLaurin for the unexpired period. General Walthall resumed his seat, March 4, 1895, and served till his death, April 21, 1898. May 28 the governor appointed Will Van Amberg Sullivan for the unexpired term. In January, 1900, the two houses failed to concur in a joint session to count the vote for senator for the terms ending and beginning March 4, 1901. But Mr. Sullivan was elected for the remainder of General Walthall's term; and for the full term, Governor McLaurin was elected. Senator McLaurin was reelected in January, 1904, for the term beginning March 4, 1907.

Senator McLaurin is in the Williams-Walker-Foote-Brown-Al- corn-Lamar line of succession ; Senator Money in the Leake-Black- Adams-Davis-Sharkey-George line.

In 1898 Governor McLaurin in his regular message recommended a memorial to congress asking for an amendment to the constitution requiring election of senators by the voters of each State. He said : "Between plutocracy and democracy there can be no harmony. They are in constant conflict in every land until one or the other prevails. Every advantage gained and fortified is an incentive to further and more vigorous aggression on the part of the victor, while it correspondingly demoralizes and weakens the loser. Every change which puts the election of their officers more directly in the hands of the people gives them greater strength and more power and influence in public affairs."

Under the primary election law of 1902 senators are nominated at the party primary elections, which, so far, have been held only by the Democratic party. At the first primary election under this law; in 1903, Senator McLaurin received 71,650 votes without opposi- tion, and the vote for the term 1905-11 was H. D. Money 59,758, A. H. Longino 36,121.

Service, a post-hamlet of Jones county, on the Laurel branch of the Gulf & Ship Island R. R., 6 miles northwest of Laurel, the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 20.

Sessions, Joseph, a member of the constitutional convention of 1817, was born in Sampson county, N. C., and came to the Missis- sippi Territory in 1801 as a surveyor. He married the daughter of

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Joshua Howard, who had settled on Sandy Creek when Natchez district was under the British government. He was a member of the Territorial council in 1806-08, and of the lower house in 1811- 12; declined the command of the First regiment of militia, to suc- ceed F. L. Claiborne in 1807, was appointed aide-de-camp to the governor in 1809, and rendered important services during the war of 1813-15. He was elected representative from Adams county vice Wm. Snodgrass, resigned, in 1814, served in 1817-19 and was sena- tor in 1821-22. Col. Sessions was the son of Richard Sessions, who lived and died in Sampson county, N. C., and his mother was Esther Boone, a niece of Daniel Boone. Jesse, a younger brother of Joseph, followed him to Mississippi. His son, Maj. J. F. Sessions, an officer of Powers' cavalry regiment, was elected to the railroad commis- sion in 1886.

Sessums, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Oktibbeha county, on the Columbus branch of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 7 miles by rail from Starkville, the county seat and nearest banking town. It has a money order postoffice. Population in 1900, 27.

Shands, Garvin D., was born December 5, 1844 in Spartanburg district, S. C. He was the oldest son of Anthony C. and his wife Frances J. (Ferguson) Shands. He was reared at the family home in South Carolina and educated at Woodford college in that State. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in Manigault's battalion, and at the end of one year in the 6th S. C. cavalry. His command did service guarding the port of Charleston until 1864, when they were transferred to Virginia for service under Gen. Wade Hamp- ton. He was in all of Hampton's battles from May, 1864, until the surrender, when he was with Johnston's army at Hillsboro, N. C. In 1867 he removed to Panola county, Miss., where he engaged in teaching and read law for two years. He went to Tate county in 1869 and took his law degree at the University of Kentucky in 1870. He opened an office at Senatobia, where he built up an ex- tensive practice. He was a member of the legislature from 1876 to 1880; was lieutenant-governor of Mississippi from 1882 to 1890, and in 1894 became professor of law in the University of Missis- sippi.

In 1906 he resigned to accept a similar position in Tulane Uni- versity.

In 1870 Gov. Shands was married to Mary E., daughter of W. D. Roseborough. They have five children. Their eldest son, Hubert A., became fellow in English literature at the University of Mis- sippi at the early age of eighteen.

Shankstown, an extinct town in Jefferson county, 6 miles north of the historic old town of Greenville. In the early days the hotel of the place was kept by a Mr. Shanks, who gave the settlement its name. It was never regularly platted, but had a large number of business houses, a few stores, and a number of shops.

Shannon, an incorporated post-town in the southern part of Lee county, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, 60 miles south of Corinth, and 8 miles south of Tupelo, the county seat and nearest banking

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town. The town is prosperous and growing rapidly. Population in 1900, 434.

Sharkey, a post-hamlet of Tallahatchie county, on the Yazoo river, 15 miles southwest of Charleston, the county seat. Popula- tion in 1900, 51.

Sharkey County was organized late in the history of the State, March 29, 1876, and received its name in honor of Judge William L. Sharkey, provisional Governor of the State in 1865. The county has a land surface of 438 square miles. It was carved from territory formerly belonging to the two counties of Washington and Issa- quena (q. v.), has a long, irregular shape, and lies entirely in the Mississippi Bottom, in the west central part of the State. Deer creek runs entirely through the county. It is bounded on the north by Washington county, on the east by Yazoo county, the Yazoo river and the Big Sunflower forming part of the crooked boundary line, on the south by Issaquena county and on the west by Washington and Issaquena counties. It is an exceedingly rich and fertile district, but is still sparsely settled with a population largely composed of negroes. The last decade, however, has seen a large increase in population-about 25 per cent. according to the census returns for 1900. The first officers of the county were, J. H. Robertson, Sheriff; T. C. Watson, County Treasurer; J. G. Davis, Assessor and Collector; Henry Pickard, Clerk of the Chan- cery and Circuit Courts; Col. W. T. Barnard, President; J. A. C. Shrader, Eugene Clark, A. P. Ferguson, D. Hunt, were members of the Board of Supervisors, appointed by the act which created the county, and Rolling Fork was made the county seat by the same act. There are no large towns in the county, the largest being the county seat, Rolling Fork, which is a town of 1,000 people, in the west central part, on the line of the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Val. R. R. The Y. & M. V. R. R., traverses the county from north to south and other towns along its line are Anguilla (pop. 300), Cary (pop. 101), Egremont, Blanton, Smedes, Nitta- yuma, Cameta, and Panther Burn. The streams in the county are Deer creek, Little Sunflower and Big Sunflower rivers, navigable for the greater portion of the year. The surface of the land is level and the soil is alluvial, for the most part "buckshot," with some sandy soil on the bayous and creeks. It produces abundant crops of cotton, corn, oats, potatoes, sorghum, and all fruits and vegetables common to this latitude. With careful cultivation, from one to two bales of cotton, and thirty to sixty bushels of corn per acre can be grown. The timber consists of white and red oak, cottonwood, pecan, cypress, red and sweet gum. Pasturage is ex- cellent and stock thrive here all through the year. Churches and schools (separate for the two races) are found all over the county. The healthfulness of the region has been distinctly bettered within the last few years by tapping the underlying basin for artesian water. Possessed of the richest soil to be found in the world, and with excellent shipping facilities by rail and water, this county should continue to grow in wealth and population.

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The following statistics, taken from the twelfth U. S. census for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population: Number of farms 2,043, acreage in farms 80,362, acres improved 61,115, value of land exclusive of buildings $2,222,100, value of buildings $463,- 300, value of live stock $416,466, value of products not fed to stock $1,356,880. Number of manufacturing establishments 44, capital invested $156,041, wages paid $12,959, cost of materials $45,586, total value of products $115,021. The population in 1900 consisted of whites 1,549, colored 10,729, total 12,178, increase over 1890, 3,796. The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Sharkey county in 1905 was $1,613,889 and in 1906 it was $1,750,- 517 which shows an increase of $136,628 during the year.

Sharkey, William Lewis, Chief Justice of Mississippi from 1832 to 1850, was born near the Mussel Shoals of the Holston river on the East Tennessee path from the Atlantic coast to the Natchez in the year 1797, at a period when the demand was being made upon the Spanish government for the surrender of Mississippi to the United States. He was of Irish ancestry, from which he inherited the characteristic wit and fortitude. His father, Patrick Sharkey, a native of Ireland immigrated to America with his brother Michael, who afterwards held the rank of captain under Washing- ton. After the Revolution, Patrick Sharkey sought the Indian border along the Holston. He married the daughter of a German frontiersman, who bore him three sons: William Lewis, Jacob Rhodes and James Elliott. William early developed great strength of character. Born amid the wild splendor of nature, his life par- took of the environments of his birth, commingling the quiet majes- ty of the river with the loftiness of the rugged mountains. In 1803 the Sharkey family migrated to the famed Natchez country and set- tled on a little farm, in what is'at present Warren county, near the now extinct town of Warrenton, the first county seat. While yet a lad, William offered his service to the army, and participated in the battle of New Orleans. His parents, unable to stand the con- ditions of a new country, having died, quite early the boy was forced to provide for himself and orphaned brothers. By his own exertions he was enabled to attend college at Greenville, Tenn., and later to read law at Lebanon. Having a decided taste for the profession of law he continued its study under Judge Edward Turner at Natchez. In 1822 he was admitted to the bar and opened an office at Warrenton in 1825. When the county seat was moved from that place to Vicksburg he located there and formed a partnership with John I. Guion. His education was not scholastic in the full meaning of the term, but possessing great native intellect and being an unwearying student his progress to fame was rapid, and he was soon recognized as the ablest lawyer at the Vicksburg bar.

His first public office was that of a member of the legislature, 1828-29, when he was an influential member of the judiciary com- mittee ; he was afterwards elected circuit judge. In 1832 the second constitutional convention was held in Mississippi; the constitution adopted in 1817, in many respects, needed revision. One of the pro-

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visions of the new constitution was the establishment of a High Court of Errors and Appeals, the three judges to be elected by the people for a term of six years each, one of whom was to be Chief Justice. Judge Sharkey, though strongly opposed to an elective judiciary, claiming that the supreme judgeship should be above the whims and caprices of the people, was chosen one of the three members of the High Court of Errors and Appeals. In that posi- tion he sternly opposed the popular policy of repudiation of the Union Bank Bonds. At the Convention of the anti-repudiation party at Jackson June, 1843, he would have been nominated for governor had it not been for an appeal from S. S. Prentiss, who de- clared that Judge Sharkey could not be spared from the bench at such a time. He was associated during his first term on the supreme bench with Judges D. W. Wright and Cotesworth Pinck- ney Smith. These three being the first judges elected to this position by the sovereign vote of the people. Judge Sharkey's associates chose him for Chief Justice, which exalted office he filled for four successive terms.

In 1849 a discussion of slavery agitated the minds of the people. Should slavery be allowed in the newly acquired territory on the Pacific, was the question of the hour. At a convention held in Jackson, Miss., in October, 1849, a call was issued for a convention of the Southern States to meet at Nashville, Tenn. in June of the following year. Judge Sharkey was chosen president of this con- vention. The distinguished jurist believed that he saw in the situ- ation a question of equity between the States of the Union and stood by his convictions with a fine courage and commendable zeal. Referring to his attitude upon this occasion Foote says: "He evinced a mingled courage and wisdom that tended much to calm the excitement of that body and commanded the respect of all true lovers of their country."

The political career of Judge Sharkey is a subject of great inter- est, and one which has in the past elicited much comment, favorable and adverse. Some have lauded him highly as a jurist and excori- ated him as a politician. In political faith he was an Old Line Whig, strictly adhering to its doctrine. As an accepted adherent of this party he was proffered a position in the cabinet of President Taylor in 1848, but declined the honor, preferring to remain on the supreme bench of Mississippi. He was a close personal friend of Henry Clay and warmly advocated the political principles of the Great Pacificator. He was one of that distinguished coterie of Whigs in Mississippi, of whom S. S. Prentiss, William Yerger, and Alexander K. McClung were prominent leaders.

Oct. 1, 1850, Judge Sharkey resigned his office as Chief Justice and returned to the practice of law, locating for that purpose at Jackson. It has been said that he was moved to this step by pecuniary embarrassment growing out of the insufficient salaries at that time allowed the judiciary of the State. After retiring from the bench, he built a home on the plot of ground, now known as Poindexter Park, in the western portion of Jackson; and there in

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the society of his amiable wife, and cultured and brilliant adopted daughter, Fannie (later the wife of Col. Charles E. Hooker), he spent the leisure and restful moments of his long and eventful career. He was not, however, permitted to remain in the seclusion of home enjoyments more than a few brief days at a time, but was constantly called to public service. It was about this time that he was invited by President Fillmore to serve as Consul to Havana and adjust complications which had grown out of filibustering ex- peditions ; but, finding that the emoluments of the position had been exaggerated he resigned and resumed his practice. "In the critical year of 1850," says Foote, "he visited Washington City and was able to make many valuable suggestions to individual congress- men that tended to pacify the rising storm of sectional strife." He was at this time tendered by President Fillmore the office of sec- - retary of war which he promptly declined, alleging his inexperience in such a public function, and leaving the capital hurriedly to avoid solicitation. In 1858 he exerted his powerful influence to prevent the adoption by the State of the policy of the Vicksburg Conven- tion in favor of the re-opening of the African slave trade. He had long before construed the constitution of 1832 as absolutely pro- hibiting the importation of negro slaves into Mississippi as mer- chandise.

Thus, though not aggressive in an obnoxious sense of the term, we find him always a fearless thinker, who refused to enslave him- self to public opinion. He was a man of decided personality and so attracted men and inspired them with confidence, that, in hours of necessity when a strong man was wanted they chose him with- out thought of his private opinion or political bias. In a character sketch of him Rowland says: "In personal appearance Judge Sharkey was a man of commanding and distinguished presence, with great personal dignity and sincerity of manner, and with the look of conscious power upon him. His career as a Judge was marked by great common sense, sound judgment and a profound sense of justice. Though not what we call learned in the science of the law, his knowledge of it was extensive ; his mental equipment was intensely legal, and he was quick to grasp the facts and apply the law. On the bench he was patient, kind and attentive, and in the discharge of all public duties was fearless, conscientious and faithful."

In 1854, under an act of the legislature William L. Sharkey, William L. Harris and Henry T. Ellett were appointed to revise, * digest and codify the laws of the State. The work was completed and presented to the legislature in 1856; was adopted by that and a succeeding session and printed in 1857. In the matter of seces- sion Judge Sharkey was a Unionist, and, though his loyalty to his State and section was never questioned he remained true to his conviction as long as he lived. Of his position upon the question of slavery Foote sympathetically says: "His known devotion to the Union and aversion to uncalled for civil strife exposed him to no little discomfort and harassment during the late, most deplorable

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sectional conflict ; but those lofty attributes of character which ali knew him to possess, and his patient and dignified conduct through- out that trying period caused him to be loved and respected by all virtuous and well-intending citizens far more than he had ever been before, and when the clash of arms had at last ceased to be heard in the land, and the people of Mississippi were seeking to be reconciled to the government against which they had been arrayed, and to be readmitted into that sisterhood of States from which they had for a time severed their connection, it was under the coun- sel and leadership of this venerable and trusted personage that those desirable objects were ultimately obtained."

In 1865 Gov. Clark appointed William L. Sharkey and William Yerger commissioners of the State to go to Washington to propose a method of reconstruction. After they had accepted the North Carolina plan, Judge Sharkey was appointed by President John- son provisional governor of the State. Johnson and Sharkey were both from the State of Tennessee, a circumstance which worked greatly in the latter's favor. Governor Sharkey's commission, however, was complicated and his position perplexing. His office was partly civic and partly military. Gen. Osterhaus, commander of the Department of Mississippi, was to cooperate with him in re- storing and maintaining order in the State. Gov. Sharkey was to receive a salary of $3,000 to be paid by the United States govern- ment, which he refused, saying that he would look to his people for compensation for his services. He came in conflict with the military authorities the first week of his incumbency, and the Jackson Daily News wished to know who was the Governor, Sharkey, Slocum or Osterhaus. The people of the State stood solidly with Governor Sharkey, and aided him in the performance of his duties to the extent of their ability. He issued a call for a constitutional convention to make the constitution of Mississippi accord with the existing constitution of the United States as the President had outlined. The Convention was held, and was har- monious and orderly. Governor Sharkey and James L. Alcorn were chosen United States Senators; but congress repudiated President Johnson's plan of reconstruction and the senators-elect from Mississippi, along with those of the other Southern States, were refused seats in the Senate. Gov. Sharkey accepted this de- feat of his patriotic efforts with his usual dignity, and quietly resumed his practice at Jackson. He died in Washington City March 30, 1873. His remains were brought to Jackson and allowed to rest in state in the rotunda of the old Capitol for the last honors of a sorrowing people. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery of Jackson and there were present at his funeral many distinguished men from all parts of the State. The resolutions of the supreme court, adopted May 19, 1873, referred to his life as one "made honorable and distinguished by great public service, which con- ferred enduring public benefit," and recalled his integrity, firmness and independence; the mingled dignity and courtesy of his bear- ing on the bench; the simplicity, decorum and purity of his priv-

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ate life; his steadfast devotion to constitutional liberty and his pure and elevated patriotism.

The memorial in Morris' State Cases classes Sharkey among the great lawyers who have been the authors of the best precedents and continues, "Their acts are the precedents themselves, which grow brighter with receding years; and to them the advocate of the oppressed shall turn in ages to come and find encouragement and strength in the struggle for the right. It is upon such founda- tion that must forever rest the pure fame of a Hardwicke and a Mansfield. And upon it, with still more commanding consequence to those respectively concerned, must rest the claims of such men as John Marshall and William L. Sharkey."

Sharkey's Administration. William L. Sharkey was appointed provisional governor of Mississippi, by proclamation of President - Andrew Johnson, as commander-in-chief of the army, following the deposition of General Clark, who had been elected governor during the Confederate States period. He was notified of his ap- pointment June 13, 1865, and on July 1 issued a proclamation to his "fellow citizens of the State of Mississippi."

"The President of the United States, by virtue of the power vested in him by the Constitution of the United States, has been pleased to appoint the undersigned Provisional Governor of the State of Mississippi, 'for the purpose of enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State Government, whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and loyal citizens pro- tected in all their rights of life, liberty and property.' And, to accomplish that object, has directed me, 'at the earliest practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening a Convention of Delegates, to be chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering and amending the Constitution thereof,' so that the State may be able to resume its place in the Union. And being anxious to carry out the wishes of the President, and to restore the dominion of civil government as speedily as possible, I do hereby ordain and declare as follows."

To avoid delay the governor directed the county and municipal judges and other officials in office May 22 to resume their duties, reserving the right to remove any one not loyal to the United States government, and requiring each one to take the amnesty oath. There were several classes of people, mainly those of high office under the Confederacy, who were excepted from amnesty except by special pardon by the president. These were excluded from office, until pardoned, as many were through the recom- mendation of the governor. This prompt county reorganization was essential to the holding of an election for a constitutional con- vention, set in this proclamation for August 7, the convention to meet August 14. For the suppression of lawlessness the people were exhorted to cooperate with the commanding general, who had put his troops at the service of the governor. Citizens in re-

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 77

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