USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II > Part 88
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the same day Judge Stockton resigned. There was no personal feeling in the matter. He was elected attorney-general of the State at the same session, (Jan. 25, 1826) and he held this office until his death in 1827, dying, says Lynch (Bench and Bar, 92- 99) in a duel at New Orleans.
Stokely, a postoffice of Coahoma county.
Stokes, a postoffice of Madison county.
Stone, a postoffice in the north-central part of Neshoba county, 6 miles north of Philadelphia, the county seat.
Stone, John Marshall, deceased, was born near Milan, Gibson county, Tenn., April 30, 1830; son of Asher and Judith (Royall) Stone, natives respectively of Pittsylvania and Halifax counties, Va. Asher Stone, who died in Carroll county, Tenn., Sept. 20, 1841, was the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Whitworth) Stone, of Pittsyl- vania county, Va .; Isaac Stone was the son of William Stone, who served during the Revolution in the Virginia State troops. William was born in 1845 and was the son of Joshua Stone, the first Amer- ican settler of the family. He resided in Prince Edward county, Va., where he reared a large family, some of whom migrated to Kentucky and other Southern states. Judith, mother of John M. Stone, was the daughter of Richard Royall, of Halifax county, Va., whose wife was Fannie Royster, daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. When John Marshall Stone was eleven years of age, his father died, and the family moved to Henderson county, Tenn., where the young son attended the common schools and labored in the support of his mother and her nine children, left in straightened circumstances. This condition was relieved by the bequest of a grandmother in 1846.
John M. Stone began his career as a teacher in the common schools of Tennessee. After teaching for a short time he came to Mississippi and accepted a clerkship in the store at Eastport, a village near Iuka. In 1855-61 he was agent of the railroad at Iuka. When the state seceded from the Union, early in 1861, he entered the service of the Confederate States as captain of the Iuka Rifles, assigned as Company K to Colonel Flakner's Second regiment, in Virginia. On April 16, 1862, he was elected colonel of the regiment. As senior colonel he frequently commanded Davis' brigade, with particular distinction at the Wilderness, where he was highly praised by General Lee and other officers.
He was wounded several times during the war, but never seriously. Near the close of the war he came home for a brief furlough, and while returning to the service was captured by Gen- eral Steadman at Salisbury, N. C., and sent to Johnson's Island, where he remained a prisoner until July 25, 1865. After the war he returned to Iuka and quietly took up the duties of a citizen, which he performed as heroically as he had those of war. His military record had been very brilliant, a fact that served to deepen the admiration with which his friends regarded him. In the important State election of 1869, preparatory to the beginning of the Alcorn administration, he was elected to the state senate for a term of
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four years. Being reelected in 1873, Colonel Stone served as sena- tor through the period of negro domination. When the democratic party gained a majority of the legislature of 1876, and it was de- termined to impeach Ames and Davis, Stone was elected president pro tem. of the senate by acclamation, with the understanding that he would become governor. Beginning his service as chief execu- tive March 29, 1876, he served by virtue of election in 1877, to Jan- uary, 1881, and being again elected in 1889 he served from January 13, 1890, to January 20, 1896, by virtue of an extension of term by the constitutional convention. Between his terms as governor he was a railroad commissioner by appointment in 1886. In 1896 he became president of the Merchants' bank at Jackson, Miss. When a vacancy occurred in the presidency of the Agricultural and Me- chanical college, occasioned by the resignation of General S. D. Lee, he accepted the position which he filled with ability until his death at Holly Springs, March 26, 1900. He is buried at Iuka, and is survived by his widow, whose devotion to his memory is most marked and beautiful. On May 2, 1872, he married Mary Gillim Coman, a daughter of James M. and Elizabeth Jordan (Mason) Coman of Athens, Ala., who came to Mississippi in 1848, settling near Iuka. Mrs. Coman was a daughter of Capt. William Mason of Halifax county, Va. Gov. and Mrs. Stone became the parents of two children, James Marshall and Mary Elizabeth, both of whom died in infancy.
Gov. Stone was one of the most conspicuous figures in Mississippi during the Reconstruction period, and is cherished in the hearts of the people as one of the State's favorite sons. He was a man of strong convictions and manifested great independence of character when a principle was involved. As an evidence of this, in 1894 he considered the candidacy for the United States senate, but not hav- ing favored the remonetization of silver, to which his party was committed, he laid aside the ambition, though it was believed the nomination could easily have been his had he sacrificed his con- victions. He was broad-minded and magnanimous, and his pre- dominating characteristic was loyalty to duty both public and private. He was not of a nature to be confined to narrow limits, and impressed himself upon all phases of life with which he was associated. At the time of his death he held the position of major- general in the Mississippi Division, United Confederate Veterans, and in the general orders, a day later, Gen. John C. Gordon wrote :
"Conspicuous among these warriors in that titanic struggle is his heroic form, now leading a forlorn hope through the tangled wildwood of the wilderness, or breasting the leaden hail amid the death dealing storm of the Bloody Angle, or on the ebb and flow of the tide of battle at Gettysburg, or upon any and every part of those fateful fields, wherever an offering of courage could be made for his country's honor, or a libation poured out in its defense. Mississippi has been prolific of great men, and the pages of history are luminous with their illustrious names, but she will have none upon her shield purer, braver, or more resplendent than that of
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John Marshall Stone." (See Stone's Administration.) Gen. Stone was very prominently identified with the Masonic order and in 1889 was grand master in the state of Mississippi. He was a Knight Templar and at one time was commander of Mary Lodge at Corinth. He was also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor.
Stone's Administration, 1876-82. John M. Stone, as president pro tempore of the senate, became governor upon the resignation of Governor Ames, March 29, 1876. The legislature was then in ses- sion, and had been busied, since convening in January, with inves- tigation of all branches of the government, and the impeachment of Governor Ames and Lieutenant-Governor Cardozo. Three amendments to the constitution, adopted at the 1875 election, were embodied in the constitution, one of them permitting a great re -. duction in the expense of the judiciary, but the payment of wit- ness fees in criminal cases by the counties instead of by the State, continued to be a great expense and evil. The office of commis- sioner of immigration and agriculture was practically abolished by reduction of the salary to a nominal sum. Special agents to investigate county tax returns were abolished, also the state board for equalization of taxes, the office of cotton weigher, etc., and the militia, practically, by the reduction of pay to five cents a day when on duty. The district printing law was repealed, abolishing a num- ber of newspapers thereby supported. The State publications were reduced to the least possible volume, though after a few years they were restored to the former size, at a greatly reduced ex- pense. Salaries of State officers and the judiciary were reduced. The appropriations for educational purposes were curtailed, includ- ing the reduction of the 4-mill teachers' tax, to two mills. In general the measures taken were for a sweeping reform of the whole financial and administrative system. "One cannot fail to see in this legislation the signs of a revolution. The legislature of 1876, the first controled by the tax payers after the inauguration of the re- construction policy, proceeded on the belief that the work of the carpet baggers was unworthy to stand. The majority of the Dem- ocratic members believed that much official corruption existed in the administration of the State government when they took hold. The most searching investigation was instituted in every depart- ment, which resulted in unveiling numerous frauds. The legisla- ture continued in session until April 15, a period of three and a half months, endeavoring to wipe out every trace of the old regime, and to restore the government to a 'systematic and economical' basis. Judged from the standpoint of its legislation alone, it de- serves to be ranked as one of the most important in the history of the State. There is little doubt that most of its legislation was wholesome and wise-certainly it was economical-and it had the result of restoring the confidence of the people in the government." (Garner, "Reconstruction," 412) "While the legislature was re- moving the carpet baggers from office and repealing the laws which they had enacted, many of them were preparing to emigrate. There
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was no longer any likelihood that they would ever again get pos- session of the offices, and as some of them were in bad standing among the native whites, there seemed to be little encouragement for them to remain. During the year 1876, a large majority of those who had at one time or another held office moved away. Of those who were prominent in politics, less than half a dozen remained. They were good citizens and were highly respected." (Ibid, 413.)
The main item of the reduction in expenditures was $140,000 in expenses of the judiciary, partly because of the constitutional amendment relating to chancery courts, and the transfer of jury and witness expenditures from the State to the counties. (See Ames Adm.) The appropriations for the penitentiary were cut $66,000 to $19,000; for the lunatic asylum from $97,000 to $28,000. The printing bill was cut down from $50,000 to $21,000, the ex- penses of assessing from $34,000 to $14,000, and the expenses of the legislature were reduced about one-seventh.
When the legislature met in 1876 the State warrants were selling at 80 to 85 cents on the dollar. The average quotation in 1875 had been 84 cents. Before the close of the session of 1876 the price rose to 95 cents, and later in the year it was 99 cents, where it remained for some time nominally, though the warrants were prac- tically at par.
The secretary, auditor, treasurer and attorney-general of the Ames administration served out their regular terms to January, 1878.
The United States senate appointed a committee in March, 1876, to investigate the charge that the elections of 1875 were carried by fraud and intimidation. The committee held a twenty days' session at Washington, D. C., 14 days at Jackson, beginning June 9, and two days at Aberdeen, and the testimony was printed in two volumes of 2,000 pages. The majority report declared that the legislature elected was rightfully Republican, the congressional delegation also, and the recommendation was in general that the State be remanded to a territorial form of government and again be reconstructed. The report was partisan and was made for political purposes. The revolution of 1876 saved the State from ruin and bankruptcy, and placed the control of the government in the hands of honest, intel- ligent and capable citizens.
Auditor Gibbs, in his report to the legislature in January, 1877, said the financial statement for 1876 "shows the financial condi- tion of the State to be very flattering to the wisdom displayed by your honorable body at the last session, and that the efforts to econ- omize and retrench the expenditures of the State government, which were then made, have been to a great degree crowned with success, without detriment to the general public service." Under the law of 1876 requiring fines, forfeitures and taxes to be paid in currency, there had been collected for the common schools $104,000, to which was added for distribution the proceeds of United States bonds in the treasury, $60,000. The two-mill tax brought in $185,933, and
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the total amount distributed was 52 cents for each child of school age.
The total receipts for the year 1876 were $981,373; total dis- bursements by warrants, $518,709. But this statement did not show the bond and certificate account, included in former state- ments. Out of the apparent balance of $162,000 the treasurer had retired certificates of indebtedness, to the amount of $122,500, and paid bonds and interest to the amount of $179,224. The total expenditures therefore, were about $820,000, and the excess of re- ceipts over expenditures $161,000. The total expenditures of the last year of the Ames administration had been $1,430,000, accord- ing to the method of book-keeping then in vogue, including $425,- 000 to retire bonds, etc., and the excess of receipts over expenditures was estimated at $400,000. In his message Governor Stone esti- mated that taking into account the same items of expenditure, there had been a reduction in expenditures from $1,130,000 in 1875 to $547,000 in 1876.
In 1876 the State political conventions were held at Jackson, the Republican March 30, and the Democratic June 14. A spirited canvass was made by the Democrats, thoroughly organized in Con- servative clubs, while the Republicans showed little activity. The vote was about two to one for the Tilden electors, and the six con- gressmen-elect were Democrats, as were a large majority of the members of the legislature.
The Agricultural lien law was a subject of much discussion in 1877, it being alleged that "the prostration of business and the poverty of the laboring class, are mainly caused by the law which enables the laborer to mortgage the products of his labor months in advance of its performance." The burdens of municipal taxation were yet complained of, and Governor Stone said: "Some legisla- tion is needed to put a limit upon the power of cities and towns to levy taxes for corporation purposes." Among the more im- portant acts of the legislature in 1877 were several authorizing counties and cities to fund their floating indebtedness. The city of Vicksburg was authorized to compromise by issuing 5 per cent. bonds with 50 years to run, to take the place of the ten per cent. improvement bonds and the Vicksburg, Pensacola & Ship Island railroad bonds, at a rate not exceeding 65 cents on the dollar.
In 1877 the Republicans made no nominations, and the Demo- cratic ticket was elected practically by unanimous vote. At the Democratic convention, August 1-2, Governor Stone had been nom- inated for governor on the tenth ballot, and the following, who served with him during 1878-79: Lieutenant-Governor W. H. Sims; Kinloch Falconer, secretary of state; W. L. Hemingway, state treasurer ; Sylvester Gwin, auditor ; T. C. Catchings, attorney- general; James A. Smith, superintendent of education. A consti- tutional amendment was adopted, making the sessions of the leg- islature biennial after 1878. Governor Stone was inaugurated Jan- uary 10, 1878. In his inaugural address he said: "Can a govern- ment, based upon unlimited suffrage, be successfully carried on be-
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tween two races, the most antagonistic on earth, which, while ac- cording equal rights to each, shall tend to the common prosperity and happiness of both? The experience of the past ten years suf- ficiently demonstrates that it cannot be done by governments, the controlling influence in which is wielded by the inferior race. It remains to be seen whether one controlled by the superior will be more successful." By a strange coincidence, Governor Stone was at the head of the State twelve years later when another solu- tion of this problem was attempted.
In his message of January, 1878, he wrote: "During the past year, general peace and quiet have prevailed. With few exceptions, confined to one or two localities, no disturbances have occurred, the laws have been enforced and the courts have protected the citi- zen in his life, person and property. Local self-government has been sufficient to preserve the peace, and to secure to our people the blessings of good government. The wisdom of the legislation of your predecessors, enacted in the memorable legislation of 1876 and in the session of 1877, is seen in the prosperous and satisfactory condition of every department, and in the general content and sat- isfaction of the people of all classes and races. The finances of the State are in a more satisfactory condition than at any period during the past eight years, and ample opportunity is afforded to every educable child to receive a good English education in the free public schools. Much has been accomplished within the past two years. Taxes, for State purposes, have been reduced from 14 mills on the dollar in 1874 and 914 in 1875, to 61/2 in 1876, and 5 in 1877. Reductions equally as great have been made in the matter of county taxation, and within a short time, when the indebtedness of the State and counties shall have been discharged-indebtedness which existed prior to the 1st of January, 1876-the taxes to be paid by the people will be reduced to a rate which will compare most favorably with that of any other State in the Union. The warrants of the State are at par, and have been since the first day of January, 1877. As stated, taxation has been greatly reduced in every county, and where indebtedness existed two years ago, it has been either entirely extinguished, or greatly lessened."
The State tax on real estate was decreasd from $623,000 in 1876, to $475,000 in 1877; on personal property from $232,000 to $160,000. The total receipts from all sources in 1877, were $865,000; dis- bursements, $562,000; besides which the bonded debt was paid to the amount of $305,000 principal, and $105,000 interest. There was an issue of bonds, however, so that the actual reduction of principal of bonded debt was about $100,000. In January, 1878, the nominal debt was $3,227.000, but the "total debt proper," in ex- cess of trust funds, and cash on hand, was less than $600,000.
The summer and fall of 1878 was marked by a terrible epidemic of yellow fever, more than ever before known. "For many months the whole State was a melancholy scene of suffering, and desola- tion and mourning. But in the midst of their distress the charitable world, with unstinted hand, ministered to the relief of our suffering
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people. From the cities, towns and villages, North, East, West and South, large sums of money and many needed supplies were forwarded to our relief associations; and several large donations were received from foreign countries. The different Masonic bod- ies, Odd Fellows, and other benevolent institutions throughout the country, were most conspicuous and liberal in their deeds of char- ity. The relief thus contributed was transported and distrib- uted by railroad, express and steamboat companies free of charge; and all correspondence for purposes of relief was transmitted by telegraph companies upon the same terms." (Governor Stone.) Kinloch Falconer, secretary of state, died of the fever September 23, and subsequently Henry C. Myers was appointed to the vacancy. Another victim was Chancellor J. C. Gray, of the Third circuit.
The treasurer's report for 1878 showed receipts on warrants, $933,529 ; on bonds sold, $337,150 ; total $1,270,679. Disbursements, $895,347. Warrants outstanding December 31, 1878, $401,516. The report for 1879 was, receipts on warrants, $558,802, on bonds $106,- 650 ; total $665,452. Disbursements, $759,619. Warrants outstand- ing at end of year, $386,823. There was a decrease in the public debt of $220,000 in two years, 188-79, and while the nominal debt was about $3,000,000, the actual indebtedness was stated as $379,- 485. There was still held in the treasury $795,000 in paper money of the war period, which was worthless. This was destroyed, under an act of legislature, in 1880.
The receipts by warrant in 1878 were $558,862; disbursements by warrant $553,326. The judiciary expenses had then been re- duced to $71,000. Mississippi university was receiving $30,000 and Alcorn university $2,300, in place of $50,000 to each, as in the Ames administration. Public printing had fallen from its former enormous cost to $8,000. On account of the leasing system the total appropriation for the penitentiary was only $121. The valuation of real estate for 1879 was $76,000,000, about 28,000,000 acres being listed, and the State tax imposed upon it was $266,000. For 1879 the report of the treasurer was: Receipts, $665,452; current funds on hand at beginning of year, $894,924; Disbursements, on war- rants, $568,019; bonds and certificates of indebtedness retired, $191,600 ; balance at close of year, $800,757.
Another amendment to the constitution was submitted in 1879 (and lost), to make the legislative sessions biennial in the odd years, and the general elections biennial in the even years. The election that year was for legislators and county officers, mainly. There was some effort politically, construed as an attempt to re- vive the political organization of the negroes. The white nominee for sheriff in Yazoo county, in this movement, was compelled to re- fuse the candidacy. Subsequently, in the campaign, there were some cases of personal encounter and loss of life.
A State prohibition convention at Jackson, July 20, 1881, asked the submission of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the liquor traffic, and local option pending the same.
The general election of 1880, in which the State majority was
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given to the Hancock electors, passed off quietly. The financial 'statement for this year was: Receipts on warrants, $976,878, on bonds issued, $115,000 ; Disbursements, warrants, bonds and cou- pons, $1,097,180. Warrants outstanding at close of year, $296,- 620. For 1881: Receipts on warrants and bonds, $597,925; Dis- bursements, $848,165. Warrants outstanding, $218,840. Cash bal- ance in treasury, $545,000.
Governor Stone's administration was marked by the political movement against corporation aggressiveness, called the Green- back party, out of which grew the demand for State supervision of railroad rates opposed by the governor (see Railroad Commis- sion) ; by the beginning of a rational warfare against the scourge of yellow fever under the Board of Health, the beginning of Western immigration in response to the efforts of the Board of Immigration and Agriculture; by a "boom" in railroad build- ing; the common school law of 1878, and the founding of the Agri- cultural and Mechanical college. There were heavy sales of land and the birth of a new prosperity, which, after a temporary check, has since continued in steady growth.
The census of 1880 gave the State a population 1,131,597, an in- crease of 40 per cent. over 1870, and an additional congressman was allowed it, making seven representatives in the lower house. Several important changes were made in the personnel of the Su- preme Court, for which see Judiciary. The Democratic convention of 1881 nominated the following ticket: for governor, Gen. Robert Lowry; for lieutenant-governor, G. D. Shands; for secretary of state, H. C. Myers; for treasurer, W. L. Hemingway; for auditor, Sylvester Gwin; for attorney-general, T. C. Catchings; for superin- tendent of education, Gen. J. A. Smith. The Greenback-Republi- can convention nominated a ticket with Benjamin King for gover- nor, and the following candidates for the offices above named: J. B. Yellowley, J. M. Bynum, A. T. Wimberly, W. F. Fitzgerald, W. D. Howze. The vote for governor was, Lowry, 76,877; King, 51,- 856.
`Mississippi was not represented at the Yorktown centennial nor at the Atlanta cotton exposition, though the State had delegates at the National Cotton Planters' Association which met at Atlanta, December, 1881.
In his last message, January, 1882, Governor Stone congratulated the State on the adoption of the Campbell code in 1880, and the general satisfaction with it, after a thorough discussion in the cam- paign of 1881. The revenue system embodied in this code prom- ised to be of great value and the governor earnestly begged that it might be left unamended. Frequent changes had created great confusion. "The best lawyers and wisest judges are puzzled to tell when a tax title is valid, or what the revenue law of the State was at a particular time." There was great necessity of legisla- tion, however, for the equalization of taxes. The existing laws for that purpose were generally disregarded, and very great injustice resulted. Lands forfeited to the State for delinquent taxes were
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