Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 91

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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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signed in August, 1903, and Jeff Truly was appointed to fill out the term. The Supreme Court was then constituted, A. H. Whit- field, chief justice, term expires in 1912; associates, S. S. Calhoon, term expires in 1909, and Jeff Truly, term expired in 1906. Upon the expiration of the term of Judge Truly, in 1906, he was suc- ceeded by Robert B. Mayes.

Surget, Peter, was born in Rochelle, France; when a young man came to New York, where he married Catherine Hubbard; became a West Indian merchant, removed to Baton Rouge, and thence, in 1785, came to Natchez district, where he died in 1796, leaving a large property and several sons and daughters.

Surry, a hamlet of Perry county. It has rural free delivery from Hattiesburg.

Susie, a postoffice of Grenada county, 15 miles east of Grenada, the county seat.

Swamp Lands. See Levees, Internal Improvements, Foote Adm. Amos Deason was appointed commissioner of swamp lands in 1871. In 1877 the law was revised and John M. Smylie ap- pointed commissioner. In 1880-81 the commissioner issued patents for about 225,000 acres of swamp lands, with the result that $43,000 were added to the State treasury. Of the swamp lands patented prior to that time little remained unsold. Mr. Smylie, under an act of 1880, presented at Washington a claim for 387,000 acres which the State considered yet due, and patents were rap- idly issued for the same. The State also claimed an indemnity of $50,000, and there were claims for additional patents. Smylie was succeeded in 1884 by H. D. Cameron, who had the marsh lands on the coast surveyed and platted, something in excess of 13,000 acres. Mr. Cameron was succeeded temporarily by E. B. Com- fort, and P. M. Doherty was appointed, in 1884. He was succeeded in 1886 by John R. Enochs. The State was indebted to the Swamp land fund $140,000 in 1888. (See Finances.) Smylie's successor, upon his resignation, in 1888, was J. W. McMaster, and Edgar S. Wilson was appointed in 1890 and 1892, and served until 1896. The commissioner, under revisions of the laws, now had charge (1891), under a State board of Swamp land commissioners, of the Internal Improvement lands, of which 1,838 acres remained unsold; the Lowry Island lands, originally 13,431 acres on the Mississippi sound, in Jackson county, and 30,829 acres of School indemnity lands, besides 210,640 acres of swamp lands proper. In 1896 the office was changed to that of Land commissioner (q. v.).

The legislature of 1890 enacted that all persons then holding swamp lands under invalid purchase should have the right to pur- chase the same for a period of two years at the uniform price of 121/2 cents an acre; but the constitutional convention of the same year waived the payment of such sums, and disclaimed any inter- est or title in such lands on account of erroneous locations ; it also dedicated the proceeds of swamp lands to the common schools.

An act of 1902 transferred to the commissioner's office from the

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auditor's office all the land records, and required a revision of the lists to prevent errors in land sales.

Swanlake, a post-hamlet of Tallahatchie county, situated on the lake of the same name, and a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 15 miles southwest of Charleston, the county seat. Webb is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 52.

Swann, Thomas T., was auditor of Mississippi October 16, 1865, to January 4, 1870. August 2, 1870, he died. His successor, H. Musgrove, wrote of him: "His long and efficient services to the State, in connection with this office as assistant, as deputy auditor, and for a number of years as auditor of public accounts, is well known. All who knew him in official relations will bear willing testimony to his efficiency, integrity and the uprightness of his character."

Swayze, Samuel, founder of the Congregational colony in Natchez district, made his settlement under the Ogden Mandamus, which read as follows: "Let a patent be prepared and engrossed, to pass the great seal of this province, imparting his Majesty's most grac- ious grant unto Captain Amos Ogden, his heirs and assigns, of a plantation or tract of land, containing twenty-five thousand acres, situate southwesterly about twenty-one miles from the old Natchez fort, bounded southerly by a creek called Homochitto creek, and about a quarter of a mile east of a tract of one thousand acres, granted to Colin Campbell, Esq., on said creek, about half a mile south from land granted to Junis Hooper, on a creek called Second Creek, and on the other side by vacant land," on condition, "That the said Amos Ogden do settle the said lands with foreign Protes- tants, or persons that shall be brought from his majesty's other colonies in North America, within ten years from the date of the grant, in the proportion of one person to every hundred acres." If one-third of the land were not so settled in three years the grant was to be forfeited to his Majesty, his heirs and successors.

In 1772 Capt. Ogden sold 19,000 acres of his grant to Richard and Samuel Swayze, of New Jersey, at 20 cents an acre. They vis- ited the country and located the claim on the Homochitto river, and brought their families and a party of colonists there by sea and through the Manchac route in the fall of 1772. Samuel Swayze had long been a Congregational preacher and most of his party were of that faith. The religious society they organized was un- doubtedly the first Protestant organization in the Natchez district. The venerable pastor settled on the east bank of St. Catherine, after they were driven to Natchez by the Indians in 1780, and died there in 1784. Many important families of Mississippi are de- scended in one branch or another from the brothers Swayze. (Clai- borne.)

In the claim of the heirs of Hiram Swayze for 164 acres near Natchez, under a grant of January 18, 1793, by Gayoso, not by the governor-general, it was testified by Richard King that the land was granted Swayze as a bounty for military service (probably when the militia went to New Orleans to repel the French), and

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that Hiram Swayze lived on or near the land from the year 1782 until his death, which was sometime in the year 1794.

Sweatman, a post-hamlet of Montgomery county, 12 miles north- east of Winona, the county seat and nearest banking town. Popu- lation in 1900, 22.

Swiftwater, a postoffice of Washington county, on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 5 miles south of Greenville, the county seat and nearest banking town.

Sycamore, a post-hamlet of Chickasaw county, 7 miles east of Houston, and about 12 miles southwest of Okolona. Houston is the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 66.

Sykes, a postoffice of Clarke county, situated on the East Fork of Buckatunna creek, 10 miles northeast of Quitman, the county seat and nearest railroad town.

Sylvarena, a post-hamlet of Smith county, 10 miles east, south- east of Raleigh, the county seat. Taylorsville is the nearest banking town. It has two churches and a school called the Sylvarena Institute, W. S. Huddleston, principal; and a money order post- office. Population in 1900, 75.

Tabbville, a post-hamlet of Chickasaw county, 6 miles southwest of Houston, one of the county seats of justice, and the nearest rail- road town. Population in 1900, 52.

Tacaleeche, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Benton county, 2 miles from Hickoryflat station, on the Frisco System, and 14 miles south of Ashland, the county seat. Population in 1900, 22.

Taensas. See Indians.

Tallahatchie County was organized December 23, 1833, from terri- tory acquired by the United States from the Choctaw tribe of Indians, at the treaty of Dancing Rabbit in 1830. It was called for the river of the same name, the Indian word "Tallahatchie" signify- ing "River of the Rock." Its limits embraced the following town- ships according to the original act: Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six, of ranges one and two west and twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six of ranges one, two and three, east. A portion of its southern area was later taken to assist in forming the counties of Leflore and Grenada, and the three northwestern townships were embraced in Quitman county in 1877, when that county was formed.

Some of the first county officials were: B. B. Wilson, Clerk of the Circuit and Probate Courts ; Green B. Goodwin, Sheriff ; William Sutton, Assessor and Collector; William Berry, Coroner; H. C. Davis, Ranger; William Fanning, President ; A. L. Humphrey, Samuel Foster, Walter A. Mangum, Joseph Carson, Members of the Board of Police. Besancon's Register for 1838, gives the list of county officers at that time as follows : Wilkins, County Treas- urer ; J. W. Phillips, Clerk of the Circuit Court; Edmunds Jenkins, Judge of Probate ; Green B. Goodwin, Sheriff ; - - Bacon, Ranger ;

Sutton, Coroner; Olsamus Kendrick, Surveyor ; - Brown, Assessor and Collector ; - Willmore, Clerk of the Probate Court ; Campbell, Staten, Davis, Slate, Thrasher, Members of the Board of

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Police ; John H. McRae, - - Lawhon, J. L. Watkins, Peter B. Mc- Daniel, Justices of the Peace.

The Tuscahomian, a newspaper, published at the old town of Tuscahoma, in 1835, was probably the first newspaper to be pub- lished in the county.

It is situated in the northwestern part of the State, and the old boundary line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw cessions cuts across its northeastern border. Three-fourths of its area lies in the Yazoo river bottom, the eastern quarter in the hills. It is one of the rich and prosperous counties of the State and was settled early in the 30's by an excellent body of emigrants, from the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia and the Carolinas, and the older part of Mississippi. One of the earliest settlers in the region was Samuel Foster, married to an Indian woman and living in the valley of Tillatoba creek, on eighteen hundred acres of land, reserved to him under the above treaty. In 1832, Col. James Bailey, Captain Samuel Caruthers and Captain Charles Bowen came from Hickman county, Tennessee, and settled in the same valley, after an exploration on horseback of much of the new cession. Other early settlers were Thomas and Lawrence Calhoun, nephews of John C. Calhoun ; Wiley P. Mangum, Major James W. Harper, James Marsh, James A. and George R. Girault, from Natchez ; the McAfees, from south Mississippi ; William Y. Blocker, and Rev. Samuel Marsh, Sr., a distinguished Baptist divine.

Some of the earliest settlements in the county were Tuscahoma (q. v.), about 12 miles west of Grenada and at one time a place of about 300 people with a thriving trade; it was here that the first licensed saloon in the county was established in January of 1835, and the same year "The Tuscahomian," a weekly paper, began its publication ; Pharsalia (q. v.), established in 1833 or 1834, on the south bank of the Yacona river in the northeastern part of the county, and numbering a population of about 200 at the time of its greatest prosperity ; noted for its horse races and shooting matches on Saturdays, and gander pullings on Christmas days, and the scene of many memorable political debates ; Tillatoba (q. v.), located about a mile northwest of Charleston, once a place of 150 inhabitants, and the early county seat ; a defective title to the town site caused the removal of the county seat to Charleston, across Tillatoba creek; the name Tillatoba survives in the village of the same name on the Illinois Central R. R., a few miles to the east ; Locopolis (q. v.), the first shipping point in Tallahatchie county, located on the east bank of the Tallahatchie river, ten miles west of the present town of Charleston ; a large cotton shipping point in the 30's, with a ferry and turnpike to a point 10 miles east ; during the year 1842, there were, according to Col. James Bailey, about a hundred loaded wagons going in to Locopolis ; it had an extensive trade through the Yazoo pass ; at the height of its prosperity there were 30 or 40 flatboats and keel boats on its river front and it was hoped to make it a rival of Memphis. All the above old places are now extinct and only live in the memories of the oldest inhab- itants. The present county seat, Charleston, is a pretty little place

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of 850 people, located in the forks of the Tillatoba, a few miles off the railway, and was first settled about 1837. Sumner (pop. 200), Glendora (pop. 100), Harrison Station (now called Enid, pop. 180), Webb (pop. 128), Tutwiler (pop. 142), are the important railroad towns in the county. . The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., runs through the western part of the county from north to south, the Southern Ry. penetrates the southern part to Webb and the Illinois Central R. R. crosses the extreme northeastern corner. The Yazoo river flows through the center of the county and with its tributaries, Tillatoba river, and Hobson's and Opossum bayous, giving it ex- cellent water privileges. The western part of the county, when protected from overflow and drained, is exceedingly rich and pro- ductive alluvial bottom; the eastern part, in the broken and hilly section, has a yellow clay loam soil and is timbered with various kinds of oak, hickory, poplar, beech, etc .; in the bottoms, white and overcup oaks, gum, cypress, walnut, etc. The products of the soil are cotton, corn, oats, wheat, sorghum, sweet and Irish potatoes, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables suited to the climate. A great many live stock are raised in this county and the pasturage is good winter and summer. The value of the live stock in 1900 had reached over $600,000, and the industry is assuming greater proportions annually. Some beds of marl and lignite or brown coal have been found in the eastern parts of the county.

The following statistics, taken from the twelfth United States census for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms 3,289, acreage in farms 179,426, acres improved 95,611, value of the land exclusive of buildings $2,157,490, value of the buildings $531,410, value of the live stock $624,651, total value of products not fed to stock $1,503,418. Number of manufacturing establishments 49, capital invested $210,025, wages paid $27,062, cost of materials $74,916, total value of products $183,610. The population of the county in 1900 was whites 6,308, colored 13,292, total 19,600, increase over 1890, 5,239. The total population in 1906 was estimated at 23,000.

The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Tallahatchie county in 1905 was $3.700,201 and in 1906 it was $3,825,995, which shows an increase of $125,794 during the year.

Tallaloosa was an early settlement in Marshall county, 8 miles southwest of Holly Springs, and attained sufficient importance to be incorporated by the Legislature in 1838. It was located in a rich farming region, occupied by such families as the Glovers, Woods, McClatchys, Hursts, Williams, McCravens, Jones and Echols. The town was absorbed by Holly Springs and Chulahoma, and is now extinct.

Tallula, a post-hamlet of Issaquena county, on the Mississippi river, 10 miles south of Mayersville, the county seat. Population in 1900, 26.

Talowah, a post-hamlet and station of Lamar county, on the New Orleans & North Eastern R. R., 6 miles south of Purvis, the county seat and the nearest banking town. Population in 1900, 75.

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Tamola, a postoffice and station in the southeastern part of Kemper county, on the Mobile & Ohio R. R., 16 miles southeast of Dekalb, the county seat, and 2312 miles northeast of Meridian.

Tampa, a post-hamlet of Winston county, 10 miles west of Louis- ville, the county seat. It is on Butcha creek, an affluent of the Pearl river. Louisville is the nearest banking and railroad town. Population in 1900, 48.

Tapouchas. See Indians.

Tarbell, Jonathan, a general officer of volunteers in the United States army, from New York, who settled in Scott county at the close of the war 1861-65. In 1869 he was appointed probate judge by Gen. Ames, and a justice of the supreme court by Governor Al- corn in 1870. "He was a man of fair ability and extraordinary industry, a ready and voluminous writer," says Garner. Senator Lamar wrote that he was esteemed in Mississippi as an upright judge and his reputation for integrity was unquestioned. After the action of the legislature in 1876 providing for age retirement, he resigned and removed to Washington, D. C., where he died.

Tarbert, a post-hamlet in the extreme southwestern corner of the State, in Wilkinson county. It is about 20 miles from Woodville, the county seat and nearest railroad and banking town. Popula- tion in 1900, 35.

Tarpley, Collin S., was born in Petersburg, Va., 1802. He re- moved with his parents to Nashville, Tenn .; studied law in the office of A. V. Brown and Jas. K. Polk; was admitted to the bar ; practiced his profession at Pulaski, Tenn., until 1831, when he removed to Florence, Ala. In 1836 he removed to Mississippi and located in Hinds county. He secured a large practice; rose to eminence, and was appointed judge of the High Court (q. v.) in 1851. He was the promoter of the New Orleans and Jackson rail- road, and at his death was one of its board of directors. He took great interest in the industrial advancement of the State. He died in the spring of 1860.

Taska, a postoffice of Marshall county, 12 miles northwest of Holly Springs.

Tate, a postoffice of Amite county.

Tate County was established December 23, 1873, and was named for a prominent family of the region, of which the Hon. T. S. Tate (see below), was a member. The county has a land surface of 407 square miles. It is situated in the northwestern part of the State and was formed chiefly from the southern part of the older county of De Soto (q. v.), though Tunica and Marshall counties contributed each a small portion of its area. It was a part of the Chickasaw Indian cession of 1832. For the early history of the region com- posing Tate, see the three counties mentioned. The Governor was empowered to appoint the county officers, pending a general election for that purpose, and the county assumed its share of the debts of the parent counties and received its proper share of school and county funds. Governor R. C. Powers appointed the following county officers : Josiah Daily, Sheriff ; O. F. West, Clerk of the Chancery

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and Circuit Courts ; W. J. Pace, Treasurer ; J. R. Jackson, Assessor and Collector; E. J. Litsey, County Sup't of Schools; J. E. Matthews, Surveyor; T. S. Tate, J. V. Walker, J. P. Pickle, Eli Bobo, D. T. Neighbors, Members of the Board of Supervisors. The county was first represented in the Legislature by T. S. Tate and T. B. Garret, as Representatives, and J. H. Holloway and M. Campbell as Senators. It is one of the smaller counties, but has an abundance of natural resources and a prosperous and contented body of people. It is bounded on the north by the county of De Soto, Coldwater river forming part of the dividing line; on the east by Marshall county, on the south by Panola county and on the west by the Coldwater river which divides it from Tunica county. The county seat is Senatobia, a thriving little town of 1,500 inhabitants, in the south central part of the county, on the line of the Memphis division of the Illinois Central R. R. It is a shipping point for large quan- tities of cotton, corn, fruits and vegetables from the rich country surrounding it, and enjoys the advantage of a close local market at Memphis, only 37 miles distant. Its name is a Choctaw Indian word meaning "white sycamore." In the northern part of the county, also on the railroad, is the prosperous town of Coldwater (pop. in 1900, was 557). The villages of Strayhorn, Arkabutla, In- dependence and Tyro are the largest settlements away from the railroad. The Memphis division of the Illinois Central R. R., runs north and south through the center of the county, and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., cuts across the extreme southwestern corner, affording it good shipping facilities. The county is watered by the Coldwater river on its northern and western boundary, and the tributary creeks, Senatobia, Arkabutla, Hickahala, Jim Wolf, Bear Tail and Strayhorn. Over one-half of its farm acreage is now improved, the balance is well timbered with all kinds of oaks, gum, poplar, beech, walnut, elm, etc. In the extreme western part, an extension of the bluff formation crosses the county north and south, the rest of the county is undulating, level on the river and creek bottoms. The soil is rich and fertile for the most part and pro- duces excellent crops of cotton, corn, oats, wheat, rye, sweet and Irish potatoes, peanuts, and all the vegetables and fruits common to the latitude. The climate is mild and the region is generally health- ful. Of late years, considerable attention has been given to the live stock industry, for which the region is well adapted, and fruits and vegetables are now grown for market as well as home consumption. Some small factories and mills are doing a prosperous business in the county, a total of 69 being given by the census for 1900.

The following statistics, taken from the census of the United States for 1900, relate to farms, manufactures and population : Number of farms 3,704, acreage in farms 218,340, acres improved 120,504, value of land exclusive of buildings $1,722,810, value of buildings $563,630, value of live stock $665,292, total value of pro- ducts not fed to stock $1,404,020. Number of manufacturing estab- lishments 69, capital invested $155,590, wages paid $36,290, cost of materials $145,476, total value of products $247,260. The popula-

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tion of the county in 1900 was whites 8,439, colored 12,179, total 20,618, increase over the year 1890, 1,365. The total population in 1906 was estimated at 22,000.

There are 55 white and 46 colored schools in the county. It is well supplied with telephone service, affording means of inter- communication with nearly every part of the county. The public roads of the county are worked under the contract system and the main thoroughfares are in fine condition. Among the pioneers of Tate county may be mentioned : John Crawford, who settled about 7 miles northeast of Senatobia; Thomas Williams, who located about 3 miles south of Senatobia; Thos. W. Dean, who settled in the northeastern part of the county ; Wm. Carter, Thos. Eason, Seth Woolard, Buck and Samuel Crocket, Thomas Lewis, and Capt. Wm. J. Floyd.

The total assessed valuation of real and personal property in Tate county in 1905 was $3,180,479.50 and in 1906 it was $3,751,- 880.05, which shows an increase of $571,400.55 during the year.

Tatesville. This old village, like that of Tatumsville elsewhere described, was situated not far distant from the town of Senatobia in Tate county, formerly DeSoto county. It was a rival of Tatums- ville and lay only a mile north of that village. Founded by the Hon. Thos. Simpson Tate, who was the prominent merchant of the place, it became a prosperous little town of about seventy-five to a hundred people, but succumbed, like its rival Tatumsville, to Senatobia, when the Mississippi and Tennessee railroad was com- pleted to that place in 1855. Among the business concerns of the old village were Tate & Arnold, general merchants; George B. Wool- ard, cabinet maker, and James Barbee, saddler and harness maker.

Tatum, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Tallahatchie county, about 8 miles northwest of Grenada, the nearest railroad and bank- ing town. Population in 1900, 20.

Tatumsville. This was an extinct village in DeSoto, now Tate county, and was situated about two miles west, and one-half mile north of the town of Senatobia. It was founded by Herbert Tatum, who did a general mercantile business, and had in its prosperous days a population of about 100 inhabitants. A few stores and shops composed its business. Dr. John T. Atkinson, Jack Browder, and Col. Wm. Ferney were citizens of the old village. It was here that Herbert Tate shot and killed Dr. Woodard. There was once a beautiful cemetery here, which is now overgrown by a native forest of large trees. When the Mississippi & Tennessee railroad, now the Illinois Central, was completed as far as Senatobia in 1855, the old village was absorbed by that town. Soon after the close of the war in 1865, the last building in Tatumsville had been moved away.

Taylor, an incorporated post-town in the southwestern part of Lafayette county, on the Illinois Central R. R., 6 miles south of Oxford. It was named for an early settler of the place. Population in 1900, 101.

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Taylor, John, one of the first judges of the supreme court of Mis- sissippi, was the son of a small farmer and deputy sheriff of West Chester, Pa. With a very limited education, but some familiarity with law methods gained by attending court with his father, he be- gan the reading of law at the age of eighteen years. In 1804 he was licensed to practice and immediately made the river voyage to St. Louis to begin the work of his profession. In 1805 he pro- ceeded to New Orleans, but finding many there on the same errand, he returned to Natchez. "The May term of the Superior court was then in session. There was a criminal case pending, which from the character of the parties, excited peculiar interest. Young Tay- lor volunteered for the accused and displayed remarkable acute- ness and dexterity in the examination of witnesses. His speech to the jury was rough but forcible. It betrayed his ignorance of grammar, but wonderful mental power. He obtained a verdict of acquittal, was immediately retained in a dozen cases, and in a few weeks had an extensive practice." (J. F. H. Claiborne.) In 1808 he was appointed adjutant of the Territorial regiment of cavalry. He was elected to the general assembly in 1813, and in 1817 to the constitutional convention. When the first session of the legislature in October, 1817, was compelled to adjourn without electing judges, because of the yellow fever, Governor Holmes appointed Taylor to succeed Leake as Territorial judge, holding over, and in January following he was elected by the legislature judge of the supreme court for the Second district, and made pre- siding judge, or "chief justice." He died at Natchez in May or June, 1820. He was a bachelor, lived simply, and "when he had money to spare loaned it to his friends without interest."

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. II, Part 91

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