USA > Mississippi > School history of Mississippi; for use in public and private schools > Part 22
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371. Local Affairs .- Justices of the peace were for the most part ignorant colored politicians, who knew little of the law or of judicial procedure. It was asserted that in Madison country in 1873 there was not a justice of the peace who could read or write. It was unfortunate that during the administrations of Governors Ames and Alcorn the important office of supervisor was filled in a majority of cases by incompetent men and in many cases by dis- honest men. In not a few cases every member of the board was illiterate, their only mark of learning being the ability of the president to sign in a mechanical way the proceed- ings, which he could not read.
372. Ku Klux Troubles .- The two years of Governor Alcorn's administration were marked by the so-called Ku
recognized leader of the Mississippi Republicans until General Ames disputed that leadership with him. As Governor Alcorn was an old citizen of Mississippi and had a substantial interest in the State, he was able to secure in a measure the confidence of the Democrats as could few of the Northern Republicans. He urged the white people of Mississippi to get control of the State government by joining the Republican party.
305
THE RESTORATION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
Klux troubles. The Ku Klux Klan is said to have been a secret organization in certain communities, the purpose of which was to discipline freedmen who ran away from their labor contracts, who insulted white people, or who took too active a part in politics. Its hideous disguises and mys- terious proceedings were well calculated to strike terror into the superstitious race. In most cases the purpose of the Klan was accomplished by a single warning delivered in a pompous manner to the person for whom it was in- tended, but in some cases whipping and even killing were resorted to. Carpet-baggers as well as freedmen received the attention of this mysterious organization .*
373. The Establishment of the Public School System .- Another class of persons often visited by the Ku Klux were the teachers of public schools. One of the acts of the legis- lature of 1870 was the establishment of a free school system for the benefit of both white and colored children. Before the war there was no uniform system of public schools, and when such a system was introduced by the carpet-baggers in 1870, the scale on which they started out was very bur- densome to the tax-payers, many of whom were in a condi- tion of extreme poverty. Teachers' salaries ranged from fifty dollars per month to one hundred and fifty, the aver- age for 1870 being seventy-four dollars. Expensive school houses were built in many places and equipped with costly furniture. In several of the counties the extravagance of the school officials led to the breaking up of the schools by burning the houses and driving off the teachers. The mass of the intelligent white people were in favor of the public school system, and if the school officials had started this system on a scale more in accord with the tax-paying
* For a vivid picture of this Klan and of the entire Recon- struction period, see Thomas Nelson Page's Red Rock.
20
306
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
ability of the people and their actual needs, it is doubtful ·whether there would have been any opposition.
374. The Legislature of 1871 .- On January 3d the legis- lature reassembled at Jackson. During the recess four of the members had died, among them being the speaker. - Henry Warren, from the State of Massachusetts, was elected to the vacancy. The most important measures of this session related to leasing the penitentiary and to the encouragement of railroad building. The State held about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars' worth of stock in several of the railroads of the State. This was now given to the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad company on the agreement of that company to extend its line to Aberdeen by way of Kosciusko. Another act pro- vided that any railroad company which would construct twenty-five miles of railroad and have it in running order by September 1, 1872, should receive from the State four thousand dollars for each mile so constructed. The lessee of the penitentiary was to be paid eighteen thousand dol- lars per annum to keep the convicts, and one hundred and twenty thousand dollars with which to erect a factory and certain other buildings, which he was to turn over to the State at the expiration of fifteen years. On the 13th of May the legislature adjourned, having been in session nearly eleven months within a period of about a year and a half.
375. Cost of the State Government .- One of the crying evils of the time was excessive legislation. Annual ses- sions, long drawn out, raised the expenses of the govern- ment to enormous proportions. Governor Alcorn, in his message of 1871, condemned the legislature strongly. He said: "The legislative expenses for 1870 present on their face a startling comparison with those of 1861. The mile- age of members in 1870 was twenty-nine thousand six hun-
307
THE RESTORATION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
dred and sixty-four dollars, whereas, in 1865 it was but twenty-two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight dol- lars. The per diem of clerks in 1865 was but five thousand eight hundred and sixty-one dollars ; in 1870 it was twenty- eight thousand two hundred and one dollars. The total legislative expenses for 1859 had been only $26,592. In 1870 they were $258,400."*
376. The Meridian Riot .- On the 6th of March, 1871, the Meridian riot occurred, in which a number of negroes and a white justice of the peace were killed. A number of stores were burned. The affair grew out of political con- ditions existing in that town. It was the subject of inves- tigation by the State legislature and by Congress.
377. Governor Alcorn Resigns .- On the 30th of Novem- ber, 1871, Alcorn resigned the office of governor, to take his seat in the United States Senate as the successor of Senator Revels, who now became president of Alcorn Uni- versity for colored students. It was widely asserted at the time that the transfer of Governor Alcorn to Washington was a political move by the carpet-baggers to get him out of the State. His colleague in the Senate was General Ames, who was succeeded in 1874 by Henry R. Pease, a Northern Republican. Senator Alcorn was succeeded in 1875 by Blanche K. Bruce, a colored man.
378. Ridgely C. Powers becomes Governor .- Governor Alcorn served scarcely one-half the term for which he was elected, but as the lieutenant-governor was a worthy and honorable gentleman, the governor felt that it would not be a breach of trust to leave the government to him.
* The total cost of the State government for the four years beginning with 1868 was as follows:
1868 $ 525,670 80
1869 463,219 71
1870 1,061,249 90
1871
1,729,046 34
!
308
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
Ridgely C. Powers was born in Ohio, and was educated at the University of Michigan and at Union College, New York. He served in the Union army, and at the close of the war settled in Noxubee county, Mississippi, as a cotton planter. He belonged to the better class of Northern men who settled in the State soon after the war. He enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, although he was a member of the Republican party.
379. Election of 1871 .- In November, 1871, occurred the first general election for all county and local officers since the beginning of reconstruction. It had been the cause of general complaint that, for a period of two years after the readmission of the State to the Union, the people were not permitted to choose their own local officers. As a result, the officers appointed in 1869 by General Ames, while military governor, were still holding over. Many of them were strangers in the communities to which they were sent. All, of course, were Republicans. The election was preceded by an exciting canvass, but no demonstra- tions of violence were made.
380. Legislature of 1872 .- The new legislature met in January, 1872, and continued in session until late in the spring. John R. Lynch, a prominent colored member from Natchez, was elected speaker of the lower house. Gover- nor Powers in his message to the legislature announced that the so-called Ku Klux organizations in certain com- munities had been suppressed, and that peace prevailed throughout the State. In 1876 Governor Powers removed to Arizona.
381. Higher Education for the Colored Race .- Tougaloo University, seven miles north of Jackson, was founded in 1869 by the American Missionary Association. In 1871 this institution was incorporated by the legislature. It has received aid from both the State and the national govern-
309
THE RESTORATION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
' ments. In 1872 the Normal department of this University became a State Normal school. In 1870 the legislature incorporated Shaw University, which had been located at Holly. Springs by the Mississippi Conference of the Metho- dist church. In the same year the Normal department was transferred to the State for use as a State Normal college. Alcorn University, named in honor of Governor Alcorn, was established by the legislature in 1871. This institution of learning was located near Rodney, in Claiborne county, on the site of Oakland College, which the State had bought from the Presbyterian Synod. At the end of the first session (1872) an agricultural department was established in the institution. In 1878 the name of the school was changed to the "Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege of the State of Mississippi." It has received liberal aid from the State and national governments.
382. Presidential Election of 1872 .- In the election of 1872 General Grant, the nominee of the regular Republican party, carried the State by a majority of 34,887 over Horace Greeley, the nominee of the "Liberal Republican " party. As Mr. Greeley had gone on the bond of Jefferson Davis, his nomination received the endorsement of the Democrats of Mississippi. The result of the election was almost a com- plete victory for the regular Republican ticket. L. Q. C. Lamar was the only Democrat elected to Congress from the State at that time.
383. Formation of New Counties .- In 1870 the legisla- ture formed Alcorn and Prentiss counties, chiefly from Tishomingo; Benton, out of parts of Marshall and Tippah ; Union, out of parts of Tippah and Pontotoc; Grenada, out of parts of Yalobusha and Carroll; and Lincoln, out of parts of Lawrence and Franklin. In the year following Clay county was formed out of parts of Lowndes and Chickasaw ; Leflore, out of parts of Sunflower and Carroll;
310
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
and Montgomery, out of parts of Carroll and Choctaw. At the next session of the legislature (1873) Tate county was formed out of parts of Tunica, DeSoto and Marshall .*
384. Breach between Ames and Alcorn in the United States Senate .- While serving together in the United States Senate, Ames and Alcorn became avowed enemies. Alcorn declared on the floor of the Senate chamber that Ames did not represent the Republican party of Mississippi; he charged Ames with having taken advantage of his vast power as military governor to secure a seat in the Senate, declared that he was not identified with the State to the extent of even a technical residence, and that he owned no real property in the State, paid no taxes for the support of the government, and was unacquainted with the wants and the conditions of the Southern people. Senator Ames, on the other hand, defended the carpet-baggers, and declared that he had a right as an American citizen to go to Missis- sippi and to stay there. He taunted Alcorn with having been a secessionist, and yet practically abandoning the cause of secession.
385. Candidates for Governor in 1873 .- The increased hostility of the two Senators made each one determined to appeal to the Republican party to endorse his course. Each announced himself as a candidate for governor of Missis- sippi. Senator Ames received the almost united support of the colored voters and the carpet-baggers. Senator Alcorn was supported by the native white Republicans and by the Democrats, who had no regular ticket in the field, as their State convention had declared it "inexpe- dient " to make a nomination.
386. Election of the Ames Ticket .- The Democratic party, however, gave but a feeble support to Alcorn, and
* The origin of the names and the location of the seat of government of these counties will be found in the Appendix.
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311
THE RESTORATION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
as a consequence the Ames ticket was overwhelmingly elected. With Governor Ames were elected three colored men, Alexander K. Davis, lieutenant-governor; James Hill, secretary of state, and T. W. Cardoza, superintendent of education. Davis and Cardoza were carpet-baggers and dishonest officials, the latter being under several indict- ments at the time of his election. They were, in a large measure, responsible for the downfall of Governor Ames. The greed of the colored people for office at this time was astonishing. In the State convention that nominated Ames they demanded at least three of the seven State offices, and threatened to disrupt the convention if their demand was not granted.
Summary
1. James L. Alcorn, of Coahoma county, was the first governor of Mississippi after the restoration of the civil government of the State (1870).
2. The legislature of 1870 passed such acts as were necessary to give effect to the changes which had been contemplated by the constitution of 1868; made provisions for repairing several public buildings and for codifying the laws of the State.
3. In the administration of Governor Alcorn the Ku Klux Klan undertook to terrorize unruly negroes and seditious carpet- baggers, and also many teachers of the public schools, which had been made an unreasonable burden to the tax-payers.
4. The legislature of 1871 leased the penitentiary for fifteen years, and made liberal grants for the construction of railroads. The crying evils of the time were excessive legislation and tax- ation.
5. In November, 1871, Governor Alcorn resigned to enter the United States Senate, and Ridgely C. Powers became governor of the State. In the same month occurred the first general election for all county and local officers since the beginning of reconstruction.
6. At this time special attention was first directed to the higher education of the colored people of the State, the following Institutions being incorporated: Tougaloo University (1871), the
312
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
State Normal College, at Holly Springs (1870), and Alcorn University, at Rodney (1871)-all of which received State aid.
7. In the presidential election of 1872 the regular Republican · ticket carried the State by a large majority, L. Q. C. Lamar being the only Democrat elected to Congress at that time.
8. The following counties were formed at this time: Alcorn, Prentiss, Benton, Union, Grenada and Lincoln, in 1870; Clay, Leflore and Montgomery in 1871; and Tate in 1873.
9. A breach having arisen between Senators Ames and Alcorn, they determined to appeal to the Republican party of Mississippi in a contest for the office of governor of the State. General Ames was elected.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CARPET-BAG GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI* (1874-1876)
387. The Inauguration of Governor Ames .- Governor Ames was inaugurated January 22, 1874. In his address he solemnly promised the people of the State that they should have an administration marked by economy and reform.
388. The Legislature .- The legislature elected with Ames was overwhelmingly Republican. There were sixty-four colored members in the two houses, some of whom could neither read nor write and were able to sign the legislative pay rolls only by means of marks. About twenty-five members were Northern men who had settled in the State after the close of the war. A colored man named Shadd, from Adams county, was elected speaker of the house.
- * In addition to the references given at the beginning of Chap- ter XXXV. the student will find the following books helpful in this connection: Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1874-'75 and '76; Lynch's Kemper County Vindicated; Well's Chisholm Massacre; Morgan's Yazoo, or the Picket Line of Freedom; Nordhoff's Cotton States in 1876; Andrew's History of the United States During the Last Quarter of a Century; Cox's Three Decades; Herbert's Why the Solid South.
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313
CARPET-BAG GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI
389. State Finances .- Shortly after the organization of the legislature, Governor Ames sent in a special message on the subject of the State finances, in which he called attention to the fact that the taxes were higher than they had ever been at any other time in the history of the State, having increased from one mill on the dollar, in 1869, to fourteen mills in 1874. The credit of the State was greatly impaired, the annual expenditures exceeded by one-fifth the receipts. State warrants were hawked about the streets of the capital and sold at a discount of from twenty to forty per cent. The governor made a number of wholesome recommendations which, of course, the legislature did not follow. He suggested that appropriations might well be cut down twenty-five per cent. He declared with truth that there were opportunities for economy in every branch of the government; that fifty thousand dollars alone could be saved in the cost of the courts without impairing their efficiency. He asserted that the expenditures for the sup- port of the University and public schools were unnecessa- rily large. The annual sessions of the legislature, he said, were long drawn out, the average cost for a sixty days' session being one hundred thousand dollars .*
390. The Abuse of the Pardoning Power .- After the ad- journment of the legislature, Governor Ames went North to spend his vacation. The colored lieutenant-governor took charge, and proceeded at once to grant pardons to his friends who were confined in prison, or who were under
* The rates of taxation for State purposes from 1869 to 1878 were as follows:
1869
1 mill.
1874 14 mills.
1870
5 mills.
1875 91 mills.
1871 4 mills.
1876 6} mills.
1872
8} mills.
1877 62 mills.
1873 12} mills.
1878 3¿ mills.
.
-
-
314
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
. indictment and likely to be sent there .* It was proved to the satisfaction of the legislature in 1876 that he accepted a bribe of eight hundred dollars for pardoning a criminal sent to the penitentiary from Lowndes county. For this he was impeached and removed from office.
391. Governor Ames and the Judiciary .- One of the chief charges against Governor Ames was his course in regard to the judiciary. Instead of appointing the judges while the legislature was in session, in order that his nominations might be confirmed by the senate, as required by the con- stitution, he waited until its adjournment and then com- missioned the new judges, with the purpose, it is charged, of controlling them by removing such as failed to render judgment in accordance with his views. He was also charged with appointing incompetent men to judicial posi- tions. The bar of the State was almost wholly Democratic, so that the governor found it next to impossible to procure Republicans who were sufficiently learned in the law to fill high judicial positions. As a consequence some of his chancellors were ignorant of both law and practice, some had never been members of the bar, while others, though possessing license to practice, had no standing at the bar.
392. The Vicksburg Troubles .- In the first year of Gov- ernor Ames' administration troubles arose in Warren county which ended in the Vicksburg riot. This unfortu-
* The following is the record of Governor Ames and Acting- Governor Davis for the first year. of the administration:
AMES.
DAVIS.
Out of the penitentiary
18
32
Out of the county jails
9
4
Pardoned before trial
0
17
Remissions of forfeiture
4
6
Commutations
5
6
-
-
Total
36
65
-
315
CARPET-BAG GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI
, nate affair grew out of the bad political conditions of the country. There is good reason to believe that Warren county, and especially Vicksburg, in 1874, had a local gov- ernment as incompetent and corrupt as ever afflicted an Anglo-Saxon community. The county officers were all black, with the exception of one member of the board of supervisors. Few of them could read or write. Four of the eight councilmen of Vicksburg were illiterate freed- men; in fact, there were but three white officers in the county. The county and city debts, which in 1869 amounted to $13,000, had increased until the city debt alone amounted to $1,400,000. The white people organized a tax-payers' league to carry the city election. The Re- publicans nominated for mayor a white man who was under indictment for twenty-three offences, and for aldermen, seven negroes and one white bar-keeper. The better class of white Republicans and a few colored voters supported the Democratic ticket. Great excitement preceded the election. White and colored militia companies paraded the streets, each trying to intimidate the other. The lieutenant- governor, during the absence of Governor Ames, appealed in vain to the President for troops. The Governor upon his return renewed the application, but the President de- clined to send troops. The reform ticket was elected (August 4th).
Having overthrown the city ring, the tax-payers turned their attention to county affairs, the chief grievance being excessive taxes. They petitioned the board of supervi- sors to require a new bond of the colored sheriff of the county, whose old bond was not sufficient, having the signatures of men who were not worth one-tenth of the amounts set opposite their names. The board refused to consider the petition, and the sheriff an- nounced publicly that he would give no further bond. In
1
316
HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI
November a mixed grand jury found seven indictments against the ex-circuit clerk for embezzlement, and five against the chancery clerk, and two against the colored circuit clerk for forgery. The Republican district-attorney . declared that if the grand jury had thought necessary, it could have found fifty against the chancery clerk, and one hundred against the circuit clerk and his predecessor. After the indictments were found, the papers that would have led to his conviction were stolen. In this situation a tax-pay- ers' meeting was held, and the resignation of several of the county officers was demanded. The sheriff refused to re- sign, whereupon the convention proceeded to the court- house and forced him to do so. He fled to Jackson to con- sult with the governor, who informed him that his resig- nation was illegal. The colored sheriff returned to Vicks- burg and had a hand-bill printed and circulated throughout the county calling upon all Republicans to support him and fight the case on its merits. The paper was read in the col- ored churches of the county the following Sunday. Great excitement soon prevailed and martial law was declared. Two conflicts followed, which resulted in the death of twenty-nine negroes and several white men. Governor Ames hastily called an extra session of the legislature, which met in December, 1874. It passed a joint resolution appealing to the President to send troops to Vicksburg. Another sheriff was elected, but the United States troops turned him out of the office and reinstated the former sheriff.
393. Tax-Payers' Convention .- The State taxation had become so burdensome that a convention of tax-payers was held in the house of representatives at Jackson on January 4, 1875. It was presided over by General W. S. Featherston, and was composed of the property owners of the State, without regard to party. They prepared an able
317
CARPET-BAG GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI
address to the legislature, in which they pointed out the "wastefulness and extravagance of the State government, . compared the cost of administering the government before and after the war, and urged the adoption of a policy of economy. The legislature, however, frittered away its time trying to devise schemes, many of which had in view the personal enrichment of its members. Tax-payers' leagues were organized in every part of Mississippi, and were com- posed of the best men in the State.
394. Racial Disturbances in 1875 .- The second year of Governor Ames' administration was marked by several other conflicts between the white people and the negroes, which were called " riots " by the newspapers of the time. One of these took place at Yazoo City (September Ist). It was caused by the influence of a notorious carpet-bagger of Yazoo City, who had settled there in 1867 and married a colored woman.
Another conflict, which resulted in the death of six ne- groes and two white people, occurred at Friar's Point, in Coahoma county (October 9th). A third conflict of a sim- ilar nature occurred at Rolling Fork, Issaquena county, in December.
395. The Clinton Riot .- The most important of the riots of 1875, and the last race conflict of any importance in Mis- sissippi, was that which took place at the town of Clinton, in Hinds county (September 4th). It appears that a joint discussion was going on between a Republican and a Dem- ocratic speaker on the occasion of a barbecue. The Dem- ocratic speaker had concluded his address, and the Repub- lican speaker had mounted the platform, when suddenly a tremendous firing commenced, and the negroes began to run. The Republicans charged that it was started by sev- eral young white men; the Democrats, on the other hand, charged that it was begun by the freedmen. In the fight
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