USA > Mississippi > School history of Mississippi; for use in public and private schools > Part 25
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Stone, whose exalted services had won for him the esteem and affection of its citizens. He was president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College during the last eleven months of his highly useful life.
In 1901 the State was deprived of the services of an- other great citizen by the death of its beloved secretary of State, Col. J. L. Power. Throughout his long and useful life the widows and orphans and the distressed in every station and in every clime found in him a friend and helper.
Another great loss to the State was incurred in the death of Hon. H. L. Muldrow (March 3, 1905). His valuable ser- vices in the Confederate army, in the State legislature (1876-1877), in the lower house of Congress (1877-1885), in the Department of the Interior, where he was first assistant secretary under Col. L. Q. C. Lamar (1885-ISSO), and in the Constitutional Convention of 1890. have made for him a place in the history of Mississippi.
In 1908 Mississippi lost one of her most useful and dis- tinguished citizens in the death of General Stephen D. Lee. Many references to his valuable services in war and peace will be found on the pages of this history.
A year later (1900) the death of Bishop Charles B. Galloway deprived the State of her most celebrated church- man, whose eloquence has thrilled thousands of people throughout the world.
440. Boundary Dispute .- With the development of the oyster industry off the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana there arose a dispute over the exact location of the boundary between the two States in certain waters of the Gulf .* In 1901 commissions from these States met in New Orleans, but failed to reach an agreement. The
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* Mississippi claimed that the six league (1S-mile) limit granted to her by Congress should run due south out of the mouth of the most eastern bank of Pearl river through Lake Borgne until it strikes the Louisiana mainland. a distance of about ten or twelve miles; thence along the mainland around Malheureux
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Supreme Court of the United States finally settled the controversy against the claims of Mississippi,* and the water boundary was surveyed and marked by buoys in 1909.
441. State Farms .- The Constitution of 1890 not only provided for the total abolition of the iniquitous system of leasing State convicts, but authorized the legislature to pur- chase a State farm or farms and to work the same by con- vict labor, under State supervision. The first session of the legislature after the adoption of this Constitution ap- pointed a commission to purchase lands for penitentiary farms. This commission purchased farms in Rankin, Hinds and Holmes counties. The Rankin county farm was occu- pied by white prisoners exclusively. As these farms were not large enough to employ all of the convicts the board of control of the penitentiary, acting under the authority granted by the legislature of 1900, purchased a large tract of land in Sunflower county.
The Code of 1906 took the management of the peniten- tiary from the board of control, consisting of the governor, Point, leaving Le Petit Pass Island on the Mississippi side; thence through Nine Mile Bayou and the water course nearest to the Louisiana mainland down to Indian Mound Bayou at a point eighteen miles from the Mississippi shore; and thence eastward with the meanderings of her shore, six leagues there- from at every point, to the Alabama line.
Louisiana claimed that her eastern boundary should be the deep water channel which runs from the mouth of Pearl river near the mainland of Mississippi and through the sound to the Gulf of Mexico, crossing the eighteen-mile line of Mississippi near Cat Island. She, therefore, claimed Le Petit Pass, St. Joseph, Grand Grassy and all other islands west of Cat Island.
* An article on this controversy by Hon. Monroe McClurg will be found in Volume VIII. of the Publications of the Missis- sippi Historical Society.
t An article entitled "Penitentiary Reform in Mississippi," by Hon. J. H. Jones, who was a member of the committee on penitentiary in the Constitutional Convention, 1890, will be found in Valige VI. of the Publications of the Mississippi His- torical Society
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attorney-general . and the railroad commissioners, and placed it in the hands of three trustees, one of whom is elected from each of the Supreme Court districts. These trustees are elected at the same time and for the same terms as other State officers.
In this way Mississippi has settled the perplexing prob- lem of how to protect society against criminals and at the same time inflict upon them humane and adequate punish- ment. The returns from these farms have already proved that the system is a financial success, since they are now turning into the State treasury about $100,000 a year.
442. New State Departments .- In 1902 the legislature of Mississippi passed an act establishing a State Department of Archives and History. The work of this department is directed principally to the preservation of the sources of State history and to the publication of an Official and Statistical Register of Mississippi after each general election.
In order to protect the citizens of Mississippi against fraudulent insurance companies and to regulate the insur- ance business in the State, the legislature of 1902 passed an act establishing the State Department of Insurance.
The legislature of 1906 created a Department of Agri- culture and Commerce and provided for a geological sur- vey of the State.
443. Primary Election Law .- By an act approved in 1902 the legislature provided that all nominations by political parties in Mississippi should thereafter be made by primary elections. This law requires that in order to receive the nomination of his party a candidate must receive a majority of the popular votes, or the highest popular vote and a ma- jority of the electoral votes, each county being entitled to as many electoral votes as it has representatives on the district executive committee. Provision was made for second pri- mary elections when more than two candidates might run and no one receive a majority of the votes in the first primary.
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444. Vicksburg Harbor .- In 1876 the Mississippi river changed its course and left the city of Vicksburg without a harbor. The citizens of Vicksburg then conceived the idea of changing the channel of the Yazoo river, which flowed some distance above the city, forcing its waters into the old bed of the Mississippi in order to give them a river harbor again. Plans were accordingly made for digging. what is now called the Yazoo Canal. It was principally through the efforts of Hon. T. C. Catchings YAZOO RIVE that the aid of the Fed- V & A 1 8 0 7 0 eral Government was obtained for this impor- tant work, which not 010 only restored the harbor of Vicksburg after the END YA700 lapse of over a quarter CANAL WRONG of a century, but opened WARREN COUNTY the Yazoo, Tallahatchie and Sunflower rivers to navigation at all seasons of the year. The cele- MISSISSIPPI RIVER --- bration in honor of the opening of the canal was .......... VICILBURG held at Vicksburg in 1903.
Yazoo Canal.
445. Removal of the Choctaws .- In 1902 the
United States Government made a treaty with the Choc- taws and Chickasaws of the Indian Territory by which the Choctaws then living in Mississippi were granted homes among their brothers in the West. In the latter part of that year and the first part of the year following a
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large number of Mississippi Choctaws removed to the Indian Territory .*
446. Levee System .- The fertile lands of the Yazoo. Mis- sissippi Delta are protected from annual overflows by im- mense embankments called levees. The levee line at present extends from the hills just below Memphis 314 miles to a point near the mouth of the Yazoo river. Since the close of the War between the States over twenty-two and a half millions of dollars have been expended on this important work.
In 1903 the waters of the Mississippi reached the highest stage on record, being two and a half feet higher than in 1897, and seven and a half feet higher than in 1882. The. levees were strong enough, however, to protect the greater part of the Delta, only a small portion of the lower end of the basin being overflowed at that time.
447. New Statehouse .- By an act approved in 1900 the legislature provided for the erection of a new statehouse, and authorized the issuance of $1,000,000 of bonds for that purpose. Because of the excellent condition of the State treasury the great expense of erecting this building was met without the sale of the authorized bonds. The work was begun January 1, 1901, the first day of the twentieth century. The cornerstone was laid with appro- priate ceremonies on June 3, 1903, the birthday of Jefferson Davis. The orators of the day were Bishop Chas. B. Gallo- way and Chief Justice A. H. Whitfield, two of Mississippi's most talented and eloquent citizens. The city of Jackson was thronged with people from every part of the State, who joyfully participated in the celebration in honor of the im- portant occasion. The building was completed August 20, 1903, and was occupied by all the State officials by the fifth of the following month.
* More detailed information on this subject will be found in an article by Mr. J. W. Wade in Volume VIII. of the Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society.
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448. Administration of Governor Vardaman (1904- 1908) .- James K. Vardaman was inaugurated governor of Mississippi January 29, 1904 .* He was born in Jackson county, Texas, July 26, 1861. Five years later his family returned to Mississippi and set- tled in Yalobusha county. After attending the public schools of that county, he read law at Carrollton, Miss. He began the practice of law at Winona in 1882. The year following he edited the Winona Advance. He then removed to Greenwood, where he edited the Greenwood Enterprise (1890-1896), and The Commonwealth (1896-1904). He represented Leflore county in the James K. Vardaman. lower house of the legislature (1890-1894) and was speaker of that body in 1904. In 1892 and 1896 he was a presidential elector on the Demo- cratic ticket. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War he entered the army of the United States as captain of a company and served in Cuba (August, 1898, to May, 1899). Before the end of the struggle he was promoted to the rank of major. Governor Vardaman has the distinc- tion of being the first chief executive of Mississippi to be nominated by a general primary election and the first to be inaugurated in the new statehouse.
* The following State officers were elected on the same ticket: J. P. Carter, lieutenant-governor; J. W. Power, secretary of State; W. J. Miller, treasurer; T. M. Henry, auditor; William Williams, attorney-general; H. L. Whitfield, superintendent of education; Wirt Adams, revenue agent: W. Q. Cole, insurance commissioner; E. H. Nall, land commissioner; E. W. Brown, clerk of Supreme Court: R. L. Bradley, S. D. McNair and J. C. Kincannon, railroad commissioners.
E. W. Brown, deceased, was succeeded by Geo. C. Myers (1904) : William Williams, deceased, by R. V. Fletcher (1907); H. L. Whitfield, resigned, by J. N. Powers (1907).
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449. New Counties .- The legislature of 1904 created a new county out of the eastern part of Marion county and a few sections of the northern part of Pearl River county. It was named Lamar in honor of one of Mississippi's greatest statesmen.
Two years later Jefferson Davis county was created out of the eastern part of Lawrence and the western part of Covington counties. It was named in honor of the beloved ex-President of the Confederacy. The same legislature established another county out of the eastern portion of Perry, naming it Forrest, in honor of General N. B. For- rest, a celebrated cavalry officer in the War between the States.
The legislature of 1910 founded George county out of portions of Greene and Jackson counties, and authorized the formation of Walthall county from parts of Pike and Marion, at the option of the voters of the proposed county. These last two names were given in honor of Mississippi's "Great . Commoner" (J. Z. George) and her "Chevalier Bayard" (E. C. Walthall).
450. Code Commission .- The legislature of 1904 passed an act authorizing the appointment of a commission to codify the laws of Mississippi. This was necessary because of the fact that many important changes had been made in the laws of the State since the adoption of the Code of 1892. The commission, which was appointed by Governor Varda- man, consisted of Chief Justice A. H. Whitfield. Capt. W. H. Hardy, and Hon. T. C. Catchings,-three of the most eminent and learned lawyers of Mississippi.
451. Text-Book Commission .- The legislature of 1904 passed a law providing for the appointment of eight public school teachers of recognized ability, who, with the State superintendent of education, should constitute a commission to adopt a uniform series of text-books for the public
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schools of Mississippi for a period of five years. A similar commission was appointed in 1910.
452. Deep Water Harbor .- Through the energy of Capt. J. T. Jones, President of the Gulf and Ship Island railroad, a deep water anchorage basin and channel, connecting the city of Gulfport with the Ship Island harbor, was opened in january, 1902. It is impossible to estimate the great value
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Channel 300 ft. Wide. 5 Miles.
MISSISSIPPI SOUND
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Ship Island Channel.
of this port to Mississippi. It has given the commerce of the State a way of easy access to the seas and has put new energy into the business life of the State. The time is not far distant when Gulfport will be not only one of the most important cities in Mississippi, but one of the most im- portant ports on the Gulf of Mexico. It now claims the distinction of being one of the most rapidly developing
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lumber ports in the world. On July 1, 1904, it became the only port of entry between New Orleans and Mobile.
In August, 1904, an Italian steamship, direct from Genoa, brought to Gulfport the first cargo from a foreign country. At a grand banquet given in honor of the occasion the com- mander of the vessel said that he started from the other side of the ocean to a port of which he had never heard before and that he was surprised to find at Gulfport "a lively city, many sister ships in harbor, plenty of water and a fine harbor."
453. Louisiana Purchase Exposition .- The legislature of Mississippi appropriated $60,000 to provide a suitable ex- hibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which was held at St. Louis in 1904. Hon. R. H. Henry, the State com- missioner, devoted great care to the collecting of exhibits that would do justice to the State. The Mississippi Build- ing was an exact reproduction of Beauvoir, the historic home of Jefferson Davis. It was visited by thousands of people from every part of the civilized world, who greatly admired its beauty. "King Cotton," a colossal stattie, made of the fleecy staple and seated on a throne which rested on several bales of cotton, appropriately represented Missis- sippi's greatest industry. The excellent exhibit of the tim- ber resources of the State did credit to one of the most important and rapidly developing industries of Mississippi. The fish and game and the mineral exhibits also attracted much attention.
454. Administration of Governor Noel (1908-) .- E. F. Noel was inaugurated governor of the State in January, 1908 .* He was born and reared on a farm near Lex- ington, Holmes county, Mississippi. He was deprived
* The following State officers were elected on the same ticket: Luther Manship, lieutenant-governor; J. W. Power. secretary of State; G. R. Edwards, Jr., treasurer; E. J. Smith, auditor; R. V. Fletcher, attorney-general; J. N. Powers, superintendent of edu- cation; Wirt Adams, revenue agent; T. M. Henry, insurance com-
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of the privilege of attending a college or professional school, but was able to complete his high school course in 1872 with the highest honors of his class. Five years later he began the practice of law at Lexington. He served in both branches of the State legislature, and as district attorney of his judicial district. During the Spanish-American war he was captain in the Second Mississippi Regi- ment of Volunteers. He was author of the Elective Judiciary Law (see $438) and of the present Pri- mary Election Law (see $443). In his public ca- reer he has shown indus- try, integrity, and conser- E. F. Noel. vatism.
455. Senatorial Elections .- At the time of the general election of State officers in 1907, there was also a cam- paign for the nomination of a United States senator to succeed H. D. Money. After a spirited contest J. S. Wil- liams won the nomination over J. K. Vardaman and was accordingly elected by the legislature of 1908.
Upon the death of Senator A. J. McLaurin (Dec. 22, 1909), Colonel James Gordon was appointed by Governor missioner; E. H. Nall, land commissioner; H. E. Blakeslee, com. missioner of agriculture: Geo. C. Myers, clerk of Supreme Court; C. C. Smith, W. A. Montgomery and L. T. Taylor, trustees of . penitentiary; and J. A. Webb, F. M. Lee, W. R. Scott and T. R. Maxwell, railroad commissioners.
E. H. Nall was succeeded by J. G. Gillespie (1909) ; and R. V. Fletcher, by J. B. Stirling (190S), who was in turn succeeded by S. S. Hudson (1910).
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Noel to fill the vacancy until the legislature could choose a man for the place. After a bitter contest, in which there were a number of candidates, the legislature finally (Feb. 22, 1910) elected LeRoy Percy to serve out Senator McLaurin's unexpired term. Senator Gordon's farewell address to the Senate abounded in liberal and patriotic sentiments which were applauded by statesmen at home and abroad.
456. Legislative Progress .- The legislature of 190S passed the following important acts : (1) A state-wide pro- hibition law ; (2) a law abolishing speculation in cotton and other futures ; (3) a law for the protection of children em- ployed in factories ; (4) the creation of special commissions · to cooperate with the Federal Government in the sup- pression of various diseases among live-stock, and to check the ravages of the boll-weevil, which had just crossed the Mississippi River from Louisiana (1907); (5) the estab- lishment of agricultural high schools.
The legislature of 1910 passed the following acts of im- portance : (1) It created the office of county attorney to look after civil and criminal business and to assist the dis- trict attorney in the circuit courts ; (2) it provided for two Supreme Court commissioners ;* (3) it practically abolished the offices of county and city treasurers, conferring their duties upon county and municipal depositories ; (4) a State Normal College was authorized to be erected by the county or municipality which would submit the most favorable terms.
457. Federal Relations .- During Governor Noel's ad- ministration Mississippi has received from the Federal
* The constitution of 1890 provided for only three Supreme Court judges (See Art. VI. Sec. 145), but the business of the court became so heavy that additional help was imperative. The legislature, therefore, established the office of Supreme Court commissioner, with all the powers and duties of Supreme Court judges, except the right to vote on the opinions rendered.
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Government and its officers all the consideration to which it was entitled as a member of the Union. President Roose- velt was cordially received at Vicksburg in October, 1908, and President Taft was given a great ovation in November, 1909, by the citizens of the State on the occasion of his trip down the Mississippi River and across the State. He spent a day at Jackson as the guest of the State and was entertained by the governor at the executive mansion.
Governor Noel has the distinction of having been the first president of the National Conservation Congress. This Congress met in the White House (1908) at the call of President Roosevelt and was attended by over forty gover- nors and other representatives of all the States and terri- tories. He also obtained a favorable settlement of claims of Mississippi against the Federal Government which had been pending since the War between the States.
458. Respect for the "Lost Cause" .- The people of Missis- sippi have never failed to show the high regard in which they hold the memory of the valiant soldiers who lost their lives in the great War between the States. They commend the zeal of the Federal Government in beautifying the cem- teries where rest the mortal remains of the heroic soldiers of the North, and they appreciate the sentiment of those among their former foes who joined President Mckinley in saying that "every soldier's grave, made during our un- fortunate Civil War, is a tribute to American valor." But the pleasure which comes to Mississippians over the fact that the passions of the bitter conflict are rapidly passing away does not lessen their sentiments of reverence and affection for the sacred dust of the Southern heroes, who sacrificed their lives on its soil. Through the energies of the women of the State most of the Confederate cem- eteries within its borders have been preserved and beauti- fied in a way that honors their pure and exalted love of patriotism. The legislature of 1906 appropriated $50,000 for
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a monument in the Vicksburg National Park in memory of her Confederate soldiers.
The Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy in Missis- sippi raised a voluntary contribution with which they have purchased and equipped for a Confederate soldiers' home the beautiful residence of Jefferson Davis (Beauvoir), where the late chieftain of the "Lost Cause" spent the last years
Beauvoir.
of his life. No place in the State could have been more appropriately dedicated to this patriotic and noble purpose. In accordance with a requirement of the Constitution of 1890 the legislature also makes annual appropriations for the relief of needy Confederate soldiers, sailors. and widows.
459. Industrial Progress .- The great wealth of timber in Mississippi has attracted the attention of capitalists. both local and foreign, who have invested millions of dollars in the manufacture of lumber. The center of this industry is at present in South Mississippi, but with the develop- ment of the hardwood industry, which is now in its infancy,
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other parts of the State will reap large returns from their valuable timber resources. The pine stumps are beginning to be utilized in the manufacture of charcoal, tar, creosote, turpentine, and other products, more or less valuable.
. Since the year 1900 many millions of dollars have been invested in the construction of new lines of railroad in Mississippi. It is gratifying to note the fact that this essen- tial feature of our commercial development is not confined to any one section of the State. In the near future the State will be covered with a great network of railroads which will supply adequate facilities for its rapidly develop- ing industries.
Since the year 1900 the number of cotton factories in the State have increased from six to fifteen. Although this industry is now in its infancy it represents an invested capi- tal of about $3,000,000. The well-equipped textile school at the Agricultural and Mechanical College will cause much greater developments in this important industry at an early date. The cotton seed oil mills in the State,-ninety in number-represent an invested capital of about $6,500,000. Through the development of this industry the farmers of Mississippi have received many millions of dollars for their cotton seed since 1900.
Mississippi is preeminently an agricultural State. It stands among the first States of the Union in the amount of cotton produced. No State is said to produce a finer grade of long staple cotton, and Vicksburg and Edwards are · becoming important long staple markets. The fertile Delta region is the greatest cotton producing part of the State. The low price at which the crop of 1904 was sold caused the farmers of the State to join wih those of other cotton producing States in reducing the acreage devoted to this crop. It is safe to predict that greater attention will be devoted in the future to the diversification of crops in Mis- sissippi. Truck-farming and market-gardening have
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yielded large returns to the farmers of some parts of the State in recent years.
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