F 347 .H5 R8 Cop,y i History of Hinds County Mississippi 1821 - 1922 Published in commemoration of the centenary of the City of Jackson, the capital of the State. 1821-22 — 1922 By Mrs. Dunbar Rowland {Eron O. Rowland) With the compliments of the MISSISSIPPI HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Dunbar Rowland, Secretary. The Capitol, Jackson, Mississippi, March 22, 1922. History of Hinds County Mississippi 1821 - 1922 Published in commemoration of the centenary of the City of Jackson, the capital of the State. 1821 - 22 — 1922 By Mrs. Dunbar Rowland [Eron O. Rowland)^ '}y\oore) JONES PTG. CO JACKSON. MISS Dedicated to Anne Mims Wright (Mrs. William R.) and to the men and women of the city of Jackson and of Hinds county whose interest in the preservation of the history of their State has been an inspiration to the author. PREFACE This history of Hinds county is one of the entire num- ber of histories of the counties of Mississippi that the His- torical Society has undertaken to prepare for its readers. The more advanced States have many volumes devoted to county history. With a few exceptions careful histories of Mississippi counties have not as yet been prepared, and in this collection the author has endeavored to lay the foun- dation for all writers who come after to build upon. The publication of the history of Hinds county where the State capital is located seems at this time, when the city of Jackson is contemplating a celebration of its one hundredth anniversary, eminently fitting. In fact both the city and county could well celebrate together, as scarcely a year intervenes between their legislative natal days, the county having been established February 12, 1821, and the city November 28, 1821. This work has received the commendation of the Secre- tary and other members of the Historical Society. Still, as Roosevelt has observed in other' phrasing is his history, 'The Naval War of 1812" covering Jackson's Coast cam- paign against the British, 1813-15, where there are so many opinions perfect history is not possible. The author, how- ever, has striven to present the important events that helped to make the history of the county and believes that the subject has been treated with a fair degree of accuracy. If any important incidents have been overlooked she will gladly receive such information for future use. esentful and nursed a grievance for the wrongs he endured from the white people, traits that are born of too much sincerity for the making of good politicians and diplomats. The treaty of Doak's Stand and the removal of the In- dians to the west, the latter undertaking having been placed in the hands of Maj. William Ward, met with much approval by the people of Mississippi, and everywhere in the older southern states an intense interest was manifested in the new territory open for purchase and population. With its succession of dark, level, prairies, rich valleys and heavi- ly timbered tracts of valuable woods, it held out rare in- ducements not only to the younger sons of the large planters of the older southern states, but to the wealthy planters of Mississippi. Sensible of its debt of gratitude to the com- missioners who had treated with the Indians so success- fully, the legislature which convened the following Febru- ary, 1821, passed the following resolution: ^'Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi, in General Assembly convened, that the thanks of the General Assembly of this state be presented to Major-General Andrew Jackson and our dis- tinguished fellow-citizen, Major-General Thomas Hinds, commissioners plenipotentiary on the part of the United States to treat with the Choctaw tribe of Indians, for their patriotic and indefatigable exertions in effecting a treaty with the said tribe of Indians, whereby their claim has been extinguished to a large portion of land within this state." The newly acquired territory was still without a name and the legislature at the same session on February 12, 1821, — 11 — passed an act declaring that "all that tract of land ceded to the United States by the Choctaw Nation of Indians on the 18th day of October, 1820, and bounded as above stated, shall be and is hereby directed and established into a new county, which shall be called and known by the name of Hinds," in honor of General Thomas Hinds, one of the heroes in Jack- son's Coast Campaign against the British in 1813-15. After conferring upon it one of the most honored names of the state, the act placed the new county of Hinds in the then First Judicial District. On February 12th, 1821, an act was passed authorizing Governor Poindexter to issue a proclamation "ordering and directing the election of a sheriif and coroner for the county of Hinds." In this man- ner the large county which was so often styled "the Mother of Counties" began its existence. Provided with a govern- ment and endowed with all the necessary rights for func- tioning, the new county lacked only numbers in her popu- lation, the remaining Indians taking no part in the affairs of the state. The pleasant and beautiful region, so well suited to agriculture, was rapidly settled by a wealthy slave-holding class, and in the more hilly districts and pine forests a class of small farmers. By January 21, 1823, the legislature saw fit to create Yazoo County out of Hinds, and by the same act the county of Copiah, embracing what are now Copiah and Simpson Counties and a part of Lincoln County. A little later, Feb- ruary 4, 1828, Rankin County was created from that part of Hinds County then lying east of Pearl River. And again Hinds County on February 5th, 1829, surrend- ered the fractional township 7 in ranges 2 and 3 to be at- tached to Madison County, which was carved out of Yazoo County. These townships were long thereafter called the "Stolen townships," because the act excising them from Hinds County was rushed through the legislature by the representatives of Madison County in the absence of the representatives from Hinds county. The several large counties mentioned, created from the original territory ot Hinds, gave of their area for the formation of numerous other newer counties. — 12 — When Mississippi was admitted as a State in 1817, the question of the location of the capital was a troublesome one. Washington and Natchez, the old capitals, were con- sidered too far from the center of the State; other towns were anxious to have the capital located in their midst. It was temporarily arranged that Columbia should be the seat of government ; at the same time it was decided that a per- manent capital should be located near the center of the State. In 1821, the legislature, which met in the court- house at Columbia, Marion county, appointed commission- ers to select such a place. Touching the important early history of the capital, the following extract from the En- cyclopedia of Mississippi History will be found interesting: "The Choctaw cession of 1820 provided a central re- gion, and by act of the legislature of February 12, 1821, Thomas Hinds, James Patton and William Lattimore were appointed commissioners to locate within twenty miles of the true center of the state the two sections of land which congress had donated for a seat of government. "Major Freeman, the suveyor, estimated that the cen- ter of the State was close to Doak's Stand on the Natchez- Tennessee road and Choctaw line, in what is now Madison county. Hinds and Lattimore, accompanied by Middleton Mackay, guide and interpreter, set out from Columbia for that spot November 12. They visited Yellow Bluff, but found it objectionable, and decided there was no desirable place on the Big Black or anywhere within the limits set by the legislature. So they returned to LeFleur's Bluff, ten miles south of the Choctaw agency. They had passed this bluff going up and were satisfied by the beautiful emin- ence north of and continuous with the bluff, falling east- wardly into an extensive and fertile flat, and continued by high, rolling land on the west. A never-failing spring of pure water in front of the eminence and the good water of the creek, the fertile soil, abundant timber, and evidently healthful air, added to the attractions. The river was navigable — a keel boat had gone up beyond the bluff several times, the school section of the township was within a mile of the eminence, and the fact that it was thirty-five miles — 13 — south of the center was only a recommendation to the pres- ent population. In their report to the legislature, Novem- ber 20, 1821, they suggested that this was a favorable time for the experiment of a town on the 'checker-board plan' as suggested by President Jefferson to Governor Claiborne, seventeen years before, i. e., the alternate squares to be parks. The original manuscript map of Jackson made by P. A. Vandorn, now on file in the Department of Archives and History, follows that plan. On November 28, 1821, the legislature ratified the choice, and authorized Hinds, Latti- more and Peter A. Vandorn, commissioners, to locate two ad- joining half sections, and lay off a town, to be named Jackson, in honor of Major-General Andrew Jackson. To this site the offices were ordered removed by the fourth Monday of November 1822, when the legislature should meet at the new capital. In April following, (1822), Abraham Defrance, of Washington, superintendent of public buildings, re- paired to the site, to begin operations, and he was soon followed by the three commissioners, accom- panied by a number of prospective settlers. The town was laid off, with Capital green. Court green and College green parks, and various reservations, and only ten lots were offered for sale, the purchasers agreeing to build log or frame houses by November. Among the settlers were Lieut-Governor Dickson, who was appointed postmaster in October; Joseph Winn and Maj. Jones. B. M. Hines contracted to build a State house of brick, two stories high, 40 by 30, to be completed October 15, for $3,500. The clay for brick and limestone for lime were found close at hand. There was an advertisement of 100 lots to be sold January, 1823. G. B. Crutcher started The Pearl River Gazette, and Peter Isler the State Register,^ which were the first newspapers published at the State capital. ''In 1829 the senate passed a bill to remove the capital to Clinton, but it was defeated in the house by a tie vote. The proposition was renewed in 1830, and the house voted, 18 to 17, to move to Port Gibson, but immediately recon- 1. See Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, Leake's Administration. — 14 — sidered the vote, on motion of M. Haile, and next day passed the bill for removal, with Vicksburg as the lucky town, by a vote of 20 to 16. No change was made, however. In the same year H. Billingsley, H. Long, Samuel U. Puckett, Daniel Wafford, William Matthews and Hiram Coffee pro- posed to build on Capitol square at Jackson, a^ State house to be worth $50,000, for which they would take the entire two sections of land donated by the United States, including the town of Jackson, and the additional land purchased by the State, in lieu of the lots already sold. This would' be figured at $20,000 and the State would pay the balance in three annual installments of $10,000. The proposition was not accepted. But a State House, as has been seen, was pro- vided for the capital and the constitutional convention of 1832 was held therein, the constitution establishing the cap- ital at Jackson until the year 1850, after which the legisla- ture was empowered to designate the permanent seat of government." Time has proved that the commissioners were right in selecting an ideal site for the capital of the state. The fact that it is only thirty-five miles south of the center of the state was greatly in its favor. The first State House built in the new capital was a small two-story building erec- ted on the site that is now occupied by the Harding Building, which belongs to the Baptists of Mississippi. Here the con- stitutional convention was held. It was the first State con- stitution in which the new county of Hinds had participat- ed and its delegates were David Dickson, James Scott, and Vernon Hicks. The reception of General Andrew Jackson in 1828 and the nomination of Robert J. Walker for the United States Senate were other notable events that oc- cured in this building. After another heated controversy in which Clinton fought strenously for supremacy,^ the capital still re- mained on the banks of Pearl River, having, as has been stated, received the name Jackson in honor of General Andrew Jackson, of whom Mississippians were justly 1. Only one vote, cast by Bailey Peyton in favor of Jackson, deter- mined the contest. — 15 — proud. The place before the location of the capital was known as LeFleurs Bluff, Enochs' factory being the site of the trading post of Louis LeFleur. The story of its growth forms a part of this history. The county of Hinds, as it exists today, has a land sur- face of 847 square miles and is slightly irregular in shape. It is bounded on the north by Yazoo and Madison counties, on the east by Madison and Rankin counties, on the south by Copiah, and on the west by Claiborne and Warren coun- ties. The now extinct villages of Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antibank, and Auburn P. O., were among the earlier set- tlements in the county. Hamburg, laid out in 1826, had a brief career of only two years. Its site, on; the Big Black river, two miles north of the present Alabama & Vicksburg railroad crossing, was too marshy for a perma- nent town. Amsterdam was located on the bluffs two miles above Hamburg, and became a village of importance. Dur- ing high water each year it was visited by steam and keel boats, and was made a port of entry by act of Congress. About 1832 half of its population died of cholera, but the place continued to hold first place in commercial import- ance for several years. Doak's Stand, the old treaty ground, was the first county seat and for a short time Clinton was the county seat. On February 4, 1828, the legislature ordered the election of five commissioners to locate a site for the courthouse, and; they were directed to place it in Clinton or within two miles of the center of the county. The center, however, was found within two miles of Raymond and this was marked by a large stone. The following year by act of the Legislature Raymond was made the county seat, its prestige causing the remark that Raymond was the seat of justice, Clinton, of learning, and Amsterdam, of commerce. Clinton has made good her title, Amsterdam expired beneath the double calamity of an epidemic of cholera and failing to attract the new railroad coming from Vicksburg in her direction, while Raymond still shares the honor of being a seat of justice and many — 16 — of the old county records are still kept in her repositories. At this place the Hinds County Gazette had its birth. The county being divided into two districts, courts are today held at both Raymond and Jackson, the latter place having been selected as the capital of the state by the legislature, November 28, 1821. Among the United States senators of Mississippi from Hinds County before the Civil War were Walter Leake and Henry S. Foote. The governors of Mississippi from Hinds County before the war were Walter Leake, John I. Guion j and Henry S. Foote, and of these more will be said later. Hinds County, along with the other counties of the State, shared the prosperity that marked the State's financial history during these years. Cotton, the great staple industry, held first place in agricultural products, and about this time Mississippi was largely furnishing the country with cotton for clothing and numerous other pur- poses. No county in the State was making greater pro- gress in the growth of cotton and other products such as corn, peas, syrup, and great varietis of fruits than Hinds. Though Hinds at that time had no factories to speak of, a coarse cloth, woven on hand looms, shoes, and many other necessaries were manufactured on the large plantations for home consumption, such place taking on the air of small industrial colonies. The county began early to pro- duce all the food stuffs used by the people and it has been handed down as a fact that elegant dinners were given on plantations in the county which were prepared en- tirely of its products. It was as early as 1823 that Gov- ernor Leake built at Clinton, then called Mount Salus, a handsome brick house. The brick, or else the frame house with its large Grecian columns, was the accustomed style of house erected on the large plantations, this style of architecture having become popular throughout the South. It was during these early years that railroads became a subject of the liveliest interest in the history of Hinds County, but few having been built, the stage with its relay of fresh horses was maintained on many routes. One of — 17 — the earliest railroads built in the county was what is now the Alabama & Vicksburg. Its coming was an event celebrated everywhere in the county. This road, before the Civil War, owned and operated a branch line from Bol- ton to Raymond, wholly in Hinds County, but it was torn up and abandoned at the close of the war in order to obtain rails sufficient to rehabilitate the main line. The religious life of the county was, if anything, more marked and characteristic than any other feature of its social progress. Though nearly all of the Virginia set- tlers were communicants of the Church of England, the difficult service of the Episcopal Church prevented that church from spreading and the simpler rituals of the Methodist and Baptist churches were best suited for the use of a pioneer people of varied religious creeds. However, both the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches entered the county early and established themselves, though in a small way, securely, wherever they appeared. While the better class of people, especially the slave- holders, exhibited a manner and spirit touched with aristo- cratic hauteur, they possessed a deep inward piety which was generally expressed with much emotionalism, especial- ly on the part of the uneducated; shouting caused by re- ligious fervor and ecstasy was common to both white and black, and among the poorer whites the "holy dance" was often indulged. Every neighborhood had its frame church — in some instances classical in design — where not only the monthly Sunday service was held, but where protracted meetings were carried on for a week or more, all day ser- vices, with dinner at the church, being frequently held. During these revivals, generally held in midsummer after the crops were 'laid by,"i attended by both white and black, the latter occupying a gallery built in the back part of the church for their especial use, the people often gave way to religious emotions of the most remarkable nature. At the close of the revival each candidate for baptism was 1, A colloquial expression still used today, meaning- that the crops had been cultivated, awaiting fruition. — 18 — expected to give a faithful account of his or her experience which often consisted of psychic discoverLas, such as few spiritualists of today have experienced. The women of the South, even where they themselves maintained serenity and poise in their spiritual experiences, regarded these revela- tions with a reverent spirit. The men sometimes took them with a grain of salt, but as a whole were deeply im- pressed with religious manifestations, and the people of no section of the Union more earnestly exhibited depend- ence on divine Providence than the people of whom we write, nor exppsssed in their daily lives more reverence for the Bible. The men of Hinds County, in common with those of the entire State, early developed a genius for politics and public speaking, and rallies, with barbecues and open-air dances, were features of the social life of the county. While its women as a whole were given to the study of so- cial and domestic questions these were not lacking in keen interest in public affairs and many were brilliant in conver- sation. Such was the growth of this transplanted Anglo-Saxon stock, and one versed in ethnology could easily trace its kinship to the inhabitants of the British Isles. The history of the county during the period preced- ing the Civil War is one of constant growth and expansion along all lines. While its people, as representatives of the county, took no part in the War of 1812 for American In- dependence, many of the sturdy pioneer soldiers who served under Generals Andrew Jackson and Ferdinand L. Claiborne, and Colonel Thomas Hinds, had moved into the new terri- tory, purchased from the Indians, and their sons, inherit- ing the cavalier's courage and chivalrous spirit, were keen and eager to respond when in 1846 a call came for volunteers to hasten to the Rio Grande to strength- en General Zachary Taylor's army during the War with Mexico. Companies E and G were immediate- ly organized in Hinds County. From her large brown loam plantations, from her small hillside farms, from her white, many-columned houses, and — 19 — from her little houses where the lilac and syringa bloomed by the low window-sill, her young sons, forgetting caste, rank and profession, answered the call of country, just as their fathers had done when the British attempted to invade the South in 1814-15, during the War of 1812. Company G was commanded by Captain Reuben N. Downing, with Wil- liam H. Hampton and S. A. D. Graves, lieutenants. Com- pany E was commanded by Captain John L. McManus, with James H. Hughes and Crawford Fletcher, lieutenants. Worthy and honored descendants of these brave soldiers may still be found in the county's population. Companies E and G formed a part of the famous First Mississippi Regiment for the Mexican War, commanded by Colonel Jefferson Davis, with Alexander K. McClung, Lieu- tenant-Colonel and A. B. Bradford, Major. The courage and valor of this regiment at Buena Vista and Monterey have placed its deeds in the class with the most renowned military feats of history. After a year's absence the regi- ment returned home, to receive the plaudits of an admiring people. Its welcome home was a statewide event and will be referred to again in this sketch. But military honors, political preferment and social di- version were not all that the happy, prosperous people of this fast-developing region sought. The county has always led in educational aspiration and advancement. As early as 1826 the Hemstead Academy, afterwards by an act ap- proved February 5, 1827, called Mississippi Academy, was incorporated and located at Clinton, then Mount Salus. In 1827 under the guidance of F. G. Hopkins it began a use- ful, though changeful, career. A lottery, an institution not then viewed with the disapproval it is today, was authorized by the trustees for its support. The Hinds county college, at Clinton, after having failed by one vote to become the property of the Methodists of Mississippi, passed to the control of the Mississippi! Presbytery, to be finally transferred to the Baptists, becoming the sole property of the Baptist Church in Mississippi and known throughout the United States as Mississippi College. Its — 20 — history has been one of marvelous growth and influence in the State. Many other strong educational institutions have been established in the county to which reference will be made. It was about 1840 that the county began to enjoy its first railroad facilities, the prcdecessors of the present Alabama & Vicksburg railroad giving much-needed trans- portation and connecting it with the Mississippi River at the city of Vicksburg. The first census report made by John A. Grimball, secretary of state, gives the county a popula- tion of 5,340 in 1832. In 1900 it had increased to 52,577. A favored region from the standpoint of climate and fertile acreage, settled under the most favorable conditions by a better class than usually seeks the frontiers, with a well-established state government upon which to lean and possessing the means with which to begin the foundations of a well-ordered society, Hinds County did not meet with the misfortunes, hazards and catastrophes that mark earlier southern and western settlements ; still, obstacles await any conquerors of the wilderness. It was true that lurking foes plotting the sudden massacre had disappeared, but it is a far cry from dense forests through which no road runs to the apple orchard, the church and the school-house. How- ever, history attests that the county grew by leaps and bounds. The general development and progress of Hinds County, which were so marked during the period preceding the Civil War, were due to a large extent to the fact that the capital of the State was located within its borders. Activities of a varied nature found an outlet here. Many large institutions, both industrial and educational, sought the capital city, and the whole political history of the State colored its history. Since the day of the location of the capital, it began to be recognized as the center of state affairs, and indeed the rich section throughout this region before the Civil War was a fitting support for any state capital. Here the slave-holder had amassed large fortunes ; villages, towns, and cities sprang up, and churches, schools — 21 — and play-houses were erected, if not plentifully in growing numbers, for the use of as prosperous and happy people as existed anywhere in the United States. Politics, both State and national, engaged the thoughts of the people to a large extent in this county and it was during these years that the gifted and erudite Henry S. Foote met such past masters as Jefferson Davis and S. S. Prentiss in ora- torical contests. Among the leaders of public affairs in Hinds County at this period were Henry S. Foote,^ William and George Yer- ger, William L. Sharkey, Amos R. Johnston, Albert G. Brown, T. J. Walton, Fulton Anderson, Wiley P. Harris, David C. Glenn and John I. Guion. CHAPTER II Questions in national government were now clamoring for settlement which remaining unsettled too long by gov- ernmental procedure, culminated in the secession of the Southern States, followed by as fierce civil war between the sections of the cleft Union as history has ever record- ed. For the preliminary events of secession in Mississippi, a close study is recommended of the administrations of Matthews, Guion, Whitfield, Foote, McRae, McWillie and Pettus. See Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, Volumes I and H. As a reflex of the situation, in Hinds County, which was the compendium of that throughout the State, a brief summary with some slight editing will be inserted here from the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History since the act of secession was enacted within the confines of the county and is a part of its history. 'Tor many years after the formation of the Republic few would have questioned the legal theory upon which the Southern Commonwealths based their right to with- draw from the Union, whatever resistance might have been 1. Foote resigned when governor of the State in 1851 and went to California and from there to Tennessee. — 22 — offered to actual withdrawal. The wise men of 1787 were forced to appease many jealousies and to adjust many delicate situations before the con- stitution could win the necessary support to insure its adoption by the States. This brought about the many well known compromises of the constitu- tion, together with some significant omissions in the in- strument. If the right of secession was nowhere mention- ed, neither was it negatived; nor was there anywhere a grant of power to the National government to coerce a re- calcitrant State. The prevailing early view of the consti- tution and the nature of the Union is well illustrated in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798 ; in the attitude of those New England States which condemned the embargo laid upon shipping by the National government in 1808, de- clared it unconstitutional and refused to enforce it; in 1812, when Massachusetts and Connecticut refused to honor the requisition of the President for the use of ihe militia of those States without their borders, on the ground that the act of Congress authorizing the requisition was un- constitutional ; in 1828-30, when Georgia refused to obey an act of Congress regarding the Cherokee Indians, and de- fied the Federal authority ; and finally in 1832, when South Carolina through State convention and by legislative en- actment declared null and void the tariff imposed by Con- gress, and was prepared to secede if necessary. All these incidents serve to show that the secession idea was no new one. Those States which finally seceded in 1861 justified their course by the claim that the National Union was formed by a compact between independent States, each of which could judge for itself, whether the compact had been violated, and secede for such violation. A State, by vir- tue of its individual, sovereign right, could repeal or with- draw its act of acceptance of the constitution, as the basis or bond of union, and resume the powers which had been delegated and enumerated in that instrument. This action was that of the people of the State, in the assertion of a power above that of Federal or State government. "Apart from the legal grounds upon which the right — 23 — of secession was based, the interests of the North and the South had grown widely apart. In the progress of the years the social and economic development of the two sec- tions had diverged more and more." Though there were a number of abolitionists in the South,i ^fter the fashion of Henry Clay's class, the South as a whole, for the pres- ent at least, felt that slavery was not only in keeping with Biblical institutions but an indispensible economic necessity in the production of its great staples, cotton and tobacco — products which were the mainstay of her prosperity; that since the constitution provided for its existence, only con- stitutional measures could or should prevent it ; that it was pernicious intermeddling for the New England reformers to condemn its practice when New England had recognized it herself but a few years before, and in finding such labor more of a burden than otherwise to a largely sterile sec- tion, had sold her slaves to the southern planters. "Many events had tended to intensify the feeling be- tween the sections. The South resented the charge of moral guilt for the original introduction of slavery. There was certainly no basis for this charge, as the South was no more responsible than the North. The commercial policy of Eng- land denied the colonies any choice in the matter; they were obliged to permit the slave-trade and to receive the slaves. Before the year 1808 when the Federal constitu- tion authorized Congress to act in the matter, all the lead- ing Southern States had voluntarily abolished the foreign slave-trade. It is a fact familiar to all southerners that the South only tolerated the domestic slave-trade, as the means for the proper economic distribution of the slave pop- ulation. General hatred, and social ostracism were the lot of the slave-trader, who was more often of New England birth than Southern born. Again, the South believed that the people of the North condoned, if they had not actually abetted the diabolical acts of the fanatical and blood-thirsty John Brown. Every southerner realized what a hideous 1. There was in active operation in Mississippi before the Civil AVar a strong society for the emancipation and colonization of the Negro in Liberia. The colony planted there bore the name of Mississippiana. Captain Isaac Ross in his will gave all his slaves their freedom. — 24 — danger a slave insurrection meant to southern homes. The South too felt and demanded that slavery was entitled to statutory protection wherever it existed in the Territories in obedience to the law as enunciated in the Dred Scott decision. The failure of many of the northern States to en- force the provisions of the fugitive slave law was espe- cially exasperating. "Mississippi was represented by a brilliant delegation when the Democratic national convention met at Charles- ton, April 23rd, including Jeiferson Davis, W. S. Barry, L. Q. C. Lamar, Charles Clark, Jacob Thompson, J. W. Mat- thews and S. J. Gholson. The delegation reported the de- mand of Yancey, that the platform must declare for pro- tection by Congress of slave property, the attitude to which the Southern Democrats had advanced from non-interven- tion. This was simply a demand for strict compliance with the doctrine of the Dred Scott decision. "The Northwestern Democrats, mainly, rejected this principle and a platform was adopted which left slavery to the voice of the inhabitants of the territories, which was the Douglas policy.^ Thereupon the delegations of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas, and scattering members of other delegations, seceded from the conven- tion. The convention ballotted 57 times, but Douglas failed to receive a two-thirds vote, and it then adjourned to meet at Baltimore June 18. Jefferson Davis opposed this rup- ture, 'because he knew we could achieve a more solid and enduring triumph by remaining in and defeating Douglas * * * But there was no holding back such men as General Clark, Thompson, Matthews and Judge Gholson. They forced Alabama to stand to their instructions and then stood by her.' (Letter of Lamar to Mott, May 29th). Afterward Mr. Davis sent out an address advising the return of the delegates to Baltimore, and Lamar signed it with him. "At Baltimore, Mississippi and South Carolina refused to participate unless all the delegates from the seceding 1. Under the laws of the United States the territories had no author- ity to enact laws of this nature; every issue opposed by the South in- volved an infring-ement of the national constitution. — 25 — states were admitted. There were contests, decided against the anti-Douglas men, and the Southern party again seceded. The remainder of the convention nominated Douglas for president. The Southern party met at Richmond, adjourned back to Baltimore, and there, in June, nominated Breckenridge. Meanwhile, in May, the Constitutional Union party, identical with the Foote party in Mississippi, had held a convention at Baltimore and nominated John Bell, of Tennessee. It was mainly a Southern party, in fact, but had hopes of national support. The Republican party had a con- vention at Chicago in May also, and nominated Abraham Lincoln. Thus there were two Northern and two Southern parties. Both sets were divided on the old Whig and Democrat issues, but in the South the actual issue betwean the Beckenridge and Bell parties, was secession, as the elec- tion of Lincoln was considered certain. *Tn Mississippi the Bell men denounced the Democrats as having always bred dissension and never having done anything to heal it. If Breckenridge and Douglas were the only candidates the issue would be the same, they said. The Natchez Courier (Whig) declared the Breckenridge ticket was supported by Southern sectionalism and Buchanan corruption. It asked, 'Will you follow Yancey and his clique in their mad scheme of precipitating the cotton States into a revolution and bring upon yourselves the horrors and desolation of civil war?' ''When Congress adjourned, 'Members from the South purchased long-range guns to take home with them,' says Reuben Davis. 'The unthinking among them rejoiced that the end was in sight, but those who considered more deeply were dismayed by the prospect. It was regarded as almost certain that Lincoln would be elected, unless Breckenridge or Douglas could be withdrawn from the field, and it was idle to hope that this could be done.' Giddings, of Ohio, a famous Abolitionist, demanded a candidate in opposition to Lincoln, but that movement had little strength in the North. 'The presidential campaign was, as was inevitable, one of extraordinary violence.' "The Breckenridge electoral ticket was headed by — 26 — Henry T. Ellett. The Bell ticket was, John C. Watson, Amos R. Johnston, the last of Hinds County, T. B. Mosely, William A. Shaw, W. B. Helm, Sylvanus Evans, Gustavus H. Wilcox. The Douglas ticket was, Samuel Smith, Frank- lin Smith, B. N. Kinyon, R. W. Flournoy, E. Dismukes, Henry Calhoun, Edmund McAllister. The campaign was characterized, as it was in the North, by considerable mili- tary parade. The Union party had its big rallies, at Natchez, Jackson, Vicksburg, and elsewhere, as well as the Democrats, and there were many torch light processions. There was a Union meeting ini Jackson, early in October, under the management of Fulton Anderson, Chief Justice Sharkey, the Yergers, R. L. Buck and many other prominent men. But there was not much doubt as to what the result would be. In October the Union men, knowing the settled program, were calling attention to the resolutions of the convention of 1851, that a convention was illegal, without first letting the people vote on the calling of it. "Mississippi gave an overwhelming majority to Breckenridge. According to the constitutional method of election, provided to protect the States from consolidation, Mr. Lincoln was assured of 180 electoral votes, far more than all his opponents together. Bell carried 39 votes, Breckenridge 72, Douglas 12. The popular vote of the United States was by no means so decisive. Lincoln re- ceived 1,866,452 votes; Douglas 1,375,157; Breckenridge, 847,953; Bell, 590,631. The great vote for Douglas was in the North. The opposition vote to the Republicans was 2,823,741 — a majority of almost a million, in a total vote of about four million and a half. The op- position to Lincoln had polled 1,288,611 in the North and West alone. In Lincoln's own state, Illinois, the opposi- tion vote only lacked three thousand of that polled by the Republicans. It was really a narrow victory, and it was the part of wisdom for the Republican leaders to move cau- tiously. "Lincoln had said positively in 1858 in the fa- mous debate with Stephen A. Douglas: T am not nor — 27 — ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of ne- groes, nor to qualify them to hold office, nor to inter- marry with white people, and I will say in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equal- ity.' This did not suit the abolitionists of the North who believed in the social and political equality of the races; hence, the light vote Lincoln received. After his election, however, it was generally accepted and largely true that he would be dominated by the radical element of the Re- publican party. ''November 13th, 1860, Governor Pettus issued a proclamation that, 'Whereas, the recent election of Messrs. Lincoln and Hamlin demonstrates that those who neither reverence the Constitution, obey the laws, nor reverence their oaths, have now the power to elect to the highest of- fices in this Confederacy men who sympathize with them in all their mad zeal to destroy the peace, prosperity and prop- erty of the Southern section, and will use the power of the Federal government to defeat all the purposes for which it was formed; and whereas, the dearest rights of the people depend for protection under our constitution on the fidelity to their oaths of those who administer the government,' he called the legislature to provide 'surer and better safeguards for the lives, liberties and property of her citizens than have been found, or are hoped for in Black Republican oaths.' Gov. Pettus also invited the Congressional delegation to meet him in conference at Jackson. All attended but Mc- Rae. Diverse opinions were maintained. Some opposed separate State action in secession. Some were opposed to secession, unless eight other States would consent to go out at the same time. Finally General Reuben Davis proposed that the governor should recommend a convention to adopt an ordinance of secession to take effect immediately. This was carried by the votes of Governor Pettus, 0. R. Singleton, William Barksdale and Reuben Davis. The governor then showed the conference a telegram from the governor of South Carolina asking advice as to whether the South Caro- — 28 — lina ordinance should take effect immediately or on the 4th of March, and the same four votes were cast to give the advice 'immediately.' (R. Davis, Recollections, 390. Also see Mayes' Lamar, p. 87). "When the legislature convened at Jackson, November 26, the message of the governor was immediately delivered. Besides the members and all State officials, hundreds of citizens of Hinds County were present, the galleries of the old Capitol and all available standing room being packed with eager, anxious spectators. He declared they had be- fore them 'the greatest and most solemn question that ever engaged the attention of any legislative body on this con- tinent,' one that involved 'the destiny, for weal or for woe, of this age, and all generations that come after us, for an indefinite . number of generations, the end of which no prophet can foretell ***** That Mississippi may be en- abled to speak on this grave subject in her sovereign ca- pacity I recommend that a convention be called, to meet at an early date.' He argued at length the doctrine of a reserved right of secession by the States of the Union, and declared that this was the great saving principle to which alone the Southern States could look and live. In after years he said he hoped, after the Republican party had passed away, to come back 'under the benign influences of a reunited government.' 'If we falter now,' he said in con- clusion, 'we or our sons must pay the penalty in future years, of bloody, if not fruitless, efforts to retrieve the fallen fortunes of the State, which if finally unsuccessful must leave our fair land blighted — cursed with Black Re- publican politics and the freed negro's morals, to become a cesspool of vice, crime and infamy. Can we hesitate, when one bold resolve, bravely executed, makes powerless the aggressor, and one united effort makes safe our homes? May the God of our fathers put it into the hearts of our people to make it.' Among the members of the legislature a written plan of a Confederacy was freely circulated and published in the Mississippian of December 4th. This be- gan with the following instructions:' 'The States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida are believed to be — 29 — ready to go out of the Union. To these states, let com- missioners be appointed now by the State.' "On November 28th the legislature passed the Con- vention bill, reported by Charles Clark in the house. It provided that an election of delegates to a convention should be helc^ in each county, Thursday, December 20th, each county to have as many delegates as it had represen- tatives in the legislature. Originally the bill would have allowed any 'citizen' to be a delegate, but the senate insert- ed an amendment requiring one year's residence in the State. The delegates elected were to meet at the Capitol, Monday, January 7, 1861, and 'proceed to consider the then existing relations between the government of the United States and the government and people of the State of Mississippi, and to adopt such measures of vindicating the sovereignty of the State, and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to them to be demanded.' ''On the following day resolutions were adopted re- questing the governor to appoint Conimissioners 'to visit each of the slave-holding Stat>3S,' to inform them of the action of the Mississippi legislature, 'express the earnest hope of Mississippi that those States will co-operate with her in the adoption of efficient measures for their common defence and safety,' and appeal to the governors to call the legislature into extra session where that had not been done. Another resolution requested the State officers to prepare a device for a coat of arms for the State of Mississippi; to be ready by the 7th of January. Delay was not to the taste of the legislature. Senator Buck's resolve that it would not be proper to take final action without consultation with the sister slave-holding States, was lost, 27 to 3. The resolu- tions adopted by a large majority, after reciting the grounds for complaint, said, 'That in the opinion of those who now constitute the State legislature, the secession of each aggrieved State is the proper remedy for these in- juries.' The legislature adjourned November 30. "The governor appointed the following commissioners, who visited the other States, and addressed the legislatures — 30 — and people : Henry Dickinson, to Delaware ; A. H. Handy, to Maryland; Walker Brooke and Fulton Anderson, to Vir- ginia; Jacob Thompson, to North Carolina; G. S. Gaines, to Florida; W. L. Harris and Thomas W. White, to Georgia; W. S. Featherston, to Kentucky; Thomas J. Wharton, of Hinds County, to Tennessee ; Joseph W. Matthews, to Ala- bama; Daniel R. Russell, to Missouri; George R. Fall, to Arkansas; Wirt Adams, of Hinds County, to Louisiana; H. H. Miller, to Texas ; C. E. Hooker, of Hinds County, to ■ South Carolina. Mississippi was herself visited by like commissioners. Colonel Armistead, from South Carolina, and E. W. Fettus, brother of the governor, from Alabama, attended the January convention.'' The decisive step taken by the governor of Mississippi at Jackson stirred the people throughout the State. Hinds County and the capital city became the Mecca for all the determined secessionists of the State. The anti-seces- sionists, however, had a following in the county, since Foote had lived here and had built up a strong party. But in-espective of partisanship, there was a wholly unselfish and sincere effort in the county made by such able leaders as Judge W. L. Sharkey to hold the Union together, to which policy Jefferson Davis clung until it was clearly mani- fest that all reason had fled the councils of both the North and the South and that it was now a bitter and deep-seated contention over constitutional guarantees that separated the people. As for the question of freeing the slaves, there were, we repeat, numerous abolitionists in Mississippi and throughout the South, but the voices of these were quelled for the time being at least by the cotton growers who consti- tuted the gentry of the State. And who honestly doubts that the reformer of New England would not have been crushed for some time to come had the sterile soil of New England been a rich one adapted to the production of such profitable staples as cotton and tobacco? By what pro- cesses of economic development involving self-interest the New Englander became an abolitionist en masse would make interesting history, when we consider that there was a time not far back that rabid spirits among them tarred — 31 — and feathered and often mobbed their neighbors for per- nicious interference in such pubhc questions as the preven- tion of slavery. As for the institution itself, there remains to be written a truthful history of the Africans' develop- ment and improvement from a savage during the period of slavery in the Southern States. It is a long distance to go from a life in the open, engaged in the art of trapping a lizard or snaring a snake for sustaining a purely animal existence, to the altar and hearthstone and the hand that guided the feet of this infant race and shielded it when unable to stand alone, should not be forgotten by the his- torian. Returning to my subject, secession in the State of Mississippi was, in addition to its underlying seriousness, accompanied with an outward display of romantic fervor that savored of the days of chivalry. As has been observed by the writer in a former article, the history of the world has furnished no more remarkable occasion than this presented, nor groups upon its page a no more unusual body than that which gathered in the Representative Hall of the old State Capitol of Mississippi on the morning of January 7, 1861. The convention brought a group of brilliant men to the State capital, every section of the commonwealth being represented. Immediately after convening, it appointed a committee to draft an ordinance of secession, from its ablest leaders, and young L. Q. C. Lamar was made chair- man. When the ordinance had been read and approved, intense excitement prevailed, in the midst of which a large, blue silk flag, containing a single white star, was brought into the convention. The emblem had been made, evidently for the present occasion, by Mrs. Homer Smythe, of Hinds County. The Irish comedian, McCarthy, who was filling an en- gagement at the Jackson theatre, on witnessing the thrilling scene, returned to his room and wrote the first three verses of the famous song entitled, "The Bonnie Blue Flag." These verses were printed by Col. J. L. Power in a city — 32 — paper and next day set to music and a week later were heard in New Orleans, soon finding their way throughout the country, gaining additional ver- ses in other Southern States. The same conven- tion that passed the ordinance of secession made immediate preparation for war. Jefferson Davis was placed in com- mand of the army of Mississippi. In the personnel of the secession convention, Hinds county furnished Wiley P. Harris, W. P. Anderson and B. S. Smart. The history of Hinds County during the four years of the War for Southern Indepsndence is closely inter- woven with the history of the city of Jackson, which is largely similar to that of many of the war-swept cities of Virginia and of many other Southern States during this crisis. The city was partially burned twice, and the surrounding country laid waste during Grant's second invasion of the State in 1863 when Vicks- burg was besieged and captured. The county as well as the city was in a state of constant excitement and action for much of the time throughout the war and every re- source it commanded was generously expended in main- taining the Confederacy. It was during this crisis in the history of the county that its women manifested a spirit that has given them, a secure place in the history of the southern woman, for nowhere in the South were they more efficient and helpful and responsive to pub- lic duty than in Hinds County, Mississippi, and throughout the State as well. The economic interests of the country were largely in their keeping; the crops were planted, tended, gathered and sold largely under their di- rection throughout the war, during which time they devel- oped a genius for economy and conservation unequalled in the history of the women of any nation. And when one considers under what trying and perplexing conditions she met her heavy responsibilities, the war often at her very door-sill, and the slaves left in her care being rendered restless and disloyal by the invading foe, the poise she maintained as a whole can be accounted for in no other way — 33 — but that she had drunk deeply of the divine fountains that nourished her civilization. The military organizations of the county during the Civil War which had grown to be strong and it is admitted prideful, consisted of such famous companies as the Burt Rifles, Raymond Fencibles, Company A of Withers' Artil- lery, Brown Rebels, Mississippi College Rifles, Downing Rifles and Raymond Minute Men. As each of these com- panies joined their regiments, parades, public speak- ing, and the presentation of Company flags occurred frequently in the city of Jackson and throughout the coun- ty. Besides this quota of splendid young troops, officered by such commanders as E. R. Burt, Edward Fontaine, James C. Campbell and Joseph F. Sessions ; William H. Taylor and Cuddy Thomas; Samuel J. Ridley and W. T. Ratliff ; Albert G. Brown, John F. Rimes and Robert Y. Brown; Johnson W. Welborn and William H. Lewis; Thomas A. Mellon and William E. Ratliff; and Skilt B. McCowan, all of Hinds County, the county also gave to the Confederacy General Wirt Adams and General Richard Griffith. Many of the Hinds County troops served in Virginia during the war. General Griffith being mortally wounded at the battle of Seven Pines near Richmond. His portrait has not only been placed in the Mississippi Hall of Fame, but hangs in the portrait gallery in Richmond. During the year 1863 when thq resources of the Con- federacy were well-nigh exhausted. Hinds County became an almost solid battleground. In the path Sherman made through it from the south in Grant's second advance on Vicksburg lie a succession of battlefields than which no more historic ground can be found in America. The broken uplands lying between Jackson and Vicksburg in Hinds and Warren counties were the scene of action after the de- structive march northward from Bruinsburg and Port Gibson The battle near Raymond, the burning of Jackson, the battles of Champion Hill and Baker's creek, the one of Big Black bridge, and the stubborn resistance of Vicksburg, form the memorable campaign that wrecked the Confederacy in the — 34 — lower South. In the invasion of Sherman, whose methods of warfare were similar in some respects to thoso of Ger- many in the great World War, the county was devastated, its homes burned, its food-stuffs and live-stock consumed or destroy«3d. It is said by a reliable authority that when General Grant viewed the wrecked country from the front porch of a captured residence, he exclaimed in aghast and sympa- thetic tones, "What were the people of this beautiful coun- try thinking of to go to war?" When hostilities ceased Hinds County was exhausted of every resource, with a burned capital on its hands for restoration, and her wide plantations, on which were empty barns and few horses and mules, wholly unprovided with reliable labor. To add to the gloomy condition, a despotic military government was instituted by Congress in the Southern States, from which Mississippi suffered, perhaps, as much as any State in the Union, much of the misfortune and catastrophe having Hinds county for the stage. CHAPTER HI A brief resume of the political events of the years directly following the War for Southern Independence will be given here as a reflex of what was taking place in this county and throughout the State. At the outset on the cessation of hostilities Abraham Lincoln said, and it is safe to think it would have been his policy, ''Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to re- storing the proper political relations between those States and the Union." How far he might have yielded to the demands of the extremists of his own party is a matter for conjecture. A close study of his life seemingly reveals a certain weakness when contending with the strong, deep- ly prejudiced forces of his party. In the articles of capitulation Jefferson Davis had sug- gested certain plans and stipulations through Johnston, which had been agreed to by Sherman. These were im- — 35 — mediately rejected by the United States government. In this plan of reconstruction the oath of allegiance and elec- tion of United States senators and congressmen were con- sidered all that was necessary for restoration in the Union, leaving the State government and its congressional repre- sentatives free to settle as they thought best all questions about which the people had gone to war. Charles Sumner, one of the most rabid and prejudiced ' partisans in the sen- ate, advanced a theory that the seceding States had by their own act lost the position of statehood and had become nothing more than conquered territory, and congress henceforth had power to do with it as it willed, and to gov- ern it by military form of government as long as it chose. This was in keeping with the policy of Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania in which the theory was advanced that the State should be regarded as conquered individual provinces. To this influence was due the r«3Jection of the delegation that Mississippi sent to Congress. The mild and constructive policy of President Johnson and William H. Seward was traceable to Lincoln, while a close study of the policies of Sumner and Stevens reveals a desire and determination on the part of the jealous Puritan to crush the Cavalier South. It was part of a feud centuries old trans- planted to a new social atmosphere. The theory of the Mississippi legislature in 1866 was that the moment the military and all forcible combinations against the laws and authority of the United States were overcome and Federal supremacy reinstated and law and civil tribunals replaced, the work of preserving the Union was accomplished and the States restored to their proper places and relation in it. On June 13, 1865, President Johnson appointed Judge William L. Sharkey of Hinds county provisional gov- ernor of Mississippi, who immediately issued a proclamation to the people in which he called a convention for framing a suitable constitution for the State to meet the new condi- tions arising out of the prohibition of slavery. Hinds County sent to this convention William Yerger, Amos R. — 36 — Johnston and George L. Potter. The reconstruction policy of President Johnson, as it applied to Mississippi, may be found in the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, Sharkey's Administration, vol. II, page 653, and Humphrey's Admin- istration, vol. I, page 893. As bitter as their recent failure had been to establish Southern Independence, the people as a whole accepted the result calmly, asking only to be allowed to resum-e Statehood with as little friction as possible. General Grant was right after his Southern tour in saying that the people were anxious to set up self-government in the Union. He was mistaken in affirming that the people cared for military protection as it existed. Had it been one of honest pur- pose and intent, it would have proved highly beneficial, but its presence caused nearly all the evils arising during the period of reconstruction. The State's affairs were in a ferment and every loyal citizen was deeply concerned as to its future position. With the benefits obtained by President Johnson's policy under Sharkey's administration, Mississippi made another at- tempt to establish a government by electing Benjamin G. Humphreys governor with a full list of State officials. This constituted an honest and capable effort on the part of the State to reorganize State government in the Union and the people believed that they were once more a part of the national government, even though the delegation to Con- gress had not been recognized. The Humphreys adminis- tration, however, though permitted for a short time to exist, after military government was established, was not empowered with legislation. The military, now commanded by Gen. E. 0. C. Ord, in the Fourth District, embracing Hinds County, was in full control of the State. The opin- ion of Justice Tarbell, Welburn vs. Mayrant, 48 Miss., 653, was: "By no refinement of reason can we escape the fact that there existed in the State in 1868 a pure, undisguised military government and the military force was not kept there simply as a police force, but was sent there to govern as well." — 37 — ''General Ord had two general duties — to preserve order and to provide for the registering of voters under the new law and an election on the question of a constitutional convention. The election held and convention ordered, General Ord, after nine months' service, asked for transfer, and was succeeded by General Alvin C. Gillem, who took command of the District embracing Hinds County, January 8, 1868. The United States troops in the State at that time were the 24th and 34th Infantry and two companies of Cavalry, posted at Vicksburg, Meridian, Jackson, Natchez, Grenada, Columbus, Holly Springs, Corinth, Du- rant, Brookhaven and Lauderdale. Four more companies were brought in for fear of disorder at the elections. Gen- eral Gillem, it is thought, greatly relaxed the rigor of mili- tary rule, though hej made more appointments to civil of- fice than did his predecessor. The constitutional convention of 1868 assembled at Jackson January 9, 1868, with 17 ne- groes among the delegates. The delegates from Hinds County were Henry Mayson (negro) , E. A. Peyton, Charles Caldwell (negro), and John Parsons. It was, as might have been expected, a crude and revolutionary assemblage, anxious to do ,so many things that it continued in session 115 days. The constitution it framed was submitted to popular vote June 22, 1868, the first time such a thing had been done in Mississippi. Meanwhile the Democratic party was reorganized, and all its strength put into the campaign against the constitution, and for the election of a governor to succeed Humphreys." The returned Confederate soldiers bore the changed con- ditions with remarkable fortitude tinged in hopeless moods with a dull apathy. But when the safety of the white civi- lization of the South was menaced, an organization known as the famous Ku Klux Klan was formed to protect society and its sacred institutions during a lawless and turbulent military reign, during which every effort was made to de- stroy the white race in the South. When the rock-beds of their civilization were assailed, pledged not to take up arms against the Union, there was no other alternative but for the Confederate soldiers to become a law unto themselves. — 38- The Klan that operated in Hinds County was organized at the State capital and drew its membership from all classes of the best citizens of the county. It is a mistake to think the Ku Klux Klan disbanded because irregularities, as deeply as they deplored such, were committed in their name. As long as the white civilization and its sacred in- stitutions were in danger of annihilation, the organization performed its functions and so soon as law and order was restored and a civil government instituted, they with every respect and confidence for this power, quietly disbanded, feeling that there was no need of a remedy when the disease had passed. ''June 4, 1868, Gen. Gillem was succeeded in command of the Fourth District, by order of the president, by Gen. Irwin McDowell, who, unlike Ord and Gillem, had never been on duty in the State. On the charge of opposition to the Reconstruction acts, he removed Gov. Humphreys from office. Lieut.-Col. Adelbert Ames, of the 24th Infantry, (brevet major-general), was appointed provisional gover- nor, the function first exercised by Judge Sharkey. Other changes were made. State officers being supplanted by of- ficers of the regiments of the State garrison. (See Ames Prov. Adm). "Another day to the election date was added by Mc- Dowell. Before he was able to announce the result, how- ever, he was removed from command and Gillem reinstat- ed, a step which met with popular approval. "Gillem announced on July 10 the result of the June election. It showed that the constitution had been rejected. "Two days before the returns were completed, the Com- mittee of Five, of the constitutional convention, reported to the Reconstruction committee of congress that election commissioners had been unable to discharge their duties in some counties ; in others there was a reign of terror for the purpose of intimidation, and that a sort of boycott had been proclaimed to compel negroes to refrain from voting the Republican ticket. There is no doubt of the truth, to some extent, of all these allegations. Not more than half — 39 — the colored vote was cast. The Committee of Five re- quested Gen. Gillem to investigate its charges, and upon his refusal to do so, the committee took rooms at the capi- tol, and with closed doors took testimony to support its posi- tion. After four months the chairman of the committee on November 3 issued a proclamation declaring the consti- tution adopted by a majority of the legal votes cast, and the Republican State ticket elected at the same time. The elections in Copiah, Carroll, Chickasaw, DeSoto, Lafayette, Rankin and Yalobusha counties were declared to be illegal and void on account of threats, intimidations, frauds and violence. He also claimed! that two Republicans had been elected to the 40th congress, and impeached the title of a number of members of the legislature declared elected by Gen. Gillem. ''Meanwhile the committee had asked congress to sup- port this conclusion. The House passed a bill July 24, to re-assemble the convention to frame a new constitution, but it was rejected by the senate. A Republican State convention was convened at Jackson, November 25, which memorialized congress to the same eifect, renewed the charges of fraud, and adopted an address declaring that a large party in Mississippi, in 'defiance of the authority, and regardless of the wishes of congress, had rejected in con- tempt all terms of restoration, and had assumed the right to dictate the terms under which they would condescend to be re-admitted to the Union.' Similar conventions were held in nearly every county. A committee of six per- sons from the state at large, and two from each congres- sional district, were sent to Washington to urge the adop- tion of this policy. There was a hearing before the Re- construction committee. Gov. Sharkey testified that the election was fair so far as he knew, that many negroes voted voluntarily with the Democrats, that there was good feeling between the races, and that if again submitted, with the proscriptive features omitted, the constitution would be adopted. Gen. Gillem had the same view of the constitution, and denied that he had opposed the reconstruc- tion measure, as charged against him. J. W. C. Watson — 40 — said the people, though opposed to negro suffrage, would have approved the constitution but for the features of white disfranchisement. Another Mississippi Reconstruction party, among the leaders of which were A. Warner, A. C. Fiske, Judge Jefford, J. L. Wofford and Frederick Speed, nearly all Northerners, opposed what they called the Egg- leston clique, and favored the policy which was afterward adopted. "While the subject was yet before congress, Gen. U. S. Grant was inaugurated as president, March 4, 1869. The overwhelming support of Grant as a candidate in 1868 had its effect upon the situation in Mississippi and elsewhere, as indicating the inevitable. After his inauguration, presi- dent and congress pursued one policy. Gen. Gillem was removed from district command, and the provisional gov- ernor of Mississippi, Gen. Adelbert Ames, was appointed his successor. ''Just before the Reconstruction committee closed its hearings, A. G. Brown, Judge SimralL and others, represent- ing the Democratic party of the State, appeared before it, and were given 'a full and patient hearing.' An argument between two of these gentlemen and two of the Repub- lican committee was heard by President Grant. His con- clusion was that the proscriptive clauses in the constitution were wrong; that the people could not afford to have an- other convention, and he suggested resubmission with the objectionable clauses stricken out, which Brown and Sim- rail approved. 'The president's suggestion carried weight with con- gress, which considered two plans of re-submission of the rejected constitutions of Mississippi, Virginia and Texas — one by Gen. B. F. Butler, and the other by General Farns- worth, of Illinois. The Farnsworth plan was finally adopted, as the basis, amended by Senator Morton, of In- diana, to require the State to adopt the Fifteenth amend- ment to the constitution of the United States before the restoration of representation in Congress. This bill be- came a law in April, 1869, immediately after which Con- — 41 — gress adjourned, leaving the completion of the work to the president. "The Fifteenth amendment, intended to reinforce the Fourteenth amendment, had passed Congress February 25, 1869. It provided that The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,' and authorized enforcement by legislation. ''By proclamation of President Grant, July 13, 1869, the constitution of 1868 was resubmitted at an election November 30, 1869. It was adopted with a number of the worst features stricken out. With the large negro vote all the Republican candidates for State office, legislature, and congress were elected by great majorities. Ac- cordingly the legislature of the State, for the first time since 1866, met in January, 1870, under the new constitu- tion, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth! amendments were rati- fied, and the United States senators were elected. All the other States had been re-admitted in January, 1870. Gen- eral Butler reported a bill in the lower house of congress February 3, 1870, re-admitting Mississippi, but with the conditions of a stringent oath of allegiance for civil officers, and pledges that the constitution should never be amended so as to deprive any citizen of the right to vote, or to hold office because of race, color or previous condition of servi- tude, or so as to ever deprive any citizen of the benefits of the public schools. Senator Morton in the S-anate added other restrictions. The bill thus passed both houses and was approved February 23, 1870. General Ames, who had been elected one of the United States senators, issued his general orders No. 25, February 26, 1870, announcing that the command known as the Fourth military district had ceased to exist." The foregoing summary covering military rule has been drawn from the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History. Reconstruction had for its prime motive negro enfran- chisement and white disfranchisement, and throughout the — 42 — whole period of reconstruction the Republican party had kept its eye on the establishment of a Republican party in the South. Though the enfranchisement of the negro was not as dear an issue to the hearts of the politicians as it was to the abolitionists, these were determined to use the negro to insure a stronger representation in congress. Out of this spirit grew the Fourteenth amendment which constitut- ed the rock of offense. Though every vestige of State's rights must be ignored and congress must wholly transgress its authority in con- ferring suffrage upon the people of a State without the State having any voice in the matter, still it intended and did carry out this policy. In reference to prevailing condi- tions Dr. Rowland further says in ''A Mississippi View of Race Relations": "The reconstruction period found the negro free; his freedom was not the result of his own efforts, although in most instances it was his desire to be free. The entire ab- sence of self-reliance, his want of experience, and his failure to understand or appreciate his changed condition rendered him, after his emancipation, helpless. At this critical time the carpet-bagger invaded the South, intent on little else but gain. The pathway towards better things was blocked. "The picture presented by some writers, of conditions prevailing in the South during the period of reconstruction may strike those who know nothing of it as too somber, and some thinking and impartial men of the North are in- clined to believe that Southern historians overdraw it. At this time, however, thirty years after the war, in the light of all facts of history, the student of that period whose opinions are not embittered by the trials of the times, stands in astonishment, marveling at the patience and long- suffering of the people." CHAPTER IV In the foregoing summary is embraced the period of 1865 to 1868 ; for a study of the period following, see the administration of Alcorn, Powers and Ames. With the — 43—. close of Ames' administration in 1875, though he was still governor of the State, the old Democracy which had been set aside during the lawless and despotic reign of the military, threw off the Republican; rule and elected a Democratic legislature, during which session Ames was impeached. However, before the articles of impeachment could become effective, his resignation took place, March 29, 1876. John M. Stone as President pro tem of the Senate became Gover- nor and with his administration began the re- habilitation of the State's political, financial and social pro- gress. These had for ten years suif ered' from every con- ceivable wrong and mismanagement that bitter partisan- ship and sectional jealousy could devise. In withstanding the hard conditions, opposition sometimes brought on fierce con- flicts and riots took place at several places in the state. Hinds county having a full share, the one at Clinton being the most noted. Many able leaders who were to place aureoles of light around the old State's brow with the passing of years gath- ered in the capital during this period, prominently among them L. Q. C. Lamar, J. Z. George, and E. C. Walthall, and it became once more a Democratic center. Hinds County at this time furnished such leaders as Amos R. Johnston, Ethelbert Barksdale, William and George Yerger, T. J. Wharton, Gen. Wirt Adams and Frank Johnston, son of Amos R. Johnston. Judge J. A. P. Campbell, a native of South Carolina and member of the Confederate Congress from Mississippi, on being appointed on the Supreme Bench in 1876 by Governor Stone, made Jackson his home. Sena- tor J. Z. George moved to the capital in 1873 and made it his home for a number of years. Of that great political coterie only a few survive, J. P. Carter, P. C. Catchings, W. H. Sims and Judge R. H. Thompson, the last mentioned later becoming a citizen of Hinds county. He was a member of the Democratic legislature of 1876. Among the brilliant young members he perhaps surpassed all in intellectual power and quick perception. Few States have produced a better lawyer or a better balanced and ,— 44 — more profound thinker. To this add a kindly and sympa- thetic nature and a slightly peremptory manner and you have the fine old man to whom the people of Jackson and Hinds County point with so much pride. The county at this time, though handicapped from the effects of the war and reconstruction, began an era of im- provement. Its political life was strong and effective; its lands were better cultivated and its towns began to grow, and endeavoring to forget the past, as Amos R. Johnston so eloquently bade them, conservation and progress once more became the keynote of its existence. It was in 1886 that the educational system was revised and placed on a sound basis by Hon. J. R. Preston, State Superintendent of Education. A Virginian by birth, he gave his fine intellect and culture to his adopted state, lov- ing it with an intense love and ever jealous for its honor and distinction at home and abroad. Many years after Miss- issippi, Hinds County and the city of Jackson had reaped the benefit of his great work for public education, he settled in the city, conducted one of its best colleges and is still a citizen of the place. He is one of the three state officials who have survived that period. Capt. W. W. Stone, and Col. W. L. Hemingway, heroic Confederate veterans, whom all Mississippi loves, make the trio, and the dignity and beauty of their declining years thrill the hearts of all who meet them on our streets. During the years embracing 1876-1896 many of the most distinguished public men of the State became perma- nent citizens of the county, making their homes in the capital city; among these were Gov. Robert Lowrey, Judge S. S. Calhoun, Judge Tim E. Cooper, Judge Albert Whit- field, Col. R. H. Henry, of the Clarion Ledger, Hon. Edgar S. Wilson, Col. W. D. Holder, Judge Edward Mayes and R. E. Wilson. Their varied service to the county and State would make volumes of interesting reading. As early as ]'SV4 among the reforms, prohibition was agitating the public mind, led by such spirits as Bishop — 45 — Charles B. Galloway and Col. W. L. Nugent, representing the manhood of the State, and Harriet B. Kells and Belle Kearney, representing its womanhood. In 1881 Frances E. Willard visited the county in the interest of prohibition and met with an enthusiastic reception in the capital city. The constitutional convention of 1890 met in Jackson on August 12, 1890, with such strong and capable leaders as J. Z. George and Wiley P. Harris. The delegation from Hinds consisted of Judge S. S. Calhoun, B. S. Fearing, T. T. Hart and Wiley P. Harris. This convention in regulating the suff- rage question restored the county and state to further quiet and order. Among the many plans for progress the agitation for a new capitol was inaugurated in the same convention, Gen. S. D. Lee offering the resolution. It was at, this con- vention that Jackson was fixed as the permanent capital. In commenting on the constitution of 1890, Judge R. H. Thompson, in an address to the State Bar Association, said : *The seat of government is now fixed at Jackson and cannot be removed except by vote of the people. For many years there was no State Capital de jure. The constitution' of 1869 made no reference to the subject; it was fixed at Jack son by the constitution of 1832, until 1850 and, thereafter until the code of 1880 was adopted, Jackson was only de facto the capital of the State." Many other notable events in the history of the county and of the city of Jackson occurred during the period; fol- lowing reconstruction, one of which was the establishment of Millsaps College by the Methodists under the leadership of the truly great and gifted Bishop Charles B. Galloway and of Major R. W. Millsaps, the latter being its financial benefactor and lifelong patron. This was an important step forward in educational progress and the county has in this and Mississippi College at Clinton two of the leading educational institutions in the South. These have recently become co-educational. Another notable institution of learning is Belhaven College for Young Women, first confji^/cted by Dr. L. T. Fitzhugh and later owned by Hon. J. R. Preston. The — 46 — old site was sold and the new college established in the northeastern part of the city and is now the property of the Presbytorian Church. It was as far back as 1853 that yellow fever made its appearance in the county and city of Jackson to be followed by a like epidemic in 1878. No more heroic conduct was exhibited by any people when these scourges from time to time appeared than that displayed by the people of Hinds county and the city of Jackson. The years following the War for Southern Independence and reconstruction with the exception of the call for volun- teers for the Spanish American War to which call Hinds county responded generously, were years of peaceful growth and progress. The decade before and since the building of the new capitol, in 1901-1903, brought to the county and the city of Jackson many people of culture and wealth, and its social life, founded upon the best ideals of the South, despite the political atmosphere that in- variably surrounds State capitals, is distinctly aspiring and is filled with the altruistic ideal. It is not the province of this paper to give the history of the county for the last few decades, since its present growth and progress is amply set forth, in the census at- tached, while its political history awaits the future his- torian. I, however, could not leave my subject without recording, as a fore-word to the heroic history that is yet to be written of the county's part in the Great World War, that the spirit its people evinced during these years was every inch in keeping with that manifested in such war torn centers as Washington, Paris and London. In the work of restoration following the war the people of both Jackson and Hinds county have displayed the same energy and wis- dom and the ability to ''carry on" that marked their efforts during the war. But with all this we should recognize the fact that there is need of improvement along many social welfare lines. It is said on all sides by both priest and lay- men that our civilization has along with other sections felt the breakdown th;4^ ^inevitably follows war. Though here as elsewhere society has its usual quota of presuming, con- — 47 — niving, self-seekers who use both the Church and the State to exploit themselves, sincerity, modesty and refinement are still possessed by the majority of the people, and family life, in the main, is sound and secure. Hinds County has modestly given way to other sections of the State in the matter of public office and has furnish- ed no Governor and only one United States senator since the Civil War — Senator James K. Vardaman, who was elected in 1911, at which time he was a resident of Jackson, having been a citizen of Greenwood, Leflore County, when elected governor. CHAPTER V. The historical and political history of Hinds County having been lightly sketched, we now turn to its physical structure and advantages. It lies partly, as has been not- ed, in what Hilgard, a former State Geologist, designates as the Central Prairie Region and Dr. E. N. Lowe, the present State Geologist, groups in the Jackson Prairie Region. This constitutes a section of small prairies which form a belt varying from 10 to 30 miles wide in a direction slightly northwest and southeast across the State. The northern border of this region extends from Yazoo City slightly south of east through Clarke County and on to the Alabama line. This region embraces the northern portion of Hinds County. The "shell prairies" soil is described by geologists as "a heavy, clayey soil of dark gray color, black when wet, resting upon a lighter gray subsoil which passes at a few feet depth into the highly calcareous shell marls of the Jackson Formation." The soil is highly calcareous forming numerous gently rolling prairies. "In much of Hinds county, south of the Jackson Prairies," Dr. Lowe in his "Survey of the Soils of Missis- sippi," says, "the loam lies directly upon the gray sands and clays of the Grand Gulf, the Lafayette being absent or but slightly developed. In the vicinity of Raymond the red — 48 — sand is well developed, a railroad cut just west of the town exposing about ten feet of loam and 10 to 12 feet of red sand overlying clay." Some of the upland sandy and silt soils of Hinds coun- ty, geologists tell us, are acid and would be greatly benefited by an application of ground limestone. The shell marls and the soft limestones of the Vicksburg formation are available and are suited for this purpose. Some of the soil of the county could be made suitable for the growing of alfalfa by an application of ground limestone. The princi- pal crops now grown in the county will be shown in the census for 1920. The Pearl River Valley cuts north and south through the whole Pine Belt, and presents a prominent soil region, worthy of separate consideration. It is a broad, second bottom, the first bottom being usually rather narrow, vary- ing in width from two to four miles. The greater portion of it is free from overflow, and except where cultivated is, for the most part, heavily timbered with various hardwoods. The central and southern portion of Hinds county is em- braced in this region.^ The excitement of oil discoveries in Louisiana and Texas later extended to Mississippi. Since the geological structure of the State in certain sections is very much like that of Louisiana, there was keen hope of finding oil accum- ulations. Hinds County has shared in the pursuit which so far has been fruitless. But there are other things besides oil, and the county is today covered with a network of rail- roads which give an outlet in every direction for the products of its rich cotton and corn lands, busy factories and live stock farms that compare favorably with any in the United States. The Pearl River forming the county's eastern boundary, the Big Black on part of its western boundary and the num- erous tributaries of these streams furnish ample water power. Besides this, numerous springs of mineral water .>-T . 1. For a further study of this feature see Hilgard's "Geology and Agriculture of Mississippi" and Lowe's "Soils and Resources of Mississippi." — 49 — are found in many places, Cooper's Wells, a short distance west of Jackson, being a health resort that ranks with the best in the South, possessing an interesting history of its own. Its natural scenery is good but wholly neglected and it is in need of appropriate buildings. The census shows some decrease in population during the last decade, caused by an exodus of the negroes to northern cities. These, however, were not of the better class and constituted a shifting population that constantly moved about in the State before leaving it, The census shows that there are only 306 white foreign born in the county, of whom 65 are Syrians, 44 English and 42 Germans. This may be a questionable advantage. Many prosperous cities, towns and villages are found in the county. The largest and most important city is Jackson, the capital of the State. It is located on the western bank of the Pearl River and is regularly laid out on a beautiful eminence which forms a structural dome or broad anticline in what might be termed a valley. It is the center of a fine corn and cotton growing region,' situat- ed nearly halfway between Memphis and New Orleans, and commands a large territory for its wholesale trade. Timber of a valuable variety is plentiful in the district drained by the Pearl River and its tributaries. This river is navigable during high water for at least 100 miles above the city, offering an excellent outlet for much local trans- portation. The legislation dealing with the location of the capital is given in the first chapter of this history. The first state house erected in the city was a little, brick two-story building costing about $3,000. It was used for legislative purposes until 1839, when it grew inadequate for the State's increasing activities. A painting has been made of this building from the legislative description found in the pro- vision for it, and now is in the possession of the State His- torical Department. (See Official and Statistical Register, 1917, page 385). In 1833 a bill passed the legislature for the erection of — 50 — a new capitol building which now stands on State Street at the head of Capitol Street. Much of the material used in its construction came from Hinds and surrounding counties. The effort made by the women of Mississippi for its restora- tion covering a period of fourteen years was a distinct tri- umph of historical culture in the State's higher progress. For a history of the building, see page 388, Mississippi Official and Statistical Register, 1917. A few of the many inspiring events that make it one of the most historic buildings in the South are: a visit from Kossuth, the Hun- garian patriot, an oration by McClung on the character of Henry Clay, a visit from General Andrew Jackson when he paid the State a second visit, a reception to Henry Clay, the Great Pacificator, the welcome to Col. Jefferson Davis on his return from the Mexican War, the convention of 1850, the famous secession convention, the expulsion of Governors Clark and Humphreys from office during the military reign following the Civil War, the impeachment of Governor Ames in March, 1876, the last public appearance in the cap- ital of President Jefferson Davis, and finally, the constitu- tional convention of 1890, which assembled on August 12th and enacted the present constitution of the State. It adds a sacred touch that the lower floor of the building, by per- mission of the legislature, was used by the various churches in the 40 's, and also during the War for Southern Independ- ence. The Governor's mansion was built at the same time, and has a long and varied history made up of what each occupant was able to lend to the story. Sixty-three years after the erection of what is now called the Old Capitol, a beautiful new capitol building was erected in 1901-1903, situated on a hill north of the old capitol site and on the penitentiary ground. It was com- pleted at a cost of little more than $1,000,000, during the administration of Gov. A. H. Longino. The material is Bedford stone on a base of cement, concrete and Georgia granite and its height is 135 feet. This handsome structure, built on classic lines, is one of the most stately and imposing public buildings ir> the country. The build- — Sl- ing was first occupied by the State officials, during the month of September, 1903. The State Historical Depart- ment and beautiful Hall of Fame are located in the new capitol. The dedication of the building was made a State- wide celebration such as has not been witnessed for years in the commonwealth. Besides the State capitol, Jackson has many handsome bank and office buildings, a large theatre and several other playhouses, the institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the Mississippi, Institution for the Blind, three orphan homes and five institutions of learning, the more prominent of which are, as has already been noted, Millsaps College and Belhaven College. Campbell College for Negroes is doing good work and the negroes of the city generally are indus- trious, orderly and progressive. The city has one of the best school systems in the State. The enrollment in the seven graded schools is large and it should be a matter of great pride to know that less than a thousand illit- erates are found in the city's population. Within recent years, Jackson has become the most im- portant railroad center of the State. The Illinois Central, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley, the Alabama & Vicks- burg, the Gulf & Ship Island, and the New Orleans Great Northern R. R. enter the city and furnish excellent traffic ac- commodations in all directions. This has resulted in the rapid increase in the manufacturing population. In pro- portion to the capital invested, it has the largest manufac- turing output of any city in the South and ranks high in the number of establishments. Among the most important enterprises are fertilizer factories, cotton seed oil mills, iron foundries, wood working plants and ice factories. Well-paved streets, splendid sewerage and water works system, an electric street railway system serving the principal parts of the city, gas and electricity and an up-to-date fire department, with modern stations and paid service, constitute the municipal department. It has a Chamber of Commerce and numerous social and benevolent organizations, is well supplied with beautiful parks and — 52 — playgrounds and has a fine Country Club. The small Con- federate park near the Old Capitol contains a statue to the Confederate soldiers, where on the 30th of June, each year the patriotic organizations representing the Confederacy gather to do honor to Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederacy, whose statue occupies a prominent place on the monument. (This statue by legislative act will be removed to the Old Capitol building.) Livingston, Poindexter, and Smith parks and a number of other fine parks are note- worthy additions to the city, and to be known as "the city of parks'' it only remains for it to purchase the historic ''Winter Woods," where the old Confederate fortifications can still be traced that were thrown up to defend the city when Grant's whole army entered and partially destroyed the almost unprotected town. Numerous fine residences with ample lawns and every convenience are found throughout the city, but the people have been careless in conforming to a uniform or even an attractive architectural design and the appearance becomes irregular and patchy in places. Commodious and hand- some houses of worship for those of the Baptist, Methodist, Pi-esbyterian, Episcopal, Catholic, Christian and Jewish faith are found on the principal streets, some denominations having several churches in the city. Besides these there are numerous churches of several denominations for the ne- gro population. The financial wants of the city and county are well provided for in eleven banking institutions. Among the daily newspapers, the Clarion-Ledger and the Daily News are Democratic dailies, the latter having the widest circu- lation of any paper in the State and the former making good its claim that it "prints all the news fit to print and prints it while it is fresh." Vardaman's Weekly and the Baptist Record are issued weekly. It remains for the Hinds County Gazette, published at Raymond, to enjoy the dis- tinction of being the oldest newspaper continuously pub- lished in the county. It has recently been purchased by Mr. Edgar S. Wilson, who is making it a statewide paper. — 53 — In the foregoing pages a brief history of the Capital City has been given. It has been said that it contains fewer illustrious men than formerly but in and out of its more pre- tentious homes and its vine-clad cottages still go lovely men and women with high purposes and pure hearts, and the beauty o:? its life is that some of the loveliest spirits a- dorn its simplest homes. Clinton, another landmark which has been often re- ferred to in these pages, is an old college town of much his- torical interest about ten miles west of Jackson, a paved street after many years threatening to make the two places one. In 1831, Mississippi College, which is largely respon- sible for the atmosphere of culture and refinement pervad- ing the town, had its beginning. Next to Jeif erson College, near Natchez in Adams county, this is the oldest male col- lege in the State. It has had some depressing periods in its history, but has emerged victorious in every crisis, and today is widely recognized as an ideal institution of higher learning for young men, ranking with many of the bast in the South. Among its alumni are some of the most dis- tinguished men in the educational circles^ of the country. Another college with which Clinton is closely associated is Hillman College. Among the surviving colleges for wo- men in the State, Hillman is one of the pioneers, and among the thousands of students enrolled there since 1857 are many of the most distinguished women of the State. Here is also located the Mt. Hermon Female Seminary for the education of negro girls. Governor Foote on a public occasion in a celebrated toast characterized Clinton as *'the seat of learning" in the State. The present growth and progress of the town is given in the census of 1920. Edwards is an old, incorporated town of Hinds County on the Alabama and Vicksburg Railway, 26 miles by rail west of Jackson, 18 miles east of Vicksburg, and one mile from the Big Black river. The lands lying around it are fruit and vegetable soils, and its people are thrifty and progressive. It is an interesting place, set as it is in the historic campania lying between Jackson and Vicksburg, — 54 — every foot of which has been tread by the defenders of the South against an invading foe. Terry, an incorporated post-town in the southeastern part of Hinds County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, is 16 miles south and west of Jackson. The town was named for William Terry, affectionately referred to as "Uncle Bill Terry," a former resident of the vicinity. Truck farming and market gardening are extensively carried on in the surrounding country and this station is one of the most important fruit and vegetable shipping points in the State. Peaches, pears, figs, plums, strawberries and all kinds of vegetables and fruits are scientifically cultivated for market. Flowers are grown in profusion about the homes, and its people are refined and well bred. The bank of Terry was established in 1897 with a capital of $20,000. The census of 1920 will show the present condition of the town. Raymond, one of the county seats, is an old place of much historical importance and interest. It is a station on the Natchez branch of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad and was the scene of the first battle in Grant's and Sherman's march from Port Gibson. Utica, in the southwestern part of the county, is an incorporated post-town. It is situated on the Y. & M. V. Railroad, 32 -miles southwest of Jackson. It is hilly, well-drained and surrounded by a rich farming sec- tion. All kinds of fruit and vegetables, especially water- melons, grow in abundance in the soil. The town is acces- sible to a large amount of fine hardwood timber. It ships annually about 10,000 bales of cotton. It has two banks with a combined capital of $90,000; two hotels; a public school; an industrial college for the education of negroes; three churches, Methodist, Baptist and Christian; and a Democratic weekly newspaper, the Herald, established in 1897. Among its manufacturing enterprises are a brick plant, three steam cotton gins, and a saw mill. Many organizations that embrace intellectual as well as material progress are found in this thriving little city. — 55 — Bolton is an incorporated post-town in Hinds County. It is a pleasant, small town with many community inter- ests and past historical associations. Halifax, Orangeville, Brownsville, Byram, Tinnin, Po- cahontas, Green, Cynthia, Anne, Tougaloo, Dixon, Norell, Champion Hill, Institute, Smith's, Newman, Learned, Duke, Cayuga, Bearcreek, Chapelhill, Adams Station, Thompson- ville, Inabnet, Oakley, Dry Grove, Box Factory, Moncure, Rosemary, Davis Spur, Myers, Midway, Palestine, Siwell, Elton, Bradie, Van Winkle,Thompson and McRaven are small places in the county of interest, and business enterprise and many of these have a per cent of as good society as is found in the State Capital. The census of 1920 gives the county of Hinds the fol- lowing flattering statistics : POPULATION HINDS COUNTY Composition And Characteristics Color or Race, Nativity, and Sex. Total population 57,110 Male 27,492 Female 29,618 Native White 21,078 Male 10,260 Female 10,813 Native parentage 20,314 Foreign parentage 367 Mixed parentage 392 Foreign white 306 Male 186 Female 120 Negro 35,728 Male 17,044 Female 18,684 Indians, Chinese and all others 3 Per cent, Native white 36.9 Per cent. Foreign born 0.5 Per cent, Negro 62.6 — 56 — Age, School Attendance, and Citizenship Total under 7 years of age 8,293 Total, 7 to 13 years, inclusive 9,691 No. Attending School 8,566 Per cent attending school 88.4 Total, 14 to 15 years 2,658 No. attending school 2,151 Per cent attending school 80.9 Total 16 to 17 years 2,450 No. attending school 1,340 Per cent attending school 54.7 Total 18 to 20 yrs., inclusive 3,453 No. attending school 635 Per cent attending school 18.9 Males 21 years of age and over 14,616 Native white — Native parentage 5,745 Native white — Foreign or mixed parentage 237 Foreign-born, white 237 Naturalized 175 First papers 83 Alien 8 Unknown 56 Negro 8,457 Indian, Chinese and all others 2 Females, 21 years of age and over 15,949 Native white — native parentage 6,112 Native white. Foreign or mixed parentage 289 Foreign-born white 110 Naturalized 50 First papers Alien 32 Unknown 28 Negro 9,438 Indian and Chinese Males, 18 to 44 years, inclusive 10,491 Females, 18 to 44 years, inclusive 12,851 HINDS COUNTY Land area in square miles 853 Total population, 1920 57,110 — 57 — Per square mile 66.6 Total population, 1910 63,726 Total population, 1900 52,577 Per cent of increase 1910 to 1920 —10.4 1900 to 1910 21.2 1890 to 1900 33.9 Population of All Incorporated Towns and Cities in Hinds County, 1920 Bolton 494 Edwards 727 Learned 136 Utica 445 Clinton 669 Jackson 22,817 Terry _ 392 Raymond 500 ILLITERACY Total, 10 years of age and over 44,834 No. illiterate \ 7,011 Per cent, illiterate - 15.6 Per cent illiterate in 1910 22.8 Native white 17,134 No. illiterate 282 Per cent illiterate 11.0 Foreign-bom, white '299 No. illiterate 33 Negro _ 27,399 No. illiterate 6,696 Per cent illiterate 24.4 Total, 16 to 20 years, inclusive 5,903 No. illiterate 587 Per cent illiterate 9.9 Illiterate males, over 21 yrs. of age _ 2,849 Per cent of all males 21 yrs. of age and over 19.5 Native white 113 Foreign-born, white 18 Negro 2,718 Illiterate females, over 21 yrs. of age 3,151 Per cent of all females 21 yrs. of age and over 19.8 Native white _ 1 13 Foreign-born, white 15 — 58 — Negro 3,023 DWEUJ^"^-^ AND FAMILIES Dwellings, No _ 12,121 Families No 12,897 AGRICULTURAL CENSUS— HINDS COUNTY All Farms No. farms, 1920 5,951 All farmers classified by sex, 1920 Male 5,381 Female 570 Color and nativity of all farmers, 1920 Native white 1,172 Foreign-born white 8 Negro and other non-white .■ 4,771 All Farms Classified by size, 1920 : Under 3 acres ^ 2 3 to 9 acres 155 10 to 19 acres 853 20 to 49 acres 3,354 50 to 99 acres 789 100 to 174 acres 412 175 to 259 acres 173 260 to 499 acres 130 500 to 999 acres 49 1000 acres and over 34 Land and Farm Area Acres Approximate land area, 1920 549,120 Land in farms, 1920 391,016 Improved land in farms, 1920 269,816 Woodland in farms, 1920 73,565 Other unimproved land in farms 47,635 Per cent of land area in farms 71.2 Per cent of farm land improved 69.0 Average acreage per farm 65.7 Average improved acreage per farm 45.3 Value of Farm Property All farm property $17,903,283 Land in farms 9,820,324 Farm buildings 3,341,256 — 59 — Implements and Machinery 1,001,417 Live stock on farms 3,740,286 Average values All property 3,008 Land and buildings, per farm 2,212 Land alone, per acre $25.11 Farms Operated By Own»3rs No. of farms 1,350 Per cent of all farms 22.7 Land in farms, acres 200,568 Improved land in farms, acres 120,413 Value of land in buildings $6,055,957 Degree of Ownership Farmers owning entire farm 1,171 Farmers hiring additional land 179 Color and nativity of owners Native white owners 675 Foreign-born white owners 6 Negro and other non-white owners 669 Farms Operated By Managers No. of farms .: 44 Land in farms, acres 29,599 Improved land in farms 20,133 Value of land and buildings $1,400,495 Farms Operated by Tenants No. of farms 4,557 Per cent of all farms 76.6 Land in farms, acres 160,849 Improved land in farms 129,270 Value of land and buildings $5,705,128 Form of Tenancy Share tenants 889 Croppers 2,289 Share-cash tenants 21 Cash tenants 511 Standing renters 891 Unspecified : 6 Color and nativity of tenants Native white tenants 459 — 60 — Foreign-born white tenants 1 Negro and other non-white tenants 4,097 MANUFACTURES HINDS COUNTY Number of Establishments 82 Wage Earners — Average number 1,779 Wages $ 1,418,530 Rent and Taxes 227,657 Cost of Materials 9,827,591 Value of Products 13,789,266 Value added by manufacture 3,961,675 Primary horse power 7,620 JACKSON November 28, 1821, April 28, 1822—1922. The Legisl^ature which had convened in Colum- bia ratified the selection of the site of Jackson for the Capital November 28, 1821. The town was laid off in April, 1822, and the State government removed to the new capital in the autumn of 1822, the legislature meeting for the first time on December 23. Gov. Walter Leake in his message on December 24th congratulated the members on the new two story brick capitol building which had been erected for its use in 1822. This stood on the northeast corner of Capitol and President Streets, now occupied by the Harding Building. The site should be marked with a bronze tablet with the figures of Gens. Jackson and Hinds and Pushmataha in bas-relief. The following poem is in commemoration of the city's centenary: Fair City of our hope we come to sing your praise! And every glad tongue frames for you sweet, tuneful lays. You wake a chord within our hearts that sings and sings. Like the swift whir of eager bird on homing wings. To-day you count the treasure of a hundred years — Rich hoardings for your children's use unmixed with tears. Your love abundant blesses all who dwell beside Your hearthstones warm and pure, where peace and hope abide. — 62 — Your pleasant prospect lures men's feet ; with all who come You share rich opportunity and heart and home. Your heavy toil and sweat and grime and every strife But serve to make your comely limbs throb with new life. It was not always thus with you — a wilding race Left on your page a story we would not efface; And fame of Pushmataha will forever be A sign to teach men faithfulness and loyalty. The names of Jackson and of Hinds, linked on your scroll, Are names that Mississippi holds dear to her soul. Your youth is clad in mail that speaks of chivalry, For feat and high adventure thrill its history; Wherever Liberty's fair feet have trod lone heights Your valiant legions ever have been her accolytes. When bugles sounded in the west in Freedom's name With Davis, Quitman, your strong sons won lasting fame. — -63 — And in your joyous, early prime there was a day When, scourged by ruthless war your walls in ashes lay. And every sacred hall and isle and path and street For many a bitter day were trod by alien feet; But with a hope that dark despair disowns, disdains, Your fearless sons and daughters have rebuilt your fanes. Today in strength and might you come, as in your youth. Girded to win God's battle for the right and truth; While safe and all unfearing on your faithful breast Your children — poor and rich alike, securely rest. ERON 0. ROWLAND. LIBRft-^Y OF CONGRESS iiiiiiiini 014 497 429 3 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiliiiiiiiii 014 497 429 3 r-