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EARLY HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
taken from
A History of Mississippi by Robert Lowery and William H. McCardle, R. H. Henry &
Co., 1891, pgs. 528-531.
MADISON COUNTY was established January 29th, 1828, out of all that portion of
Yazoo county lying east of Big Black River, and was named in honor of President
Madison. Josiah R. Doak, Robert Carson, Sr., John P. Thompson, Wm. Wilson, and
Archibald McGehee were appointed commissioners to select a site for the erection
of public buildings in said county, and contract for the building of court-house
and jail.
On the 26th of January, 1829, an act was passed providing for the election of
five commissioners to select a site for the seat of justice for the county. The
eighth section of the act provided that the several courts of the county should
continue to be held at Beaty's Bluff until the court-house directed to be built
by the act was finished. The thirteenth section declared that the seat of
justice when selected as directed by the commissioners, should be known and
called Livingston. Subsequently the county site was changed to what is now
Canton, which is the geographical center of the county. When the site was chosen
it was a part of the plantation of one C. Walton.
Among the early settlers of the county were James Simpson, Peyton Sutherland,
William and Peter Finley, Wm. Shaw, G. W. Henderson, Samuel F. Feamster, John
Stone, Jr., Jesse Perkins, Montfort Jones, R. McCord Williamson, John S.
Cameron, father of Hon. John R. Cameron, who has represented the county in both
branches of the Legislature, and received a warm support in 1889 for the
nomination of Governor; T. C. Tupper, Jesse Heard, Benjamin Chambers, W. F.
Walker, W. J. Hill, Charles Clifton, John R. Herbert, Geo. Robertson, Stiles W.
Ewing, Daniel Rice, John A. Pugh, Benjamin S. Ricks, the father of General
Benjamin S. Ricks of Yazoo and Wm. Ricks, of Madison ; Wm. Royce, Wm, L.
Balfour, O. J. E. Stewart, L. Campbell, Eli Montgomery, the family of Thomas, J.
Silverberg, John Mutz, Kearneys, Wm. Montgomery, J. S. Gooch.
Among the early members of the bar were John A. Rollins, General T. C. Tapper,
who was a Major-General of State troops during the late war, and the
father-in-law of Hon. Robt. Powell, who has served the county in the
Legislature, and is among the leading members of the bar of Canton ; Hon. O. R.
Singleton, referred to elsewhere; Alexander H. Handy, who was elected one of the
Judges of the Supreme Court, and who was for a
number of years its Chief Justice; John Handy, Esq., an accurate and learned
lawyer, who is the survivor of nearly all of his early professional brethren of
the Madison bar; Hugh Lawson, Oliver A. Luckett, who served the county as State
Senator; A. P. Hill, father of the present chief magistrate of the city of
Canton; M. B. McMicken, Mitchell Calhoon, the father of Judge S. S. Calhoon, of
the city of Jackson, and Hon. John Calhoon, former Representative from Marshall
county, and more recently Mayor of the city of Holly Springs; Judge Calhoon
served most acceptably as District Attorney and Circuit Judge of the Judicial
District in which he resided ; the latter position he resigned, and resumed the
practice of his profession ; he was elected President of the Constitutional
Convention of 1890; General Patrick Henry, who represented the county in the
Legislature, the father of Capt. B. W. and the late Doctor E. T. Henry of
Vicksburg, also of Major Patrick Henry, who has twice represented Rankin county
in the Legislature, and a delegate from the
State at large to the Constitutional Convention of 1890; also the father of Wm.
Henry, the present Mayor of Jackson and Adjutant-General of the State; also the
grandfather of Pat Henry, Senator from Warren county.
The early physicians were Dr. Thomas J. Catchings, distinguished in his
profession, who served with marked ability in both branches of the Legislature,
and the father of Hon. Thomas C. Catchings, a learned and able lawyer, who
served as State Senator, two terms as Attorney-General of Mississippi, and three
terms as a member of the Federal Congress; Dr. James Priestly, father of Dr.
Chas. S. Priestly, a prominent physician of Canton, and of Thomas M., William
and James Priestly ; Thos. M. was sheriff of Madison for a number of years; Dr.
Harvey, father of Captain Addison Harvey, the commander of the famous Harvey
Scouts, and Hon. Geo. Harvey, former State Senator
from Madison county; Dr. Towler., Dr. Simms, who is still a leading physician of
Canton; Dr. Phillips, Dr. Clanton, and the two Drs. Galloway. Dr. Charles B.
Galloway was the father of the distinguished ,divine and beloved Bishop, Charles
B. Galloway, who at the time of his election was probably the youngest Methodist
minister ever promoted to the high station he so worthily fills. As a pulpit
orator and great preacher he stands, and deservedly so, among the foremost of
his most gifted co-workers in the cause
of the Great Master.
The first road through what is now Madison county was cut by the troops of
General Jackson, prior to the battle of New Orleans, and long before the
organization of the county.
In an early day boats of one kind and another plying Big Black river were the
only medium of communication of Madison county with the outer world. Boats came
as high as Beaty's Bluff, where the log cabin court-house stood, and where the
first court of the county was held, and brought such supplies as were needed by
the early inhabitants, and carried off the surplus products of the county.
The first towns in the county were Runnelsville, Williamsburg, and Madisonville,
all three of which are extinct; then followed Camden, Sharon, Livingston and
Vernon, the latter two much dilapidated by time. Sharon at one time supported
most excellent schools, but after the destruction of the school buildings, prior
to the war, by fire, they were never rebuilt, and as a consequence the place
continued to go down. Canton, the county site, is eligibly located, and the
public square very attractive. It has always held a prominent place in a
commercial point of view, receiving a generous patronage from the surrounding
country. The community comprising the town and vicinity is composed of
intelligent, cultivated people. Madison Station and Flora are each thrifty and
prosperous
railroad towns that enjoy a good business.
The principal streams are Big Black and Pearl rivers, the former on the
north-western boundary, and the latter on the southeastern border. In addition
are the Lime, Ash, Drakes, Tilda, Bogue, Bear, Persimmon and Hanging Moss
Creeks.
The railroads in the county are the Illinois Central, and the Yazoo and
Mississippi Valley, the latter running from Jackson, via Yazoo City, to
Greenwood in Leflore county.
Madison county has 340,681 acres of cleared lands, more than any county in the
State except Hinds. The average assessed value per acre of the cleared lands is
$5.71. Total value of cleared lands, including incorporated towns, $1,947,616;
the uncleared, $3.18 per acre. In addition to corn, cotton and small grain, may
be mentioned the extensive cultivation of strawberries, notably at, and in the
vicinity of Madison Station, which
are shipped to Cincinnati, Chicago and other northern cities. The county is
prosperous.
The population of Madison as shown by the census report of
1890: White, 6,024; colored, 21,297; total, 27,321.
SENATORS.
1829-30 Henry W. Vick.
1831 Thomas Land.
1833 David Ford.
1835 Thomas Land.
1836-37 David W. Haley.
1838-39 David W. Haley.
1840-41 Henry Phillips.
1842 Robert Montgomery.
1843 Robert Montgomery.
1844 Robert Montgomery.
1846 William R. Miles.
1848-50 O. R. Singleton.
1852 O. R. Singleton.
1854 Wm. McWillie.
1856-57 S. J. Denson.
1858 S. J. Denson.
1859-60-61 J. R. Davis.
1861-62 O. A. Luckett.
1865-66-67 Mathew Lyle.
1870-71 Alex Warner.
1872-73-74-75 Alex Warner.
1876 F. B. Pratt.
1877 F. B. Pratt.
1878 F. B. Pratt.
1880 Thos. T. Singleton.
1882 Robert C. Smith.
1884 George Harvey.
1886 George Harvey.
1888 John R. Cameron.
1890 John R. Cameron.
REPRESENTATIVES.
1829-30 James R. Marsh
1831 C. B. Green
1833 Andrew E. Beatie
1835 David M. Fulton
1836-37 David M. Fulton, H. Phillips
1838-39 B. G. Marshall
1840-41 H. H. Offutt, R. M. Williamson
1842
1843
1844 H. A. H. Lawson
1846 O. R. Singleton, P. D. Ewing
1848-50 Samuel Ford, Patrick Henry
1852 C. C. Shackleford, H. S. Mitchell
1854 Oliver A. Luckett
1856-57 John J. Cooper, R. C. Saunders
1858 W. G. Kearney, James S. Reid
1859-60-61 James S. Reid
1861-62 James S. Reid
1865-66-67 Thomas M. Griffin
1870-71 W. B. Cunningham, J. M. Stroud, J. J. Spellman
1872-73-74-75 Alfred Handy, J. M. Stone, J. J. Spellman
1876 J. B. Yellowley, E. A. Stebbins, D. Jenkins
1877 J. B. Yellowley, E. A. Stebbins, Adams Simpson
1878 John R. Cameron, C. L. Gilmer, George Edwards.
1880 C. L. Gilmer, W. G. Kearney, J. W. Downs
1882 L. F. Montgomery, Wm. Handy, M. Levy
1884 S. W. Lewis, J. F. Henry
1886 R. C. Lee, John Johnson
1888 J. R. Childress, C. W. O'Leary
1890 J. R. Childress, Robert Powell
Submitted by Sue B. Moore
sbmoore@swbell.net
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