The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1884-10-18
DESCRIPTIVE and HISTORICAL OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

enemies TO contend with, In its rescue from desOla
ton and savagery, its devotion to the uses of man
kind than the Mississippi Valley. OF portion of
this great section, it is intention to give partial
description; aud we will endeavor to show that no
other portion of the UniOn perhaps, possesses agr
cultural resources, capable of more richly repaying
the labors of past and the present generations, in
freeing it from the savage, the forest and the flood
Nor were these the only enemies to the early
settlers. For period in its early history, this bot
tom land between Memphis and Vicksburg, and be-
tween the Mason hhs and Yazoo bluffs, was for many
years the resort abandoned characters outlaws and
freebooters who alone seemed to value the prospect
or to be possessed of enough endurance TO brave the
dangers In those days the commerce of the whole
country from Pittsburg to ST. Louis sought the sea
down the broad river to New Orleans in flat boats ;
and the boameu, selling out, footed it home along
the banks of the river bearing with them the price
of the boats load. Upon the unsuspectng unfortu-
mates of this class, many an unwritten letter of
marque and reprisal was served, by the nameless
and lawless settlers OF the Delta. Crews and CON-
panies and bands of such infested the regions on
both sides of the river, from the St. Francis to the
Yazoo until bloody judgement was meted out by the
aroused settlers.
Washington county at that time embraced all
the territory composing the ten counties of the
Delta; tho others being carved from Washington,
tho central portion as they were gradually and suti.
cienty settled to organize into countless 1t would
require more than the purpose of this pamphlet to
relate how this wilderness was subdued how the
early settlers defended themselves against want aud
water how tile levees were first built, and grew
into system; how the waste of war was supplied
emblem of progress, persuaded to risk his pom.
dcrous frame the sloughs and bayous and lakes
of the once dismal swamps.
Until 1928, the only title man had to any land
in tho county of Washington, was by patent OF
squatter sovereignty. On the 18th of June Of said
year, lot 8 station 4, township TO- range o. pur
chased for ono Hartwell Cooke by w. b. Klein, for
SL25 per acre. In 1929, entries were made at the
Government Land Office, by A. s. Metcalfe, Isaac
Worthington, Samuel Worthington, Henry Johnson
Joel Higgins, Thos Shelby Matthew Flournoy Philip
Gilbert, W. a. Droomgoole Junius Ward, Fred
Gambrell, Jonathan McCaleb Benz. Smith and Jno
q. Miller Nine of these fourteen, we know were
from Kentucky, and came, we apprehend under tn,
auspices of Junius Ward, whose father was Indai
Agent through the influence of Col Richard John
son, of Tecumseh fame.
4 In this early organization of the Yazoo. Missis
sippi Delta into Washington county, Princeton, nov
in the extreme southern end of the county, was thu
capital Its early name was Mexico. That Prince
ton quite frontier city, is evidenced by the fac
that in 1883 bank was organized and located here
which issued its notes by the quantity. Engrave
upon their face, stood Mr. Bunch, the most noted O
the early settlers, with his hand upon the head of
great dog, STOPPING beside him. But General Jack
son was too much for this bank, and il surrendere
to hard money and harder times 1t was not uDt
about 1885 that the now famous Deer Creek land
came into notice ana attracted settlers.
Passing through and of course retarded by tn
great financial troubles of this PERIOD Washingto
and surrounding counties which were in this tim
formed from her territory, entered upon period
, abundance and prosperity, only terminated by th
war; The size and number of the plantations mutt
piled. and in 1860 we find 172 large farms in fu
blast, owned and controlled, in many instances, b
men who lived at distance. These plantation
yielded in 1860 100000 bales of cotton, and 10000
bushels of corn, with abundance of hay and fodde
sweet potatoes and garden truck with hogs an
cattle and horses and mules in proportion. Til
number of negroes in the county at that day wer
14,9OO; the number of white inhabitants were 12O
all told The estimated value of the property upo
which taxes were assessed and paid, exclusive q
slaves. amounted to s15,S25,OOO The average valu
of the lands per was s11.5O.
In the antebellum period the general calcuatio
was, for each able bodied "hand' to cultivate /
acres and to produce per CAPITA 200 bushels of cor
and 10 bales of cotton. This shows the capacity
Delta lands under thorough system of cultivation
All that is lost in the change from slave labor shoul
be compensated for by the superiority of the plants
tion implements of to-day. Yet, in the census
1880, wo find about the same acreage as in 1860
cultivation. The population stands $4,000 negros
and 5000 whites but the products have shrunk
900 bales of cotton and 900 bushels of cor
goodly quantity of vegetables, but few hogs an
t cattle. The value of the property is assessed
. s4,0O0,000 the amount of land cultivated by Il
hand acres; the amount produced per capita
bushels corn aud bales of cotton. Ut is right
note that the present assessment is grossly fall
+ cious. In no instance does the assessed value
lands represent more than one half the sale valu