The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1884-10-09
EDITORIAL MATTER
Monroe County Mississippi.
i-weekly issues of Monday and Fri

The following is a portion of the
letter of Mr.. Folsom, whom it will be
remembered was in Aberdeen several
weeks since, to his paper, the Bur-
lington Hawkeye. The entire letter
will appear in these columns as a
serial until completed:
Monroe county was established in
1921. 1t is in the northeast part
OF the State, the fourth county south
of the Tennessee State line with the
Alabama state line as its eastern
boundaryr The Tombigbee river
runs through the center of the county,
north and south. East of the river
the soil is sandy loan, while on the
west the soil is black prairie, with
clay subsoil. The county is we'll
watered, the streams in the eastern
part of the county in particular fur
nishing splendid power. The various
streams which traverse the county
afford system of drainage so per-
feet that there is general freedom
from swamp land. During the war
this prairie region was called EGYPT
or the granary of the south. There
is still much timber left in the coun-
ty; oaks, hickory, walnut, mulberry
and other varieties on the upland,
while along the streams grow cy-
press, oak, gum, holly, poplar and
other valuable timber trees. Nut
bearing trees do we'll and much at
tention is icing directed to their cul-
tivation, particularly the pecan. The
question of fuel is not an important
one here; wood is abundant, and coal
from Alabama can be had at prices
quite as low as at points in Iowa re-
mote from mines. The country is
underlaid with limestone, which fur.
nishes an inexhaustible supply Of
building rock and lime. The brick
made in this section is of superior
quality, shown in many fine business
blocks and residences in Aberdeen.
The area of the county is 100 square
miles, or 488,000 acres. The assess
ed value of real estate is $2,229, ,l53
and of personal property, 81 ,247,214
The county tax is s37,219.45; state
tax s7,443,S9.
No better farming land exists in
the United States than right here in
Monroe county. 1t is an inviting
field for migration. The climate is
mild, the land is fertile and produces
a great variety of crops, fruits and
flowers. Stock of all kinds can be
raised and third cheaper than in the
north. Grasses grow ebundantly,
there being four hundred grasses in
digenous to the state, the feed values
of over one hundred having been es.
tablished by chemical analysis. There
are number of fine herds of thor
oughbred cattle in the county, and
in an adjoining county is Colonel
Montgomery's herd of Jerseys, two
hundred and fifty head, the largest il
the United States. The raising O
hogs and sheep has also become very
profitable. No season is too warm tC
work in the open air and none so colo
that the farmer is kept within doors
Lands are cheap, astonishingly so,but
can not remain so very long, only
until the people of the north fully
realize the possibilities and capabili
ties of this soil and climate. The
health of this locality cannot be ques
toned. No better idea of its health
fulness can be had than by this quo
tation from a note to Major Wall
from prominent physician of Aber
deem:
I'VE have had no typhoid fever herr
within the last sixteen or seventeen year
no dysentery, except few sporadic case
in the same period2 no epidemic pneumo
mia, and the few cases scarcely ever fatal
Very little rheumatism or erysipelas, an,
no diptheria for the last fourteen years
We had cerebr )-spinal menengitis fe,
years ago, confined almost exclusivel.
to the colored children as to race, and Il
Aberdeen and immediate vicinity MS Il
the extent of locality. Yellow fever ha
never prevailed within one hundred mile
of this center, and cholera the same.
few cases of both diseases have beel
imported, but did not reproduce singl
other case in any instance"
Send to Major E. G. Wall, com
missioner of immigration and Agri
culture, Jackson, Miss, for his hand
books and maps, sent free to all ap
plicants.
The question as to how northern
people are treated here is really anus
ing. AS to how northern men ar
i received in Mississippi, we cannot d
: better than to quote what Captain {
> H. Townsend, who served during tn
: war in Wisconsin regiment, but fo
. several years editor of the lnteligen
q Ger of McComb City, says:
Weare heartily tired and disgusted wit
8 the everlasting cant about the danger {
northerners settling in the south. Th
= immigrant does not hesitate to brave
life upon the wild western frontier, cut
:, ting himself from friends, politics an
n n society, and debarring himself from a
i the privileges of churches, schools an
). social intercourse, and trusting lhei
lives to the tender mercies of the savag
= and wild beast, and yet Processes he dal
!. not avail himself of the balmy climat
e and fruitful soil of the south, for fear hi
political opinions may be interfered wit
Now, this is all foolishness. The pee
> pie OF the south are neither savages {
. barbarlans. They can distinguis
e true men rom profe ional vagabond
i and we know whereof we affirm when "
say that any person, without regard
y political opinions or creeds, who come
!. south and conducts himself ia name
: that would be tolerated by any well res
: ulated community will be received, re
!, spected and honored as he may merit.
t There are openings in this state fc
: every form of industry. The cultur
of jute promises to become one {
s. vast Importance. 1t grows in Mi'
sissippi as successfully as in lndi