The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-12-25
LEWIS A. RAcsnALE.


~ p ria remarkable Csreeri
Meridian correspondent Of the
- q. Daily States, under date Of 18th
'n',.,ant. F. writes, Yesterday all that
.os mortal of Lewis A. Ragsdale, the
...,der of the city of Meridian, and,
rs,naps, the largest capitalist in the
p'ata. were laid to rest in McLemore
s.matery. No such concourse ofpeo-
s,s ever before assembled to pay
Eonoeee to the memory of a man who
~ dear to every citizen OF the city,
.nd who was known to the whole
nountry m around. Early in the day
,ba new of his death ON Friday, in
sJamphis, being widely circulated,
s,owds Of people came to the city and
ssited for hours at the cemetery.
The funeral procession was the lar
.aat ever known here and was a
ssnontaneous outpouring of the peo-
nIe, Fully 5000 people lined the
sonte to the cemetery, and there were
,epresented civic, masonic, military
and religious bodies in the line. a
man of such note deserves more than
passing mention, and sketch Of his
remarkahle career is given.
Mr. Ragsdale was born in Spring
deld. Tenn, November 20, 1919, and
the family moved from there to some
place near Decatur, Ala, when he
was three years old. From there they
moved to Pickens county, Ala, and
at the age of twelve he lost his father
He was the eldest child and at that
tender age he found himself with but
six months schooling, penniless,and
the support Of his widowed, invalid
mother, two young sisters and three
small brothers dependent OH his ex-
ertions. The boy went to work, not
for salary. but for simply food for
the support of the ones at home. In
domitable energy has ever its reward
1.-The industrious boy grew to man
hood and became q prosperous mer-
chant in Pickensville.
From there he went to Mexico
making the long journey on horse
baok. This was in 1849, and llis COM
panions passed the site of I'll Paso
where Mr.. Ragsdale predicted a city
would eventually be. He soon re-
turned to the United States, but in
vested heavily in silver mine in
He failed and was again left
penniless in Alabama. In 1858
affection forced him to
leave, and Mobile doctors told him to
live in pine woods. 1t was then he
settled on the site of Meridian, pur-
chased farm from Richard Nc
Lemore. and grew potatoes and pea
nuts on the arid hills now covered
with acres of brick and mortar. He
had faith in railroads being built.
There were none in Mississippi, but
;he vicksburg and Meridian, and the
Mobile an Ohio we're projected. The
after he was certain would pass over
his land. Enterprise was then a
thriving town and made efforts to Sc
cure the terminus of the projected V.
md NJ, but so great was Mr.. Rags
lale's energy and liberality that his
inducements outweighed those Of the
own and he assisted in the survey
which ultimately brought the road to
Meridian.
Up to the war period there was no
.rowth of the village of Meridian, but
10 great was Mr.. Ragsdale's conf.
lence in its being city that the
money he made during the war out
II his hotel was invested in all the
and that he could buy around 1t.
After the war, Notwithstanding the
ligh taxes of republican rule, he
to build, and steadily
,aid taxes on property whose pur-
hase WAS laughed at by his neigh
'ors. One year he paid $4,000 In
axes, but was not shaken in his pol
cy. The cholera of 1873 and the ne
,ro riots nearly paralyzed Meridian,
,ut through all he steadily bought OF
III who wished to sell. The city pass
ID through the panic, and up to 1880
made little Improvement. At that
ime Mr.. Ragsdale built the COM
'ress and was again ridiculed for his
'lleged vagarles, but he saw the cot
on movement coming to Meridian
md the result has shown his wisdom
vhen from nothing the city's sreceipts