The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-04-28
"reminiscences Of Major General
Thomas Kinds.

EpfroR SOUTHERN REy yEIfLE: As
almost the last surviving near neighbor
of Maior-General Thomas Hinds, of
Jefferson county, | have felt growing
obligation for many years past 70 write
q fe;y WILL remembered "reminiscences Of
this great, and, in many respects, worthy
and useful citizen Of my native county.
/ have often wondered 50 little has here
tofore been written and published about
a man so prominent a. a civilian, patriot
and military leader. Except my good
neighbor of former years, Hon. Nm.
Holmes. presume that | am the last
man left that can write incidents IN the
life of Gen. Kinds from personal know
ledge.
General Kinds was born in Kentucky
in 1880. and was a pushing, go-ahead,
self reliant boy, and at the age OF thir-
teen got a passage on tiat boat, and
worked his way TO New Orleans. de
was u remarkably muscular boy, and
noted for his adventures as swimmer.
A gentleman az New Orleans bantered
him about swimming the Mississippi
river opposite the city. He said he
would DO it for a small wager. The
wager WAS put up, the act performed
and the wager pocketed. J mention this
incident as a prelude to the many daring
adventures of his after life. As he was
born nearly a quarter of 4 century be-
fore I was. do not know how Or where
he spent his youth and early manhood
Among nay earliest recollectons was
what used to hear my father say about
the doir Of Tom Kinds in and around
Greenyille, our county site. While he
was industrious and very exact in all his
business transactions, he was full OF fun
and frolic, and was a very popular young
man, especially with the first families Of
our community. he was for some years
q know not how many sheriff OF our
county. As he was very reliable
young man he soon got into the good
will of Miss Laminda Green, daughter
of Thomas NJ. Green, Sr., worthy
planter near Greenyille, and they were
married in 1907, and their only child,
Howell Kinds, was born in 1905. Soon
after their marriage they settled on a
superior tract Of land near Greeneille,
where Mrs. Kinds died soon after the
birth of her son. The General never
married again, but continued to live on
his plantation in comfort and plenty
Some time after his marriage he was
employed to conduct Miss Augusta
Green and Jefferson Davis, tour jeff
on horse back through the Indian wilder
ness to school in Kentucky, which he
did rapidly and safely. To pass over
many characteristics of Thomas Hinds
that would no doubt be interesting to
your readers, ] hasten to speak of his
military career. He was brim full of
the genuine soldier, which began to show
itself when the war of 1812'15 broke
out between our country and the British
and Indians. Major Beasley, who lived
at Greenville, our county town, pre-
sumo, early in 1913, raised a battalion
mainly from Jefferson county, and went
to Alabama to oppose the Creek Indians,
and protect the few settlers on the
Alabama river. He was assigned to
Fort Minis, where about the first of the
fall of 1913, he, with all his command,
except about half dozen, with all the
women and children and other nom
combatauts in the fort were captured
and massacred. The sad news came
back to our county like an electric
shock. Tom Binds-as almost every
called him-n0w, perhaps, the most
popular man in Jefferson county-pro-
posed to go to Alabama with as many as
would volunteer TO accompany him in
order to fight the Creeks and protect
our settlers there as best they could.
A fair battalion volunteered and re-
quested him to assume comma and, and he
began to be called Major Kinds. He
hurriedly got his men armed and
mounted, and off they marched toward
Fort Stephens, where, as well as ] now
recollect, Gen. Claiborne was with his
command waiting to be joined by four
hundred Choctaw warriors under Push
mataha to invade the Greek country.
Major Kinds biyouaced one night near
Gen. Claiborne's Fort and sent him
word that he was near him with pretty
fair battalion. Gen. Claiborne returned
answer that his fort was full of refugee
families in addition to his own command,
and he had no room to take him in nor
could he furnish him any provisions as
he was saving every pound he could get
to feed Pu-hmataha and his four hun
dred warriors daily expected at the fort.
Major Kinds sent him another message
''that him and his men had not come to
Alabama to fort up and wait for the
Indians to come to them they had come
on a regular Indian hunt and Intended
to find them if they were on the face of
the ground, and as to rations they had
some on hand aud could get what more
they might need in the country they
had come to protect" | never knew
just how Major Kinds found it out, but
he learned almost Immediately that q
large body of Indians, including women
and children, had crossed the Alabama
river near what is DOW called the
Lower Peach Tree" and were all as
busy as bees gathering corn from the
abandoned plantations, shelling it on
their blankets and sending it over the
river in canoes to feed their approach
ing army will close this article
fer fear of being too lengthy and re
sumo the narrative in the next.
J. G. JOINS.
Hazlehurst, Miss.