The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1901-01-23
INTERESTING "REMINISCENCES.


Awhile before his death, Hon. Thos.
N. Norrell, of Rankin county, fur
nished the Brandon News with the fol-
lowing interesting history in reference
to the building of the old State Capt.
toll, now soon to be abandoned for a
new. up to-date structure:
The act for the present capitol was
passed February 20, 1888. 1t seems
that the legislature in 1921 appointed
three commissioners to select and lay
off the present seat of government,
and Thomas Kinds, for whom Kinds
county is named, one DIR. baltimore
and Peter Van Dorm, of Claiborne,
county, was the third. Peter Van Dorm
lived in the suburbs of Port Gibson
and had two sons, Earl and Aaron,
both of whom went to the same school
l attended there. They we're both
nice, bright, high toned, honorable
boys and shall ever feel grateful to
them for the interest they took in me
and the assistance they gave me
in my studies. One of them, Earl,
distinguished himself as bold and
active leader of cavalry during the
war between the States, and was as
sassinated, / believe, by one DIR. Pc
tiers during the war.
In addition to the duties of locating
site the commissioners we're author
lied to contract for temporary house
until the capitol could be finished.
The temporary State house after the
completion of the new, was occupied
by the different State printers. Its To-
cation, l believe, was on the corner
where the present Clarion Ledger Of
flee is now.
Price & Fall and E. Barksdale, re-
spectively, published the old Missis-
sippian, but Sherman's army ran them
out and they moved over to Selma,
Ala, and while out east the Eastern
Clarion and Mississippian we're merg-
ed into one and took the name of the
Clarion. Several years after the
close of the war the Brookhaven
Ledger moved to Jackson and af-
ter several years the Clarion and
Ledger were merged into one and, as
everybody knows became the Clarion
Ledger
But back to my subject: The present
old building that is causing the people
and, especially, the Governor and leg
islature so much trouble, was com
menced in 1888 and completed in
1885. The writer hauled in an OK
wagon part of the finishing material
from Vicksburg. The brick was made
in jackson.
The rock that was used in the foun-
dation was hauled from about 6 miles
southwest of Jackson, near the farm
of a Mr.. Benson, on the Mississippi
Springs road. The first contractor
was Mr.. Lawrence, who lived at that
time in Rankin county, one or two
miles north of the turnpike, on a
place once owned and occupied as a
residence by DR.. Watkins, father of
Mr.. E. Watkins. Lawrence, by some
means, failed to fulfil his contracts
and then Col Nichols took the job
and completed it. The lime used in
the building was burned on the plan
tation of John Long, six miles south
of jackson, in Kinds county, right on
the edge of the first hills west of Pearl
river, only one or two hundred yards
from the present Illinois Central rail
road Mr.. Long was man of consid-
cradle business qualification, and in
addition to furnishing the lime for the
capitol carried on mercantile bust
ness at old Richmond. At that time
and until the completion of the rail
road from Vicksburg to Jackson in
1888, there was lively business done
at that place. Steamboats, ran up
Pearl river as high as Jackson and
sometimes as far up as Carthage, and
in the winter and spring Brandon re-
ceived large per centage of the goods
handled there. The public road from
Richmond to Brandon ran not far
from where Richland Academy now
stands, Ben WILSON'S and Mrs. Aliens,
into the Stems Creek road at the old
Col. Allen place, then the Hasty
place, father of w. H. Hasty, esq., and
on to Brandon. l failed to note that
a prominent factor in burning the
lime for the capitol was James Nc
MILAN, Scotchman who was boss of
the kiln. He afterwards moved over
in Rankin and lived and died an hon,
est, upright man.