Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-01-23
Letter from J. K.

There are some incidents in the lives O
some of the parties whom | named tina
| have sprung into my recollection that
think might be interesting to the peopl
OF B~rooksvills who have knowledge 0
these olden time citizens. To the bes
of my knowledge there are but four o
the people who lived there IN '52 VIII
are living now. l mean those wn
were grown-up men and women. Thi
includes myself. | was then a mere DO.
and had all the ways Of a barum-scar
um. rollicking chap. who thought tn
world was made for fun and frolic.
Capt. W.B. Augustus was then a fire.
auent visitor to Brooksville. He Is old
er than | am and, perhaps. remember
the old people and old times OF the vii
lage better than / do. remember hin
well as he was then He was then. n
he is now, a fine citizen. He then CAV
promise of a life of usefulness. and hi
long and honorable career attests how
fully he has grown up to his promise.
have, for owe a half century, enjoyed
his close friendship. and hope to enjo!
II for a good many years yet.
Judge Thos. Holiday Dixon, who sue
ceeded Mr.. John j. Stockard in business
at Brooksyille, earned his title by hay
ing been Probate Judge Of Noxube'
for one or two terms. He lived for sew
eral years at Mashulaville where he mer
~chandised. A good many Choctaw In
dams then lived in Noxubee, Neshobi
and Winston counties. and Judge Dixor
had great influence over them. He spoke
their language well. Some Of them bort
strong friendship for him. One, Tuhbt
by name, had a son whom he nance
Dixon after the Judge. Tube and hi
family would sometimes come to see hin
and he never failed to give them provi-
sions etc. Judge Dixon vas a good maj
and a leader in the Methodist church.
There was no church at Brooksville
the near est one was at Sharon. three
miles east. located in a strong Baptist
neighborhood. Another was at Prairie
Grove. five miles away, and it was also
a Baptist church. Old man Peter Craw'
ford, the great school teacher, who gave
his name to Crawfordyille, preached
there. The next was Soule Chapel, hive
miles southwest, a Methodist chulc oh,
where great meetings were held.
Col Sim Orr, who lived two miles
from Brooksville, was a famous stock
raiser in that day. He was wealthy and
was a great loyer of fine stock. He had
a number of thoroughbred horses and
shorthorn cattle, also improved sheep.
hogs and dogs. He had a horse of the
Messenger-Morgan stock, called New
York. that could make a mile in 2:40,
was considered very fast them
In 1854 he raised a steer that weighed
over g., 300 pounds, and in 1865 he raised
a hog that weighed over 1, 400 pounds
when shown in Macon, but it weighed
I. 600 pounds before it died. He sold
this hog for 500 to John N. Oldner, who
out to show it. but 1t died after
reaching New Orleans and the old man
lost his show and his money. At the
time Col. Orr had the biggest dog
in the country and also the smallest one.
The Zig dog weighed over two hri.aa-:e,a
pounds and the little one could easily be
put inside Of the Coils shoe. Col, Orr
made annual trips up north to buy ami
mails. He was a man OF great energy
and enterprise. He was a benefactor to
Noxubee county. but he died in the
midst of his labors and his good work
was not continued.
Madison Brooks was a man of rather
austere demeanor and was u little hard
to become acquainted with. But when
one knew him we'll this trait seemed to
vanish and he appeared in his true ma
ture as a genial. warn hearted gentle.
man. He had a large family. consist.
ing of five boys and three girls. Three
or four Of them are now living in Texas.
] as, Brooks is a very wealthy land own
err; another son. Mathew, is on the su
preme bench of the state Of Texas, and
a daughter, Miss Sallie, also has her
residence in Texas. Judge Brooks is
distinguished as a lawyer Of fne ability
and is very popular in the great lone star
state. Mr.. Brooks was a man of fine
sense of humor, and enjoyed a joke as
much as your big Bud, now serving
his apprenticeship as a legislator. He
used to tell a good n on himself which
was rather practical in its ending. He
said that his father used to send him
the wagons that hauled the cotton
TO Uuion Bluff on Tombigbee river for
shipment to Mobile. He was then eight
or twenty years old, and on these
would occasionally find a steam.
boat at the landing. He would watch
,he Captain as he stood on the roof of
he boat giving orders, and in his youth.
'ul ambition thought that to be the cap
ain Of a steamboat was the acme of hu.
nan fame. In his drsamlngs he made
up his mind that he would me day reach
he goal Of his ambition. When he at
aimed his majority his father gave him
thousand dollars to begin life with.
With heart bursting with pride he left
lone and went to Mobile, where he in
'ested all of his fortune in the Cotton
Plant, a little boat that used to ply
between Mobile and Columbus. He pur-
chased 1, 900 sacks of salt and started
'ut on his first trip as Captain Brooks.
When he reached the little Bigbee he
'ound a swelling tide and concluded he
would rush on and have the first boat OF
he season to reach Union Bluff, where
le would astonish the natives by appear
ng on the edge of the wheel house as
Capt. Brooks. The second night out he
at a late hour and couldn't sleep