Oxford eagle., 1922-11-30
EARLY HISTORY
OF LAFAYETTE CO.
Old Wills, Deeds. Land Patents.

TO cover the PERIOD, extending from
the formation of the county in 1886,
to the beginning of the Civil War in
1861. But it would be impossible to
treat, even in the most cursory man
ner, any phase of the above subject,
should we attempt to cover the quar-
ter century period; hence, we have
confined ourselves almost entirely, to
the first five years of this period. We
have, however, been fortunate in
securing valuable data as early as
1881
Wills.
No record of wills numbers 1 and 2
were found at the Court House. The
earliest found number is that of Will
liam Wilson, written in 1887. The
original will is on file and is legible.
He begins by willing his soul to
God, who gave it, and his body to the
tomb. Evidently he had no descend
ants, as the benefciaries named are
his mother, Margaret Wilson, brother
Waiter and sisters Lily Wilson and
isabella Parks. The plantation, on
which he lived, he bequeathed to
Walter. This land described as the
Southeast quarter of Section 25,
Township 7, Range 2 West, lies
Northeast of Oxford, and is now
owned by negro. William H. Smith
sers, clerk, certifes that this will is
duly recorded in Book A. pages 202
and 203. The executors named are
Robert Houston and Walter Wilson,
the witnesses are John P. Wilson and
TIL tfa,,
two years later in 1889, is that of
George Zollacoffer whose property
seems to have consisted chiefly in
slaves.
The will of Charles Bowen, maternal
grandfather of the Nelson family,
bears the date 1912. He was the son
OF Robert Bowen, who with five
brothers and nephew, served in the
Virginia army during the Revolution
ary War. 1t is thru the service of
Robert Bowen that Miss Lou Nelson,
one of the organizers and charter
member of Davis Reese Chapter, D. A.
r.. entered the organization. Others
who have ioined on his record are Mrs.
Ella Nelson Carter, Mrs. Tilden
Shinault, ard Miss Mary Louise
Nelson.
Thru the courtesy of Mrs. Leathers,
a member of the David Reese Chapter
d. A. R., we had the loan of valuable
papers. The original will Of her
grandfather, Washington Price, is un-
usually we'll written. An interesting
feature of this will is that the sigma
lures Of John N. Waddel. P. B. Bar
ringer and Thomas D. Isom appear
on it as witnesses, all three being men
of great prominence in the history
and development of the county.
Mrs. Leathers, also has in her pos
session, quite a number of original
Land Patents, issued from the Land
Office IN Washington, thru the Land
Office in Pontotoc, for lands in the
Chiclzasaw Cessicn, purchased by her
grandfather, Washington Price, from
the United States Government. The
earliest of these was issued in 1841,
and signed by President Van Buren,.
There are others Of later years, 1872
43-44, these being signed by President
Tyler.
Another interesting one, photo
graphic copy of which we found in
the Court House, was issued to the In
dian Ike -Sash-Tubby, emitting him to
one section of land. This was signed
by President Van Buren,, and given in
1870 This Photographic copy was
made in '1917, and certified to by L..
Q. c.. Lamar, Recorder of the General
Land Office Washington at that
time. He was the only son of
Colonel l.. @. c. Lamar, who was at
one time citizen of Oxford, man
distinguished in both State and Ma
tional politics.
We are indebted TO Miss Ella
Pegues, one of the charter members
of the David Reese Chapter, D. A. r.
for q number of interesting papers,
among them are six Land Patents,
dated February 1887 and issued from
the Land Office at Pontotoc, to her
father, Alexander Hamilton Pegues,
who came in 1884 from South Caro-
to Lafayette County, Mississippi in
1886. In that part of the county,
known as Woodson's Ridge, as a
young pioneer among the Indians, he
built his house of logs. Here he lived
for many years, on a tract of about
four thousand acres of land and own
ed one hundred and fifty slaves, when
the Civil War broke out.
Mr.. J. E. Nelson has Land Pat
ent issued his father, William Smith
Nelson, in 1848, signed by. James R.
Polk, President.
The J. E. Nelson Company, the
oldest continuous business firm in
the county, has an interesting his
tory. Mr.. w. S. Nelson founder of
the business, came from Tennessee to
the northern part of Mississippi,
which was then a wilderness, and
landed in Oxford about January l.,
1886. The first store was small log
cabin, the site of which is now oc-
cupied by the Bramlett Drug Store.
The business has remained in the
Wilson family ever since. They have
never ceased operations, except for
two wears, when General Grant, pass