COPYRIGHT,
By A. P. HOOD,
1909.
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PREFACE.
We have no excuse for seeking to inflict a much abused and generous
public with the added task of reading this humble effort at a feeble under¬
taking to justify the humble endeavors of a weak and kindly race to vindi¬
cate their right and title to survival except our strong conviction that the Sjs7
achievements of the men and women who have striven to make for them- .
selves and their posterity a name and a fame worthy of remembrance and
perpetuation through the attempt here made in the direction of self help
and self elevation are worthy of generous recognition.
We are moved, as we hope, also by the belief that the world is entitled to
a record of what has been attempted and what has been accomplished by
Negro people at Mound Bayou in the way of establishing their right to the ^
boon of self government, the sole and only privilege that can demand the
expenditure and tempt the exertion of the fullest and highest power of which
civilized man is capable. If only one man shall be brought to discover for
himself the roadway to the betterment of his own condition and be induced
from consideration of the facts herein set out to follow the path thus blazed
we shall feel that our labor shall not have been altogether in vain. ^
A. P. HOOD.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. " 5 ^
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TW*f ^"%,-B 1 ***> 3 "f^t ^ -mjr f%.<e -m u! rne^a^e r*ver front ^:S3 one unbroken wilderness, but out of
1 JL C3\Jl JOLC.1L IJO,./ C/UIL • i the prolific bounty of nature in her most Indulgent mood, 'jl,
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supplied with a wealth of timber, soil and climate to frame the *T*
Tbe cession by t . r- State of Mississippi totheL.N» 0. & T. plenteous endowment of a mighty empire. In the grant thus ^
Railway Co, of more — made to the railroad
tban one million ue.rej . - r; company completely ^
oi !and in the alluvial hidden from the ken of
rich delta section of the those intimately- inter-
State procured the tp*m- ! - ested in tbe negotia- «
ing tp agriculture J ~zil. ^ **on *^e *ramac^on T
""inhaWUd t«tU«7 ^
,.;ion thus acquiTn'i urn: does not appeal to their
bftgin immvdint^v tho construction of its line of railway
■from Memphis, IVti" , to New Orleans, La.
The country Irvverstnl by the railroad except along the im-
ideas of the financial fitness of things as being conducive to the;, Oy?
production of satisfactory dividends. It was then in every
aspect of the situation altogether to the interest of the L. N. 0. ^
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& T. company to push the construction of its line, opening a
way through this vast domain and rendering available for
settlement and occupation its millions of incalculably rich acres.
In pursuance of its plans looking to this end the company
adopted a most liberal policy for the disposal of this land to
such people as desired to locate in this territory. In the gen¬
eral plan adopted special emphasis was directed toward the
matter of inducing the immigration of Negro farmers and
laborers to enter the delta, since many whites were deterred from
doing so for the reason that the climate was generally presumed
to be so charged with malarial and other disease-breeding germs
as that their lives and those of their families would be uncer¬
tain and continually jeopardized, whereas, on the other hand,
the Negro was held, then as now, to hold some peculiar and
natural adaptation to life in this semi-tropical country and to
enjoy to some extent a large degree of racial immunity from
the ills imagined to be always attendant on life in the delta,
springing, according to the accepted theory, from the use of
surface water, denseness of shrubbery, the rapid propagation
of noxious insects and so forth. In following this scheme of
appealing to the peculiar interests of Negro men in the pur¬
chase of these lands and in settlement on them the attention
of Maj. Geo. W. McGinnis, then in charge of the land depart¬
ment of the L. N. 0. & T. Railroad Company, was attracted
to Isaiah T. Montgomery, at this time located at Vicks-
burg, Miss., as a man of sufficiently large influence as to be able
to draw the minds of a number of his people to the unexcelled
advantages offered for independent home building in this
section of the state. Overtures were made to Mr. Montgomery.
He critically analyzed the situation and thought he saw glo¬
rious future possibilities ahead for his people, and with this
end in view he engaged with the company and set at once to
work with the purpose of inducing such of his neighbors as he
regarded as desirable and fit for the undertaking to see the ad¬
visability of joining with him in the endeavor to est*blish for
themselves homes in the wild new country. Prelinrnary,
however, and before entering actively upon the task in hand,
he first made a tour of intelligent, close and exhaustive investi¬
gation of the country for himself, and to the end that he might
run no risk of misinforming or misleading any whom he might
afterward be able to convince of the wisdom of his design.
When he had satisfied himself that the condition of things
and the terms under which the lands could be obtained for
settlement were all that could be desired he had already con¬
ceived the idea of attempting the founding of a colony of his
people in some desirable locality along the line of the L. N. 0. &
T. (now the Y. & M.V.) railway. He was now making frequent
trips up into the country and looking about soon settled upon
the present site of the town of Mound Bayou, in Bolivar County
about half way between Memphis and Vicksburg, as in every
way suitable for the purpose in view. Returning to Vicksburg
he experienced little difficulty in convincing Benjamin T. Green,
A. Wilbert, Beverly J. Arrington, Peter Harris, Thompson
Black, Alfred Johnson, Perry Strong, and other of his fellows in
the neighborhood of Vicksburg and Davis'Bend, men who had
attained to that standard of intelligence enabling them to ap¬
preciate the immense advantages attendant "on the independent
ownership of homes, of the desirability of the undertaking, and
he soon enlisted their co-operation. Freedom from the annoying
and unnecessary restraints imposed upon them by continued
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residence in the midst of and surrounded by those with whom f This indisputable fact of civil economy came clearly within,
they had always heretofore lived, on terms apparently alto- the discernment of Mr. Montgomery, and yet, he never for a
gerher incompatible with the concession of 'those privileges « moment lost sight of that other truth, no less true nor any less
and prerogatives apper- —...... ■. ..., / ________ important, that accom-
taining to free and un- ' v : '• <^g| panying the very great
trammeled citizen&hip ' ' blessings of protection
was one very strong ae- to life and security to
tuating motive in de- ' , property resulting from
termining these men to 1 " the operation of free ;'
discard the comforts . ^ ^ government, there must
gulsh bet^^a '
utmost liberty of the in- ; ' -**' ; ' and license and In the
dividual'consistent m ith • I" " . ' , " ,^iS3 selection of bis associ-
the preservation of the r*-" " -f...- •> ■ \ .? .. .. ' , ""*^§j ates for the great em-
rights of others against """" " ~ - . _. _ , - prise before him he was
infringement i<? surely E"F* **ow,eW selling Cotton—-n b. c. sold lor $980.00. equally careful to choose
an indispensable condition of free government, and it is , only such as were fully capable of clearly apprehending the
toward the realization of this condition that the adminis- j well defined distinction. The Mound Bayou effort must not fail,
nation of democrat'c government should be made to tend, j The stake is too great and the result of too far reaching conse-
io practice an wpit as u* thioTjs j quenee. The reputation of a race is at hazard. Unjust and
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unfounded aspersions have been cast against us. Incapacity
to achieve a creditable state of civilization or to assimilate the
elements of enlightenment and culture has been alleged against
us. It has been charged that removed from under the immedi¬
ate restraint of the white governing hand we start on the path
of retrogression and revert back to the original condition from
whence we have come only by difficult slow steps. Any con¬
siderable number of Negroes left entirely to themselves, it was
said, would inevitably drift in the direction of their own mutual
self debasement and destruction. All of these things and
more were insistently charged against us without even the
respect of a simple experiment by which to arrive at an approxi¬
mately reliable estimate of our capacities. Mound Bayou
stands for the first move of any considerable proportions made
with a view to ascertaining by concrete experiment just what
was to be the effect of the segregation of an appreciable body of
Negroes with the powers of municipal government, left abso¬
lutely free to do as they willed, and subject only and amen¬
able alone to the law of the commonwealth; What is the
result^-and, have the charges been sustained?
\ WKen in the spring of the year 1887 Isaiah T. Montgomery,
the few stout hearted men accompanying him, planted
foot on the ground at Mound Bayou in quest of a country
wbp_t<s. "Gid. dWA- Vioei^y" it was everything less than a
cheerful and inviting situation by which they were confronted.
This was in truth "the forest primeval" and for them the sub¬
jugation of the tangled wilderness, the clearing away of giant
woods, the building of cabins of the most primitive description,
the opening of pathways later to be made into highways for
the transportation of local products, the building of enclosures
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of such rude material as was then available, and the'preparation ^
of small plats of ground for the cultivation of small quanti-
ties of such things as could be profitably grown, the extermina-
tion of the bear, the wolf, the panther and other destructive ^
animals; these constituted the work to be done. Surely the ^
task was one of sufficient magnitude to have discouraged men *T*
of less resolute heart, of less tenacity of purpose and stability •T®*
of determination, of less optimism of spirit and of less faith
in the ultimate triumph of sober industry under intelligent- ojc
direction and tending toward the accomplishment of noble
ends. But these men were abundantly endowed with the fju
necessary staying qualities and thought not of shrinking from
the self-imposed task they had set themselves. They girded
up the loins of their resolution and plunged eagerly into the
work with the result that to-day in the very midst of the wild ^
desolation by which they were then surrounded stands the far-
famed town of Mound Bayou, the magnetic centre of forty ^
square miles of magnificently developed agricultural territory T*
capable of sustaining in luxurious plenty many times its pres-
ent population which may be roughly estimated at 6,000. ^
The town proper has a population of perhaps 800, and has
been referred to by an eminent authority as the "most remark-
able town in the Souths"
These early settlers to whom reference has been made were
few in number and their necessities and wants were few, in the ^
primitive conditions under which for a time they must be
forced to live, but these, though few and simple, must be sup-
plied. Isaiah T. Montgomery and Benjamin T. Green, alive
to the requirements of the situation, entered into a general ^
partnership of interests, under the firm name of Montgomery $
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and Green and. ^t:*hHched a smaU mercantile house whjch served
s«5 a base for the distribution of such necessaries as were then
in demand, and this was the beginning of the commercial li'e
of Mound Bs}vu. The
copartnership t h u s
formed c o n i I n q e d
through &evpra- years
and until dissolved by
xnutual consent at the
contracting parties.. Mr,
Green was a through-
going business m<ui and
lived to see his individ¬
ual business rank
among the Ian;est and
most prosperous gen¬
eral merchandise and
supply stores* in Borjv^t
County. The fact t\.A
the business sldl sur¬
vives, sustaining the
mme stable character,
testifies that he land its
f.-m foundation j»rin-
of strictc1^^
rity.
Among the earl'vsl oev-ossitles demanding attention from
th^se wilderness- tfrtf^ns wan che i, titer of providing shelter
for themselves. Mo h-ss .agfdnst the prowling beast and
creeping reptile «C' tta- ufgtn foiest than against the poisonous
insect life and the miasmatic influences of atmosphere borne
on the wings of night in this latitude and in the then drainless
condition of the country. To meet the demands of this not
unexpected exigency
Messrs. Montgomery &
Green procured and
soon had installed an
unpretentious saw-mill
outfit consisting of en¬
gine, saw, carriage, etc.,
protected from the rav¬
ages of the weather by a
crudely constructed
shed. Substantial evi¬
dences of this first
Mound Bayou lumber
manufactory may still
be seen on the original
site. It was through
the agency of this initial
industrial enterprise
that much of the mate¬
rial in many of the
buildings yet standing
Mound Bayou Gtl Mill ami Manufacturing Company. an<^ service at Mound
Bayou was made. Fol¬
lowing the establishment of this mill came the reign in
local architecture of the single room cabin, in later years so
widely discussed and so earnestly deprecated.
Financial competency is one of the essential conditions of
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the rapid material development of the individual, the com¬
munity, the State or the nation. This very important pre¬
requisite the early settlers of Mound Bayou emphatically did
not have, but what they wanted in pecuniary prestige they
made up in unflagging patience and indomitable persistence.
While the growth of the community has not been at any time
so rapid as to assume the characteristics of the familiar boom
experienced in the history of so many American towns, par¬
ticularly in the West and South, it has been consistently steady
and with every element of assured stability. For a number
of years the cutting of marketable timber and the manufacture
of staves, headings and crossties opened a very important and
profitable avenue of employment for men and teams during
those seasons of the year when attention could be diverted
temporarily from the demands of the farms. Another very ap¬
preciable source of revenue to the settler consisted in the value
of the commercial timber on plats pre-empted. The money
derived from the sale of this timber in many instances went
far toward paying the initial cost price of the lands. Then as
though to mitigate the asperities of what might otherwise have
proven a far more trying experience the woods abounded with
game suitable for food, and the streams, bayous, and lagoons
were filled with delicately flavored fish that could be had only
for the taking. It does not need to be said that the colonists
availed themselves of these provisions of nature without re¬
luctance and that they contributed very materially to the
.mitigation of the uninviting situation. As in all things else
pertaining to the affairs of men, persevering industry and dili¬
gent application must inevitably win in an honest and honorable
cause, so in the case of these determined men, they carried
within their own bosoms the essential elements of success and
could be satisfied with no less result than the complete success
of this undertaking, and the sequel has more than amply proven
that they were fully justified in their confidence. They were
called upon to face, no more perhaps, and certainly no less, than
the equivalent obstacles by which the pioneer settlers of other
regions were confronted, and right gloriously have they tri¬
umphed over them. We have now and invite the attention of
the world to a model Twentieth Century town which for attract¬
iveness of physical features, character of business houses and
residences, the diversity of industrial activities, the administra¬
tion of municipal affairs, and the general moral, educational
and religious condition of the citizens will not suffer in com¬
parison with those of any other town in the country. Thus
the interests of the settlement have advanced by even, slow,
though substantial steps, until.Mound Bayou stands to-day
proudly representative of the farthest step forward in the
demonstration of the Negro's pre-eminent fitness for race
autonomy, his no longer doubted capacity to successfully ad¬
minister the business of a municipality with ability, judgment
and discretion. All of the disastrous consequences of segrega¬
tion prophesied against us, the dire calamities predicted, and
the malignant results, (the wish for which seems to have been
father of the thought) have failed absolutely of fulfillment,
have fallen far short of realization. The prophets of evil have
been discredited and a result has been wrought diametrically
contrary to that declaimed against us.
CHURCHES.
One of the earliest, if not, perhaps always the first concern
presenting itself to the consideration of the man who for any
Cj? Cj? Ct? $2 zk rj? 4? ^ r7? *7? -T- -T- -J? -7? -7? -7? -7- -7? *7? *7? -I- -7? -7- -7- -7- -7? *7? -7? -7- -T- -7? -7? ^
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reason designs to change bis residence from one town or com- '
munity to another is to ascertain the status of things in the -!
prospective loc-u:ens Mih -rpgard to the facilities for religious
worship,the v^fu'i.ion of
it.? churches. If church
affiliation be a desidera¬
tum, and it is, there
s Utvie left to be n^fittvi
at Mound Bayou, lor
here all the pru>cip;-J
church. d<an;?ruhiM,timiS
^re represented, J'a wtll be
shown in the foUowing
schedule: As ga a</td by
the standard of'numen-
ca\ strength we men tiers
first the Green Grove
J^Msioxi&ry T' ;ipti&£
Church, with a mem-'
berrhip of £00, . Th-'y
have a spWtdid rbnrcb
building, and p^ry^.,
The/drureh house ^a» 4
-Mating capacity oi ap¬
proximately l,mf- ^n<!
under the pastov-'te of
their present i» vaster,
tl;4 reverend I.<r. <V A.
C--«sey, this churf h irm'.iitains the publication of a monthly
journal, "Tl^ Echo" devoted to the peculiar
Montgxmtrv Cotton Gln-Mutt^er System.
interests of the membership and the community afc large.
Next in size, from the standpoint of membership, b the
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They have a
church edifice that is
both commodious and
beautiful. Beautiful in
that it is of recent con¬
struction and has been
made to conform to
modern ideas of church
architecture. It was con-
pie ted in 1904, under'
the pastorate of Rev. J.
L. Brandford, at an ap-
proximate cost of $4000.
This church has also a
well built parsonage. ..
The Methodist Epis¬
copal Church, affiliated
with, and under the su¬
pervision of the white
people's M. E» Church,
has also gained a favor¬
able footing here, and
while not so widely
known perhaps as some
of the others, is still do¬
ing a good work and
growing in favor with the people and in membership.
The Christian Church, often referred to as the "Campbellite
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Church," by way of distinguishing it from the other (^nomina¬
tions, established here many years ago, has done and is still
doing much af good service in the way of keeping' a?ivs the
religious spirit of the ^oramunity," To the north of the town,
just one raile.ts a igieetweui church or rather the first'church J».'
point of orgat*katicm,: <ei; this denoroitt&tiont which serves ad-t;
roirably to meet the. re^uirements of the communicants and
'. |riends; Hviag ia thai _di?sc$foju.""*' ■' .'•■■-■ '\' . -V'....
ABoth«r-Ba^tsst d^«rcht the Jerusalem Baptist Church. *»:
situated about me mifb.s9utV.0f: f#ound Bayou.. . They too;
bave a very pretty'tktpfeh bulld&g an<l a considerable roemb«v
ship'and are bnpWiaht .t>£rt in matters, '.of religious
development. ..... ": r' i- ■■ ,V.'v
These -are >feg&r3M-aa pry; oHurehes, wh% within two to
iWqfi miles f$ ,»ay $rWtfow* from lb® t^wn *re tO'b© fotmd^
. others of- tfefc^^afwiur^rib^sio^.- ''"So. 1^'twir''be"\^n .th^t;.;.'
. there is a stttS cvet\cy ht i!h'#rcfc;faeiliEtieS; at Mound iBg.ymi' ip:-,
,-■ meet the most ewaing requirements, and it is a pkasarg to
testify that ell U the** sr# serving, to £<*>& purpose, the ends
'' for whfeh the services -are>;-
weil attended". %%&' _ t'snduct.ed.,
generally spealciin^ are »^.©f high, ehar&tter- Morally and yell
qualified for the ka^ersbip to ^iehihe^hsve been called. - M;:
of the churches %w*y $uhday School organizations •
for-the benefit of/thg. their'.members, and others.-.
■ These are invariably fyinghi by competent instructors who evi*
rience h gratifying •>Tit;iv$«r«\.of devotion to the i*qrk in hand'
and are accomplfcbiSf tor inculcation of right princi* -
• pies in the minds of the Vjum%t peopif committed tg> ihdr charge. *
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SCHOOLS.
Second only in importance to the opportunity for religious
worship, the prudent and thoughtful man in seeking about
for a place of permanent location will not fail to pay due regard
vO the matter of facilities, or lack of them for the education of ^
tils children. The character of the schools,, methods of
ministration, scope of curriculum and, in short, the general -w.
operation, of the school system must demand a reasonable share <$!
of attention. It might as swell beadmitfed right here tbat *$£
our schools, while fully equal to '*^jr and 'superior .mosC^^A*!
those open to Negro children in many jpart®' 'Of
not yet even approach the condition of ^kcellerice toward*uF;
which we are earnestly striving to Carry them. As far, how-
eyer, as our local system of schools extends, we may claim* with- $p
; Out perpetrating any violence against the exactions of propriety* .C$?
; that they may be freely submittedL^o comparison, with tbose'
; of any other town in the country of similar sue and class; - The
Educational domain Is at present covered by the following IT
.'■fefcitutions: • ' ■',■ '■ '■>• '.r^,
■■., THE NORMAL AND IlfDUSTRIAL I3STSTITUTE. ^
The Mound Bayou Normal and Industrial Institute,
lished in 1892,1$ designed to supplement the inadequate op^K^ *-
tunities offered in the public schools, enlarging the curriculum
and opening the way for the further pursuit of knowledge for '^jp
the benefit of those who desired to advance beyond the circum-
scribed limits within which the bounds of public school educa- ip,
tion are fixed. The school is under the immediate control of ^
a local board of trustees, and the greater part of its revenue is .^u
derived from tuitions, though the institution is helped to some ^
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The Negro at
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Mound Bayou. 13 ,X
considerable extent by the American Missionary Association
and is in a sense affiliated with or auxiliary to the larger schools
of the state operating under the auspices of that Association.
All Mound Bayou peo¬
ple are proud of
good work that
been done and of
record made by
Mound Bayou Normal
and Industrial Institute
during the sixteen years
of its pre-eminent use¬
fulness. Many of the
boys and girls who have
in this period developed
into responsible and
useful men and women,
and by whose lives and
characters citizenship in
our minature republic is
embellished and given
meaningfull significance,
accord to this school
credit for the inspira¬
tion with which they be¬
gan life. The Normal
and Industrial Institute
carries an enrollment of more than two hundred students, and
as its name implies undertakes in a small way to impart some
of the elements of industrial training.
A. IVJ. E. Church.
Prof. Benjamin F. Ouslev, who is recognized as easily one
of the most thoroughly prepared educators of the state, is
principal at the time of this writing T1909) and has been the
active administrative
head of the school for
several years past. Prof.
Ousley is consecrating
his entire time, energy,
talent, in fact his life, to
the work of the institu¬
tion, and the work is
bearing fruit in the for¬
mation of character for
those who avail them¬
selves of the opportu¬
nity to sit at his feet. His
own efforts are ably sec¬
onded by a corps of well
qualified assistants, each
a specialist in their own
peculiar department of
school work and select¬
ed with especial refer¬
ence to their fitness to
fill the requirements in
their individual lines.
This institution owns
about twenty-five acres of land and there has just been complet¬
ed on the campus a commodious new building for the primary
grades at a cost of one thousand dollars. The most pressing
rin
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4 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
mmediate necessity now confronting the Mound Bayou Nor-
nal and Industrial Institute consists in the provision to be
nade for dormitory accomodations for the care and convenience
)f those students from other sections who insistently demand
;hat they be granted the privilege of Mound Bayou training.
These are sure to come and the enlargement of the scope of
important industrial advantages will surely follow.
THE BAPTIST COLLEGE.
The designation "college," as applied to the institution of
which we come now to speak, is a misnomer to the extent that
it might be presumed to set up pretensions that could not be
sustained by the actual situation and its true educational status.
But in the sense of its local application we may be permitted to
use it as a means of distinguishing the school from the other
local institutions, and not because of, but in spite of, this high
sounding appellation, the institution during the few years that
have passed since its establishment has proven an agency
through which a great deal of beneficial service has been ren¬
dered the race in an educational way. This school as will be
inferred, is a denominational institution, though adherence
to the doctrinal peculiarities of any church is not demanded as
a test for admission to its benefits,and students of any religious
proclivities, or, of none, are freely admitted on terms of ab¬
solute equality with those of any other. The Baptist Col¬
lege" is operated under the auspices of the Baptist Women
Workers Union, by whom it was established in 1904. This
organization originated with Mrs. Anna A. Harris, whose life
and labors for the elevation of her people presents a splendid
example of true and earnest Mound Bayou womanhood, and
the Baptist "College" will stand as a perpetual testimony to
the tireless energy and the indefatigable industry of Mrs. A. A.
Harris.
The immediate administration of the school is under the
control of a local board of trustees, who are responsible directly
to the Women Workers Convention. The enrollment for the
last session was about two hundred, seventy odd of whom were
boarding students and cared for in the boarding department
of the institution at a charge of about seven dollars per month.
This constitutes one important item of revenue. A tuition
of one dollar per month is charged all students and the rest of
the funds necessary to maintain the school is raised through
the agency of the Women's Unions. Prof. R. McCorkle has
been in charge of the school as principal for the past four years.
Recently he was elevated to the presidency, and the principal-
ship devolved on Prof. S. A. D. Harris, of Greenville, Miss.
Prof. Harris is helped by a very competent faculty. A de¬
partment of printing and one of music are maintained, each
under direction of specially trained instructors. This school
too is in urgent and immediate need of some considerable en¬
largement of its dormitory facilities. The extension of the
range of its industrial operations too is very much to be desired.
PUBLIC SCHOOL.
In addition to the aforementioned educational institutions
there is a public school, such as are to be found at regular in¬
tervals throughout every section of the State, the object of
which is to give to every youth of the state the advantages
coming from the mastery of the rudiments of English education.
As of significance with reference to the sentiment entertained
rift
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by the ruling class of White people among whom we live, it
occurs to u>: as pvruium to amotion just here the fact that the
Board of Saper-'iaurr of
Bolivar County (wbtt£>
has uo'iy recently appro-
'JjC OjC" Cv- OjC w;? Cj- OjC C-jC C^C* «$? *$? cfc QjC *jjC CjC 0j».
J7i(? Negro at Mound Bayou. 15 ^
$
$
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pjiated, at the in^ancs
of the Board of Towr-
shin Trustees (ttho
wbita1; four hundred dol¬
lars to he applied to th«4
improvement of facili¬
ties ;e '-he Mound Bay¬
ou p'.ibl'C school The
iatere&ts of this school in
^oni-iZice v, 1th ihe U<w
regulat-ng the operation
of the entire public
school system in the
State are under the su¬
pervision of a local
board of three trustees
ck'C'.id by the potron«,.
«nd these are in turn &i-
r.-otly responsible to the.
Cou n *. y Superinte:', J enl
of Public Instruct; on,
•ano in addition to othej duties of his office, is required
p:i>s upon the qu«. lih^ilioi.s of the persons engaged to teach
thy c»unty p.i"ol*-.' t^r.oc'K Thu.arst principal oi the public
who was fully endowed with all and singular the essential quali¬
fications necessary to success in the important work of child
training. To the utmost
satisfaction of every in¬
terest concerned she re¬
mained at the head of
the institution until
1896, when she resigned
to accept the position of
postmistress for this
office. Since that time
the local trustees have
been uniformly fortu¬
nate in being able to se¬
cure for the situation
only the most talented
instructors available,
and the school has
served to lay the foun¬
dation for many useful
careers. Mrs. Gertrude
A. Bryant is now and
has been for the past
five years, the very ac¬
complished and compe-
rust court Scene. tent principal. The
school carries an enrollment of approximately two hundred
pupils and ordinarily employs two assistant teachers.
INDUSTRIES—GINS.
?choo{ at this pl*"?v y«s Miss At.. v\ •yuda Montgomery, p lady
The town of Mound Bayou, as has been set out, 13 located
if ri? jl"? r!r» eta rl>> eta ejf» e^ e£<> eta eta eta rta rta eta eta rta eta eta eta et«» rta eta eta eta eta eta eta eta rta rta ri<"» ej"» e>.
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16
TTie Negro at Mound Bayou.
in the midst of an exclusively agricultural area, and naturally
farming is the chief occupation in which the large majority of
our people are either directly or incidently engaged. It is upon
the products of the soil that every other business and industry
must in greater or less measure ultimately depend. For the
preparation of the cotton, which is our principal staple of com¬
merce and upon the production of which the general prosperity
of every other enterprise finally rests, there are two gin houses
within the corporate limits of the town, one of which is fully
equipped with all of the latest labor and time saving appliances
that go to constitute the equipment of modern ginneries without
prejudice to the quality and grade of the fibre produced. There
is a third gin manufactory located just one mile to the north
of the town. It does not need to be remarked that these are
all owned, built, and the engines, machinery, masonry and all
installed, run and kept in repair by Negro men; and it may not
be necessary to add that during the ginning season they have
all the patronage they can handle to satisfaction and each of
them is kept running to its full capacity. This is made to
appear when it is remarked that the records of the local rail¬
road office show the shipment of somewhat more than five
thousand bales of cotton for the last season from this station.
SAWMILLS.
Reference has already been made to the first sawmill estab¬
lished here in the embryonic stage of our community life and
wrhich may properly be said to have marked the real beginning
of our development. By repeated additions and repairs this
old mill has been retained in commission and is even yet made
to play a not altogether insignificant part in the general econ¬
omy. It has proven an important factor all the way along,
cutting practically all of the lumber for domestic purposes
during the first years of the town's life and no inconsiderable
quantities for commercial uses. Three miles north of the
town is another sawmill owned by a Negro man and engaged
in the extensive manufacture of commercial lumber, utilizing
the still abundant supply of oak, ash, gum and cypress timber.
In this connection it is perhaps not out of place to mention
the fact that there are several other mills of large capacity in
the neighborhood that are operated by foreign capital. Mound
Bayou being, however, the logical shipping point for the mar¬
keting of their output, and the further fact that they very
largely employ domestic labor in the operation of their plants
and in the handling of the finished product opens to this town
a source of revenue that is in every degree helpful. The ship¬
ment of lumber products and hard wood timber with which
this section has been abundantly supplied has formed, from
the beginning, an important and profitable branch of domestic
industry.
BLACKSMITH SHOPS.
Of blacksmith shops there are two, both of which are thor¬
oughly wrell prepared to satisfy all the reasonable demands of
the situation. Any ordinary repair work—wagon, buggy,
implement and machine repairs—can be executed here in these
shops. Horseshoeing is of course carried on in connection
with the regular blacksmithing work. The first blacksmith
to arrive at Mound Bayou was Mr. Peter Montgomery (de¬
ceased) who came with the early settlers from the Davis' Bend
neighborhood, a venerable and highly respected old gentle-
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The NegfQ at Mound Bayou. ' - 17 '
'man, and father of Mr, $.'%? T, Montgomery, one of Mound
B%Voil's practicing- att^feya, "r
TAILORING.
in the line fcf tai'oriag: establishments Mound Bayou comes
in for representation, ^iierfc-bdng^oiie house of the |c?a4 Here
that t& well up witli' rti&fly 'other Wth bouses in larger and far
pi ore pretentious k>wj<£, f ht: gentlemen in - charge of this.
business are thoroughly lamiliar >n| h the demands of ike trade.
They cany at all times" % $o*vJ #.*$&• ?nd a large variety of-
excellent ^mjpWsjlr©m;WHch suits «? single garmctQt^- may be
SL-leattid- Particular fepitf is- jp-sal^t io the quality ami grade
of the materials fcap#%4*.'^>e finished products ot this
Jilound Bayou hous#':W;/b« distinguished from those
' coming from th» &asr equipped establishments in the country.
The employees are jraetic'*? .tailor 'artists ia the realm of
' fashionable" dreSs. £lW''always to .the 'impor-;,
^yee of ^$5$' *%•«««$ .-fi| ',*&<» iliaesJin the matter, of cut,.
. styles, and fchir gcjjger garment building.'' ;0ne does
; ifiot peed to- Umt Mt4j:n$vlrtwin on* .r to get Iti touch with.'
• the current'fashion , - -
• • • :*- siaops. •'
'. 7h<°ra are.three §ho^ at Mound.. Ba/pfy.tb* patronage
..#{ the Teadini #**?;$.' f^riy constant employ**:;
tnmit ] lor • tm year. ' The proprifcipr of-
this shop, Mrv A.'rT-VB^oadw^E-i, is &"«ome respects:a man of
remarkable parts, Ki.ut' ?<&** ago he laid nside'the iraplemfents..
c'i his trade (shotjtna]v'rt'g) ^o acdept'a situation with the TV&
M- V. Hailroad C*»>WJr-aoy-Asi lo^al ag;e.»fc, He entered upon the
duties of the situation without having had the benefit of any
acquaintance whatever with such work and without the slight-
est training in the conduct of affairs such as he was now called r^r*
upon to take up. Whether or not he measured up to the +&+
demands of the position may be inferred from the statement
that at the end of five years he resigned the position against
the earnest remonstrance of the authorities by whom he had ,%>
been appointed, and much to the regret of the people of Mound
Bayou. His apprenticeship in the shoemaking trade was ^
taken under his father, Air, T- M. Broadwater, of Vicksburg,
who achieved a State-wide reputation as a manufacturer of V
good boots and shoes. The class of work turned out from
this shop here is open to comparison with that done anywhere,
It is of such character as to have recommended itself and Mr. tij?
Broadwater is favored with a deal of patronage from both "
whit® and black people away from here. '
millinery' and dressmaking." '
In the evolution of things forward it would scarcely be pre-
sumed that the wants and needs of our women people would
be overlooked or neglected, and in this ease it has not been
done. To be sure, th^y would have effectually resented any
4«sijir'A or appearance of design to forget or neglect them fcady ■'*$£*
tu.y such at any tnae been held in contemplation, but from^L
the first there never was any disposition to perpetrate such' *^p
an anothaly, and they have been remembered and provided
for to. the extent of being able to procure right here all and Sj?
every desire of their hearts in the way of fripperies and fop-
perns and fineries and frills and fancies. There is one mill'-/
nery house with a dressmaking department attached, and J$L
j •••).*« .. i . ' .< •: /" - -i
«<Sr> <njr» ♦*JS '*£> *■}**&•* r$n t&% #JS *^t*» <Sr» <"&"* 'St'* *Sf> r4*» ♦■£("» «"&*> ''l"* <S!W rSr» «"i&* *${* *$p> «■£"» *&* r!e* *&**&* iri*
«$« »5> <$*,, Iflfr.*9* '^".«5?'-»S5' "fc'-wt. *$* rfc- *§*•*&■ *S*:ye>, *tP* *$*<*$* Vg* *^5* WJU'«jU -iJp* Jp» lift •$• iJQf 4$U «jp« *<($• Ff-fflp*
tb " " ••'' ■'■ ■">.''>.^y„v'- •:' ;1' r:.■" \"'-' ;'C;1,,'' "■ ' ■' ■ '<•• ""■ •
'A*. 13 ;;: ';'•. :'-'r :-.r'■■;-[ '•■•:. . • - ' .-T^/^fegro, ,&£:.MQiin4BayQU, / ■
0. Francis, general '^jnfcrehattdfee, gr?^ie^''^%
;■ ' go^da and supplied 'of #very '.kind; C*jR« 'Stiirif
:'j£i>i»'; '^nefal fcwrchandise, p^ceri^;':, plant&tio»'
tools and
a«d. plant«^|'|{?s.*A.JA-
H.. &J. Wsej«hjiMia9r
jplfeuter; E. X* Dickon,''rper^a^clT^ a^ai
^^d^i«®'fv.'j!i»4 . mar-fep.t? planter;.'f&. \~2§roefe%
confections and tnafrkf# j.Jjfaaitm*
%%$ ertfclel stationery, noo-^^to«:|teve^g«5'; The fcwaf^\<5|jl
■;-.^ug':ftpre((-!_I>r* Clyde W, Lee, propifrtor*drufs, ati^oniwy
;ajsd toilet ■articles, prescriptions eomp^unded; T. 0,;l<»4aa4'^W
.'Sg?6cer3,^in&rket-r€stauraiit; Goln 'fi '^jridgefpirtb, matket~dtfej""y ^
';'Slrs« t$ tii Jones, groceries; J4j*. X*:T. 'M.. Brooks, general!^
ii^erehg.hdise and groceries; T. H. Black, merchandise, groceries' 3§?
"niarket, city real estate; Geo, W. Cresweli (deceased) real estate :'*jfc.
X'.' rnen.t, '"»<$ ifi'timr m ''»•'_h
' fMpu'R# *mme\
»«fe»oa ef
^ credit of -all of us iaa| it can
tkei?| ate v* up bj H^to m» _ V'^' X'- ?' I * ;•
- w$.nm -A^D "Sio'di^fiiSi/ " v;
■There tw»
W- ' ytbpfe
^re» .ft "m truffc. ^ppofnted iOTtftutiooii:;.'
• of tyetiklad to|li4«jrcUi|ij^r'
feiid' away-i»- '<*tftfcr: and;'se»ij\g''
:%kchmf4 if©*
tr»m. .'• ■ ' . •.'. !*'/•' 'i ' 1 » . ■'
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MERC^i^^ISJJ ,ter0 ^ ESSj^J^KB^
The real standing 'jijOwn is ,tisj*ially -detcrn
xainfd from iHe 'm'f&>&.' '-^aket^p' of.'ita busing feous.es
and tW volume .of f,^4cr nyr?7^al capditiGjis transacted
tbrovigb tliem, 'Oreat W| smait engaged Itj all ttye diflEer;enfc
Hne§ ot nwreautjif.t^'unfi^ti'>|iar«.;»'ker!? at tli?a writing'
the Rowing "hptis#, '3$$ hi ih." v-*>? of fxhibit ^e ;appB«d
lti»r&to a-list of ih^se '^.'witii iiie., ^hkracteV of' |pn.6ss
done:
'merciaftdise and planting; Mrs, J?.H. C* Williams^■; generate
I4. S. Sims,, general-^iiaercbandise, '"gtoc®rieB;rj ^a,::
hardware and plantation supplies; Alfred P, Pipes* groceries.; ^:
"M-: E, Montgomery, general merchandise and planting, real- ? ^
■'estate; '
HOTELS. ' - , ,.*t^
One of the inconveniences that the Negro traveling public rA*
ha$ had, \jp to this time, to complain about, end with good ^ju
raasont has bcenf and is yet in most cases, the lack of com-
fortable and sanitary boarding and lodging accommodations ^
when away from home. Every Negro man who has been1 Sj?
calSud upon to do any great deal of traveling anc* who may *$Q
have frequently been called upon to endure the hospitality,
afforded at the average hostelry catering to the custom of _C
1
5
c c r? ❖ "&■ ^ c& r& sjj? % t|? 3?: c£ :£• $» :£ c~: :':• c~? sjr dfc 0J: <$p c£ ojc «-?
sT ' -•-
^ Negro at Mound Bayou.
.%>»,'re people v-j!l ^lV*e r«ady absent to this assertion. This
t> w"»6 not alone of the smaller t jwns and villages of the country
but it is often diflk'.'tt m the larger cities for the Negro man to
find anything like wdh
fs.cu>-y temporary con
\ rpipnees unl»'-yK by re
s-.rt to private .hijHjuta.i.
or in any other business. But there was recently completed
here and thrown open to the public a really commodious
building, on the main sttwt nf th« town and easy of access
from the railroad sta-
■J 1 >ia fi'Ai
$ b;'.tr until vt-rj rewnrlj
| z'wn% tlie numlxv p<
| if.v- ■ n* in which tWx hsr-
l- 3.ZXP? pi service 'at '•*&
| .i-r^maa-i of the UgveJ-
r .ja N^gro publ:a has
oe<.m woefully deficient,
•r, . ub matter of c3tt'sfo*::
I aiv.3 convenience. We
| r :ui best * \piam too,
perhaps, that wh are not
v,' any me-ins raatf.ng
| these remarks by.way of
j' ; aplious criticisiA of the
condition, for v. e V.
•it-fo rather d?spr-,< <1 tj
{■. d or to think that aft-
'w all, such of cur ^CO"
' ._.!<• us have e,ygp.g*nt •■n
•his line of bv.vnt-M a;y
'■ or
d'iint,c and
Cn ud pf^St.ibly zff r-d.
tfl*e si I the. i«,i ..a m .cess
tion. This is the Newton
Hotel, a nice, large two-
story frame house de¬
signed and built especi¬
ally for hotel purposes.
In the matter of sani¬
tary surroundings in the
way of rooming arrange¬
ments. and culinary ex¬
cellence with reference
to the matter of dining,
the service at the New¬
ton Hotel will satisfy;,
the most rigorously ex-'
acting custom. Added
to this there are any
number of boarding and
lodging houses and res¬
taurants where tran¬
sient visitor's may be
cared for in an entirely
satisfactory manner.
The se: vice given at two
have done as well they of these restaurants is said by travelers, both white and
And, talk ss wp may, b1uc'x, to be unsurpassed by that to be had anywhere along the
hcl.el keeping line.
W. Cr«\si»<>!J*s Residence.
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iy rjr* ♦■if* <"itf» eta fjW «*4r* <*4f^ r&» rir» r&"» «"i"* «"A* r-jw r&* <■&*» r%y. <r$f* r9f* rip. rfet r$*i
|V *JW «"£* Is* $* *y^» w'^vt JJU *?£*■ vj»i vju .'vjv '«*£* te^fcr *J$>* *<£U fc*JV >£W JJti *^U *j|U J|t« JjU i^jjU ^Jw . n^i «?£w .«^p» _*^js» *y* *n5»
" ■ :-;.'-'v; ■V:V:.V ''-■" •:' ■;: "'' -:: '■ ■ ■ 1 "' ■■■ ■'■*•'■'' ■•' ' ' V ■■•-•■•' • ■ vv>^ **4y
20 . •■ . -.' ■ ..The: Near* fti Mound Bauou. * ,: - ■ '/. . - " * Y-'*^;$j£
p?
•£
■)?
ife
V;y:"'r:;::^:^&iipE^ saoi>s,;. ■■ J v .• -;■/
l?be j^o^as beet* -
. ^ 0t2td t#-'along; without'•fciirftj-fot'. wjial.
•■Li -has 'fi^..
£ his calling, the disposition to be communicative, loquacious,
• -f '■ eomfetei&tly. 'tiforraatfc w
, *<*• ••>•'_ <.ilL - c-\. "•.» •• "-^ . ... Vv-';-
V
-i
-Jp
.*
V
;edparh*rs^-^9!$t?^^^
cording cmrmi:-.
news are, opened; ar4;:
ihence pours,.■'•tii<i';;.saasi.. deluge of^ resistless
volubility. ,■ ■$■■ the; wishes■o^jthe tsfop^
in the Arabian Nights, -svas circumvented by the-persistent
oiTiciousnessof i^Buf^e^'bar^eri::;1he ha3; been .^ricatur^,."
unstintedly f«$ :ai«£aay'lrftriety of-
other real .or •^ut'.w^atey^ir 6fvyil- tnayv
.be charged-to? .|fjbls.^©t|a|-acc^^nt ItCfe -certssiin
that the 8v«-wi«d«"^ig filling'a'
necessity that, eai* net be ~dkpe».sqd. with/ . Sp we have! learned'
by constant i^nf.d'1t--4iw ';a$K»eii'$o«t 'tot endure;,, tolerate, and
now ey?,n to emferja<?fc;k|*n as.a. most welcome member of the'
community, wherever ^-e ,are: 'Mound Bayou has been very
liberally proviced feu- sn'the realm of tojisorial art, there being
three ^having parlors.in the town, one carrying three chairs, the
other§ two each, arid a$«?Ci»a££ fur??;shinga in the way of neees-
$jry toilet preparations., mirrors, ^e. The gentlemen doing
^rvice are all artis>4 m.^hd? line and keep educated up to the
latgst fads and fashions !n the ^urld of hirsute adornment.
When you have had a hair cut ar,d get a shave at Mound Bayou
you will be reluctant to leave or will want to come a^ata
repeat the experience. ';r. -: -V;,;
tplJIB DfiMOERS/';
The town of Mound Bayou is^tladlly increasing in;popuia-';^',
tion and with the increase of population gfees the'^ demand for
houSiSSt business, residence^ and ethers, creating an active.y^;
m^etlor the sale of lumber, bri^s, lime, and other bmkEng'
supplies. i. In addition to the output of the local lumber maau»^"-$&!
factories there is the firm of Banks.&■ Francis, lumber dealers,
which carries a yard well stocked with rough and dressed
lumber of all kinds and specifications, as also bricks, lime,
nails, shingles and an endles? variety of all kinds of building if :
materials. . ^,1
MARKET GARDENING. W
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Many of our people have from the beginning undertaken eSey
to.grow for themselves the variety of garden vegetables adapted
to the soil and climate for table use in their own homes. Then
any excess of the supply thus required for individual family &
consumption has always been easy to dispose of in the local
market. This year, however, {1909) Mr. Walter Warfield,
an old and respected citizen of Natchez, Adams County, Miss., r£p
came in on a heavy tidal wave of immigration from that quarter
of the State and engaged on an extensive scale in the exclusive ^
cultivation of vegetables for market. He is a practical truck ^
grower of long years experience and though handicapped, to sf?
some extent by want of familiarity with the elements of the ^!r»
soil and with the climatic conditions to be taken into account,
still the partial result achieved under circumstances not favor- »
r&> *£'
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21;
;ibte lias - <^n<3lu«iv^ that the growth of vegetables
for murkethereeaii he made a remunerative branch'of domestic
in'dusfcryv_' •■ :
The climate*>i ihSiaSeotkm Misstssippila not less healthy
than i? ordtoaniy' Jpiittdl-'tohf- $e case elsewhere- It has not
bt:en as yet rw}C6;<s&-ry if- "compile *nfr table of mortuary statis-
tics far the: Mound it is £rue that oc¬
casionally some mejpnfcer of $be community is called hence from
the midst of life's e.s^iifj^menis; to,,t^ exploration? of the dim
and distant .^eyond, .'For this contingency Mr, jfno,
Francis undertakes 1$ provide/keeping constantly on hand
a full and aceeptal?l4: assortment of coffins, caskets, burial
rob*.<« and ether ftineral' supplies.. On the, east sid« of the town
\n the jnidst of »'p/«tty'gr^ve- ample ground has been set aside,
for buna!'|>urptju«s>'nd.her^,' &.'deposited for final , repqse the
remains of those who %hiJe resident at Mound Bayou, '"Left
the ' w»n»; p^&sb' ' tfc*"'«;fie«rfpi day," passed from the
ceaseless toils fcad'.t^res of Ijfa and entered into the mystic
gxpejwnces ot follows after death. • Here fasts the
mortal 'd.ust .<#r«enj-f>f John W» Cobhs, of
Peter Montgor&e^ o£ Xewjs, J-* , of William Thornton
Montgomery,. of K'nM? and ot Geo. W. Cress well, and
from this ground, made saered by ihetender memories entwined
about the |Iv"«s an4., characters af-the departed shjstli rise the"
dtsent^ndled'1 spims "ot 'M.k® M'.' Virginia Montgomery, of
pothers -^'ancy; Harr, of Mesdames
;Hannah1 ^ni^apap?/Ramsey*. .Gladys Farrell' Hood;:
Uod oUiers-:'whi&^ all the -powers of_
which they were capable for the upbuilding of Mound Bayou
along the paths of her best interests. Here too, It is the am¬
bition of those of us who still tarry and strive to carry forward
the designs which engaged their efforts to "rest in the shade"
when the fitful fever of life is over.
FINANCIAL CONCERNS.
The strength of our real position must after all be judged
by the standing of our financial institutions and assuming this
to be the correct standard then we invite attention with pardon¬
able pride to the Bank of Mound Bayou, the remarkable
record of its growth and the volume of pecuniary convenience,
relief and assistance that has been conferred on the town and
neighborhood through its immediate instrumentality during
the few short years of its life. The establishment of this bank,
In 1904, has contributed more to, the substantial and rapid
development of Mound Bayou's wealth of local resources than
any other agency or combination of agencies that have any
period of our history touched the life of our community. The
signal success of the bank of Mound Bayou, which became at . ~i
once the center of the financial activity and commercial In- "I*
terests of the town and contiguous territory, added & guarantee^
of stability and permanence to all phases of the ^
opened the way to the hitherto hermetically sealed chambers
of finance and set in motion a monetary stream flowing in this
direction that was urgently needed to relieve a condition ol
commercial and industrial embarrassment that may be said'
to have threatened, at least for the time being, the easy main¬
tenance of the integrity of the original scheme of colonization,
which was that the citizenship should be made up exclusively
of Negro men.
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»*,
In the promotion of the banking idea and in the marshaling
"{ the necessary forces and finances to set the wheels of the
important venture in motion, Chas, Banks, then of Clarksdale,
Miss., was the leading spirit, the very genius of the organiza¬
tion. To one who has watched and studied the expanding
career of this sagacious young financier it would seem that he
was born for leadership in commercial affairs of great import,
for the control of extraordinary ventures involving the most
comprehensive acquaintance and familiarity with the laws
governing the manipulation of large pecuniary responsibilities.
Having accumulated a competency in the mercantile business
»t Clarksdale, Mr. Banks determined to retire from that line,
iuul looking about for some wider field of operation soon decided
on Mound Bayou as offering an exceptionally promising out-
!"<>k. He made several visits to Mound Bayou, wisely keeping
his own counsel, though meanwhile critically investigating
the possibilities, and satisfied himself that he recognized here
tht? opportunity for the establishment of a bank under cir¬
cumstances that gave every reasonable assurance of success.
Aside from the satisfaction that must follow the establishment
and successful operation of such an institution in a sentimental
«i'iise, aside from the great benefits in prospect from the con¬
templation of its salutary influence on the economic growth of
the settlement, and aside from the invaluable lessons bearing
<>n the prudence and wisdom of the husbandry of resources
that were to be taught, as it were, by ocular demonstration,
Mr. Banks was fully convinced in his own mind that a bank
at Mound Bayou, founded on correct business principles and
conducted in accordance with the requirements of sound com-
niprcial ethics,would prove a paying investment for the stock¬
holders and at the same time open an unfamiliar highway to
the profitable employment of such surplus funds as could be
applied to the purpose by Negro men of the community. Being
in a position to support his judgment with his own means, and
evidencing his entire willingness to do so, there was little diffi¬
culty in convincing others of his way of thinking,so the organiza¬
tion was soon effected, and when the books of the corporation
were opened for subscriptions to the capital stock, which had
been fixed at ten thousand ($10,000) dollars, in shares of one
hundred ($100) dollars each, there was a ready response of
local capital.
An unpretentious little frame structure ten by twenty feet
in size was built to serve as a domicile for the new bank. Jno.
W. Francis, a substantial citizen and business man, was elected
president. Chas. Banks was installed as cashier, and the Bank
of Mound Bayou was a candidate for custom. The record of
the subsequent years and the volume of business carried show
conclusively that custom came. As might very naturally
have been expected the institution soon outgrew its cramped
quarters in the diminutive little frame house and the .problem
of providing a new building that would take into consideration
the flattering possibilities, of increasing and rapid expansion
presented itself.
Under the lead of Chas. Banks, the board of directors, com¬
posed entirely of level headed and successful business men,
soon had perfected plans for the erection of a building that
should be in keeping with the dignity of the banking fraternity.
In a matter of this character, with Chas. Banks, to decide is to
act, and in little more than two years from the date of organiza¬
tion the Bank of Mound Bayou was at home in its own pretty
fit*
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'.^o-stury red brick building, erected at a cost of approximately
thousand ($5,000) dollars, and with room sufficient to pro-
m.'o ample and even liberal accommodation for the several
'-■Turtments of the institution. The new building is complete
»f. ail of its appointments and constitutes a very distinct orna-
"vrn to the architectural features of the town. The front
**<nind floor is devoted to the bank operating department
proper, except that a section of it has been set off and nicely
furnished as an office for the president. To the rear, or west
of the building is the directors' room, where the real busi-
of the bank is transacted and where its policies are for-
f-va!.it,»'d. This room has been furnished with a view to both
'^s'.ince and comfort. The offices of the Mound Bayou Oil
M«ii and Manufacturing Company are on the second floor,
is also the offices of Dr. Scott H. Harris, one of the resident
practicing physicians. The building and fixtures are in every
"'rw modern and the furniture throughout with which all of
apartments are supplied gives one the impression of refined
* W,ance and is in thorough accord with the elaborate plans on
*h;ch the building has been constructed. In addition to the
'^hier, the bank gives employment to one young man as as-
"•i^.ant cashier, another young man as teller, and to one young
»-viy as stenographer. Thus the institution has opened the
* •!>' to others for useful training in the realm of finance through
■fcfi'ch their native powers for beneficial service must be infi¬
nity enlarged. Then, too, the example cf these worthy young
f "M»ple engaged in this dignified and honorable calling is a source
«•<( inspiration to others to put forth the necessary efforts to fit
u.emselves for acceptable service in similar ways.
In the matter of safe-guards the bank is provided with a fire
and burglar proof vault, equipped with a time lock, as its
strong box, and carries the additional security of burglar in¬
surance. After all, however, it may be suggested that the chief
reliance of the depositor and patron rests in the good faith and
integrity of the responsible officals of such institutions, and
here, the whole complement of officers carries the unlimited
confidence of the entire clientelage. In the matter of routine
administration the bank is provided with type-writer, adding
machine, and all of the latest inventions for the facilitation of
business and correspondence that can be used to advantage
in a suburban institution. It has representative correspondents
in all of the chief financial centers. It is a pleasure to visit and
inspect the working there when the full machinery is in motion
and to note the tranquil ease and facility and the clock-like
precision with which transactions great and small are carried
forward. The charter was recently amended to permit of
the increase in capitalization from ten thousand ($10,000)
dollars to twenty-five thousand ($25,000) dollars. At the
time of this writing Mr. Wm. Warren, a graduate of the Tuske-
gee Industrial Institute, is assistant cashier and has held this
post since the first year of the bank's establishment; Mr.
Lucien E. Jones, a Mound Bayou boy, is teller, and Miss Mayme
L. Booze, a sister of Mrs. Chaa. Banks, -is .the efficient stenog¬
rapher. The Bank of Mound Bayou has long since passed
the stage of experiment and become an accomplished substan¬
tiality. In financial circles it is recognized as among the first,
as far as concerns the elements of stability and the unquestioned
efficiency of management.
oje c«c oj? cj? sj? o[e oj? «$? olc o|e o[c ojc of? o[c ojc ojc ojc ^ ^ oj: oj? o-c o*c o!c ojc z{c oj? ojc o|c ojc :~: sjs? c{?
^ T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
INVENTIONS.
In quest of inventive genius the earnest seeker might be
S'osed to pass by Mound Bayou, as holding out scant pros-
and yet such disposition could not serve to invalidate
the fact that we have the in¬
ventor with us. Mr. Wil¬
liam Harris, who is himself
one of the pioneer settlers
and citizens of Mound
Bayou, is the inventor of a
£ commercially valuable oil
£ saving device, the design of
M which is to minimize the
~ consumption of lighting oil
o in lamps by controlling and
® regulating the capillary flow,
■s The appliance can be used
on lamps of any size, shape,
or make. The invention
has been submitted to the
most thorough and search¬
ing practical tests, in in¬
dividual instances and by
1'msL one great oil consuming corporation and has been
'UikI to elTectually accomplish the purpose for which it
designed. Mr. Harris claims for his invention, to be
:i!e with it to produce a given illuminating effect at a sav-
■ Z »'f seventy-five per cent of the ordinary oil consumption,
i t»t her words, by the use of the Harris regulator one quart
f oil is made to last as long and to produce as good a light as
without the regulator would require one gallon of oil. Great
mathematical proficiency is not required to figure this out an
invention of astounding commercial possibilities. Mr. Harris'
invention is protected by U. S. patent No. 655,077. A cut of
the Harris patent is appended hereto and a copy of one of the
number of letters written Mr. Harris by one of the largest
railroad companies in the country.
The following letter is easily self explanatory:
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Co..
OOice of Master Mechanic.
Win. Harris, Esq., VirksbiU'g, Miss., Nov. 17tli, JLSUG.
Mound Bayou, Miss.
Dear Sir:
Your improved Switch-Light Burner has been tried by inc. and f
And it to give the following result: Three gills of headlight oil burned
90 hours and gave as good a light as our Standard Switch Light Burner:
if anything, I think it is some better. I will write to Mr. Renshaw,
Superintendent of Machinery, and advise him of the test and give
him the results. Yours truly,
C. LINSTRUM. M. M.
THE SIMPLEX REIN.
Another invention, also patented, of less importance probably
from a commercial point of view, and still showing evidence
of clear thought and native ingenuity is the simplex driving
rein, an ingenious arrangement by which any number of mules
or animals comprising a team may be effectively controlled
by the manipulation of a single rein in the hands of the driver.
This invention is the idea of Mr. Douglass Wilson, a young
man of Mound Bayou. Mr. Wilson was for a number of years
employed as a teamster here and the simplex idea naturally
suggested itself in the line of his routine work.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. . 25
PHOTO GALLERY.
In the photo making profesvsion Prof. Geo. W. Burt is the
man behind the camera. He is a former resident of Oxford,
Miss., but has been located at Mound Bayou the past ten
years and in that time has worked up a patronage that is a
flattering compliment to his persevering industry and the
honesty of effort that he puts into the execution of every
'•'ature of his work. From an insignificant beginning and a
'ardily growing custom that could scarcely have been thought
'o justify confidence in its future Prof. Burt has been able,
doing thoroughly well every piece of work that passed
trough his hands, to build a trade of respectable proportions.
He has made a reputation for honest work that assures a con-
ianlly increasing volume of business and gives to his establish¬
ment all the elements of permanency. Prof. Burt has a very
nicely arranged studio in which he carries attractively dis¬
played an exceptionally pretty exhibit of photos and views,
'hi; product of his own handicraft. He enjoys somewhat of a
monopoly in the field of photography, being the only "picture
nian" with a fixed and permanent location for miles around^
He does not, however, take advantage of this feature of the
situation to impose unnecessarily rigorous terms by way of
'"tacling tribute and he gets a great deal of patronage from
the neighboring towns and communities.
THE YOUNG MEN'S SAVING AND LOAN CLUB.
Anticipating by an interval of some twelve months the or-
Kanization of the Bank of Mound Bayou, and clearly recogniz¬
ing the increasing need of some channel through which some
helpful measure of financial relief in a small way at least,
and even though only of a temporary nature, might be afforded
under certain circumstances and conditions, a few of the young
men of Mound Bayou came together and organized the Young
Men's Saving and Loan club. Its name supplies an adequate
suggestion of its mission and purpose. It is regularly char¬
tered under the laws of the State, authorizing a capitalization
of three thousand ($3,000) dollars divided in shares of twenty-
five ($25) dollars each. Its roster of officers comprises a presi¬
dent, a vice president, a secretary and a treasurer, and there is
a board of directors to whom all matters of investment are sub¬
mitted and by whom the policies of administration are shaped.
It is not, nor was intended to be an institution of deposit in the
sense of doing a banking business, but simply to serve as a safe
receptacle in which the surplus earnings of its members might
be collected,, and from time to time invested in such enterprises,
or loaned at such rates of interest as might commend themselves
to the wisdom and discretion of the directorate. The main
idea has been and is to impress the necessity and to cultivate
the habit of saving. Following out the original plan the young
men comprising the membership of this Club wisely and con¬
sistently adhere to the main idea and set aside some portion,
however small, of their regular earnings to the fund thus con¬
stituted.
The affairs of the Young Men's Saving and Loan Club are
conducted with all due regard to the legitimate requirements
of sound business policy. Their funds are not loaned indis¬
criminately here and there, and to be had simply for the asking.
In the negotiation of accommodations they require the support
of substantial collateral security of the same gilt-edged variety
that is demanded by banks and other money lending agencies.
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26
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The Neg?o at Mound Bayou.
The organization has done some material food in this way and
~h£f? ventures tutve bees uniformly successful,'but it may lay
juat daim ta iafimtely greater credit for what lit has accom¬
plished is the incuJcatioo of the lesson of saving some part of
onete earnings. The young Negro men of every other com¬
munity cannot do better than to imitate the example set by the
^Iou»d Bayoa Vo«r<Hen*^ Saving and Iioaii diub,
Add^d to th$_ ijhmediate profits and tangible, material bene?-
Sts to be derrvedt' the business training acquired is altogether
wortk the effort required for organization and maintenance.
>Ir.- Jake Parker, & prominent young business man and planter
is president. /• ' ,
XSE MOUND-BAYOtI tOAN AND INVESTMENT
r' Company. ■.
Second in importance only to the Bank of Mound Bayou
among local financial concerns is the Mound Bayou Loan and
Investment Company, the organization of whicia was launched
in the year 1906? for the purpose of supplementing as far as
practicable the work of the other monetary agencies operating
jit Mound Bayou and in the vicinity in the development of the
variety of interests here. This company is also chartered. The
! amount of the authorized capital is fixed at ten thousand ($10,-
000) dollars and the par value of the stock has been fixed at fifty
(,f 50) dollars per share. It carries the usual quota of officers and
numbers arnong its- stockholders some of the wealthiest and
most mftv-*ntial rr?en of the community. There is ample room
u>r the free execution of its plans and purposes and the Loan
and Investment Company will supply a sphere of continually
Increasing usefulness and importance. Mr. William Thornton
Montgomery was elected first president of the company and
was retained at the head of the corporation to the date of his
death, July i>, 1909. ,
ORGANIZATIONS—THE FARMERS* INSTITUTE,
The Farmers' Institute, as clearly indicated in its title, is an
organization of farmers devoted to the advancement of their
particular interests, and is, in its nature, the expression of an
_ earnest effort in the direction of self help. It is in some sense
a school of methods in which the farmers of the settlement come
together once in each month for the relation and interchange
of experiences, the discussion of theories, and the development
of new ideas bearing on the various phases of agricultural
science as applied to the cultivation of those products of the
farm grown at Mound Bayou. The organization has already
proven its usefulness as an educational medium. There is a
social as well as a materially practical value attaching to this
monthly coming together of all, or nearly all the farmers of the
community with the single idea of mutual helpfulness as the
dominant purpose. The spirit by which the movement is
prompted is right and it is well calculated to promote the spirit
of brotherhood and fraternity, than the realization of which no
greater object can loom on the horizon of our earnest contem¬
plation. It seeks to reduce to practice the theory that we are,
in very great measure, "our brother's keeper," and bound, in
duty, so far as in our power lies, to contribute in all the ways we
can to his welfare.
The Mound Bayou Farmer's Institute is Mound Bayou's
response to the insistent demand for better farming methods.
Jt testifies that Mound Bayou has felt sensibly the impulse
-i; cj: el? C-?: c-e •$: ^ sjs? OjC *£: ^ $: *$p ojc *£: oS? ^ :Jr ojc $? ■•$• o-e ^ sj? 4? ^ $ ■$? ■$? ^ c£ $• •$? c{:
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
27
created in the campaign of agricultural education now sweeping
the South, and the cause of which has been so warmly espoused
by the great Illinois Central Railway Company and which has
been taken up by other
great transportation
lines penetrating this
section of the State. It
Tarnishes incontroverti¬
ble evidence that the
Negro farmer, as repre¬
sented by the Mound
Bayou type, is wide
uvake to every sugges-
:'on of improvement,
and avails himself with
alacrity of every oppor-
: jnity to increase his ef-
'.ciency as a breadwin¬
ner and as a provider of
l.i.me and comforts for
•.-,p who are dependent
. • him. The meetings of
■r c Institute are antici-
, ,.'.-d with eagerness,
well attended, and
riably interesting,
is always taken
. arrange only such programmes as from
f which some actual benefit may be derived.
.•tcm, and
'••X
\ ar
'.ire
feature of the general plan, for some of the members to bring
to the meetings for purposes of illustration and for exhibition
some of the products of their farms or gardens. Much empha¬
sis is being directed to
the subject of the diver¬
sification of crops, and
every indication points
to the approaching early
abandonment of the
single crop system that
has been so long the rule
and by which the richest
agricultural section of
the Union has been
helplessly bound to a
state of apparently help¬
less and hopeless dejec¬
tion and impoverish¬
ment. Mound Bayou
farmers are peculiarly
fortunate in having resi¬
dent among them one of
the Farmer's Co-oper¬
ative Demonstration
Agents of the U. S. De¬
partment of Agriculture,
Carnegie Library In course of construction at Mound Bayou, Miss. Mr. Jas. A. Booker, a
the execution j graduate of the Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Ala. Mr.
It is the usual Booker is a tireless and conscientious worker and spares neither
this contributes one very significantly interesting time nor effort in the endeavor to keep the farmers of his
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^ 28 TT^e Negro at
C7. territory fully informed witi ->gard to all current developments
C> affecting their interests. This station has been provided
ri? with one of the Jessup farr wagons and a splendid team of
ftp mules, and with these Mr. i-oker is easily enabled to go about
^ from place to place carryir^ :he gospel of improved methods
of farming.
c!"»
X FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS.
C7? Fraternal organizations Live at this time attained to a
place in the scheme of our cr-f.ization, the importance of which
^ can hardly be overestimate Their operation and the great
"J" measure of tangible benef^. that has accrued to the race
-7- through them has had the efect to impress the lesson of the
C7? strength of union in a way ar.d to a degree that might other-
wise have been impossible, <->r if not impossible would have
iJg required long years of effort and the expenditure of ages of
^ energy. All of the fraternities for Negro people in this State
^ maintain, under the supervl-.'^n of the State Insurance Com-
-j> mission, an endowment or ber.efit department, issuing a policy
^7- which gurantees to the beneficiaries of deceased members who
'jjp have died in good standing the payment of a certain stipulated
c!r» amount, this amount varying in the several different orders
->
r&»
at Mound Bayou:
The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (M. W. Stringer
Oj? Grand Lodge); Grand United Order of Odd Fellows; Knights
of Pythias, N. A., S. A., E., A., A., and A., International Order
rt^ of Twelve (Knights of Tabor); international Order of Twelve
(Tent Division, Knights of Tabor); Sons and Daughters of
r^*) r$n r&> rfa rfa r-ta rif* r-Jrt r$rt cJS r$r> <"■?-» rfa
vj* vj# Jj* JJ* JjV Jf* JJU JjU Jjw vjV JJw JJw vJU *4* vp wjv wjw *4*
Mound Bayou. X
_ __ __ _ JJU
Jacob; Benovelent Industrial Association; Order of the Eastern ^
Star; Household of Ruth; Independent Order of Eagles of
America; Order of Calanthe; Woodmen of Union; Royal
House of King David.
From the foregoing list we think it will be concluded that ^
there is no dearth of opportunity for fraternal commingling ^
and association with those of one's craft. There is as yet only
■ one lodge hall in the town (the Masonic Hall), and here
practically all of the fraternities hold their regular meetings.
NEWSPAPERS—THE DEMONSTRATOR. ^
As a general rule it is usually a safe hazard to estimate the
j status of any town or community by the standard and charac- ■$*
! ter of the newspaper or papers by which it is represented. It *7?
! is in the columns of the newspaper that the character of the
■ citizens, as regards the elements of thrift, industry, energy, r!r>
general intelligence and public spiritedness is truthfully re- ^
• fleeted. The correctness of this premise being granted, with-
out affecting any inclination to indulge in self laudation,
• without boasting or arrogating to the town any tithe of prestige
or importance not warranted in fact, and without instituting C7?
any comparisons' (which are said to be always invidious) with r^*
from three hundred ($300) dollars to one thousand ($1,000) any Negro newspapers published anywhere, it may be claimed
dollars. The following orders enjoy creditable representation for Mound Bayou that she has a newspaper organ of which no
! town of like size could need feel ashamed or embarrassed for
. the character of its newspaper representation. The first issue
i of this paper, the Mound Bayou Demonstrator, was printed C7C
! August 1, 1900. Since that date the Demonstrator has spoken cJr»
; officially for Mound Bayou and for other interests associated
! with those of the town.
. «*• zt: rk c-?c & ck zk sfc sj? of? sj: oJ? ^c sjs? ^
»j* *♦* * •
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
r$f% rfr, rfc> r$rt r&> r$n rvJS rtf\ fst/-» r^"> rfc r&> r&> cT-» ♦SI'1 <&"» rZf*
%7Jw vjw wjw vj* vjw ^Jy JJw vjv v^w vj* v^*» vj»»
29
The first essay into the newspaper field at Mound Bayou was
r.ade several years earlier in the weekly publication of the
'Vindicator," with Rev. A. T. Murphy, at that time pastor of
he Green Grove Baptist Church, as editor and manager. Rev.
klurphy was eminently successful as a minister of the gospel
md was possessed of educational qualifications of no mean
»rdt?r, but the newspaper business was evidently not one of the
pberes in which he was destined to display his abilities, and
he Vindicator survived only a few brief editions and passed
ilently into the region of forgotten ambitions.
Rev. P. L. Jordan (deceased) was the next to venture out on
he journalistic sea from Mound Bayou. He undertook a
ew years later to establish and circulate the "Defender," also
t weekly publication. His little bark, too, proved unsea-
Mir.hy and too frail to resist and survive the winds and storms
irul after a short and uncertain tenure of life the Defender also
.is>ed from the stage.
In the summer of the year 1900, it occurred to three young
n«-n of Mound Bayou that the then existing condition here
warranted the establishment of a newspaper organ. These
„t'ung men were, Wm. LaFayette Smith, then secretary-
Tvxsurer of the endowment department of the Knights of
Tabor for the Mississippi jurisdiction; Dr. Seaborn J. Alford, a
•rodent practicing physician, and Aurelius P. Hood, then
•ngaged in county school work. They believed in Mound
Bayou and believed that the work then being here accom¬
plished was in every way worthy of being recorded and pub-
:.*hfd for the enlightenment of the country as establishing the
«.access of the colonization idea as exemplified in the life of this
r .mmunity. Proceeding on this hypothesis they organized
the Mound Bayou Demonstrator Publishing Company, and
through the Vicksburg Newspaper Union, gave to the world
on the first day of August, 1900, the first edition of the Demon¬
strator. In its initial issue the mission and purpose of the pup-
lication were clearly set forth as being, to make and keep an
authentic record of the growth and development of the town
of Mound Bayou and the territory upon which it draws, to
give adequate and dignified representation to the Negro people
of the delta, and in a general way to labor as best it could for
the advancement of every interest affecting the welfare of the
citizenship of this section. One year from the date of its first
publication the Demonstrator had purchased and installed a
printing plant of its own, consisting of a newspaper press (the
old Washington hand press), job press, cases, chases, stand
and an insufficient supply of broken fonts of newspaper and
job type. Neither of the young men connected with the enter¬
prise had ever had any experience whatever in the printing
business, not even to the extent of learning to read the type
faces. Indeed it is doubtful if either of them had ever been
on the inside of a printing shop. They engaged the services of
Mr. Walter Simms, a very competent Negro printer, of Clarks-
dale, Miss., to come to Mound Bayou and set up the outfit.
Mr. Simms was at this time employed as a compositor on one
of the white journals in that city. Then Mr. Solomon Wright,
of Charleston, Miss., was engaged as compositor, foreman, job
and news printer, "devil," and in fact, as the entire office force
and "the dog under the wagon." Mr. Wright was not a printer
by profession, or at least he did not measure up to the speci¬
fications that we have since learned are required for member¬
ship in the union and recognition as one of the craft, but he was
rsJH
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yjw
vj*
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wjw
rSfy
rir*
rSn
rift
c&>
Jg*
wj*
<■>*<-»
"i-
rjf*
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.
T
"J? •£: cfc ^ -t- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ cjs? c-Js? ^ c-: «:£ «:£ sf? ^ c-J? ^ c-Jc sgs?
• f^ ^ta rta rta rN rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rjf» rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta rta
,** r* ^ *TJ^ v^» %<J* %^Jv wjw *7jV %7JV v^<* «JJU %?Jw vj* JJU vjw JJy */JU v^w w^w JJw JJU JJv vJU JJv
•jjC
>0 The Negro at Mound Bayou. ^
the only man in town who could distinguish by name a galley
from a stick, or a chase from a piece of furniture, and nobody
else here knew the difference between a letter of brevier type
and one of seventy-two
point. He succeeded,
however, indifferently
veil in keeping together
enough of the original
supply of office material
to transmit to his suc¬
cessor, and in getting
out with fair regularity
weekly issues of the
D'. lhor.slrator. He was
succeeded by Mr. John
Jenkins, who in turn
pave place to Mr. Crida
J. Sykes. After several
changes of ownership
and a more or less uncer¬
tain tenure and circula¬
tion the property came
into the hands of Mr. J.
Wavland Covington, of
Columbus, Miss., the
present editor and man¬
ager. Mr. Covington
of practical printing experience and has succeeded in drawing
to the support of the Demonstrator a volume and character of
custom that constitutes a high testimonial-to his ability in the
domain of the art pre¬
servative. During the
ten years of its life the
Demonstrator has been
edited successively by
A. P. Hood, Roscoe C.
■ Simmons, and J. Way-
land Covington. The
paper has always sus¬
tained the same digni¬
fied tone with which its
publication was begun,
and it has done much
for Mound Bayou and
the delta, in the way of
representing with force
and dignity the aspira¬
tions of the Negro peo¬
ple of this section. In
racial matters it has res¬
olutely declined to cater
to the truculent disposi¬
tion of either side, be-
Mound Bayou Products Ready lor Shipment. lieving that the best in-
is a pre-eminently well qualified newspaper man, and as terest of both races is to be conserved in the sane recognition of
an artistic job and advertising designer his work is not sur- the mutual interdependence,the one on the other,in every mat-
passed by that done anywhere. He carries twenty years ter affecting the welfare of the section jointly occupied by both.
♦ .»« r?r» rJr» r!r» c?r"» r!"» <"2f> «■&■» rir» c2f> rS? c!f> rlr> ri*» rJS <"J"» r2r> d"» rJp rjS r$r> ctn r*^> r*^ r$r% r$r> r$n
«7- «7« >7* "i" wT* ~i~ ~f wf -4-1 vT* "i" "4* -7- -4- *7" -7* *7" ~4v -«v -»w *»" -c «-♦" "4" "7* vT* w»- •»- w *4" v7*
r&"»
"4"
r**-»
JJ*
rjr»
v4"
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vJU
r£<"»
dr»
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'■■■ 'Tim Negro ut M°^d Bayou,
cjS
*f*r
rirt
fcjjw,
sfc!
31
\VVite stoutly maintaining at all : times the conservation of the ®cho is a monthly periodical published In the interestpf ih$
*iy - fights conferred on Negro people under the; organicv-0reen Grove baptist Church and affiliated organization-^;
"~r»f the land *~h® Demonstrator /has never at any time been
*4?
■;s
#*
5-
X*
>
&
the Sunday School, the Baptist Young People's TJnlon< the
; baptist Relief and the Women's Missionary Society ,-!Thte
is the first instance in this section of the
.;■ finale church has taken on itself the sponsorship for £uch a 1 ^J*i.
•t venture,: Dr. Cosey, the pastor of ttie clturciw himself
T newspaper man, exercises editorial control of I
] is made to occupy a most helpful place feathe 'gefleral'4w^«pi^1l^]
1 The remarkable featurejibout Tki Echxt is that the payiiaf^t
| a subscription is not demanded orrequired to become areader:^ |
: of this unique venture in Mound Bayou journalism. We dare; wju|
not speeutate as to how Dr. Cosey affords the; publicati<m of<f ,,T 1
2 tips little Monthly messenger ot good tidings to the broken
jf gratuity,, but we hazard the assertkm, based on
| mtfowii personal experience in the publication of & Negro news-: rjfe i!
| paper, that no editor of a secular journal epuld "dare eve®1
| consideration of such a proposition, . ' - ' - v ^1
¥ ^LOCAL SOCIETIES.—THE SOCIETY
|r'V' REffOVATORS V
i ; The Soeiety Of Renovators isi an organisation composed of 4 4*
MoundBayou women, and has for its very comprehensive'
; object the moral and social betterment out of the condition
- of the people of Mound Bayou. The membership oftbe, . **F
society comprises fpr the most part women who are wives;
i arid mothers, and to whom the preservation of the purity of
|- the moral atmosphere is a matter of vital concern,, They .,. ^
have realized that the perpetuation of the benefits to accrue to -'1 r&%
, posterity from the work that they themselves have done herfc ^
;»v — -.. -. .......... .. .
£r';ud?4 into the policy of Jinsisting on the practical I^al*za4
^ n ot visionary or impossible conditions. Pursuing this
l«vry wiife rigid £OJi.si?teney it has come to enjoy the respect
*r.d patronage of the representative citizens of both races, and
r* r>'eri*w!>ere recogni^ed as one of ;,Iound Bayou's most val-
K%l;e &»cf he!pful:vlnstitutions^
7*fr Septtef Women** tfmoh i$ a semi-monthly publication,
rr.4t)livhed in t?0&i and devoted primarily to the interests of
■\bt Mftund Bayou Baptist College, It is the official organ of
«fe?« Ir.stttiatos? JK&jflthei General Convention of Baptist
*,* WviVien Workers^ undee the auspices of which Organization.
.? "'r*- sch<^! l§ o^per^^4> ~ This parser also owns its own plant,
f r-fryingeijQb prlriti»g-rdepartrnentthat is liberanjfpaironized.
■i? \i •*.. hf. Vr4.1exand?r,?.'-pfesidejit :-o|- the convention, is editress
y cl xUc paper, whiie feof. K»* McCorkle, president of the insti~ <
tut see* i» manager &t Uxa/'brnon" While its main purpose
f* ** tft forward the interests of the school it still devotes a liberal
afeare of its spae^ to olher beneficial features of community
; ■— W;""'-v.'^ •'••li-''-
/>- - THE BAPTIST ECHO. • .,-■
■'* The Baptist Echpt established only this year fl909), comes
f t ^ ihl$ section of the country as in the nature of a distinct
; stion in th« rfealm of general chureh wt.rk, and is a tribute
•••;». tfjf1 administrative ability and foresight of Rev, Br. A. A.
„ Ca. ^y, pastor of th^ ^reen, Grove Baptist Church, here. The
&
32
ri'
«"£*» rt-t r In
n- n? -T*
' "5*
£
■»?
<*
**
£
if
**
I
T*
&
■U
£
'-?
rj^
The Negro at Mound Bayou. -t-
__ __ _ , . _ „ iii %$•
sj?
r£?%
4^
+$r*
V|V
&
.si?;
rests almost entirely upon the quality of the moral fibre that
shall be woven into the characters of their daughters and their
?ons, the girls and the boys whom they are now .endeavoring
to rear here and to whose custody the various interests must
in a few short years he confided. The influence of this society
for good has been felt since its organization and the sphere of
this influence is continually widening. It was through the
instrumentality ci the Renovator's Society that a day, the
twelfth day of July, has been set asideand designated as "Foun¬
ders' Day/' for the annualeornmemoration of the • founding
and settlement of Mound Bayou,; The celebration of tbis day,
begun oa the. twelftCday of jfuly, 1909, will be kept upland
as often as comes the twelfth day of July of each passing year
Mound. Bayouans and their friends will assemble ;and tell and
recount-the story of the experiences of those who first came
and laid here the foundation of Mound Bayou's municipal
future. Thus will the record of their trials and their .triumphs
be perpetuated ia the minds- and hearts of those who are to
erne after thern as the responsible custodians of the future of
the town. The society is grandly fulfiling a niost glorious
mission. <
mxma peopled societies.
Of young peoples''societies at Mound Bayou there are two,
the Baptist Young Peoples' Union, auxiliary to the Green
Grove Baptist church, and the Allen Endeavor league, bear¬
ing the same wlat'on +6' the 'Bethel A. M." £♦ Church, These
societies are de^i^-ed to'give peculiar scope to the young people
along the Una e>l. religious devplopment. Nearly all of the
young people of the community are identified with one or
the other of these helpful organizations, according to the trend
of their denominational predilections. The regular weekly
meetings of both are orderly and decorous, spiritually strength¬
ening, and serve to keep alive the spirit of healthful investi¬
gation and study of things pertaining to the subject of religion
and the church.
V
THE LOCAL BUSINESS LEAGUE. \
After all that has been observed with respect to local busi¬
ness concerns and organizations it may not be necessary to add -
that there is at Mound Bayou a local business league affiliated
with the Mississippi State Negro Business League, and thus
incidentally with the National Negro Business League, It,
may be said further that the Mound Bayou league ia a very
much alive organization. Its membership comprises nearly
all the men and women of the community who are engaged
in any line of effort that may come properly under the designa¬
tion of business. The attendance on its sessions is not of a.
perfunctory character, but the coming together of strong men
determined on the continued improvement of conditions
under the wise direction of rational leadership. The local
league has been the medium through which Mound. Bayou has
made great strides forward during the past five years, ancj. the
good work through the same agency will still go forward. It
needs only be remarked that when men of the character of.
Chas, Banks, Isaiah T. Montgomery, C. R. Stringer, J no. W.
Francis, R. M. McCarty and others of their class come together
with the fixed purpose of accomplishing certain ends it & reason¬
ably safe to assume that those ends mil be accomplished.
.*% r>*<» <■£."» rIS rli *&% r>2r> r*r> r%s ri
*•£. »T. .»• •?* v "7* -*•- *■»- -*•
*> fit ft"* r£;
"** "t* »*« V* u-
rl"» r$r* c£r» rjr» r3S *ir>
v»* "4* *v *7* -T- «T» rfo «$»
? «, rjfn <"£*» rSn r£> «*Jf* rj£<"> •"&» '"i'* r?."4 W!S *JS rA* »4r» *"£"* rifr» <*5^ ri"> r&y r&> rfct cj"» <-?<■» 0*>$n r&* f^r> r^ri eta <*i"» «"*"» «"Jr» *4* •"fr1 r-JW *$*>r£{% +&f
Jw V^'-- *3V' v4'* **4* ■ -yjv »JV *15* *5* '"V* v4* *#* wjw Vjy w?Jv «<^w wjV v4* H^JV vj* JJW «^U •?£* VjV ,Vj>* •Jjp* •»£*
' ^IS
The Negro at Mound Bayou. 33 «$
"4
#*f
-?
v
?*
>
£»
r.
ia£ MINISTERS' UNION..
The Ministers* Union cannot properly be eliminated from
the list of the agenck-s at work at Mound Bayou, and which
stand for the development of the social, civic, moral and re¬
ligious sides of community life. ' The organization if of recent
origin here fend is the expression of a desire for unified effort
on the part sf r^i^entr jnaihi^tere, and others not too remotely
located, who are jdisfJAsc^ to subscribe to the simple regula¬
tions by which it is governed..These are comprehended in
the g^rier^I s^ate^enfc that the^ are expected to render to
one another, a&d %& eae&^the? irnifcually all o! ihfc aid, encour¬
agement aii& can, Thus it is hoped to
achieve' greater results-xft the forwarding of the interests of all
the churches.'; It •is'inter-denominational and its membership
embraces ministers of all the Christian persuasions.
y ;-'-T£l$mATI0K OF W0MEN$V CLUBS, -
V-vffiliated with ibe State federation of Womens' Clubs, the
Silome Yates Federation was organised February, 4, 1909, at
the home of Mrs, t,. £. Stringer, with Mrs. T- O. Banks, presi¬
dent and Mrs A.1- Gardner, secretary. This is the intellect¬
ual organization of the town and in its membership numbers
some of ibe brightest women of the race in the state. It need
not, however, ho inferred from this that the organisation was
"built for show" for such is t-mphaticdiy not the trtjtb. There
are no peculiar restrictions with reference to qualifications for
admission
one may b
character,
jwdged to
to membership. The chief quabfu,tailor, and this
; taken to include -ill others, is the one of good moral
This is a band of intelligent, earnest women
e.ieh other arid working together for the civic and
social betterment of the community. They have made tie
dispensing of charity to those in unfortunate circumstances
a prominent feature of the work. They make it a part of their
duty to visit the sick, the aged and worthy indigent, and to
administer to their necessities in every material way. In these
ministrations to the afflicted, the Bible and the hymn book are
usually carried and the fervent prayer service is made a matter.
of consolation to the sick. But the good women of the Silome
Yates Club do not stop here, and along with the spiritual
ministrations go, when found necessary, the substantial things
which alone can contribute to physical well doing—that is,
nourishing foods and sanitary garments. Coming directly
in line of the purpose which called this organization into exist¬
ence the club has succeeded in collecting a fund for the building
of a fence and otherwise beautifying the cemetery. Through
the personal interest and activity of the worthy secretary, Mrs.
A. L. Gardner, permission has been given from the Y. & M. V.
Eailroad Company for the establishment of a park around the
station grounds here and to this task they now address them¬
selves. "Lifting as we climb," has been adopted as the very
significant motto of the club. They were represented at the
meeting of the State Federation, at Okolona, Miss., by the '
president, Mrs. T. 0. Banks, and the secretary, Mrs. A. L. !
Gardner.
AMUSEMENT FEATURES-THE BRASS BAND.
There is for purposes of amusement, entertainment and rec-1
reation a brass band organization at Mound Bayou. The!
band made up altogether of home talent and consists of ten!
pieces, or instruments. Though not educated, musically,!
V 'V ">*■1 WWW i thy TBWOTfW *•###♦#•
7? c~? ^ cjco;: Cv« c}? c$? # c£ c£ c£ c£cj!? c£ $• sj? cj: c?? «$? $■ cj? ^ '$"sfc'$?'$"^tj?
34
TAe Negro at Mound Bayou.
and trained and practiced up to the faultless rendition of
classical r-elections the band has yet been able to supply a grade
of music that has satisfactorily served for the entertainment
on all occasions to which
thay have been called.
The gencVruen corn-
prising the band have,
all of them, other occu¬
pations upon which to
draw for the "daily
bread" and do not, of
course, by any means,
pretend to any note¬
worthy excellence as
musicians in a j, ofcs-
sional sense, reporting
to band work mostly
for their ovm ili-'r.rtit.s-
ment and for the,diver¬
sion of their Inends.
The band enjoy s the
substantial support of
the town iJndjt,? people.
' FASEBAt'i- ;'
In the field of athletic
sport Mound Bayou
boast,® a baseball u;:gre-
gaLion that hiiH thus
invincible against all comers I hat );tiil from towns of anything
amateur baseball circles of this section and some of its members
might easily aspire to professional rank. The town is loyal
to the baseball club and the young men comprising the team
strive hard to sustain a
hard-earned reputation
and to deserve the con¬
tinued support and en¬
couragement of the
home people. They
have achieved some
stubbornly contested
and brilliant victories
for the reputation of the
town.
OUTING PLACES.
"All work and
no
play makes Jack a dull
boy," has been long ac¬
cepted as a correct
theory, or maxim, A
judicious admixture of
study and relaxation, of
toil and rest, of work
and play antithetically,
has been found to bring
best results in every
ar proven, during successive years, way for both the physical and intellectual development of man.
The pertinence oi this observation has been recognized by the
builders of Mound Bayou, and while no system of parks has
Bank of Mound Bayou. Mississippi.
like the size and. class of Mound Bayou. They n-.nk in the
3
i
i
i
i
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ri^>
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r&%
-f
ri>
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"t-
r$>*
r$Q
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c£
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c£f>
rfy
rJS
ri<-»
y?»
Orb *!rC '^T* r!!"» r\JS r-jS rta rs?*» r<t> rJ-» cj-t r\N c^ r^** r*i"» rJS eta c£-» «-£/■» r-'-» r-tf» rta rta cfe) r£>> r$r> rta rta r>t<"» eta rta rta eta rta rta rta rta rtat rta» rta
4 4 wJU b>^<* vjy fc?JU wjw *4* '^JV W4W V4V *4^ V4W
T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou. 35
as yet been elaborated, ample reservations for park purposes
have been made, and their adornment as pleasure resorts will
follow in the ordinary course of events. Two of these reserva¬
tions are entitled to special mention for the grandeur and beauty
of the natural scenery in the midst of which they are situated,
and the facility with which they will permit of artificial em¬
bellishment. These are The Lewis Park, a beautiful grove,
heavily wooded with magnificent oaks, situated well within the
limits of the corporation, and where the large celebrations and
picnic functions are usually held, and The West Park, another
splendid woodland just about one mile to the south of the town.
The remark calls up the observation that Mound Bayou is
perhaps the most popular picnic place in this entire section of
the country. Indeed it may be fairly said that the town is
celebrated for the immense crowds attracted to it for celebra¬
tion occasions. Our people appreciate the novelty of coming
to Mound Bayou. They come from far and near, on the trains,
on horseback, in every character of vehicle, and on foot. The
novelty of the situation does not seem to wear away. They
come by thousands and apparently enjoy the experience of
spending a day of jollity and pleasure in a TOWN away from
under the surveillance of white police forces, and it must be
said to their credit that their deportment on such occasions
is most exemplary.
IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY.
The town of Mound Bayou is fairly represented in a pro¬
fessional way. There are ministers, teachers, and trained
artisans to fully satisfy every requirement. In the region of
higher professional service there are two practicing physicians,
Dr. C. Wilson Lee and Dr. Scott H. Harris, both graduates
of the deservedly famous Walden University (Meharry Medi¬
cal College) at Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Lee is a Mound Bayou
boy, and born in a sense to the inheritance of the medical pro¬
fession, his mother, Mrs. Dr. Mollie Wilson Lee, having her¬
self achieved some eminence in the practice of the Aesculapian
science. Dr. Harris is the contribution of the city of Natchez,
Miss., to Mound Bayou's professional life. Both of the gentle¬
men get all of the practice they can satisfactorily attend.
There are also two attorneys-at-law with us. These are,
Joshua P. T. Montgomery, a nephew of Hon. Isaiah T. Mont¬
gomery, the founder of the Mound Bayou colony. Attorney
Montgomery many years ago subscribed himself to the disci-
pleship of Blackstone and has since very successfully applied
himself to the practice of the honorable profession of law. The
other is Mr. Geo. A. Lee, a recent graduate of the Illinois Col¬
lege of Law at Chicago. While Mr. Lee is only just entering
upon his career as a lawyer there is every reason to hope, from
the standard of scholarship to which he has attained, and the
thorough mastery of the professional texts over which he has
gone, that a most successful future spreads out before him.
Before entering upon the study of the law, Mr. Lee had al¬
ready completed a splendid literary course, thus laying an ex¬
cellent foundation upon which to build his professional life.
COMMUNICATION.
Through the operation of daily mail trains on the Y. & M. V.
Railroad line Mound Bayou has always enjoyed communica¬
tion facilities sufficient for all ordinary purposes of business
intercourse and these have been augmented and improved
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7
36
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
from time to time until now she comes in for the benefit of
five daily mail deliveries. In the meanwhile the Cumberland
Telephone and TelegraphCompany several years ago extended
their lines through
Mound Bayou, thus ef¬
fectively opening an
avenue for more rapid
and convenient com¬
munication with the
outside world as occa
sion might require. Tne
company maintains
here a public toll sta¬
tion, in charge of Mr.
F. S. Sims, through
which one may be placed
in immediate connec¬
tion with other places,
however d i s t a n t
throughout the country.
There is no telegraph
station. Some people,
and especially visitors,
remark with surprise
the absence of this
method of communica¬
tion from a town of the
size and commercial importanc
people have
When, however, the demands of the situation make the in¬
stallation of the telegraph necessary we have no doubt that the
facility will be forthcoming.
TRAVELING
CILITIES.
FA-
Presldent's Office
of this one. But the home
discovered as yet no pressing necessity for any
more rapid means of intercourse than that already available.
With regard to trav¬
eling facilities Mound
Bayou is on par with
the other stations situ¬
ated on the line of the
Y. & M. V. Railroad.
There are six passenger
trains daily and all of
them stop at Mound
Bayou to take on or
to discharge passengers.
For the convenience
of commercial travelers
who find it desirable to
go from one town to an¬
other between regular
train schedules, and for
general cross country
passenger traffic, Mr.
Livingston Brooks is
the enterprising pro-
-Bank ol Mound Bayou. prietQr of & ^ kepfc
livery stable. Here saddle horses or easy running vehicles may
be had for getting about from place to place through the
country.
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37
FREIGHT AND EXPRESS.
The freight facilities are of course the same as those enjoyed
by the other towns along the route, and these are, except in
extreme cases when the car capacity of the company is taxed
by the occasionally excessive volume of traffic, altogether suffi¬
cient and satisfactory. In these extreme cases Mound Bayou
only shares the inconvenience to which all the other towns are
subjected. There is, of course a freight and ticket office here.
Mr. R- J- Gardner, who recently came to Mound Bayou from
Duncan, Miss., is the very competent local agent. The
American Express Company also maintains an office here. The
railroad and the express company offices were for a number of
years operated jointly in the same building and under control
of a single agent, but recently on account of the increased mass
of work involved in the rapidly increasing volume of business
done by both companies it was determined that the service
could be made more effective and satisfactory by divorcing
them. This determination was carried into effect and the
express business at this place is now in the hands of Mr. Jno. W.
Francis, Mr. Gardner retaining his position with the railroad
company. Some notion as to the importance of Mound Bayou
as a railroad station may be gleaned from the statement that
the approximate annual freight receipts amount in round
figures to $40,000, the passenger traffic to $6,000, and the ex¬
press receipts to $3,000.
MOUND BAYOU OIL MILL AND MANUFACTURING
COMPANY.
The Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company,
as a regularly chartered incorporation, represents the loftiest
pinnacle yet attained by the Mississippi Negro in the way of
industrial organization, and its successful completion and
operation will inevitably exert a most potent and significant
influence on Negro business and commercial enterprises
throughout the length and breadth of this nation, distinguished
as it is among the nations of the earth for the scope and mag¬
nitude of its giant undertakings in commerce, in finance, in
science, in mechanics, and in every conceivable avenue of human
endeavor. This company is capitalized at one hundred thou¬
sand ($100,000) dollars, the stock being divided into as many
shares and placed on market at one ($1) dollar per share.
This enterprise of truly gigantic proportions as considered from
the standpoint of racial opportunity and in the light of the
scant encouragement that has been given to the Negro man to
enter or aspire to enter the higher channels of dignified busi¬
ness and industrial ventures, enjoys the support of the con¬
solidated business training, talent, and experience and. the
financial weight of practically all the Negro people of the
State; and so clearly obvious are the manifold great oppor¬
tunities revealed in the contemplation of the possibilities
brought to view through the medium of this undertaking that
it has recommended itself to the sanction and active support
of Negro men and women in other states.
The Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company
is in truth the legitimate offspring of the Mississippi State
Negro Business League, an auxiliary branch of the National
Negro Business League, the most powerful organization in the
world holding for its chief purpose the awakening of energy,
and the stimulation of interest in the various commercial and
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38
77?? Negro at Mound Bayou.
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industrial avenues for Negro men. The league organization
in its present stage of development is but the painstaking elab¬
oration of the idea of Dr. Booker T. Washington, conceived
several years ago, and the execution of which was begun with
a call for a meeting of Negro business men to be held in the city
of Boston, Mass., in August, 1900, for conference on matters
affecting vital interests of the race as viewed from the posi¬
tion of the observant and thoughtful Negro man, capable of
a comprehensive study of the general situation. From this meet¬
ing in historic Boston of the few earnest men who answered
the summons emerged the vitalized spirit of business conquest,
long dormant but now recalled to vigorous life and never again
to be enthralled unless by the fiat of some higher power than
human. From this meeting was born, among other affiliating
branches of the national organization, the Mississippi State
Negro Business League and, thus incidentally the Mound
Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company. It was the
sense of the league at its annual meeting in 1907, at Jackson,
Miss., that the time was ripe for the launching of some enter¬
prise of such magnitude as would draw to itself the unified
support of all the business elements of the State among Negro
men. This decision arrived at, the only question for consid¬
eration and discussion was as to the nature and character of the
enterprise to be projected. Mound Bayou seems to have been
by tacit understanding regarded as the logical situation for
the location of whatever plant it might be concluded to erect.
The range of industrial and manufacturing enterprises was
gone carefully over, finally resulting in the adoption of the oil
mill idea. This was for the reason mainly that Negro men
enjoy a closer acquaintance drawn from actual experience
with the operation of the oil mill plant, and the further fact
that the demand for the products of the cotton seed has always
been in advance of the supply, and the presumption was great
in favor of an available market for the output at all times.
Mr. Chas. Banks, of Mound Bayou, is president of the
Mississippi State Negro Business League, and by virtue of
his official position became naturally the chief promoter of the
venture. Mr. Banks proceeded with characteristic coolheaded-
ness and calm business judgment to the appointment of the
requisite committees, and a charter of incorporation was drawn
and published, authorizing a capitalization of one hundred
thousand ($100,000) dollars and empowering the company to
engage in the manufacture of cotton seed oil and all the by¬
products resulting from the operation of the oil mill plant.
The plant is designed in accordance with the latest ideas of oil
mill construction. The plans were drawn by Air. Thomas "VV.
Cook, of Greenville, Miss., a Negro architect who has long
since acquired an enviable reputation as a designing and con¬
structing engineer, and the actual work of construction is under
his immediate supervision and control. In the building of the
plant of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Com¬
pany, Mr. Cook is adding lustre to his already creditable
record as an architect.
A pretty level plat of ground in the north central portion
of the town was acquired for the main and accessory buildings
of the mammoth plant, and here has been built the necessary
storage rooms for such of the materials as must be protected
from the weather, and also a cozy office for Mr. Cook, the
constructing architect, whi ;h permits of his being at all times
in immediate touch with ev^ry step in the progress of the work.
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<-» ' The Negro at Mound Bayou. 39 ^
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The linter press room is also
o|c
long and sixteen (16) feet wide
two stories high.
For the seed department there is one huge frame building OfC
with solid brick founda- ^7
The grounds comprise some eight acres, and extend parallel
with and are in close proximity to the Y. & M. V. Railroad
trucks. As probably of interest to many of those into whose
hands "The Negro at
Mound Bayou" may
chance to fail, we ap¬
pend the following very
imperfect description of
the plant as contem¬
plated in the accepted
plans, and in conform¬
ity to which the build¬
ings are now going for¬
ward :
The mill building
proper is a brick struc¬
ture two hundred and
ten (210.) feet long and
fifty (.50) feet wide, and
comprises the following
compartments: A cake,
meal, and linter room
ninety-six (9Gj feet long
and fifty (50) feet wide,
two stories high; a press¬
room fifty-eight (58)
feet long and fifty (50) Cashier's Olllcc—Bank of Mound Bayou
feet wide; an engine room twenty-four (24) feet long and fifty labor, nor expense has heen spared to see that only materials of
(50) feet wide; a boiler room twenty-four (24) feet wide and the best quality entered into any department of the work. The
fifty (50) feet long, and a linter press room sixteen (16) feet value of this vigilant precaution is seen in beauty the and sym-
-2-
tion three hundred and
forty-eight (348) feet
long and fifty (50) feet
wide. This building is
divided into the follow¬
ing compartments: A
seed shed two hundred
and twenty-eight (228)
feet long and fifty (50)
feet wide; a hull house
ninety-six (96) feet long
and fifty (50) feet wide;
and a dust room twen¬
ty-four (24) feet wide
and fifty (50) feet long.
Notwithstanding the
magnitude of these di-
mensions every minute n!r»
detail o f construction
work has passed under
the discriminating per¬
sonal inspection of engi¬
neer Cook. No pains,
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40
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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metry and apparent stability of the imposing structures, seen,
admired, and appreciated by hundreds of visitors who come
to Mound Bayou for no other purpose than to have a look at
the Mound Bayou Oil Mill.
THE MACHINERY.
The operation of the plant will employ water tube boilers
of three hundred (300) horse power. The power will be sup¬
plied by a Hamilton-Corliss engine 20X42, two hundred and
twenty-five (225) horse power at one-fifth (1-5) cut off. There
will.be an electric light plant of two hundred and fifty (250)
lights. The plant will employ four (4) 15 box presses, and the
double linting and double hulling system will be adopted.
The separation will be over thirty (30) feet of shaker tables,
then a beater, and thence through a sixty (60) inch reel. The
meats are carried to crusher rolls and the hulls are returned
to another huller, where they are rehulled, passed over another
shaker table, from whence they are conducted to a decorticated
meat beater. From the meat beater they are passed on to the
hull house, where arrived they are as clean as they can be made
by mechanical appliances. By the system of double linting,
as explained by engineer Cook, the value of the staple is in¬
creased by something like one-third (1-3) and the ordinary
yield is found to be about seventeen (17) pounds to the ton.
In the process of the second linting all of the lint is removed
from the seed and this has the effect to facilitate the separation.
Cleaning Machine.
The cotton seeds after leaving the seed house are elevated
to a double deck boll and seed screen, then through a dust
beater and reel, through a cleaner, and thence over magnets.
In this process the seeds are freed from every particle of dust,
metal, and all other foreign matter of whatever nature, and all
dust is thus entirely cut off from the linter room.
Conveyance.
The materials, ties, rails, etc., for the building of sidetracks
for use of the mill are on the ground and provision has been
made for one hundred and fifty (150) feet of car conveyor
from which seeds are to be unloaded. After unloading the
seeds are elevated forty (40) feet into a distributing conveyor
and may be discharged in any quarter of the building at the
will of the operator. Two hundred and ten (210) feet of floor
conveyor has been provided for bringing the seeds back to the
cleaning machinery. There is also of course a driveway
from which wagons are unloaded.
Storage.
The oil storage will consist of five (5) 10 X 16 covered steel
tanks. The water tower will be of structural steel, seventy
(70) feet high, crowned by a cone bottomed tank of twenty
thousand (20,000) gallons capacity. This tank will be covered.
The employment of the sprinkler system is contemplated and
this will serve to reduce to the minimum the rates of insurance.
The use of water tube boilers, it is estimated, will reduce the
expense of fuel supply by at least ten per cent. The office
building will be of brick, twenty-four (24) feet by thirty-two
(32) feet in size.
In the foregoing description we do not know that we have
been able to bring out with any degree of clearness the various
excellencies of the system being installed, but whether we have
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 41 Iv,
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or have not done so the fact remains that the plant of the Mound
Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company is a modern one
in every particular, and when finished will be one of the most
completely equipped oil
manufactories in the
State. All of the by¬
products resulting from
the manufacture of cot¬
ton seed oil will be util¬
ized. Mr. W. H. Cook,
of Greenville, Miss., a
younger brother of the
architect-in-chief, and
who is himself a thor¬
oughly skilled artisan is
the construction fore¬
man. It does not re¬
quire to be added that
every item of the labor
in the building of this
manufactory, from the
drafting of the plans to
the perfect adjustment
of every piece of the ma¬
chinery, from the pon¬
derous engines and boil¬
ers to the most deli¬
cate item in the intricate mechanism will have been performed by
black hands and directed by Negro brain and ingenuity. Mr. C.
W. Lindsey, also of Greenville, and who has contributed through
TTJt q
Carrara
« fs^jCirgU *^£S3|
:• • '4J S'sgehb
■ * ff .v HQ'S S3
s '■*&*# <mfi
'-M*. i.-a&sr
♦ '• \ ' 1 , A M
i Af • s »' 'J"''
J. T. Settle and Isaiah T. Montgomery.
his skill to the erection of many of the greatest structures in
this section of the country has had entire charge of the brick
part of the work and the mammoth mill building here will
stand as one lasting
testimonial of his un¬
doubted efficiency. It
may be hereafter a mat¬
ter of historical interest
to state that Stock Cer¬
tificate No. 1 is held by
Rt. Rev. E. W. Lamp-
ton, D. D., of Green¬
ville, Miss., presiding
bishop of the Eighth A.
M. E. Church Episcopal
District, he having sub¬
scribed the first one
hundred shares of stock
in the corporation.
SOME GENERAL
OBSERVATIONS.
Probably the first
building of any charac¬
ter erected within the
limits of the Mound
Bayou settlement, as at
present described, was
one of the little regulation log cabins, a familiar feature of
humble southern architecture before, and for a long time sub¬
sequent to the outbreak of the civil war. These cabins present
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42 T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
perhaps the rudest and simplest style of house building :
known to the continent. They are constructed of logs that '
are hewn by hand and laid in tiers, the one above the other, I
the ends being mortised,
to work out a more or
less smoothly fitting
joint. The crevices be¬
tween the logs are filled
with mud made up to a
required consistency
and mixed with straw,
grass, or such other ma¬
terial as would contrib¬
ute to its power of ad¬
hesion, thus shutting
out, as far as practica¬
ble, the ingress of the
wind and rain. They
could be easily and suc¬
cessfully defended
against any allegation
purporting to establish
for them anything in the
nature of a reputation
forcomfort. Infactthey
set up no pretense at be¬
ing comfortable and the
idea was aimed rather more
the purposes for which they were intended, and at least afford¬
ed protection for their occupants and their scant holdings
against the inclemencies of the weather, and against the prowl¬
ing denizens of the for¬
est. The site of this first
Mound Bayou "castle"
was situated perhaps a
quarter of a mile from
the railroad track and
to penetrate the spot a
trail h a d to be cut
from the "right-of-way"
through an almost im¬
penetrable brake of
towering canes, and
vines, heavy trees, and
rank undergrowth. In¬
deed in those days the
ax was a constant and
inseparable part of one's
accoutrement every day
and the progress in
any direction from a
given point was meas¬
ured by the stroke of
the ax.
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A Square in Bank's Addition to the Town of Mound Bayou. During this^time for
at protection and convenience days and nights in succession the only opportunity
than at comfort or luxury of appointment. These primitive for rest and sleep enjoyed by Isaiah T. Montgomery was
"castles," whatever may be said of them, served admirably that afforded by the L. N. 0. & T. (Y. & M. V.) railroad
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
general store of B. T. Green, unci he was the company's local
agent, but there was no provision whatever for the comfort
or convenience of passengers awaiting trains or getting off at
this station. They were
obliged to dispose of
themselves as best they
could during all neces¬
sary intervals, depend¬
ing only on the meagre
courtesies, such as the
existing condition per¬
mitted, of the local
business and residence
houses. These, it may
be said, were by an in- OjC
variable rule always ex¬
tended. In the case of
passengers coming from
other places to Mound
Bayou, checks for bag¬
gage could be procured
but these could avail
but little in the way of
protection to baggage
property since the
checks had to be sur-
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passenger trains, and frequently he took advantage of such
lacilities as were offered in the schedule of the night trains to
get such hours of sleep as he could, aboard trains, going to and
returning from Vicks-
burg. As late as ten
years ago there stood in
the very center of the
town one of these log-
built cabins, not many
feet removed from the
present site of the pretty
little Y. & M. V. depot.
At this time and up to
the year 1900 there was
no depot building, and
the only convenience
for the shipment and de¬
livery of traffic of any
character consisted in
an open platform situa¬
ted alongside the rail¬
road track. Freight
charges on all consign¬
ments were required to
be paid in advance, and
the consignee must be
responsible for ship- Loading Lumber—Banks and Francis Lumber Yard. rendered to the baggage 0£*
ments delivered on this open platform. Mound Bayou was up to j agent aboard the train, leaving the trunk, or baggage of whatever of?
this time in the class of railroad stopping places known as kind to be discharged on the platform, or, on the ground, as the «-.♦*»
"flag stations." There was a ticket office maintained in the j case might be, and as was not infrequently the case, at night.
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T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
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when nobody could be responsible for its safety. It was in a
great many instances impossible, or at least very seriously in¬
convenient for the passenger to transfer his goods immediately
and there came up the risk of damage, partial or total loss.
All matters of expres3 had to be attended to through the ex¬
press office either at Mergiold, the first station south of us, or
at Shelby, the nearest town to the north. Now all this is
changed and we enjoy here the same or equivalent facilities
with all the other towns and stations along the line. The differ¬
ence between the situation as it was then and as it is now is so
great that it is difficult for one who knew the condition then
and now to realize that Mound Bayou is one and the same.
The difference measures the distance from the erection
of the first rude log hut by Alexander and Leonard Wilbert,
through the mechanical operations and steps in advance of
A. R. Rowell, Mound B?you's premier carpenter and house
builder; Stephen Bedford, Wm. Lewis, jr., and Watson Hilliard,
by whom most of the early residences and business houses of
the town and community were constructed, to the present day
when the local building world has for its proficient and compe¬
tent representatives such men as the Cook Bros., Benj. T.
Lewis, R. H. D. Johnson, Burrell Foley, and C. W. Lindsey,
men thoroughly prepared to meet any kind and character of
competition and criticism in any line of house building activity.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
THE POST OFFICE.
The post-office in a town or city is generally presumed to
offer through the volume of business transacted a fairly accurate
index to the importanceof the town or city as a commercial
center. Judging by this standard of computation Mound
Bayou rises to a position of significance.
The Mound Bayou post-office was established in the summer
of 1888, the first postmaster appointed in that early village
day being Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, the originator of the
Mound Bayou colonization idea and the responsible promoter
of the colonization scheme. The performance of the actual
duties of the situation was deputed to Mr. Andrew T. Broad¬
water, of Vicksburg, a young man who had attached his own
fortunes to those of Montgomery and the Others who came with
him to the delta. Mr. Montgomery was succeeded in the
postmastership by a nephew, Attorney J. P. T. Montgomery,
who engaged a young man of the community, Mr. Matthew
T. Green, as assistant. Miss M. Virginia Montgomery followed
J. P. T. Montgomery, she being appointed postmistress in
1896, by President Cleveland. She occupied the station with
eminent satisfaction to the date of her death, August 7, 1902.
She was helped by a niece, Miss Mary C. Montgomery, now
Mrs. Eugene P. Booze, of Colorado Springs, Colo. On the
death of Miss Montgomery, an uncle, Mr. W. T. Montgomery,
was appointed to fill out the unexpired term and at its expira¬
tion was himself appointed to the postmastership. He in¬
stalled Mr. Michael B. Lewis as his assistant, and held the
office through two full terms, or until the pressure of large and
important interests determined him to resign. On the ac¬
ceptance by the department of his resignation Mr. Lewis was
appointed to the postmastership, and he still holds the situa¬
tion to the eminent satisfaction of the department and of the
patrons of the office. This satisfaction comes from his con¬
scientious attention to the duties of the office. In the per-
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T/ig Negro at Mound Bayou. 45
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formance of his official functions In- is calm and easy of demean¬
or, and faultlessly courteous in all mutters of intercourse with
the public and with patrons of bin office. Miss Corinne E.
Montgomery, youngest daughter of Hon. Isaiah T.Montgomery,
a most excellent young lady, and a graduate of Straight Uni¬
versity, New Orleans, La., is Mr. Lewis' very capable assistant,
and in this capacity renders rnoHt, eminently efficient and
satisfactory service.
The volume of business carried t hrough the Mound Bayou
post-office during the last five y»>arn has increased by leaps and
bounds, so to speak. Th« .subjoined statement for the past
twelve months will serve to giv<; norm; idi.>a of the constant in¬
crease in the amount of buHirn^M and revenue: The cancella¬
tion amounted for the period of ori(; yf.>ar to one thousand and
six hundred ($1,600) dollara, ularnp nales were two thousand
($2,000) dollars, and the mon<-y ord«;r business for the same
period aggregated approximately $.'{5,000.
INCORPORATION AND POLITICAL
HISTORY.
Up to the summer of the yf?ar 1 VjH the settlement of Mound
Bayou went along gradually in •About, the same manner that is
common to the evolution of th* frontier settlement. In this
year the suggestion was advance! f.hat the then existing status
of community affairs warranted 'he. incorporation of a village
municipality. At the firat U.«r* was 'some considerable
opposition to the idea of incorporand it was for some short
while resisted with vigor and the argument advanced
being that the burden of the viys>rt, in the way of necessary
revenues would be difficult of adjustment, and would
thus be calculated to bear with disproportionate rigor and
severity on one class only of the free holding population.
Calm and sober judgment however prevailed, and the dis¬
passionate consideration of all the arguments for and against
incorporation municipally had the effect to dissipate the ob¬
jections and a charter was applied for.
The petition was favorably acted upon by Governor Anselm
J. McLaurin, and he issued his proclamation ordaining the
village government of Mound Bayou on the 16th day of Feb¬
ruary, A. D., 1898. Under the provisions of the Mississippi
Code the municipal administration comprised a Mayor and a
Board of three Alderman. Very naturally Isaiah T. Mont¬
gomery was designated as the first mayor, and associated with
him, as aldermen in Mound Bayou's first municipal adminis¬
tration, were Geo. A. Lee, Jas. M. Marr and John W. Francis,
all of them extensive freeholders and responsible citizens of the
community. We believe it would be a difficult matter indeed
to find in any town in the country a corps' of officers with better
equipment in the matter of public spiritedness and ability to
take care of the interests confided to their custody than the
gentlemen who composed this first Mound Bayou Council.
Alexander Myers was the first treasurer of Mound Bayou,
and William Lawson Grady the first marshal of the village.
The first session of the council was held on the 19th day of
August, A. D., 1898. This first Board of Mayor and Aldermen
was, in accordance with the statute bearing on municipal in¬
corporations, appointed by the governor of the state, His
Excellency, Governor A. J. McLaurin. They were called
to tread an altogether strange and entirely unfamiliar
path and very naturally some misgivings and apprehen-
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40 The Negro at Mourid Bayou.
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sions were felt on the part of the general populace as
to what was to be the outcome, and this feeling of appre¬
hension the Board itself must necessarily have shared. The
first Montgomery ad¬
ministration, however,
passed off uneventfully,
and the little "Ship of
State" was launched out
in a safe direction. Each
and every citizen mani¬
fested, as might reason¬
ably have been expect¬
ed, the most lively in¬
terest in and concern
for the progress of this
initial venture in the di¬
rection of demonstrat¬
ing the Negro man's
capacity or lack of it for
the untrammelled exer¬
cise of those privileges
that pertain to a condi¬
tion of free citizenship,
of racial autonomy.
Each seemed from the
beginning to have sensi¬
bly realized and felt a sense of individual and personal responsi¬
bility for the result. Each felt-that he was in the very literal
construction of the maxim, responsible for the welldoing of
his brother, at least to the extent of his power to contribute
Jolin YV. Francis* Residence.
to that welfare. This disposition and sentiment prevailing
generally it is easy to see that every possible obstacle was re¬
moved from the path of the new municipal government.
There arose no occa¬
sion for any factional
differences. There was
no variety of political
principles and no dis¬
tinguishing lines of local
policy to draw forth di¬
viding contentions. But
at Mound Bayou, as
probably every where
else, there have always
been in the midst of us
those who firmly adhere
to the principle and who
have at all times warm¬
ly espoused the theory
of "rotation in office."
So, there need be no
surprise evidenced for
the fact that as the first
Montgomery adminis¬
tration drew to a close
there were others of the
villagers entirely willing if not anxious to relieve the first corps
of officials and to assume, themselves, responsibility for the
official conduct of village affairs. When the date arrived
for the holding of the first regular election, December, 1900,
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
two candidates were entered on the lists against Montgomery
for Mayor, and for each of the other stations in the council
there had sprung up a spirited rivalry among a number of as¬
pirants for office hold¬
ing distinctionatMound
Bayou. It cannot by
any conceivable lati¬
tude of conjecture or
imagination be taken as
in any degree disparag¬
ing to the intelligence,
ability, worth and char¬
acter of the gentlemen
opposed to Mr. Mont¬
gomery that he was tri¬
umphantly elected. He
received a majority of
two votes over the com¬
bined opposition. Wm.
Lewis, jr., Jno. W.
Cobbs and J. F. Brooks
were elected aldermen,
and Wm. L. Grady was
returned to the marshal-
ship.
The second village
treasurer was John W.
and before the expiration
y,-r^mvrj
' _ ! swM JEM
• '
Francis. In the year 1902,
of his term, Mayor Montgom¬
ery had resigned the mayoralty to accept at the hands of
president Roosevelt the receivership of public moneys. The
vacancy thus occasioned awoke again the slumbering spirit
of political ambition locally, and there were again several
candidates aggressively willing to assume the sceptre of
executive authority.
After a short, sharp,
though altogether good
natured contest A. P.
Hood was elected to
carry out the unexpired
term. The resignation
of Marshal W. L. Grady
having been tendered
and accepted mean¬
while, at this same elec¬
tion Clias. H. Williams
was chosen for that
office. Hood served as
mayor only to the end
of the Montgomery
term, when he was suc¬
ceeded by John W.
Cobbs. Along with Mr.
Cobbs, Wm. Lewis, jr.,
Wm. Harris and J. F.
Brooks were elected al¬
dermen, and Chas. H.
Williams was retained in the office of marshal.
Mr. Cobbs' was a most successful and efficient adminstration
and during his tenure the town made long strides of advance¬
ments along all directions. He died, Saturday, July 26, 1906.
Charles Banks* Residence.
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48
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
He was the victim of blood poisoning, which developed from
a trivial injury to one of his hands and to which no attention
was paid until the effects of the injury had progressed too far
to be made to respond to the treatment then administered.
He resisted the amputation of the injured limb, which course
was at once proposed as soon as the attending physician, Dr.
J. H. Roby, discovered indications of septic poison. Finally
when he was convinced that this was the only resort, and this
now holding out but scant hope of benefit, his consent was
gained for the performance of the operation. Dr. Claude W.
Raines, of Clarksdale, Miss., reputed to be one of the most
proficient physicians and surgeons in the State, was called to
associate with Dr. Roby. The amputation was scientifically
effected but it proved too late, and Mayor Cobbs survived the
operation but a short while. His death was deplored with an
unusual unanimity on the part of all the people of the commun¬
ity with whom he was officially and personally acquainted and
for whose welfare he had unselfishly striven arduously and
long.
Mr. B. Howard Creswell, a prominent business man and
planter, who had been for many years closely identified with
the development of Mound Bayou, was appointed to carry out
the unexpired»term of Mayor Cobbs. This appointment was
announced to take effect on the 15th day of August, 1906, and
with such fidelity to the duties of the office, and with such
eminent satisfaction did he perform the functions imposed
that when the next regular election came Mr. Creswell was
chosen without opposition. Wm. T. Montgomery, Andrew
T. Broadwater and II. A. Godbold constituted the board of
aldermen elected at this time. In the midst of a term of most
eminently useful service Mr. Montgomery was called to higher
service and passed from life on the morning of Saturday, July
3, 1909. He was succeeded by Mr. C. R. Stringer, one of the
strongest merchants of the town and a former treasurer. Mr.
Stringer was elected without opposition. Another vacancy
occurring in the official roster of the town in the midst of an
official term was that of alderman Wm. Lewis, jr., who died
in the summer of 1906, and was succeeded by Mr. Jake Parker,
a worthy representative of the younger business element of
the community.
PETITION, PROCLAMATION, AND CERTIFICATE OF"
INCORPORATION.
As of historical interest in being the first instrument of its
kind ever granted to Negro people in the South, and very
probably anywhere else, we take pleasure in presenting below,
the petition, the proclamation, and the certificate of incorpora¬
tion of Mound Bayou:
THE PETITION FOR INCORPORATION.
Mound Bayou, Miss., February 1G, 1SSS.
To Ilis Excellency Gov. A. J. McLaurin,
Governor of the State of Mississippi,
Jackson, Miss.
We t lie undersigned resident citizens and legal electors of the unin¬
corporated village of Mound Bayou, in Bolivar, County, Miss., respect¬
fully petition you to incorporate said village; the metes and bounds of
said Village to be as follows—to-wit:
Commencing on the main line, of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley
Railroad at the point where tho township line between townships
Twenty-three (23) and Twenty-four (24) in Range Five (5) West inter¬
sects said Railway, and extending north one-half(l-2)mile, south one-
hal/(l-2)mile, and one fourth(l-4)mile east, and ono-fourth (l-4)mile
of:
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
49 Ju
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west of the main line of said Railway, and embracing an area of one
milo long from north to south, and one-half (l-2)mile wido from oast
to west.
We would represent that the inhabitants of said proposed Village,
number ono hundred and eighty-three (183) souls. AVo would further
represents hat this petition lias been posted in three conspicuous places
in tho Village of Mound Bayou for three weeks according to law.
Very respectfully submitted:
G. A. Lee. R.M.MeCarty. Harry "Watson,
W. Ij. Grady. H. Mack. R. A. Fourshea.
Jake Parker. W. L. Lovell. A. T. Broadwater.
Jos.NV.Spicer.M. D. Chas. Bynum. W. L. Wilkerson.
A. L. Webster. M. T. Green. A. L. Hays.
B. W. Hereford. J. F. Brooks. It. W. Hood.
It. II. D. Johnson. G. B. Jones. William Harris.
A.Myers. L. O. Hargrove. Isa. T. Montgomery.
M.V.Montgomery. Aaron Marr. B. J. Arriugton.
AusMn Rowell. Geo. Johnson. .las. M. Marr.
These make up the list of the signers of Mound Bayou's
Declaration of (petitioners for) Independence, and as such
their names will be transmitted to posterity.- The proclama¬
tion follows:
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
Executive Department.
To all to whom these presents shall coine. Greetings:
Whereas, a petition signed by two-thirds of the electors resident
within the limits proposed for the village of Mound Bayou, in the
County of Bolivar, has been presented to me sotting forth the metes
and bounds of the said Village, and stating the number of inhabitants
to be one hundred and eighty-three (183), and the said petition having
been' posted in three conspicuous places within the limits of the said
proposed village for three weeks, as required by law.—
Now, therefore,-I, A. J. McLaurin, Governor of the State of Missis¬
sippi, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and
laws of tho State, do issue this my proclamation, and do hereby declare
tho said village of Mound Bayou, in the County of Bolivar incor¬
porated, with limits and boundaries as follows: to wit:—
Commencing in tho main lino of tho Yazoo and Mississippi Valley
Railway at the point where the township line between Townships 23
and 24. in Range 5 West intorseots said railway, and extending North
' onc-haLf mile; South one-half milo, and one-fourth milt; East, and ono-
fourth of a milo West of said lino of said railway, and embracing an
' area of one mile long from North to South, and one-half mile wide
from East to West.
And tho name of the said proposed village is hereby fixed as the
Villago of Mound Bayou, and it shall exorcise all the rights and powers
conferred by chapter 93 of tho Annotated Code of 1892. and amenda¬
tory Acts thereto.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
great seal of tho State of Mississippi to be afllxed. Done at tho Capitol
in tho city of Jackson, this tho 23rd day of February, in the year of our
, Lord. A. D., 1898.
[SEAL.] A. J. McLAURIN.
By tho Governor:
J. L. POWER, Secretary of Slate.
CERTIFICATE OF CHARTER.
< Office of Secretary of State, Jackson, Miss.
I, J. L. Power. Secretary of State, do hereby certify that the. Char¬
ter hereto attached, incorporating tho Villago of Mound Bayou, in
Bolivar County, Mississippi was, pursuant to tho provisions of Chapter
93 of the Annotated Code, 1892, recorded in tho Book of Incorpora¬
tions in this ofRce.
Given under my hand, and the great seal of the Stato of Mississippi
hereunto afllxed, this 5th day of August, 1898.
J. L. POWER.
Secretary of Stale.
As connected with the earliest history of the municipal life
of Mound Bayou we have thought that it might not prove
altogether uninteresting to insert right here the record of the
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50
first meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. It is
only regretted that we cannot present it in the handwriting in
which it is recorded. The record is as follows:
State of Mississippi .
County of Bolivar.
Town of Mound Bayou, Friday, August 10, 1898.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen organized this day. The
Mayor having been duly qualified by tho Clerk of the Chancery Court
of said County Tuesday 10th., August, 1898, as Mayor and Ex-officio
Justice of tho Peace.
The. three Aldermen, Geo. A. Lee, John "W. Francis, and James M.
Marr having received due notice of their appointment, signed by Gov¬
ernor A. J. McLaurin and Secretary of State J. L. Power, the oath of
office was administered to them by tiie Mayor.
On motion of Alderman Francis. Alderman Marr was elected Clerk
of the Board. Marshal, William L. Grady, having been duly com¬
missioned by the Governor, took the oath of office and filed his official
bond in the sum of Ono Thousand ($ 1,000) Dollars, with lid ward
Christmas and Benjamin Henderson as sureties. Aldermen Lee,
Francis and Marr were constituted a committee to look up such laws
of the Code as shall be entered on the Ordinance Book for the govern¬
ment of the town, with leave to report from day to day until discharged.
Alex Myers, Treasurer, having received his commission from the
Governor, took tho oath of office and tiled his bond in the sum of Five
Hundred ($500) Dollars with Hal Richardson and Alfred Johnson as
sureties. Committee on Laws reported the following selections from
the Code (Annotated Code of 1S92) to-wit: —
Sections 95S, 970, 971-979—9S0-989-998-lO0<i-1010-10ll-lO2S-
1030 to 1035-1072-1073-1 129- I 134-1135-1 172-1174-1175-1185-11S0-"
1 187-1188-1209-1210-12 1 7- to 1225-126-1 - 1269 - J 271 - 1272 - 1274-
129 L-L2J2-12'.) l-l 2Xj -12.) 7-I 5JJ-1311-1312-1J15-1319-1320-1322-
1323-1148-293<>-and 2287.
Board adjourned. ISAIAII T. MONTGOMERY,
Attest: Mayor.
JAS. M. MARR,
Secretary.
And this meeting marks the beginning of Negro legislation
in Mississippi, after the passing of the days just behind the war.
THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY.
Mound Bayou enjoys the unique distinction of being num¬
bered among the cities and towns of the country that have felt
the helpful touch of the generous philanthropy of Mr. Andrew
Carnegie, whose munificent donations to the cause of general
education have made his name a household word throughout
the civilized world. Mr. Carnegie's attention was attracted
to the magnificent work being accomplished by Negro people
here in this distinctively Negro settlement in the direction of
self help and self elevation, and his willingness, nay, his anxiety
to lend a hand is indicated in the gift to the town of a library
building to cost four thousand ($4,000) dollars; conditioned
only on the stipulation that the town shall provide for the
maintenance of the institution, once erected.
The municipal council accepted the condition, unhesitatingly
pledging the credit of the municipality to the faithful execution
of this single provision. The work of construction on the
building is already well under way and will have been completed
by the time this little book shall have come into the hands of
the public. All of the people of Mound Bayou— old and young,
great and small— are peculiarly proud of this institution. The
building is of brick, fifty (50) feet by sixty (60) feet, located
on the south side of Green Street, diagonally across the street
from the Mound Bayou Normal and Industrial Institute.
The author of this little volume does not desire to appear in
the light of bidding for immigration to Mound Bayou. Indeed
our population increases at a gratifying rate without involving
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 51
any necessity for such policy or method just here. It is realized
too that all of the Negro people even of a single county could
not be accommodated at Mound Bayou, nor have we decided
in our own minds whether, if this were possible, it would be
either desirable or best. All however who catch the inspira¬
tion of the Mound Bayou idea and who are willing to subscribe
without reservation their allegiance t"o. the race building plan
here being worked out are assured cf the most cordial welcome.
But we started out to remark that it must obviously occur to
even the most casual thinker that the location of such an in¬
stitution as the Carnegie Library must add immensely to the
attractions otherwise held out, and enhance immeasurably the
convenience and pleasure of residence at Mound Bayou. To
attempt to point out or specify the benefits to acrrue from the
establishment of this library here might very properly be re¬
garded as in the nature of an affront to the intelligence of those
who may read these lines.
The general character of our people here and the standard to
which the average ones of them have attained leaves it only to
be said that the patronizing of the institution will be such as
easily to show that Mr. Carnegie's interest in the advancement
of Mound Bayou has not been misplaced, and that the building
of the library here is in line with good policy. The investment
will yield an hundred fold, yes, many hundred fold of good
results for the uplift of our people, and its influence will be felt
in regions remotely distant from Mound Bayou. A nation of
Negro boys and Negro girls shall rise up to bless the name of
Andrew Carnegie for the distinguished recognition thus accord¬
ed them in the wise disposal of the immense wealth that his
genius has accumulated, and which is lavishly, though at the
same time wisely, being expended for the uplift of humanity
along the way that has commended itself to his judgment as
being conducive of the "greatest good to the greatest number."
Mr. Thos. W. Cook, the designer and builder of the plant of
the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company, also
planned and is supervising the construction of the Carnegie
Library Building.
MOUND BAYOU LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY.
On the 15th day of August, 1909, the Mound Bayou Light
& Power Company was organized. The corporation is charter¬
ed under the laws of the State of Mississippi, and invested with
authority to build, maintain, and operate an electric light and
power plant in the town of Mound Bayou, with a tenure of
fifty (50) years. Prof. J. R. Reynolds, of Marshall, Texas,
professor of mathematics, and dean of the department of trades
in the Wiley University, and himself a practical electrician, is
the chief promoter of this enterprise, the completion of which
will mark a long step forward in the development of Mound
Bayou. Mr. Reynolds has visited Mound Bayou and personally
gone over the prospects, and plans have been perfected which
hold in contemplation the installation of the plant by the first
day of May, 1910. The Company is capitalized at five thou¬
sand ($5,000) dollar?.
ARTESIAN WATER.
There has always existed, and in all probability with suffi¬
cient reason, a prejudice against the use of pump (surface) water
for drinking purposes in the delta. It might be explained that
this water is obtained, as a general rule, through the building
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(driving) of force pumps of the simplest mechanical construc¬
tion, and the water is drawYi from the depths varying from
ten to sixty feet, according to locality and topographical stream
location. This is usually presumed to be insufficiently dis¬
tant below the surface to avoid the absorption of impurities
of every character, and the consequent contamination is held
to account for the prevalence of malaria, typhus, and other
ailments held to be peculiar to the climate of the delta country.
The correctness of this hypothesis has been verified in numerous
instances by the reduction in the number of cases of illness
where the change has been made from pump to artesian water.
Mound Bayou has not failed to take cognizance of the fact, and
the building of an artesian well or wells is in the list of immedi¬
ate future prospects.
CHARLES BANKS.
The story of the life and work of Chas. Banks during the
past six years would involve a complete and comprehensive
history of the town of Mound Bayou for the same period. He
is a well rounded man. Versatile, we believe is the word that
epitomizes his variety of attainments. He is equally at home
behind the wicket of the cashier's station; standing before the
Sunday school class and elucidating knotty points of scriptural
interpretation; in the president's chair with judicial tempera¬
ment directing the work of the great Business League; and, the
writer has actually seen him seize the baton of the musical
director and successfully persuade harmony out of the dis¬
cordant instruments of a brass band organization. His main
forte, however, consists in his mastery of the laws governing
financial operations and the nimble and elusive dollar is utterly
Charles Banks.
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incapable of eluding his vigilant pursuit. He seems endowed
with the capacity in a pre-eminent degree for finding them
however inaccessible to the efforts of others and however secure¬
ly they may be hidden away in obscure nooks and crannies and
recesses. He was born to lead his people up out of the dismal
swamp of commercial incompetency; out of the quagmire of
industrial indifferences and stagnation; through the path of
awakening and intelligent activity into the brilliant sunshine
of Twentieth Century business efficiency. He was to set the
example by concrete accomplishment that the limits of success
and acquisition in the business development of the period are
not to be circumscribed within the restricted limits of race,
color, and condition.
Chas. Banks was born at Clarksdale, Miss., March 25, 1873,
and is consequently yet well on the right side of forty, the age
at which according to customary presumption, the life work
of a man is laid out. He early entered the public schools of
his native town and pursued the studies of this course to the
creditable completion of the curriculum. He then left home
and entered the Rust University, at Holly Springs, Miss.,
where he continued the vigorous prosecution of his intellectual
acquirements for several years.
Returning to Clarksdale, he ventured, on a limited scale, in
the mercantile business in 1890. In this he met with a meas¬
ure of success that must have flattered his most sanguine ex¬
pectations, continuing in the business until 1903, and building
meanwhile an emporium that did credit, not to the Negro
people of Clarksdale alone, but to the entire city. We very
much doubt that for magnificence of appointment, attrac¬
tiveness of arrangement, and the volume of business done this
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Negro
establishment of Chas. Banks has been paralleled by a
man anywhere in the State before or since.
He was an enumerator for the United States census of 1890.
In 1893 he was married to Miss Trenna Ophelia Booze, of
Natchez, Miss., one of the most talented young ladies in the
state, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henderson Booze, of
that city. As is found to be true of nearly all great men of
the races, Mr. Banks is an earnest and zealous worker for the
cause of the church, and in this he has achieved a station of
prominence to be envied. He is a member of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church and has risen to honor in the
connection through force of innate worth and ability and
consecration to what he has been called to perform in the
capacity of a layman. He was a delegate to the general
Conference of the A. M. E. Church which convened in the city
of Wilmington, N. C., in 189G, and has represented his district
in every general conference held since that time.
Mr. Banks interested himself in the work of the National
Business ^League from the time of its organization by Dr. Booker
T. Washington and was elected Third Vice President at the
session of the league held at Chicago, in 1901.
He retired from the merchandise field at Clarksdale in 1903
and came to Mound Bayou, and organized the Bank of Mound
Bayou in January of the following year. He organized and
was elected president of the Mississippi Negro Business League
at Greenville, and has been re-elected president of the league
each successive year since its organization. Under his magnetic
leadership the league has gone on from triumph to triumph in
arousing and inspiring interest and in stimulating energy
among Negro men and women of the State along commercial,
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industrial, and financial ways. Chas. Banks has taken the
disorganized business elements of Mississippi, each struggling
blindly along in its own way toward the attainment of some
vaguely defined goal, ordinarily comprehended in the word,
success. Out of them he has, by the exercise of a power of
generalship that must be more largely native than acquired,
transformed them into a well disciplined army, the organized
strength of which is not easy of calculation.
Mr. Banks has also interested himself in politics, and here
as elsewhere his superb ability was bound to attract attention.
He was appointed by president Wm. McKinley to be Super¬
visor of the census for the third district of Mississippi in 1900,
and here was displayed that rare tact that has constituted one
element of his popular strength, in the equitable distribution
of the partonage that was given him to dispense. As far as was
in his power to ascertain the enumerators appointed by him
were capable and conscientious men and the character of the
work sent up from Mr. Bank's district was not surpassed by
that sent up from anywhere. The significance of the honor
attached to this appointment is made to appear when it is
remembered that he was one of the only two Negro supervisors
of the Twelfth Census of the United States, and the further
fact that for the census next to be taken no single Negro man
has been shown such consideration or honored with such meas¬
ure of recognition.
He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention
of 1904, from the third congressional district; and a delegate
from the state-at-la.rge to the memorable Chicago Convention
of 1908, the convention which nominated Judge Wm. H. Taft,
the Nation's present chief executive. He was assigned by the
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choice of the Negro people of the country the task of seconding
Mr. Taft's nomination but for reasons of political expediency
it was found advisable to revise this feature of the program
at the last moment. This brings us to remark that in addition
to the other manifold accomplishments of Chas. Banks, he is a
most effective public speaker. "VVe do not set him forth as in
rivalry with the great orators who have had the power of domi¬
nating vast audiences by the magic spell of their resistless elo¬
quence. He does not depend on eloquence for driving home
to the people the message which he comes to deliver, but his
forensic power rests in the intense earnestness with which he
addresses himself to the subject in hand. He is able to carry
his audience with him by bringing them to feel, as himself,
his own strong convictions on a given subject. There is a
growing demand for his services as a commencement orator,
and in every case his addresses are found to be entirely practi¬
cal and directed toward the accomplishment of some substan¬
tial purpose.
In 1907 Mr. Banks was advanced to the First Vice-Presidency
of the National Business League and has since been repeatedly
re-elected to this honorable station. This, it occurs to us, is
eminently proper, since he is in full and complete accord with
Dr. Washington's plans and policies, and no man in the whole
country enjoys in larger measure the confidence of the renowned
educator-statesman. Mr. Banks was honored with a colonelcy
on the staff of the honorable Judson W. Lyons in the parade
at the inauguration of the former president, Theodore Roose¬
velt.
He organized the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing
Company, the largest industrial venture ever undertaken by
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Negro men in this country, in 1907, and has thus far success¬
fully piloted its construction. Under his immediate guidance
the company is erecting here one of the most modern and com¬
pletely equipped cotton seed oil manufactories in this State
or elsewhere. The mammoth plants of the concern are now
well on the way to completion and as far as the work has pro¬
gressed, Chas. Banks has successfully avoided incurring for the
company a single penny of unpaid obligation.
In 1906 he organized the Mound Bayou Loan and Invest¬
ment Company with a capitalization of fifty thousand ($50,000)
dollars for the purpose of assuring to Negro farmers the con¬
tinued ownership of the lands around Mound Bayou. Many
of the properties have been unavoidably encumbered, and in
raising these encumbrances, holding the proprietorship of the
lands in the hands of Mound Bayou people, is the utility of the
Mound Bayou Loan and Investment Company, and its or¬
ganization is but added evidence of the trained business fore¬
sight of Chas. Banks. He is at the present time cashier of the
Bank of Mound Bayou, the resources of which institution now
aggregate more than one hundred thousand ($100,000) dollars,
and in which he owns a controlling interest.
As the guest of the Mississippi Negro Business League, Dr.
Booker T. Washington toured the State in the month of October
1908. As president of the League Mr. Banks became, in a
sense, personally responsible for the success of the trip. The
plans laid clown for the conduct of this tour through the Stale,
the itinerary arranged, and the exactness with which the entire
programme was carried out, has been remarked in many quar¬
ters as one of the most elaborate and accurately carried out by
which any visitor to any of the states was ever favored. Dr.
0f."
Washington's tour from the time he entered the State at
Holly Springs, until the hour of his departure, at Lula, was one
sustained and continued ovation. Nothing but praise for
Banks has been heard with regard to this remarkable tour by
the distinguished "Wizard" of Tuskegee.
During the past year Mr. Banks has built and furnished a
residence, the most beautiful and elaborate in town, it goes
without saying, at a cost of some ten thousand ($10,000)
dollars. ' The coming of Chas. Banks to Mound Bayou six
years ago has proven in every aspect of the case a very pro¬
nounced benefit to the town and the country round about. In¬
deed, it is difficult to see now just how we should have advanced
without him. He came, however, bringing to the assistance
of local efforts a rich, ripe business experience, unbounded con¬
fidence in himself, and a limitless hopefulness for the future
with respect to the possibilities here unfolding. There was
nothing of timidity, doubt, uncertainty, hesitation or fear
about him. He thought out a course of action, calmly reasoned
the chances of success or failure and having once decided
plunged determinedly into action and he has rarely been the
victim of erroneous judgment or miscalculation. He does
not take things for granted but subjects every proposition to
the close scrutiny of intelligent investigation. He has the
happy faculty well developed of being able to act in a given
contingency with promptness and decision. Submit to him a
proposition, however plausible, bearing any indications of
spuriousness however well concealed, and before you have
finished your recital his trained business instinct has gone di¬
rectly to the core of the matter and you have been handed a
courteous but withal, a positive "No."
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His confidence in himself had the very natural effect to in¬
spire the same feeling in others and thus he has been able to
call to his following all the working forces of the community,
and the result is a rapidly expanding municipality. We could
go on writing page after page to tell of incidents in the career
of Chas. Banks, Mississippi's brilliant young "wizard" of
finance, but we might as well conclude as began, the activi¬
ties and accomplishments of Chas. Banks during the past six
years make up the comprehensive history of Mound Bayou.
Chas. Banks carries a heavier weight of responsibility than
almost any man in the State, but those of us who know him
know also that he can never be really happy unless he is loaded.
With the direction of the affairs of the Bank of Mound Bayou,
to practically every item of which he gives personal attention;
charged with general oversight of the business of the Mound
Bayou Loan and Investment Company; with executive super¬
vision of the construction of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and
Manufacturing Company's big plant; responsible for the prop¬
er and economical expenditure of the Carnegie Library Fund;
interesting himself in the betterment of things in connection
with the operation of our educational institutions locally,
with reference to both the public school and the others; and
in addition to these the management of his own extensive
private, or individual affairs, it would be easily presumed
would give him sufficient business worry and anxiety.
But, and notwithstanding, Mr. Bunks is usually able to find
time to step aside and encourage minor matters of develop¬
ment and growth. No task of administration has proven too
great for him to assume the leadership and direction of it, and
no item of community advancement has been too small to en¬
list his sympathetic interest and material assistance. From
the baseball team and the brass band to the Bank of Mound
Bayou and the Oil Mill; from the Christian Endeavor League
and the B. Y. P. U. to the highest functions of loyal church
membership, his hand has been reached out to help and to up¬
lift. Chas. Banks is yet, as has been said, a young man and it
is the unanimous prayer of Mound Bayouans that he may yet
be spared to lead us and to direct the course of our further
great expansion.
There remains now only to be said that to the constant and
unfailing devotion of his wife, Mrs. Trenna 0. Banks, Chas.
Banks cheerfully attributes full share of credit for his achieve¬
ments. Mrs. Banks is a lady of refinement and culture and
of the highest intellectual fibre. She has been at all times
fully capable of realizing and appreciating Mr. Banks' aspira¬
tions and has always entered with true wifely sympathy and
concern into the execution of his designs. Her personal bear¬
ing is that of elegance and dignity, and socially she is one of
the most delightfully charming of women. The entertain¬
ments given at her palatial residence are always social functions
to be remembered. Hers is a home fit for a queen and in the
realm of home she reigns with queenly dignity.
It should not be neglected to state, in passing, that Mr.
Banks is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and
also identified with a number of other lodges operating among
Negro people, in the councils of all of which he occupies the
elevated station to which his superior talent justly entitles
him.
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The Negro at 'Mound Bayou.
HON. ISAIAH T. MONTGOMERY.
Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, whose name by frequent public
references in connection with the work that he inaugurated in
the founding of the Negro colony at Mound Bayou, has come
to be a household word throughout the length and breadth of
this great country, was born on the 21st day of May, 1847, on
the Hurricane Island, Warren County, Miss., the property of
Joseph E. Davis, brother of the celebrated chief of the Southern
Confederacy. His parents were Benjamin Thornton, and
Mary Montgomery, both of Virginia extraction, though his
mother was born on the Hurricane plantation, in Warren
County. He was the younger of two sons of the family, though
there were two eisters younger than himself.
He never attended school in the sense that we customarily
speak of going to school, but along with the other children of
the family was taught by his father the elementaries of common
education. He was set to work in the office of Mr. Davis at
about the age of nine years in the capacity of an assorting and
filing clerk, his duty consisting in the proper assortment and
filing of papers. Later he was called to assume entire charge
of Mr. Davis' public and private offices, and this responsible
station he held until the outbreak of the great Civil War. His
family and other slaves being refugeed by Mr. Davis to the in¬
terior of Mississippi and to Alabama, Isaiah T. Montgomery
was left with his father to aid in the conservation of the planta¬
tion interests.
He had the distinction, which at this date must appear in
some degree enviable, of serving as cabin boy with Rear Admiral
David D. Porter, of the United States' Navy. This was sub¬
sequent to the running of the batteries at Vicksburg by the
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
Federal fleet. Mr. Montgomery enjoys the extreme satis¬
faction of remembering that he contributed in some measure
to the entertainment of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his son on
the memorable occasion of the crossing of the Federal army
from the opposite side of the river at Brunswick. He was at.
the battle of Grand Gulf, with the first expedition up the Red
River, and present at the surrender of Vicksburg. He was
released from service in the United States' Navy in 1863 on
account of ill health and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, whither
through the kindness of Admiral Porter the Montgomery
family had been removed.
He returned South at the earliest practicable opportunity
and joined with his father and brother in the attempted pur¬
chase and cultivation of the Davis plantation on Hurricane
Island. After prosecuting this work for several years with
varying success, circumstances arose which influenced the
Montgomerys to abandon this project and to surrender the
property. They had achieved the eminence, however, of
being the third largest cotton growers of the South. We quote
the following from the columns of the Planters Journal, of
Memphis, Tenn., in a special Mound Bayou edition of that
widely read and influential publication, under date of Oct.
16, 1906:
"About the year 1885," says Montgomery, "I wound up my connec¬
tions with cotton planting, having left the Davis property a few years
previous, and. took up a small mercantile business near the National
Cemetery at Vicksburg, Miss. It was at this place that Maj. George
W. McGinnis", land commissioner of the Louisville, New Orleans &
Texas Hallway (now the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad), began
a correspondence with mo, resulting in a personal conference, and then
a trip of inspection through the delta, accompanied by a civii engineer,
and the selection of Mound Bayou. The namo is derived from an
enormous mound situated three miles southeast at the junction of two
bayous that comprise the principal drainago system of two-tliirds of
the lands in this locality.
AT WORK AGAIN.
"Here, at the age of forty, I sought to begin anew the dream of life's
young manhood (race building). But oh my I The situation was wild;
giant trees stood thickly, rearing their tops loftily skyward, with a thick
undergrowth of cano and briers rendering travel impracticable save
through the narrow paths hewn out by direction of the magnetic needle.
"The nucleus with which I had formerly labored were scattered, and
a beginning had to be made with new material, under conditions most
strange and uninviting. Certainly I could not have succeeded but for
the fact of having brought my family to the scene and giving my soul
to tho work. Though frequently absent, whether to confer with pros¬
pective settlers, attending gatherings, or appearing before congressional
committees at Washington, or the levee commission at New York in the
interest of our levee system, my people could realize that my lot was
unalterably cast with them.
"Tho people had to be found and then inspired with a sentiment
similar to this, 'Why stagger at the difficulties that confront you; have
you not for centuries braved the miasma and hewn down forests like
these at the behest of a master? Can you not do it for yourselves and
your children unto successive generations, that they may worship and
develop under their own vine and fig tree?"'
The foregoing lucid statements will serve to give a clear in¬
sight into the conceptions by which Mr. Montgomery was
moved and the motives by which he was prompted in placing
himself at the head of this, what must then have appeared
doubtful experiment. But Mr. Montgomery is a man of
superbly great natural endowments, and these he has supple¬
mented by the most painstaking, exhaustive, and rigorous
study both of men and books, and of things and conditions. Mr.
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Montgomery's wide individual business and agricultural ex¬
perience, the profound depth of his exhaustless fund of hard,
sound common sense accentuated by his years of wisely di¬
rected intellectual cul¬
tivation formed the
greatest, in fact the
main, asset of the colo¬
nists and on him was
staked all the reliance,
all the hope for the suc¬
cess of the venture if
success were at all pos¬
sible. For one who is
intimately acquainted
with Mr. Montgomery
he is a difficult man
about whom to write on
account of the range
and variety of his mani¬
fold attainments. We
are at a loss to decide as
to just which of his
many excellencies is en¬
titled to greater empha¬
sis. He is a business
man and a farmer; he
is a philosopher and a scholar; a scholar, not of the insti¬
tution-made character, but by virtue of the symmetrical
development of his physical, mental and moral powers,
he is an eminent church layman, a lifelong member of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church; he is a practical surveyor
and an expert accountant and the character of his penmanship
attracts notice wherever seen; he is an orator and a statesman.
Isaiah T. Montgom-
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Mr. Isaiali T. Montgomery's Residence.
ery was the single rep¬
resentative of his peo¬
ple as a delegate on the
floor of the Mississippi
constitutional conven¬
tion of 1890, the con¬
vention through the en¬
actments or provisions
of which the Negro was
effectually eliminated
from the equation of
matters political, to all
practical intents and r^n
purposes in this state. ^
The address delivered
by him before that con¬
vention on the adoption
of the anti-Negro suf¬
frage provisions attract¬
ed nation-wide atten¬
tion and comment; this
for the sound logic of
his deduction; the impassioned eloquence of its delivery,
and for the sublimely sacrificial tone throughout of the
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An untoward condition had provided the theme, his soul It"
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
was in the final effort he was to make to "bridge the chasm"
of racial temperament and feeling, and his speech was a master¬
piece of oratory such as has been seldom heard on the floor of
the Mississippi house of representatives at any time and in any
age. Montgomery approached the subject in the spirit of
conciliation and sacrifice. His address was received with
varying emotions throughout the country, many of his own
people dissenting from the compromising tenor assumed by
him, but it has been made to appear since that Montgomery;
was probably more nearly right than were those who opposed
the stand he then took. At least, it has not yet clearly ap¬
peared that any material good end would have been served by
the assumption on his part of an attitude of belligerency rather
than one of compromise and conciliation as adopted by him.
He was an accredited delegate to this convention from Bolivar
County.
At the International Exhibition held in the city of Phila¬
delphia, Pa., in 1876, the firm of Montgomery & Sons was
awarded the medal for the production of the best sample of
raw cotton. In 1892 Mr. Montgomery was appointed by
President Theodore Roosevelt to be Receiver of Public Moneys,
with headquarters at Jackson, Miss. He resigned the office
of Mayor of the town of Mound Bayou to accept this appoint¬
ment, an office to which he had been first appointed and sub¬
sequently elected by the suffrage of his fellow townsmen and
citizens.
Perhaps one of the most brilliant distinctions that ever came
to Isaiah T. Montgomery consists in the highly creditable part
he was called to perform in the ceremonies attendant on the
laying of the corner-stone of the Lincoln Memorial Building,
at the Lincon birthplace farm, at Hodgenville, Ky., in Feb¬
ruary of this year (1909). Mr. Montgomery had been formally
entered on the programme arranged for that occasion and
assigned the duty of depositing in the memorial stone a copy
of the Emancipation Proclamation. The* occasion was a
sublimely great one and great thoughts stirred the souls of the
thousands of loyal patriots who had made the pilgrimage from
every direction of the compass and from every quarter of the
land to honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln, the universally
revered martyr to the cause of human liberty. After Presi¬
dent Roosevelt had deposited in the box a copy of the United
States Constitution, "then," says Collier's Weekly, "occurred
one of the most impressive moments of the great occasion and
the great day. To Mr. Isaiah T. Montgomery, of Mississippi
a former slave of Jefferson Davis, Governor Folk handed a copy
of the Emancipation Proclamation. Taking it in his hands,
he turned to the great crowd and said in a clear ringing voice:"
' "At this the birthplaco of tho immortal Lincoln I speak as one of the
four million slaves that received the priceless boon of liberty through a
stroke of his pen, and as a representative of tea millions of Negro
citizens of our beloved country.
"I would speak of him as ono of exceeding humble birth, rocked
in the cradle of adversity, but chosen of God the prophet of human
liberty and the liberator of not merely the body of four million black
men, but of the minds and hearts of all his countrymen.
"I wish that words of^mine could not merely recall but impress upon
you tho fact that he entered the mighty contest that engaged his great
talents not as tho enemy but as the truo friend of the South, opposing
slavery in the spirit of Kentucky's great statesman, Henry Clay, whose
subiimo utterances he frequently quoted in the famous anti-slavery
debates with Douglas.
"From the moment he entered that contest we see him rise and tower
above all the other figures of his day. Whether In pleading, in suffering
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
61
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or in commanding, his rugged character stands out as a beaeou-light
marking tin1 pathway of truth and righteousness until tho culminating
net of his career: tho.promulgation of the immortal 'Emancipation
('reclamation,' a copy of which I now have tlio honor to deposit among
the archives of this commemorating corner-stone. I deposit Lliis proc¬
lamation:—
"First, on behalf of ton millions of grateful people who will ever re¬
member the noble man who espoused their helpless cause without hope
of feo or reward.
"Second, on behalf of a free and united people still impressed with tho
presence of grave and unsolved difficulties, yet all alike cherishing the
life and example of this great man, looking upward full of hope, with
an abiding faith in the great Author of our national destiny."
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Mr. Montgomery measures up to the stature of true great¬
ness by whatever standard guaged. His family life is and has
been ideal. His wife has been a model and devoted helper all
V the way through his honorable career, and to her fidelity and
devotion, and her thorough appreciation of the high ideals to¬
ward which he has constantly striven is ascribed much of the
success that has attended his efforts. Five of the children of
the family, all girls survive, three of whom are happily married.
There has been only one son of the union and he died in early
^T- youth. Mr. Montgomery is a regular attendant at the services
Cj? of his church, and is absent from its stated services only when it
is utterly impossible for him to be present by severe illness or
unavoidable detention at great distances from home.
He is very prominently identified with the Mississippi Negro
State Business League and the National Negro Business League
^ and president of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufaclur-
•Dj-? ing Company. He was helpfully associated with the early
founders of the Order of Calanthians of this State, and is a
rU member of the Masonic fraternity. Indeed there has never
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been any enterprise or venture in this section of country that
held out promise of betterment for his people that has not felt
the impulse of his interest and sympathy.
Of all the great achievements of Isaiah T. Montgomery,
however, and of all the distinctions that have come to him in
the course of his pre-eminently useful life, the greatest and the
one that must be to him the perennial source of most satisfac¬
tory and pleasant contemplation, the achievement for which he
will be longest remembered and which must fix indelibly upon
the record of far distant future years the imprint of his worth
and character, and his service to the age in which he lived,
must be the founding and building of the Town of Mound
Bayou.
LUKE THOMAS.
Mr. Luke Thomas came to Mound Bayou from Cleveland,
Miss., only last year and engaged in the sale of proprietary
medicines, toilet articles, confectionery, and such other things
as are usually to be found in drug stores of good class. He is not
a registered pharmacist and does no compounding of prescrip¬
tions, though his place of business, which is one of the most at¬
tractive in the city, is known locally as the Thomas Bros. Drug
Store. Mr.Thomas is the senior member of the firm, the other
one being a twin brother, Mr. Matthew Thomas, of Cleveland.
REV. ISAAC C. BALL.
Rev. Isaac C. Ball was born at Tchula, Holmes County,
Miss., September, 1867. In his youth he attended school at
Jackson, Miss. He was converted in 1889 and joined the Mis¬
sionary Baptist Church. Was called to the ministry and or-
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The Negro at Muuncl Bayou.
dained from the Green Grove Baptist Church, at Mound Bay¬
ou, so that he is regarded as one of the "home made" preachers.
There is nothing whatever of the spectacular about him, and if
he is to be remarked for any one thing above every thing else it
is for his quiet, earnest zeal in the cause of the Master, and his
rugged personal honesty and trustworthiness in matters of every
day life. He is married and owns a nice little farm just south
of Mound Bayou. The people whom he pastors are warmly
attached to him.
JOHN W. COBBS.
John W. Cobbs was born in Wilcox County, Alabama in
1859. He enjoyed some con¬
siderable school advantages,
and after reaching his ma¬
jority engaged for a number
of years in school teaching.
He came to Mississippi in
1882 and settled at Macon.
Here he was married in 1885
to Miss Sarah E. Davis. He
left Macon, Miss., in 1891
and moved into Arkansas,
where in addition to school
teaching work he engaged in
farming, in which, by the
application of his high de¬
gree of intelligence, coupled
with his determined indus¬
try, he succeeded. He came
to Mound Bayou in 1891.
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Hon. John VV. Cobbs.
It will be sufficient to say, as showing the impression made on
the people here by his sterling character, that after a residence
of twelve years here he was elevated by the suffrage of his fellow
citizens to the chief magistracy of the town; and so satisfactory
was his administration of the functions of that office that he was
repeatedly returned to the same high station. Mr. Cobbs was
Mayor of Mound Bayou to the date of his death, which unfor¬
tunate event occurred Saturday, July, 1906. He was consider¬
ably above the average of intelligence, and a man of much force
of character. He was well read and kept thoroughly posted on
matters of current development and especially things affecting
the welfare of Negro people. The influence of his life will be
felt at Mound Bayou in the years to come.
BENJAMIN T. GREEN.
In the year 1854, in the Davis' Bend settlement of Warren
County, Mississippi, was born of slave parents and there grew
to manhood, a little Negro boy whose life was destined to
mightily influence the destinies and suggest direction to the
energies of a host of his people. It is not indicated in the rec¬
ord of the time that there was anything of precocity or other
distinguishing traits to mark him as possessed of exceptional
natural endowments. He grew up as hundreds of other poor
Negro boys, and other boys too, for the matter of that,
might have grown, without any noticeable evidences of a supe¬
riority of native faculties.
The environments of his boyhood days were well calculated,
however, to develop the commercial instinct, and it may be said
that he entered the world of mercantile transactions by a very
natural course of development of that instinct. Tn"l886, at the
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63
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age of thirteen, his father having died the previous year, he
took up his residence with an aunt, Mrs. Benjamin T. Mont¬
gomery, then engaged extensively in both planting and mer¬
chandise business. He underwent during the first three years
of his life here the rude discipline of apprenticeship as a common
farm laborer. His remuneration for services during this period,
(and he did not ask more), consisted only in his food, clothing,
and shelter. There was no pecuniary consideration, but the
experience and discipline were worth to him infinitely more than
can be measured in terms of money value. He inherited those
qualities of mind and heart that go to make up the equipment
of the man, whom it seems, is designed by nature to meet and
solve the large problems of business life".
His conscience directed his work and he brought to the per¬
formance of each simple daily task the concentrated measure of
fidelity and zeal that was to be, in after years applied to the
conduct and mastery of great business afi'airs. In the capacity
of a field hand he did well every task assigned him and at the
end of three years was advanced to a position in the big gen¬
eral store of his uncle, Benjamin T. Montgomery, as assistant
salesman. He had been accustomed to passing his leisure hours
about the store, acting as porter, and took advantage of such
occasions to watch and study the course of things. Within two
years from the time he was thus employed he was promoted to
the general managership of the mercantile interests of the Mont-
go merys.
He was married in 1875 and remained with the Montgomery
family until the early part of 1879, when he ventured out inde¬
pendently for himself in the planting business. At the hands
of the fate that had foreordained him to follow other lines he
failed to realize expectations, and leaving Davis' Bend went to
Newtown, Miss., where he engaged in the mercantile business
on a limited scale. Here he remained till 1884 with better suc¬
cess, purchasing meanwhile a little farm of forty acres.
The real history, however, and the accomplishments for which
after periods must accord him credit,beginswith his removal to
Mound Bayou, about 1887, whither he came, engaging, with
Isaiah T. Montgomery, in the settlement and development of
the colony which furnishes the subject of this little volume. He
assumed, and by force of preparedness and ability held a position
of pre-eminence in the commercial life of the village up to the
date of his unfortunate death at the hands of an irresponsible
vagabond of uncertain whereabouts over a trivial circumstance,
the evening of ijeljjTTJary 24, '96. He was himself the soul of
honor and woulcr discountenance with severity any appearance
of dishonesty on the part of any other man without regard to
station or standing. No transaction, great or small, to which
Benjamin T. Green was a party ever savored of any tinge of dis¬
honesty, sharp practice or chicanery, and any instrument of any
character to which his name was affixed was recognized as worth
its face value in coin. He was a liberal contributor to worthy
objects of charity. Cowardice was foreign to his own nature
and he demanded of every man with whom he engaged in busi¬
ness transactions an inviolable regard for principles of honor,
honesty and right. His death involved a very distinct loss to
the town of Mound Bayou, and without doubt had the effect
to retard, at least temporarily, the commercial development
of the community.
Mr. Green merited and was accorded a high station in the
estimation of all those with whom business, or social or other
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64
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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engagements brought him in touch. While an unfortunate de¬
rangement of his physical constitution, from which he suffered
miserably at times, may have made him to appear more or less
irritable or impatient on occasion, still it is true that he was
one of the most approachable of men. Successful, in the matter
of the accumulation of wealth, he was, in a superlative way, be¬
ing at the time of his unfortunate death worth anywhere from
$35,000 to $50,000. But he was not "puffed" up by reason of ■
his success, nor was his wealth made to vaunt itself to the dis¬
comfiture and humiliation of others less fortunate than he had
been. His was a genial nature. He was inclined to the opti¬
mistic view of life and believed with his whole heart that
"honesty is the best policy." He believed that "worth will
tell," and that a man can make for himself the station in the
world to which he is entitled. His theory was work, work,
work—work honestly and work hard, first having ascertained
that you have found your truecalling, and your success is inevi¬
table. In his code of ethics there was never any question of
expediency, but, "Is a given course of action right or wrong,
as viewed in the light of morality and conscience?"
His wealth was honestly acquired in the fair field of open com¬
petition and no "tainted" dollar ever passed with his knowledge
into his coffers. He was courteous to the limit, and his defer¬
ence for women, his kindness to children, and his consideration
for age and decrepitude have often been made the subject of re¬
mark. That the estate established by Benjamin Titus Green
remains intact after the lapse of years; that the business found¬
ed by him bears in undiminishing ratio an equivalent measure
of importance to the commercial welfare of the community; and
that its standing remains unimpaired, is sufficient to show that
its foundation was laid on the solid rock af right dealings and
that utmost care directed the hand of the master builder in
rearing its superstructure. ^
He was survived by a tenderly devoted wife and seven child¬
ren, three sons and four daughters, one of the latter of whom
has since died. Together they formed an ideally charming fam¬
ily circle. Each of the children has been given the benefit of the
best attainable educational facilities, and it may be said of all
of them that they reflect, in their beauty, the noble traits of
their father's high character. Mr. Green's life was a benedic¬
tion. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and his fu¬
neral was probably the most magnificent demonstration of the
personal regard in which a private citizen was held that ever
occurred in this section of the country.
The subjoined press dispatches and comments from influen¬
tial white journals of this section serve admirably to show the
measure of esteem in which he was universally held.
The dispatches and comments speak for themselves, and are
as follows:—
REWARD FOR A NEGRO MURDERER.
Around Bayou, Miss., January 29, 1800.
B. T. Green, a prominent colored merchant, and one of the founders
of tliis place, was shot and very dangerously wounded, at 6.30 o'clock
p. m., by Richard Henry, who had some misunderstanding with Green
about five ccDts worth of rivets, and was ordered out of the store.
Henry flred through the glass door with a Winchester. The ball struck
Green in the back at the point of the shoulder blade, in direct line with
his heart, but seems to have passed around his body on the left sido and
lodged in his breast over the heart.
Kichard Henry, the assassin, is about 5 feet 10 inches high, appar¬
ently slim of build, but, is rather heavy about the shoulders, weight 105
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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pounds, ago 2 4 years, fight black color, thin mustache, thin upper lip
little red on lower lip, chin appears double or dimpled in tho center;
has prominent cheek bones and broad faced, stutters slightly, walks
somewhat pigeontoed, and wears about a number U shoe, has ordinary
hair and dresses in regular rail-road hand style. "When last seen wore
a blue, juniper and overalls. lie came from Baton Rouge and has been
here about two years working for Richard McCarty. A liberal reward
will be paid for his apprehension if reported to Isaiah T. Montgomery,
or to tho postmaster at Mound Bayou, Miss. Iu addition to tho
statutory reward, Mr. 1. T. Montgomery oilers a reward of one hundred
(100) dollars for the capture of Rich Henry.
Another:
BENJAMIN T. GREEN ASSASSINATED.
Mr. Benjamin T. Green, tho greatest Negro in point of industry and
actual accomplishments in Mississippi, was assassinated in his store,
at Mound Bayou, in Bolivar County, Friday, January 24, lS9t>, by a
disreputable colored man named Richard Henry, who had a dispute
with Mr. Green about live cents worth of rivets. After Henry left tho
store, ho deliberately turned and fired through a glass door at Mr.
Green, with a Winchester, and then mado good his escape. At last
reports he had not been caught, although a reward has been ohered
for his capture.
Benjamin T. Green was socially one ot tho best men; as a business
man and substantial citi/.en he had no superiors. lie was loved and
respected by all who knew him, and his manly worth mado his name a
household word t hroughout the State. He was one of tho founders of
the town of Mound Bayou, a distinctively Negro settlement, and the
most prosperous in Mississippi. He was tho leading merchant of
Mound Bayou, carrying a stock of general merchandise and plantation
supplies to the value of $5,000 or SG.000, and handled between -100 and
500 bales ot cotton a year. Deceased leaves a devoted wife and seven
little children to mourn his untimely loss, who are objects of profound
sympathy in this hour of soro bereavement.
And again:
B. T. GREEN, ASSASSINATED BY A WORTHLESS
TRAMP.
Mr. Benjamin Titus Green, tho greatest Negro in point of energy
and actual accomplishments in the State, was assassinated in his store
at Mound Bayou, in Bolivar County, Friday, January 24. 1S0G, and
was buried at that place tho Sunday following. Benjamin T. Green
was socially tho best of men, and as a business man and substantial
citizen he had no superiors. A man of tho highest character; his loyalty
to principle or to a friend was unbounded. Ho was loved and respected
by all who knew him and his manly worth during his brief life had made
his name a household word throughout the State. IIo was one of tho
founders of the town of Mound Bayou, a distinctively Negro settlement
and tho most prosperous in Mississippi. Ho was possessed of superior
courage and the mistake of his life, perhaps, was tho belief that other
men were of similar mold. Acting on this assumption he bravely led
to tho door of his store the footpad and vagabond with whom lie had
a difference over a small purchase, though the cowardly assassin was at
tho time armed with a Winchester ride. Tho coward shot him in the
back from tho outside, through the glass door, as he had turned to leave
him. B. T. Green was born in Davis' Bend, Warren County, Missis¬
sippi, in tho year 1S54, of slave parents. Ilis father died in 18G7. In
1808 he went to live with his aunt, wife of tho celebrated Negro, Benja¬
min T. Montgomery The Drst three years with her were spent as a
common field hand, for which lie received as a recompense his board
and clothing. His undo Ben, being largely interested in mercantile
business, ho spent his leisure timo around the storo portcring. In 1871
he was engaged in the storo a£ assistant salesman, and in 1873 ho was
given entire control of the Montgomery & Sons' store on Hurricane
Island. Ho married in 1875, and continued in tho employ of Mont¬
gomery & Sons until tho Spring of 1879, when he quit and tried raising
cotton on a limited scale, but tho venture proved unprofitable. He
left Davis' Bend in 18S0 and located at Newtown, Warren County,
Miss., and tried merchandising on a limited scale for himself. He was
somewhat successful in this line, and in 18S4 he purchased a small
place consisting of forty acres of land. IIo left Newtown in 1887 and
moved up in the delta country, locating at Mound Bayou, Bolivar
County, Miss., where, in co-partnership with M R. Montgomery, he
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66 The Negro at Mound Bayou. ^
entered SIO acrns of wild land from tho L. N. O. & T. Railway Company.
Ho was tlie leading merchant at Mound Bayou, carrying a stock of
general plantation supplies to the value of .55,000 to SO,000. and handled
between 400 and 500 bales of cotton a year.
Another:
"CAUGHT THE WRONG MAN."
Under the above caption one of the leading journals of the
state had the following to say in relation to the cowardly
murder of Mr. Green.
CAUGHT THE WRONG MAN.
Great disappointment was felt by the friends of the late 13. T. Green
that tho man jailed here as Jxis murderer last Wednesday proved to be
the wrong man. In answer to messages for some one to identify tho
man captured, I. T. Montgomery and John Francis, both of whom are
well acquainted with the culprit, came down on the early evening train,
accompanied by Rev. A. M. Green, the uncle of Mrs. B. T. Green.
They went directly to the jail, and all of the gentlemen agreed tho
moment they saw tho man thero Iwekl as Henry, that lie was not tho
man.
The mistake Is unfortunate in that the wrong man was caught, and
because by relaxing for that timo tho effort to get tho real criminal,
gave just that much more opportunity to him to make good his escape.
AVc trust, however, he may yet soon be run down, and that ho may
receive for the heinous, dastardly murder the full measuro of punish¬
ment, the law allows.
Although the most strenuous and protracted efforts were made
to effect the capture of Mr. Green's murderer; and numerous
suspects were taken and held in different sections of the country;
and though money was lavishly expended in following first one
clewtand then another, failure was the result, and Richard
Henry was never apprehended.
Mr. Green was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity
and the funeral obsequies were held under the ritualistic for¬
malities of that Order. Nothing was left from the impressive
ceremonies, and the immense throng, coming as it did from all
parts of the state to pay the last sad tribute of respect to his
memory went a long way farther to establish the fact of his
popularity and the high esteem in which he was generally held
than any words of ours can do. Rev. Dr. W. B. Lewis, now pre¬
siding elder of the Friar Point District of the A.M.E.Church, an
intimate and lifelong friend of Mr. Green, officiated. He gave
an eloquent and touching eulogy on the many brilliant virtues
of his deceased friend and at the conclusion of the funeral ora¬
tion there were left no undimmed eyes in the vast audience.
This was by far the greatest funeral demonstration ever held at
Mound Bayou before or since.
JOSHUA P. T. MONTGOMERY.
Mr. J. P. T. Montgomery was born in Claiborne County,
Miss., in 1854. He was, as would be naturally inferred ,a slave,
though his lot was fortunately cast along easier lines than the
average of slave boys born about this time and in this immedi¬
ate section. He were permitted to accompany the children of
his owner to school and they were not prohibited from teach¬
ing the little Negro boy the rudiments of English as they, them¬
selves passed along over them. He removed to Pt. Gibson,
Miss., in 1866, and from thence later to Hurricane, Warren
County, Miss., where he had the opportunity to take a course
of private instruction under Miss M. Virginia Montgomery, a
cousin. He also took instructions under the following tutors:
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The Negro at Mouncl Bayou.
67
A. F. Sh;ulcl, of Columbus, 0., H. C. Ledyard, of New York, N.
Y., and J. W. Reidy of Dublin, Ireland. He studied law in the
office of Capt. J. J. Whitney, an ex-Confederate soldier and state
senator from Jefferson County. Mr. Montgomery was admit¬
ted to the bar at the May
term of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County in 1881.
Judge J. B. Chrisman was at
this time presiding in this
district, and Judge G. \V.
Shackleford, Major J. W.
Reed, and Michael Howard
comprised the committee by
which he was -examined.
Added to his qualifications
as a lawyer, Mr. Montgom¬
ery is a practical engineer
and a civil engineer, and
many of the boundary lines
between properties in this
neighborhood have been de-
Joshua P. T. Monicjomcry. fined by him. He came to
Mound Bayou in the winter of 1887-1888. He owns a nice lit¬
tle farm just about one-half mile east of the town and also some
real estate witffln the corporate limits.
Mr. Montgomery has been for a number of years city attor¬
ney and it does not have to be explained that he does not seek
or hold this position for sake of emolument, for the salary is in¬
considerable, but is prompted by a spirit of devotion to the wel¬
fare of the people here, his people. He underwent several years
ago the misfortune to lose his wife leaving on him singly the care
of six surviving children.
WILLIS T. BROWN.
Mr. W. T. Brown came to Mound Bayou in 1902 and for the
past seven years has been one of the most active and energetic
workers engaged in the race building business, in common with
other and older Mound Bayouans.
He was born at Liberty, Amite County, Miss., Jan. 7th, 1871
and passed creditably through the public school course. He
■ then attended the High
School at Summit, Miss.,
during the years that Prof.
Fred H. Bunton was prin¬
cipal. Leaving this institu¬
tion Mr. Brown engaged in
county school teaching which
profession he followed for
several years.
He was married in 1894,
to Miss Emma K. Crossley,
near Brookhaven, Lincoln
County, Miss. On his ar¬
rival at Mound Bayou in
1902 Mr. Brown engaged in
the restaurant business and
continued successfully for
Willis T. Brown several years, when he closed
this to accept a general book agency proposition with one of
the largest book publishing concerns in the country.
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68
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
He remained in this business till 1908, and he must have suc¬
ceeded for he broke every local record for sales and deliveries.
He has been for the past year and is now local representative
of the lumber and real estate interests of the firm of Banks &
Francis.
Mr. Brown is about the livest proposition that ever came to
Mound Bayou as a real estate agent. Anybody wishing to lo¬
cate at Mound Bayou will see him.
DR. AUGER A. COSEY.
Rev. A. A. Cosey, D. D., was not one of the first arrivals
at Mound Bayou, and consequently does not figure as one of the
pioneer citizens of the town. But the Herculean service that
he has rendered since he came for the advancement of all the
material interests of the community entitles him to a high place
on the roll of those who have wrought with devotion and unself¬
ishness for the development of every good work locally.
Dr. Cosey came to Mound Bayou in 1906, in response to a
call from the Green Grove Baptist Church, of this city. He was
then located at Clarksdale, Miss., where he had built the Met¬
ropolitan Baptist Church, and of which organization he had
been the very successful pastor from the date of its institution.
His people at Clarksdale were very warmly attached to him as
a minister and it was only at the insistent call of what he con¬
ceived to be a call to an immensely larger field of Christian use¬
fulness that he was induced to heed the message from Mound
Bayou to "come over and help us." His final reluctant accept¬
ance has proven a godsend to the welfare of the Green Grove
Church, the Baptist denomination, and the community at large.
Dr. A. A. Cosey follows the path trodden by the average Ne¬
gro boy of the South in having been born of humble parentage,
and poor. He first saw the light of human physical life at New-
ellton, La., July 2nd, 1874, and is consequently yet quite a
young man, though the ac¬
complishments that are to be
accredited to his individual
initiative and effort on the
behalf of his people will
measure up the work of a
well rounded age. He availed
himself of all the opportuni¬
ties open for education in
the schools of his Parish and
pursued to graduation the
line of studies required to be
gone over in the Natchez
College, at Natchez, Miss.
Always of a quiet, relig¬
ious turn of mind he was
converted in early youth and
was soon prepared to answer
the divine call to the minis¬
try of the gospel, in which
KEV. A. A. COSEY. D. D..
Pastor Green Grove Baptist
Church; C. G. M. Knights ol
Talior.
calling the measure of success that has attended on his work
is the best assurance of the genuineness of his election to that
high office.
For a short while he held the pastorate of a small church near
Shelby, Miss., and was recently called to pastoral charge of the
New Hope Baptist Church, at Greenville, Miss., succeeding Rev.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
69
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he is doing this with a fidelity that draws forth nothing but
words of praise. ^
Added to his other duties he has taken on himself the publi-
cation of a monthly periodical devoted to the interests of his ^
church and the community in general. Dr. Cosey feels after
all, that the real work of his life has only just begun, and what
he has been able thus far to accomplish gives him courage to
look bravely and unflinchingly in the face of the future with a
sublime confidence that greater things he shall yet do. Dr.
C^sey is also a member of the directorate of the Bank-of Mound
Bayou.
DOC. COLLINS.
Mr. Doc. Collins, who came to Mound Bayou in 1888, and is
therefore fully entitled to recognition as one of the first settlers,
was born about 1861, at Quincy, 111. He boasts no feats of in¬
tellectual prowess, and never enjoyed the privilege of attend¬
ing school of any character. He was endowed, nevertheless,
with all the necessary physical powers and a disposition and
willingness to work at whatever held out patisfactory
promise of adequate remuneration. He became a renowned
stave maker, beginning out on the line of the Southern Railroad,
and such proficiency did he acquire that on his removal to
Mound Bayou, in 1888 he was given superintendency of a large
stave delivering crew.
He owns forty acres of land just one mile south of Mound
Bayou, and in his every day life offers a splendid and valuable il-
Geo. W. Gayles, one of the most eminent and highly honored
Negro preachers of the State.
He was married July 10th, 1901, to Miss Ida Hope Carter, a
niece of Dr. E. C. Morris, of Helena, Ark., president of the
National Baptist Convention. Mrs. Cosey is a lady of an ex¬
ceptional degree of culture and refinement, in thorough sym¬
pathy with every feature of Dr. Cosey's ministerial work, and
she has proven of invaluable assistance to him in the working
out of an honorable career. She is a graduate of the Industrial
College at Normal, Ala.
He has been for several years, and was re-elected at the last
session of the National Baptist Convention, secretary of the
National Baptist Benefit Association, a branch of the general
work of the convention which has for its object the pensioning
of the dependents of the deceased members of churches of that
denomination.
On the organization of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manu¬
facturing Company in 1907 Rev. Cosey's pre-eminent fitness
was signally recognized in his election to the office of secretary
of this greatest industrial venture essayed by Negro people.
This position he still holds to the utmost satisfaction of every
interest affected.
At the Annual Grand Session of the International Order of
Twelve, of Knights and Daughters of Tabor, held in the city of
Canton, Miss., in November 1908, he was elected vice Grand
Mentor, and on the death of the late lamented R. D. Smith,
Sept. 2nd, 1909, he succeeded to the Chief Grand Mentorship
of that vigorous and rapidly growing fraternal organization.
In his several official stations Dr. Cosey is handling many
thousands of dollars of the money of his people annually, and
vjt*
tne doctrine ot crop diversification, and is also interested in »■&»
e production of a high class of home raised cattle and horses
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70 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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MISS HENRIETTA MOORE.
Miss Henrietta Moore, the only daughter of a family of six
children was born at Sumner, Miss., July 8th, 1892. Her par¬
ents, Prince Edward Moore and Lucinda Moore, immigrated,
bringing her with them to Mound Bayou in 1895. As soon as
she reached the requisite age she entered the public school at
Mound Bayou, and the au¬
thor, who had the pleasure
of being for a number of
years her teacher, has pleas¬
ure in testifying to her obedi¬
ence to the rules and discip¬
line of the school and her
general assiduity in the per¬
formance of the tasks as¬
signed her. Leaving the
public school in 1897 she
entered the Mound Bayou
Baptist Industrial Institute
and "College," and in 1907
received the recognition of a
certificate of graduation
from the Normal Depart-
Miss Henrietta Moore
ment of that Institution.
She has also finished in the same institution a course of training
in hat making, on the satisfactory completion of which she was
awarded a certificate of merit.
Miss Moore has also completed the course in the study of in¬
strumental music and is at present pianist of the choir of the
Green Grove Baptist Church. She does not yet by any means
conceive the task of acquiring useful knowledge finished but is
determined to still persevere, in the direction of making herself
a still more useful laborer in the broad vineyard of race eleva¬
tion.
JAKE PARKER.
Born of farmer parents in the Parish of East Carroll, La.,
Oct., 12th, 1868, Mr. Jake Parker is a prominent factor in the
business and industrial life of Mound Bayou. His educational
qualification consists only of such meagre training as he was able
to get from three years attendance in public schools. This but
illy fitted him for the contest
of life but further opportun¬
ity was denied him. He
came to Mound Bayou in
1889 and engaged in timber
cutting. Leaving this he
entered the service of the L.
N. 0. & T. Railroad Com¬
pany as a section hand and
followed this work for four
years. In all of his employ¬
ment he had satisfactorily
demonstrated that he was
possessed of one indispens¬
able trait that is requisite
to success in any line or call¬
ing, and that was, he had
Jake Parker proven that he was reliable.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 71
He could be entirely depended on to perform to the letter
the terms of his contract, whatever those terms might be. The
attention of Mr. G. B. Jones, a prosperous grocer was attracted
to Jake Parker and he was offered a position in Mr. Jones'
store. He remained with Mr. Jones but one year, during which
time he rendered every satisfaction and displayed remarkable
capacity for mastering the details of this business. He quit the
employ of Mr. Jones to accept a more lucrative and advanta¬
geous situation with Mrs. Eva P. Francis, the largest mercan¬
tile house in the city. He remained with Mrs. Francis two
years and then entered the employ of Messrs. C. R. Stringer &
Co., with whom he remained two years when he ventured into
the mercantile business for himself. He has since successfully
paddled an independent canoe.
Mr. Parker owns a nice farm of eighty acres, and in addition
also owns some very valuable city property. He was married
in 1894, to Miss Louisa Johnson. He is a deacon of the Green
Grove Baptist Church, president of the Young Men's Saving &
Loan Club; Master of the local lodge of the Order of Eagles;
vice chancellor of the Knights of Pythias; and secretary of the
local Masonic lodge.
He was for four years a member of the Board of Aldermen
and clerk of the town. He is ruggedly honest and enjoys the
unlimited confidence and esteem of all who know him.
WILLIAM H. GRANGER.
Mr. William II. Granger was born on Stanford River, in
Hailfourt, Bedford County, Va., January 15th, 1824, and thus
at eighty-five years of age is a typical representative of the "be¬
fore the war" Virginia Negro. It does not need to be said that
"V:'|
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Mr. Granger never went to school, though in after years he did
avail himself of some night school opportunities, having been
taught along with Prof. Benjamin F. Ousley,who has later achiev¬
ed distinction in the educa¬
tional world, at night school
sessions under the instruc¬
tion of Gabriel E. Ousley,
or.ce prominently identified
with race activities in this
state. He was married Jan¬
uary 15th, 1870 to Miss Vir¬
ginia Montgomery, a sister
of attorney J. P. T. Mont¬
gomery. The groomsmen
for this important event in
Air. Granger's life were no
less persons than Hons.
Isaiah T. Montgomery and
Joseph E. Ousley, both of
whom became conspicuous
characters in the history of
Mississippi, Mr. Ousley be-
Wm. H. Grander
ing for a number of years clerk of the Circuit Court of Bolivar
County. Miss Montgomery was attended on the occasion by
Misses M. V. and Rebecca Montgomery both sisters of Hon.
Isaiah T. Montgomery. Mr. Granger came with the first train
load of immigrants to Mound Bayou, arriving here February
8th, 1888. Mr. Granger's mind is stored with lively and inter¬
esting reminiscences of his long and eventful life and he takes
pleasure in recounting his experiences. He was the slave of one
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T 72
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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of the first families of Virginia, and his mother was taught by
her mistress to read and write.
His mother died when he was ten years of age. He was always
treated, however, with kindness and humanity, being made to
work, as he says, only about as the white children of the fami¬
ly were required to do. Mr. Granger owns a pretty farm of one
hundred and twenty (120) acres about two miles east of Mound
Bayou.
JAS. A. BOOKER.
Mr. Jas. A. Booker,who is probably the only West Virginian
who has permanently located at Mound Bayou, is the very com¬
petent Special Agent of the
Farmers' Co-operative Dem¬
onstration Work of the
United States Department
of Agriculture.
Mr. Booker was born Dec.
7th, 1875, at Cannelton, Kan¬
awha County, West Virginia.
He attended the public
schools of his native county
until he arrived at the age
of fifteen years when circum¬
stances forced him to fore¬
go further opportunities for
education and enter upon
the earning through manual
labor of his "daily bread."
James A. BooUcr He was denied the Privi'
-.'^1 r'n r\lr* r-lr> r\?r» r\fn r$r> r$r> rfn «*'<
lege of renewing his school pursuits until he had reached his
twenty-third year, when he entered the West Virginia Colored
Institute, from which institution he was graduated with honor
in 1903.
Like many other poor boys who have had to go over the same
trail in theeilort to fit themselves intellectually for useful serv¬
ice, Mr. Booker was compelled to labor with his hands to de¬
fray the expenses of his course in the West Virginia Colored In¬
stitute. But his was the inflexible determination to succeed
and to excel, and he plunged without hesitation into the coal
mining business as a means through which to reach the goal of
his ambition, the completion of the course entitling him to
graduation from the Normal and Agricultural Department of
the Institute.
In 1904 he was honored with election to an instructorship in
his Alma Mater, a situation which he held with eminent satis¬
faction for the next two years, resigning in 1906 to enter the
Agricultural Department of the Tuskegee Institute. Here he
made the remarkable record of completing a two years post
graduate course in one year.
In 1908 he was appointed Special Agent of the Farmers' Co¬
operative Demonstration Work, of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture and assigned to Mound Bayou. Here he has been
able, by conscientious attention to the duties of his position to
accomplish a great deal of service for the agricultural interests
of this entire section of country.
Mr. Booker is a communicant of the Missionary Baptist
Church and zealously active in all religious work. He is presi¬
dent of the local B. Y. P. U., of the Green Grove Baptist Church.
He was married here on the first of Sept., 1909, to*Miss Viola B.
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T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
73
Caldwell, a most estimable young lady of this town, and a na¬
tive of Mississippi.
REV. RICHMOND D. LOWE.
Rev. R. D. Lowe is a minister of the Baptist Church, being
pastor of the Jerusalem Baptist Church, which he organized and
builded at Mound Bayou about 1894. He comes unequivocally
under the designation of the
"ante-bellum" preacher, but
the designation gives him not
the slightest concern, and he
just goes right along preach¬
ing the gospel as he is given
light to see it, and doing all
the good he can for all the
people he can.
Rev. Lowe was born in
Madison Parish, La., some¬
time in the year 1848, and
was married to Miss Chris¬
tina Hutton Oct., 8th, 1870.
He professed a saving hope
in Christ in 1873, while lo¬
cated at Davis' Bend, Miss.,
Rev. Richmond D. Lowe and was set apart to the
work of the ministry through ordination in 1885. He has pas-
tored churches in many parts of the State and moved to
Mound Bayou in 1894. He has three sons who are also minis¬
ters. Many of the members of the Jerusalem Baptist Church
had been under his pastorate before coming to Mound Bayou.
It is scarcely necessary to add that he is immensely popular
with his people. The Jerusalem Baptist Church is one of the
prettiest edifices in the neighborhood.
GEORGE W. BURT.
Prof. George W. Burt, Mound Bayou's very proficient repre¬
sentative in the domain of practical photography, was born Oc¬
tober 12th, 1873, near the lit¬
tle city of Oxford, LaFayette
County, Miss. He availed
himself to the fullest extent
of such opportunities for edu¬
cation as were offered in the
public schools of his county,
and from this was developed
the desire that would not be
satisfied with less than the
very considerable supple¬
ment to the meagre advan¬
tages thus opened to him.
He was ambitious to get
ahead in the world and
with a determination that
could not be thwarted for
Geo. w. Burt. any minor obstacles he found
a way to enter the Howe Institute, at Memphis, Tenn., where
he continued through several years the prosecution of his intellec¬
tual studies. Several years of his young manhood he devoted to
the profession of teaching in the rural schools of his native county
and coming to the conclusion that the road to advancement
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74 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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through this line of work was too closely restricted for the
youth of courage and ambition he did not hesitate to strike
out in a new, and to him, untried direction.
He settled upon the science of photography and in 1897
entered upon the study of this work. Three years later, or
in 1900 while yet a novice in the photographic field he came to
Mound Bayou, arriving here on the 12th, of March, of that year.
His rise in his chosen field has been something less than mete¬
oric or spectacular, and still he has succeeded by sheer force of
character, plodding but continued and sustained industry, un-
Questioned honesty and persevering determination. Prof.
Burt is a loyal adherent of the Missionary Baptist faith in
matters of religion and Church, and his place as a lay worker
for the interests of the Church would be difficult to fill. He
has taken from the beginning of his residence here a conspicu¬
ously prominent station in the work of the Sunday School, the
B. Y. P. U. and the Church. He is one the too few young
men whose true character is reflected in their every day con¬
duct and deportment. George Burt holds a secure place in
the affections and regards of the people of the town of Mound
Bayou and the surrounding country.
MICHAEL BRAGG LEWIS.
Mr. Michael B. Lewis, postmaster at Mound Bayou, is a man
of character and a true representative of the honest aspirations
of Negro people, not alone at Mound Bayou, but wherever the
race species is to be found. We do not mind remarking just
here, even at the risk of incurring the displeasure of our good
friend Chas. Banks, and he is not by any means sensitive on the
point, that there is a little difference between Chas. Banks and
Mike Lewis on the question of complexion. The fact is,"if there
is any preponderance of favor in the direction of race, it has al¬
ways occurred to us that both of the gentlemen always rather
prided themselves on the
purity of the race strain
they were entitled to
boast, rather than for any
deviation from the rule of
complexion as regulat¬
ed by race.
Michael B. Lewis was
born at Hurricane, Warren
County, Miss., Nov. 10th,
1864. His parents were
slaves of Joseph Davis,
brother of the president
the Confederacy. In his
boyhood days he entered
the employ of the then re¬
nowned firm of Montgom¬
ery & Sons, made up of
M. B. Lewis, P. M. Benjamin T. Montgomery,
and Isaiah T. Montgomery and William Thornton Montgom¬
ery, father and sons respectively. His first employment was
as a clerk in a large mercantile establishment. Mr. Lewis at¬
tended the public schools of Warren County during his youth,
and entered the Alcorn A and M. College, while this institution
was yet under the presidency of Hon. Hiram R. Revells.
He pursued with tireless assiduity the studies here marked
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T/^e Negro at Mound Bayou.
75
out for four years under the tutorship of Profs. Clark, Baker,
and G. B. Vashon.
Leaving the Alcorn College he returned to Warren County
and engaged in public school teaching. Here he now remained
and taught successfully and with distinction through twelve ses¬
sions. In 1902 he moved to Mound Bayou and again entered
the employ of the Montgomery family. This time he engaged
with Mrs. M. R. Montgomery as general store manager, and at
the same time accepted a situation as assistant postmaster with
Mr. W. T. Montgomery. He acceptably filled ("his important
station for six years, when on the resignation of his chief he was
elevated to the postmastership.
Mr. Lewis was married on the 8th, of August 1894, to Miss
Maria Williams, at Ursina, Miss. As Mrs. Lewis, she has prov¬
en a truly helpful helpmate to him. If there is any one thing
by which Mr. Lewis can be distinguished it is his aversion to
public notoriety in any direction from which it may come. He
has been signally honored by his fellow citizens and he shrinks
as it were, instinctively from the recognition involved in the
truth. He is reticent to an extreme degree with reference to
his own accomplishments, and it is a difficult task to draw him
out to speak of himself at all. He embodies in his daily life
and deportment the very soul of courtesy and kindness, and if
the suffrage of Mound Bayou people is to be consulted in the
choice of their postmaster, Mr. Michael Bragg Lewis will remain
undisturbed in the situation for many years yet to come.
LIVINGSTON BROOKS.
Mr. Livingston Brooks enjoys the distinction of being Mound
Bayou's youngest business man. He was brought to Mound
Bayou in his infancy by his parents Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Brooks,
from Fayette, Adams County, Miss.
Born June 2nd, 1888, it will be seen that the young man has
only just passed his majority. He conducts very successfully
one of the most flourishing
grocery and produce stores
in the town. He is proprie¬
tor also of the Mound Bayou
livery stable. He has had
excellent school opportuni¬
ties but rather than scholar¬
ship seems to have had a
natural bent in the direction
of commercial transactions.
His parents wisely yielded to
his native inclination and five
years ago he was given
charge of a small grocery
store and stock. The result
has amply proven that they
were right. He is suc¬
ceeding.
Livingston Brooks
MISS FAUSTINA V. JONES.
Miss Faustina Virginia Jones, one of the most brilliant of
Mound Bayou's brilliant coterie of excellent young ladies, was
born in the parsonage of the A. M. E. Church, at Yazoo City,
Miss., in the year 1890.
She is the eldest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John Jones, and at
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the time of her birth Dr. Jones was pastor in charge of the
A. M. E. Church at Yazoo City.
The rite of baptism was administered to Miss Jones in her in¬
fancy and during a very crit¬
ical and what was supposed
to be a fatal illness.
For this purpose she was
jcarried into the church on
a pillow. The sacrament
was administered by her fa¬
ther and it seems from the
instant of the application of
the healing water of Baptism
her improvement began and
complete recovery rapidly
followed. Her parents
moved with her to Mound
Bayou in 1894, and here be¬
gan her school life.
She entered the Mound
Mi™ Faustina v. Jones Bayou Normal and Indus¬
trial Institute and there remained to the creditable completion
of the English course. Her preference led in the direction of
instrumental music and in this she was allowed every possible
latitude. So good use did she make of her opportunities that
she stands to-day recognized as one of the best accomplished
pianists in this section of the country, and her services have
been sought from far and wide as an instructor for the piano.
There can be little doubt that a future of unlimited possibilities
looms before Miss Faustina V. Jones.
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CHAS. W. LINDSEY.
Condensing the story of the life of Mr. Chas. W. Lindsey, he
was born in Jefferson County Ala., June 26th, 1866.
He attended Craft's Academy, at Shelby, Ala., about five
years. Leaving here he spent the next two years in the Talla¬
dega College, at Talladega, Ala.
He then went to Tuscalocsa, Ala., and entered the Stillman
Theological Seminary,
where he remained for tv o
years more. Mr. Lindsey
came to Mississippi in 1 £50
and located at Frier
Foir.t, Coahoma County.
From Friar Point he moved
south to Greenville in 189".
He was married in 18S2, at
Friar Point, to Miss i^ca
Bell Gray. He entered the
bricklaying profession in
1883. Mr. Lindsey was
understudy to the foreman
in the construction of the
famous Arlington Hotel, at
Hot Springs, Ark. He was
assistant foreman in the
building of the chief struc¬
tures of the Mississippi College, at Clinton, Miss., byMr. M. C.
Garber in 1906. He was engaged, and built the Central School,
at Greenville, Miss., for Mr. Chas. Pearce, general contractor.
V / "vWj
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Cliarles W. Ltnilsey
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77
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lie played a most important oavt in the rebuilding of the
town of Rosedale sub?°qu^tit to the great lire by which that
town was practically destroyed.
Bricklaying a nd building construction are of course Mr. Lind-
sey's profession, but he has also achieved recognition in the
world of vocal music, being a singer of the bass and baritone
parts. His merits as a dispenser of the harmonies carried with
these two selections have been freely accorded.
JAMES B. GARRETT.
Born twenty-four years.ago in the beautiful little city of Can¬
ton, Miss., Mr. James B. Garrett gives full promise of becom¬
ing a worthy scion of a deservedly distinguished sire. He is the
son of the late lamented Benjamin F. Garrett, who was in his
day one of the most highly regarded and influential Negro men
of this state. His mother also was a woman of great force of
character and intellectual power. From them both he has in¬
herited to the full measure all those qualities that go to make
up the equipment of the man who is to lift his fellows. Jas. B.
Garrett attended the public schools of Greenville, Miss., and
Duncan, Miss., finishing up the course provided for graduation
from the same in the latter named town.
Having achieved the distinction of public school graduation
he went in the year 1900, to the Alcorn A. and M. College, at
Rodney, Miss., and here he remained until he had made
himself master of the studies required for graduation, passing
out with the class of 1908.
A good part .of the period intervening he has spent in teaching.
In the fall of 1908 he was engaged as traveling representative of
the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company. His
pre-eminent capacity calling him to higher service he was, after
a short while on the road recalled and tendered the position of
teller in the Bank of Mound Bayou.
This position he accepted and held with satisfaction to the
summer of 1909, when he
resigned to engage in other
pursuits. At the present
time he is acting private
secretary to Cashier Chas.
Banks, of the Bank of
Mound Bayou.
Mr. Garrett's father,
Mr. Benjamin F. Garrett,
was for a number of years
Grand Secretary of the
Masonic Fraternity in
Mississippi; was Circuit
Clerk of Madison County
for a long period, and hon¬
orably held many other
positions of trust, honor
and emolument and always
to the utmost satisfaction
of all interests.
To achieve merited distinction among his fellow men he has
only to follow in the footsteps of his distinguished father, and
that he will do this his friends confidently believe and expect.
James B. Garrett
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78
T/je Negro at Mound Bayou.
MRS. ANNA A. HARRIS.
Mrs. A. A. Harris, than whom no woman who ever lived at
Mound Bayou has been able to accomplish more for the sub¬
stantial uplift of her people, or to make better the condition un¬
der which the town is en¬
vironed, was born August
13th, 1865 at Brunswick,
Warren County, Miss.
Pier education is only that
which was acquired in the
public schools as they were
operated in her girlhood
days. She was married in
1882, February 23d, to Mr.
William Harris, and came
with him to Mound Bayou
1888.
Mrs. Harris is a member
of the Missionary Baptist
Church and far the greater
part of her life has been de-
Mrs. Anna A. Harris ' voted to the cause of that
church. She it was who originated the organization of the
Baptist Women Workers' Societies which were afterward or¬
ganized into a convention for the furtherance and support of
educational interests of the race, and from which organization
was evolved the Mound Bayou Baptist "College," the story of
which is told in another part of this book.
Mrs. Harris has also been largely interested in fraternal ac¬
tivities. She is now, and il.ts been since its organization here,
High Priestess of the Tabernacle of the International Order of
Twelve and continually re-elected to that position without
opposition in the fraternal circle. She is also Chief Scribe of the
local lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Jacob, and Worthy
Scribe of the Royal House of King David. Mrs. Hcrris is in
addition to the aforementioned dignities the Royal Qu?en of
Woodmen of Union, of Taft Lodge No. 275. Mrs. Harris is
doing good service for God, the Church, and the race, but her
greatest claim on the reverence of posterity must be based on
the building of the Baptist "College" at Mound Bayou.
WILLIAM LEWIS, JR.
Mr. William Lewis was one of the builders of Mound Bayou,
and few men here have accomplished more for the development
of the town and colony than he did. He came to Mound Bayou
in 1896 and without hesitancy plunged along with the best of
them here into the work of development.
He was a man of considerable intelligence considering that he
had been entirely denied all school advantages except such as
were to be obtained through attendance at night school sessions
in the neighborhood where he was reared. He was a farmer by
preference, combining also a wide knowledge of mechanical con¬
struction. Nearly all of the early houses built at Mound Bayou
bear testimony to his proficiency in that lire.
He owned some of the most valuable city property here on
which there stands to his memory, and as a reminder of his in¬
dustry and activity a very pretty and commodious residence.
In this place too, is located the Lewis Park the most popular
and convenient park site at Mound Bayou. Mr. Lewis served
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T/ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
79
for a number of years as a member of the Board of Aldermen
for the town and was always found loyal to every trust re¬
posed in him.
He was born on the Hurricane plantation, in AYarren
County, Miss., in 1833, married to Miss Susan A. McCaled
February 19th, 1855 at Davis' Bend, and came to Mound
Bayou in 1896.
A painful and protracted illness which proved beyond the
reach of medical skill terminated in his death, August 17, 190G.
REV. DR. JNO. JONES,
Rev. Dr. John Jones, at the present time, the honored pre¬
siding elder of the Greenwood District of the A. M. E. Church,
is and has proven one of the strongest and most helpful acqui¬
sitions to the citizenship of the town that ever came this di¬
rection. He is made of the stern stulf that enters into the
composition of the men who have contributed to the making of
the glorious history of this country. He is a man who is pos¬
sessed of an "opinion and a will" of his own, and who submits
to the dictation of no man in the formation of his own con¬
clusions.
Pie was born in the county of Washington, state of Mississippi
March 8th, 1851, and consequently came into personal acquain¬
tance with some of the conditions of slavery. One of the
earliest of his reminiscences is that he was called by his mother,
and ordered, by the behest of his mistress to come and play
with "Campbell," that is to say to come and entertain his
young "master."
This summons carried with it something in the nature of the
idea of promotion in the domestic service and the Negro boy
who was so fortunate as to be recipient of such notice was
bound to regard himself as favored by fortune above his fellow
boys. The heart of the little Negro boy, from the "quarters"
of the big plantation was naturally thrilled and he must have
felt the unutterable sense
of elation for evidence of
the fact that he had been
preferred above the other
boys for the performance
of this service. Dr. Jones
was elated beyond express¬
ion with this call, but there
was soon to be delivered to
him a call that should
cause this one to sink in¬
to utter insignificance. He
heard this latter call, and it
was the call of the soul, in
the year 1868, in the
month of June. It was the
call from the darkness of
sin unto the marvelous
to his earnest prayer came
ii.: ViA'o
Rev. John Jones
light of the gospel. The answer
about three o'clock in the afternoon and in answer to the old
familiar "Amazing Grace, How Sweet it Sounds," etc. He was
then only seventeen years of age and had then only mastered
the contents of the "first reader," as it were known in the
elder days.
His young "master," Fulton Yerger, had condescended to
give him every assistance in going over this primary text, and
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80
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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led him as far as practicable over the lessons of the old Web¬
ster's "Blueback" Spelling Book.
This young "master," Fulton Yerger, has been dead now
forty years, but still Dr. Jones persists in crying "God bless his
ashes."
He remembers distinctly, as though it had been yesterday,
he says, the injunction of the mother of his young masters
when going forth to war in defense of what the Southerners
conceived to be right with relation to the secession from the
Union of States, "Never surrender your guns, if need be die,
but with your weapons directed toward the enemy."
Many and interesting are the circumstances of the struggle
and subsequent events that it delights Dr. Jones to relate, but
space and circumstance forbid a recital of those incidents.
He had a native liking for declamation, and when he had
been able to declaim, "I like to see a little dog, And pat him on
the head," etc, he was pleased to regard himself in the light of
a second Demosthenes, and went about to enlighten his be¬
nighted brethren through the entrancing spell of his self as¬
sumed eloquence.
Dr. Jones joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
at Stoneville, Miss., under the pastorate of Rev. Peter Robinson
in 1868. His membership was first placed in the St. John's
Church. In 1874 he joined the A. M. E. Conference at Friar
Point, Bishop Ward, presiding, and Rev. G.»W. Parker, acting
Marshal of the Conference. His first charge was known as
Eggs Point Mission. Since this time Dr. Jones has been
honored with many positions of responsibility and honor in the
denomination. He has held some of the most prominent and
important pastorates in this and other states, and has in every
single instance more than met the demands of the several
situations.
The chief opposition ever openly manifested against Dr.
Jones occurred on the occasion of his transfer to the Arkansas
Conference, and this proved to have been engendered from the
spirit of sectional jealousy. The Arkansas brethren resented,
and perhaps naturally, the intrusion of a foreign presiding
elder, the station to which he had been called in that juris¬
diction. Those, however, who saw fit, or thought they did, to
oppose him utterly failed to sustain any well founded objections
against him, and so the persecution resulted in a very distinct
triumph for the doctor.
Dr. Jones has enjoyed and has been able all the way along to
sustain the kindly interest and friendship of no less distinguish¬
ed a churchman and prelate than the Rt. Rev. Bishop W. B.
Derrick, who at one time presided over the Eighth Episcopal
A. M. E. Church District, in which Dr. Jones' work is now
located. Dr. Jones owns some valuable city property at Mound
Bayou, where earnestly aided by the efforts of his devoted wife
and five children he continues the valiant struggle for the
church and for the race and for Mound Bayou.
As a man and as a citizen he is remarked for his rugged
character, as a man of convictions of his own. He is an orator
of power, a deep thinker, a logical reasoner, and, withal, a man
who never will,
"Bend the supple hinges of the knee.
That thrift may follow fawning."
He has had the unique experience of pastoring at one time the
church of which both his mother and his .father were members.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 81 ^
Dr. Jones' entire life as a minister and as a man has been such
as to demand the highest measure of recognition from all with
whom he has been brought in contact.
THEODORE H.
BLACK.
Prof. Theo. H. Black
was born at Leota, Wash¬
ington County, Miss., in
1865. Here and at Davis'
Bend whither he later
removed he attended the
public schools under the
tutorship of Mesdames
Shadd and Shaw.
He passed four years in
the Alcorn A. & M. Col¬
lege, beginning in 1874.
He left the Alcorn Col¬
lege in 1874 and engaged
in teaching in the pub¬
lic schools of Warren
County, where in exami¬
nations he"" made excep¬
tional marks and attrac¬
ted the favorable atten¬
tion of the school author¬
ities.
Bf
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Residence ol T. II. Black.
Prof. Black came to Mound Bayou in 1890, landing here on
the third day of January. He bought eighty acres of land ad¬
jacent to the town, a large portion of which he later platted off
rfry rfrt rJr> r!ti> r$f% C&"» r$r> rJ'* rift rvn rfri r?r> dr» rjri c£r» rjrt r$n n?/i r?r
as a subdivision and placed on the market for sale. He was
married in 1907 to Mrs. Florence Jones. Mr. Black owns one
of the prettiest residences in the city. Mr. Black landed
at Mound Bayou empty
handed,so to speak, and
has by his own unaided
effort worked out for him¬
self a condition of com¬
parative affluence and
ease. -He is a member of
the A. M. E. Church, a
stockholder of the Bank
of Mound Bayou, and a
staunch supporter of the
business league idea.
SAMUEL C. HOOD.
Samuel C. Hood was
born January 28th, 1869,
in the town of Liberty,
Amite County, Miss. He
completed the public
school course in that
county and attended the
Tougaloo University, at
Tougaloo, Miss. He is a
brother of the author, and
a teacher in the public schools of Washington County.
He is one of the "boys" who when not actively engaged at
his profession is willing to do whatever his hands find to do.
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T 82 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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^ burg.
rb
T FRANK CLARK.
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Frank Clark was born March 23rd, 1883, at Louise, Miss.
Mr. Clark is a character exceptional in one sense. He was
born a little boy with all of the natural physical functions
well developed as far as the
eye of the uninitiated anat¬
omist might be able to dis¬
cern. But he never walked
but once and this was at the'
age of eleven months. From
this time he was afflicted
with a paralysis of some na¬
ture through which the en¬
tire use of the lower limbs,
the limbs of locomotion
seem to have been unexplain-
ably lost.
His weakness has been
diagnosed as a species of
meningitis, but, whatever it
may be one thing is certain
and that is that he cannot
get about to any extent
'OjcOjC
Frank Clark
what ever without the aid of a pair of crutches.
OjC His features shown in the cut above presented do not indicate
OjC that there is any ailment affecting him. While his lower ex-
rfp tremities are unserviceable to him, Mr. Clark has been careful
^ to make good use of his head and his hands. He has grown to
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Samuel C. Hood
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 83 *£
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be a fairly proficient, shoe maker and repairer and is still as¬
siduously pursuing a broader knowledge of that craft.
He has attended public schools and also enjoyed the privi¬
lege of spending some years at the Alcorn A. & M. College,
where he began his apprenticeship in the shoe making business.
He is determined, in spite of his physical handicap to be self
supporting and not to become a charge on the world's charity
account. Brave boy is Frank Clark, and the world applauds
his pluck and nerve.
JAMES MONROE MARK.
Jas. M. Marr was born in the neighborhood of Davis' Bend,
Warren County, Miss., May 15th, 186.9. He cotnes of poor
and humble though ruggedly honest antecedents. The truth
of this is reflected in his life and character up to his present age.
He attended the public schools in Warren County, as a boy,
and later enjoyed the privilege of spending three years 1889-
1892, in the Alcorn A. & M. College, at Rodney, Miss.
He had taken up meanwhile the barber's profession and is
still successfully following that line of work. His has been a
boldly venturesome business life and he lias met with a suc¬
cession of both successes and reverses, but with the invin¬
cible spirit born of the determination either to find or make a
way he has kept a "still upper lip" and struggled bravely on
consistently declining to entertain any suggestion of a senti¬
ment looking in the direction of discouragement. In 1896 he
was married to Miss Isabella Strong, a daughter of one of the
oldest and most prominent families of Mound Bayou.
Mr. Marr is prominently identified with the work of the
A. M. E. Church, being a steward, and trustee of the Bethel
A. M. E. Church here, and also superintendent of the Sunday
School. He was for many years the conscientious and worthy
Worshipful Master of the local lodge of Masons. In Mound
Bayou's first municipal administration, J. Monroe Marr was a
member of the Board of Aldermen, and town clerk.
CHAS. A. GREEN.
Chas. A. Greene was born Dec., 31, 1875, at Tillatoba, Yalo¬
busha County, Miss. He completed the public school course
in his home county and en¬
tered the State Normal
School, at Holly Springs
where he spent the years
1894, '95, '96 and '97, leav¬
ing just a few months before
having finished the course of
study required for gradua¬
tion. Prof. Greene entered
the teaching profession, in
which he remained with
unvarying success until the
year 1906. He was married
in 1901 to Miss Hallie E.
Lester, also of Tillatoba, and
came to Mound Bayou im¬
mediately after his marriage.
He had heard sufficiently
enter at once into the spirit of
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Chas. A. Greene
of Mound Bayou to be able to
the colony. He was agent for the Y. & M. V. Railroad Com¬
pany and the American Express Company in 1906-1907. He
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84
T/ie Ne</ro at Mound Bayou.
resigned this situation in the Spring of 1907 and accepted a
position with the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing
Co., as traveling solicitor, which position he holds at present.
THOMAS W. COOK.
Mr. Thos. W. Cook, the engineering brain of the Mound
Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company's plant was born
^ August 31, 1865, at Jackson, La. Mr. Cook's educational ad¬
vantages were limited to the
public schools of his section
supplemented by some fur¬
ther facilities under private
tutorship. He inherits, how¬
ever, the genius for me¬
chanics, h i s father having
been a very proficient work¬
man and it was under his
eye that Mr. Cook accom¬
plished his apprenticeship as
a designing and constructing
engineer.
H i s handiwork is evi¬
denced on many of the fa¬
mous structures of the South
but after years must remem¬
ber him and give him credit
Thomas YV. Cook for (}esjgning a n ^ building
the mammoth plants of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Man¬
ufacturing Company, and the Carnegie Library Building at
Mound Bayou.
r^rt
W. H. COOK.
Mr. W. H. Cook is a younger brother of T. W. Cook, and
like him was born at Jackson, La., June 30, 1876. He attended
the Bayou Sara Normal
School, and began life as a
farmer boy. He was closely
attentive to duty and was
early intrusted with the
managership of hfe father's
plantation interests. Mr.
Cook is both a carpenter and
a millwright. He learned
the trade of a carpenter un¬
der his father, and was
taught the millwright busi¬
ness by his brother, Thos.
W Cook. He was married
in 1904 to Miss Cora High,
of High, Oktibbeha, County,
Miss. The prominence of
the young lady's family may
be inferred from the fact
that the local post office was named for them. Mr. Cook was
foreman of construction on the buildings of the Mound Bayou
Oil Mill and Manufacturing Co.
COLUMBUS R. STRINGER.
Mr. C. R. Stringer, senior member of the firm of C. R. String¬
er & Co., one of the strongest mercantile houses at Mound Bay¬
ou was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849. It will be seen from
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XV. H. Cook
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 85
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the geography of his birthplace that he was not a slave. He
came into the state of Kentucky in the year 1852, and here af¬
ter the lapse of a few years had the supreme misfortune to lose
both of his parents by death. Now began for the boy that aus¬
tere struggle for existence.
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Columbus R. Strintier
on his own responsibility, a
struggle that was to know
no termination. From this
time until 187G he followed
a variety of pursuits with
varying success. In this
year he entered the state
of Arkansas and engaged
in farming, and here he
seems to have found the
calling for which he held a
large measure of natural
adaptation and toward
which his inclination had
constantly drawn him.
He succeeded from the
first as a farmer and con¬
tinued in it for twenty-
rir>
seven years, having in the meanwhile also branched out into
the mercantile field. He joined the Confederate army in 1863
and served with it for two years, being mustered out in 18G5, at
Meridian, Miss.
Seized with the desire to travel a while Mr. Stringer left the
United States in 1899 and went to San Juan, Cuba. He had
the privilege of witnessing much of the military operations of
that year on the island, and can tell with sustained interest of
his variety of experiences down there.
His return journey occupied some six months and he came in'
the latter part of 1899 to Mississippi. He located at Mound
Bayou engaging in merchandise. He has built up what is, per¬
haps the largest and most representative mercantile establish¬
ment in the town. He has been, and is now after an interval of
a few years a member of the Board of Aldermen.
He is a stockholder and a member of the Board of Directors
of the Bank of Mound Bayou, and has thrown the material
weight of his influence and his means to the furtherance of every
move that has had for its purpose the advancement of Mound
Bayou interests.
He is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, of which
religious organization he became a communicant in 1865. His
is not a perfunctory church membership, nor has his church
connection been dictated by policy.
His service is a hearty service and there is not a stronger nor
more zealous church worker in this whole country than Colum¬
bus R. Stringer.
He has held a lifelong interest in Sunday School work, and in
this peculiar sphere of religious activity he has achieved a
reputation that many strong men might envy.
Mr. Stringer is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having
advanced to the Royal Arch division of that ancient and honor¬
able order. He was a member of Lodge No. 1, in the state of
Arkansas, the first lodge of Masons ever established in that
State among Negro people.
He is a nephew of the celebrated Dr. Thos. W. Stringer, the
venerable founder of Negro Masonry in this section of the
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States. The very steady growth of Mr. Stringer's business and
his unchallenged commercial standing go to prove that he is one
of the "square deal" business men. He is in addition to this a
public spirited citizen and no effort for the betterment of any
local condition ever wants for his aid and encouragement.
B. HOWARD CRESWELL.
Hon. B. H. Creswell, Mayor of Mound Bayou, and Ex-Offi-
cio Justice of the Peace, in and for the County of Bolivar, State
of Mississippi, was born near
the town of Woodville, in
Wilkinson County, Miss.,
July 3rd, 1860.
In 1874, at the age of four-
. teen he moved with h i s
father and mother to Oak
Bend, Warren County,
Miss., landing here Dec.
27th, 1874.
He worked here with his
parents on the farm until
the first day of Aug. 1879,
when he entered the employ
of Messrs. Hasie & Co., as
clerk in a large general mer¬
chandise store at Newtown.
He remained with this firm
until 1885, when he accepted
a situation with the firm of Hiisch & Creswell, of the same
town as general manager of the firm's interests.
Creswell
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This station he held to the entire satisfaction of his employ-
ers for the next four years. ^
In 1890 he moved up to Greenville, Washington County, OjC
Miss., where he bought some real estate, built on the same, and
engaged with his father in the grocery-meat market business. r£f»
He was not satisfied to remain long here but sold out his inter- ^
est in this business in 1891, and came to Mound Bayou, where vi"
he had already, in 1888, made some considerable investment in *7-
farm property. From this time on to 1901 Mr. Creswell con- 04-?
fined his attention and his energies to his farming operations
exclusively, succeeding admirably in the improvement of his
properties. In 1901 he launched out for himself in the mercan
tile business, and in this line he is still successfully engaged. On
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the 14th day of August, 1906, Mr. Creswell was appointed
Mayor of Mound Bayou to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 0j?
death of the late lamented Mayor Jno. W. Cobbs. So com- 0;?
pletely satisfactory has been his administration of his official «*.**»
functions that he has since been twice elected to the office of ^
, mayor by the suffrage of his fellow citizens. All present indi- "J"
cations point to the probability that Mr. Creswell will be per- "J"
mitted to occupy the honorable station as long as he may be 0^?
disposed to desire it. At the last municipal election he was re- Op?
turned without opposition. He has the unique distinction of ^
holding a commission of appointment to the office of Mayor ^
1 signed by former governor Jas. K.Vardaman, and this is a dis- "J"
tinction worth remembering. v7-
Mr. Creswell's opportunity for education was extremely mea- O7?
gre and consisted only in the very inadequate facilities offered in O7?
the public schools of his youth. He was married February 14th r!r>
1884, to Miss Ida Washington. _
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Ten children have been born to the union, five of whom sur¬
vive. Mr. Creswell owns one hundred and twenty-six (126) acres
of land in Bolivar County and seventy (70) acres in Sunflower
County, Miss.
He owns also one of the prettiest and most desirable residence
plats in the city, on which he has erected a beautiful two-story
residence where he dwells in happiness and contentment with
his interesting family.
WILLIAM WEST.
Mr. William West, a solid citizen of the Mound Bayou com¬
munity and now fully recognized as a force to be reckoned on in
the further advancement of
things affecting Mound
Bayou's future was born in
Fairfax County, Va., De¬
cember 28th, 1847, about
twelve miles from the town
of Alexandria.
He was born of slave par¬
ents and never enjoyed the
opportunity for attendance
at school of any character.
He has been forced to de¬
pend entirely o n whatever
natural ability with which
nature endowed him to
meet and overcome the dif-
ficulties and obstacles
William West thrown across his path
•%? 4
through life. Gauged by the world's standard of success, how¬
ever, these endowments must have been ample for he has
wrought for himself a station in the industrial world that must
appeal to the envy of many men to whom larger opportunities
have been opened but who have still been unable to show the
material results that are credited to William West. He left
his Virginia home and moved to Mississippi in 1859, locating
near the town of Edwards, in Hinds County. He moved to
Mound Bayou in 1895 and engaged in farming. Mr. West
owns eighty acres of land just one mile, south of the town
proper and in this eighty acre tract is located the town's most
beautiful park ground.
He is a member of the Green Grove Baptist Church in which
he has served as a deacon for a number of years. He is treasur¬
er of the Mound Bayou Temple of Knights of Tabor, and W.
S. P., of the local lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Jacob.
He is in every sense a responsible man and citizen and may be
always depended upon to perform his obligations to his fellow
man, and to society.
MRS. M. A. BRADLEY,
Mrs. M. A. Bradley, a popular leader in church and social
affairs in the neighborhood of Mound Bayou, was born in Rac-
quessee Parish, in the State of Louisiana, August 20th, 1865.
Just about this time the dark clouds of oppression under war¬
rant of the country's constitution were dissipated and the bright
rays of the sunlight of physical freedom were permitted to pen¬
etrate the gloomy everglades. Mrs. Bradley was obliged to
work her way through menial service as was the lot of practi-
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cally all the Negro girls born about this period. She enjoyed
the heritage of a fixed purpose and determination to rise among
the men and women of the world to such heights as were at¬
tainable within the limits of
her natural powers supple¬
mented in a small way by
some scant school facilities
such as were afforded in
the operation of the public
school system of the period.
Her father and mother were
Virginia slaves and there
was implanted in her as
through the force of hered¬
ity a reverence for sound
principles of morality and
she has striven successfully
to live up to the demands of
her early training.
She was married in 1888
to Mr. Horace Bradley.
Mrs. M. A. Bradley ghe wag converted in early
youth and joined the Missionary Baptist Church. She is a
member of the Calanthe Tabernacle of the International Order
of Twelve at Mound Bayou, and also Queen Mother of the
Tent department of the same organization here, to which posi¬
tion she has been repeatedly chosen. We do not know of a
higher recommendation that could be given her than that the
parents of the children comprising this organization gladly
entrust their little ones to her fraternal care and instruction.
In this view of the situation it will be seen that Mrs. Brad¬
ley is called to occupy a place of supreme importance in the
general scheme of things going forward at Mound Bayou. It
is a distinct pleasure to be able to testify that no doubt is enter¬
tained as to her entire fitness and capability for the performance
of the duties devolving on her in this capacity.
REV. E. L. DICKSON.
Rev. E. L. Dickson was born twenty miles south of Vicks-
burg, in Warren County, Miss. He grew to manhood with only
common school opportunities and was married to Miss Cagie
Rovster, March 20th, 1879,
by Rev. K. Rucks. He moved
to Mound Bayou in 1893 and
bought eighty acres of land
from the railroad company.
In addition to this Rev.
Dickson also owns some val¬
uable city realty, on one lot
of which he lives and con¬
ducts a flourishing grocery
store business. He was con¬
verted and joined the Bap¬
tist Church August 10th,
1874, and in the same year
recognized the voice of a
call to the ministry. He was
ordained on the 28th day of
March, A. D. 1875, and has
since held a number of im-
Kev. E. L. Dickson
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
89
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portant pastoral charges, at different points in the state. He
learned to read and write in the public schools under the
tutelage of Rev. .Joe Thompson. Pie is now the past Scribe
of the local lodge of the Sons and Daughters of Jacob, and has
held this station for more than thirteen years. His membership
is now with Lodge No. G76.
He did not come to Mound Bayou in the role of a pauper and
has since been able to acquire property to the value of several
thousand dollars.
R. W. HOOD.
Air. R. \Y. Hood is the father of the author of this little book.
He was born seventy-two years ago, a slave near the town of
Liberty, in Amite County, Miss. He was in early boyhood ap¬
prenticed by his master to the trade of a blacksmith which he
mastered in all of its details. He is still vigorous and hearty
and follows yet the vocation of the blacksmith. He was mar¬
ried under the provisions of the slave code to Miss Eliza Jane
Nelson and to the union seven children were born. He was im¬
bued with the idea that education was a most valuable asset in
the race of life and struggled hard to give to each of his children
the benefit of the best attainable educational facilities. He
spent a short while in the Tougaloo University in the first year
of its establishment as an institution for the education of Negro
youth and all of his five children who survived the period of in¬
fancy were sent'to the same school.
Mr. Hood came to Mound Bayou in 1895, and has contribu¬
ted as best he could to the advancement of everything affecting
the best interests of the community. He is recognized in every
quarter as a master of his trade and owns valuable property in
the town of Mound Bayou.
REV. J. A. BYNOE, D. D.
Dr. J. Allan Bynoe was born at Bridgetown, Barbadoes, B.
W. I., December 25th, 1866. He was educated in the common
and high schools of the island, emigrating to the United States
in his early manhood and continuing his studies in the Camp¬
bell College at Jackson, Miss.
Feeling the need of a higher measure of preparation for the
work of the ministry to which he had been called in 1894, he
made his way to Wilberforce, Ohio, where he entered the Payne
Theological Seminary, and here he went through with credit the
course prescribed. He has since held a number of important
pastoral charges, at Greenwood, Gunnison, and other points in
Mississippi, tie is at present pastor of the Bethel A. M. E.
Church at Mound Bayou, and was recsntly elected Dean of the
Theological Department of the Campbell College at Jackson,
Miss.
T. S. MORRIS.
Mr. Thomas S. Morris may be regarded as a splendid repre¬
sentative of the leading class of farmers and planters not alone
of the Mound Bayou neighborhood, but of the entire delta and
the state. He came to Mound Bayou from C'larksdale, Miss.,
in the year 1903. Mr. Morris has purchased and paid for
since that time two hundred and forty acres of land.
He makes no pretensions whatever to qualifications in the
way of scholarship, while he has been able to avail himself of
some slight educational opportunities. Mr. Morris may well
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pride himself, however, on the development of his faculties for
the cultivation of the soil in this section of the country.
We tried to ascertain Mr. Morris'age but found him a little
bit sensitive on this point and all of our powers of persuasion,
1r> and efforts at coercion availed us nothing in the attempt to get
r£r> from him a photograph of himself for exhibition in this work.
He has a peculiarly strong aversion to the attraction of public
notice to himself. We don't know why for he is yet quite a
long way from being an old man, and as for his personal appear¬
ance we believe nearly all the ladies, not by any means exclud¬
ing his estimable good wife, will concur with us in the opinion
that Tom Morris is not the homeliest featured man in the
state.
Seriously Mr. Morris is a splendid example of the"New" Ne¬
gro of the South as regarded in the light of awakened and in¬
telligent industrialism.
He strives to keep in touch with the latest developments of
agricultural science and is an ardent disciple of the doctrine of
improved methods and better farming for the Southern cotton
raiser. It is his class of farmers that must eventually give dig¬
nity and standing to the pursuit of agriculture in this section of
the Southland.
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MRS. GERTRUDE A. JONES-BRYANT.
Mrs. Gertrude A. Jones-Bryant was born in Selma, Ala., Oc¬
tober 19th, 1879. She remained in the city of her birth until
1889, when her parents moved, taking her with them, to Vicks-
burg, Miss. They remained only a short while in Vicksburg,
moving in the early part of 1900 to Mound Bayou. Her edu¬
cation was begun at home under the immediate instruction of
iwa
her mother. She completed the studies of the primary graa
in the Knox Academy, at Selma, Ala. Mrs. Bryant ascribes
credit, however, to the Cherry Street Public School, at Vicks¬
burg, for her educational
qualifications. The curric¬
ulum of the Vicksburg pub¬
lic school system is equal,
it may be said, to those
of many of the institutions
for higher education, and
if Mrs. Gertrude A. Bry¬
ant may be accepted as a
fair illustration of what
they are accomplishing
there, then it is certain
that the public school sys¬
tem of Vicksburg is per¬
forming great service for
the race. She never at¬
tended a high school or a
college, but you know this
any apparent or discernible
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Mrs. Gertrude A. Jones-Bryant
only after you are told and not by
defect on her part. She entered the teaching profession in Boli¬
var County in 1902, and her thorough scholarship and culti¬
vated intellect and capacity at once opened the way for her
and she went straight to her place in the front rank of county
school workers. Mrs. Bryant is endowed with a remarkable
power of elocution and had she chosen that line for her life
work there is little doubt that she would have risen to emi¬
nence. Quite contrary to accepted notions of the country
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91
school teacher, Airs. Bryant continues up to this day a close
reader and a hard student. Indeed, as she very sensibly ex¬
plains, "I can never be satisfied with the measure of my attain¬
ments in my chosen profession, and feel it my duty to keep
perpetually at it. Trying always to add to my limited store
some additional items of useful information." Mrs. Bryant
has been principal of the Mound Bayou public school since
1904. So satisfactory has been her work here that there is
never a thought of a succession to that position.
Mrs. Bryant was, before marriage Miss Gertrude A. Jones,
and was married in December 1907 to Mr. J no. II. Bryant, a
popular young man of Mound Bayou.
MRS. M. A. LEE.
Mrs. M. A. Lee, one of the largest property holders at Mound
Bayou, and a prominent citizen generally, in church and society
was born in Atlanta, Ga., January 21, 186-1. She graduated
from the Normal Department of Atlanta University, and took
a literary course in Berea College, Berea, Ky. Here she also
devoted some time to the reading of the science of medicine.
She taught school some five years, that is, from the age of thir¬
teen to about the age of eighteen, after which in connection
with her teaching work she began the delivery of a series of
lectures on hygiene, or the practical laws of health, how to re¬
gain it, once lost, and how to retain it, once regained. She joined
with this work also the vending of proprietary medicines out of
which she was able to earn a fair competency and with an eye
to the inevitable rainy day she exercised a most commend¬
able prudence in the husbandry and profitable investment of a
substantial portion of her earnings. Mrs. Lee is a financier.
She purchased three lots in the city of Jackson, Miss., for five
hundred ($500) dollars and after a very short while sold the
same lots for one thousand ($1000) dollars each. She came to
Mound Bayou in the year of 1890, and was married on the 14th
day of August of that year, in the Green Grove (First) Baptist
• Church, to Mr. Geo. A. Lee. This was Mound Bayou's first
marriage.
Mrs. Lee owns some two hundred and eighty (280) acres of
valuable farm lands here, in addition to some of the most de¬
sirable city lots.
She has built one very valuable business house on the most
prominent business corner in the town and a splendid residence
house which is occupied by the family. She has been for the
past fourteen years Worthy Matron of the local Order of the
Eastern Star; and is also a member of the Daughters of the
Tabernacle of the International order of Twelve.
LAWRENCE ALDRICH.
Lawrence Aldrich is one of the representative and responsi¬
ble farmer-planters of the Mound Bayou neighborhood. He
was born near Greensborough, Choctaw County, Miss., about
the year 1841. He was born a slave, and of course at this date
never enjoyed the privilege of attending school at all. He was
raised on a farm, and his work all the way along has been there.
Air. Aldrich came to Mound Bayou about 1895, purchased,
and has since paid for one hundred (100) acres of fertile delta
soil, six miles east of the town just across Sunflower river, in
the County of that same name. Mound Bayou, however, is
his post office and his logical business place, and so he is very
properly accounted a citizen of Mound Bayou.
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MRS. ADA J. SIMMONS.
Mrs. Ada J. Simmons was born in the city of Richmond, Va.,
the capital of the Southern Confederacy, sometime in the year
ISfiO, or about the time when were "let slip the dogs of war,"
in the most terribly destruc-
t i v e internecine struggle
that has afflicted any nation
of men in the modern his¬
tory of the world. It was
merely an innocent coinci- 1
dence that Mrs. Simmons ,
chanced to be born at this >
particular period fraught <
with so sublimely great con¬
sequences in the subsequent
history of her people in this
country. She is not to be
charged with responsibility, 1
or, at least, only to an infini- j
tesimally small extent, with
responsibility for the pre- ,
cipitation of that war. The ■
fact of birth within the
borders of the "Old Dominion" is commonly considered as
carrying with it some considerations of prestige and recom- ,
mendation. Those, however, to whose hands were confided
the future of the little girl child born on the banks of the
James, disregarded these supposititious advantages and immi¬
grated with her into the State of Mississippi, settling in the i
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Mrs. Ada J. Simmons
; county of Claiborne. Here were passed the days of her infancy
and girlhood, and in the schools of Port Gibson, the county site
j of Claiborne County, were opened to her such opportunities
I for education as were then provided for the youth of the newly
j made free men. Mrs. Simmons applied herself with earnest-
I ness to making the best possible use of the opportunity thus
, offered. She was converted in early life and joined the Mis-
| sionary Baptist Church, with which Christian organization
I she has loyally remained, evidencing in her daily life and de-
' portment a most commendable spirit of devotion to the cause
of the Master, and the moral and religious elevation of her
people.
She was married to Mr. Augustus G. Simmons. Together
they moved in 1894 to Mound Bayou where they identified
themselves with that section of the population by which the
| aspirations of the Mound Bayou effort are truly represented
and have rendered invaluable service in helping along every
I move that has had for its object the betterment of general con-
j ditions. She has been repeatedly honored by her women as-
i sociates in her election to the presidency of the Society of Ren¬
ovators, a local organization of Mound Bayou women, that
■ has accomplished a great work in the purification of the moral
I atmosphere of the community. They form a band of ever vigi-
. lant guards effectually environing the social walls and repelling
as best they may every approach of evil. Under the leader¬
ship of Mrs. Ada J. Simmons, sustained by the combined in¬
fluence of such women as Mesdames M. R. Montgomery, L. T.
I M. Brooks, Susan Scott and M. A. Lee, the society of Renova¬
tors will go on to far greater achievements for the good of
Mound Bayou.
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R. J. GARDNER.
Prof. Reuben .J. Gardner, in point of all around ability, in
the first rank of the younger business element of Mississippi's
remarkable business builders, is the gift to us of the State of
Alabama. He was born in humble circumstances, at Wetump-
ka, Ala., March ii 1, 1S71. His nativity must have been herald¬
ed by ah invisible and unobserved star of hope as has been amply
evidenced in his career and accomplishments up to the time of
this writing. In his community and at this time very little
significance could be attached to the birth of a little Negro boy.
It was a very common occurrence. Little Negro boys were being
born every day, and the birth of one or more could not possi¬
bly exert any appreciable influence on the established trend of
human affairs. But the greatest characters that have lived,
and whose lives and achievements go to make up the adornment
of the pages of human history have been ushered into lile
without the accompaniment of the trumpet's blast, and still
they have fulfilled missions in the world by which humanity
has been thrilled and lifted grandly up toward God. R. J. Gard¬
ner came, in the fall of 1875 to Newton, Miss. lie remained
here but a short while, removing subsequently to Warren, and
then later into Bolivar County. In these latter counties he
attended the public schools to the creditable completion of the
courses provided in the curriculum of these institutions. In this
he had learned enough to realize his almost utter unprepared-
ness for engagement in the work of the world with any hope of
realizing even a near approach to the best there was in him.
The thirst for knowledge had been awakened and must be
satiated. In 1886, or at the age of fifteen Mr. Gardner entered
7 :
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the Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Rodney,
Miss., the state institution for the higher learning of Negro
youth, and here he remained during four consecutive school
years applying himself with
diligence to the mastery of
the texts in the regular
course. Leaving this insti¬
tution at the end of four
years, impelled by an in¬
tense desire for yet stronger
literary preparation he
went to Nashville, Tenn.,
where he matriculated in
the Central Tennessee Col¬
lege in 1890.
In this college, noted for
the standard of scholarship
attained by its students,
Mr. Gardner was the prize
winner of his class for three
years. He also won the
medal on class exhibit in 1903, at the World's Fair in Chica¬
go. He had been engaged in the teaching profession during
vacation seasons, and leaving the Central Tennessee College
in 1896, he devoted himself to this work, in which he contin¬
ued with flattering success until 1908, holding important ap¬
pointments in the public and high schools of Louisiana, Arkan¬
sas and Mississippi. As pointing to the prominence which
he attained in the pedagogic world it may be stated that he was
J. Gardner
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a delegate from Mississippi to the National Teachers' Asso¬
ciation at its sessions in Atlanta, Ga., and at Nashville,
Tenn. Mr. Gardner was for a number of years president
of the Bolivar County (Miss.) Teachers' Association.
He is a communicant of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church and has also risen to merited distinction in religious
work, being the corresponding secretary of the Mississippi
State Christian Endeavor League. He has been active too in
fraternal circles and stands conspicuously high in the councils
of the Knights of Pythias and the Grand United Order of Odd
Fellows. He was a delegate to the meeting of the B. M. C.,
at Richmond, Va., and at Atlantic City, N. J.
He was married May 18, 1898 to Miss Addie L. Blair, young¬
est daughter of Rev. G. W. Blair, of Nashville, Tenn. Miss
Blair was a very highly accomplished young lady, and in the
union of hearts with Prof. Reuben J. Gardner she has proven
a practical and helpful helpmeet. While Mr. Gardner's life
thus far has consisted in public services calculated to uplift
others the personal equation has not been entirely overlooked
nor neglected and there stands to his credit no inconsiderable
reckoning of the world's material good things. He owns among
other things a comfortable home of eighty acres of land, as
good from a standpoint of productiveness as is to be found in
this fertile section. This land is in a very high state of cultiva¬
tion and situated a few miles east of the town of Duncan, in
the north end of this (Bolivar) county. Mr. Gardner came to
Mound Bayou only in 1908 and engaged with the Mound Bayou
Oil Mill and Manufacturing Co., as traveling solicitor. He
was still pursuing this vocation when on account of his superior
talent and fitness he was called to take charge of the local
offices of the Y. & M. V. Railroad and the American Express
Companies.
When on account of the volume of business it was found
necessary to divorce these two offices, Mr. Gardner was re¬
tained in charge of the railroad's interests as local agent. This
station he still holds, successfully rendering satisfaction to all
concerned. He frankly attributes his success to the influences
and helpfulness of a loving mother, and a tenderly devoted wife.
Mr. Gardner has also made some substantial investment in
Mound Bayou real estate.
EUGENE POWELL.
Mr. Eugene Powell is one of the progressive young farmers
of the Mound Bayou community. Born and reared in the
southern part of the State he came to Mound Bayou in 1902,
from Summit, Pike County, Miss. Mr. Powell owns one
hundred acres of the delta's rich land and knows how to apply
the necessary agricultural requirements to get from these
acres an independent livelihood.
CHARLES SWEARINGEN.
Mr. Chas. Swearingen, and his two sons, Albert and Thos.
Swearingen came to Mound Bayou from Brookhaven, Lincoln
County, Miss., in 1903. Together, they own in the aggregate,
four hundred acres of land. They are all farmers, cotton
farmers to the manner born and have come to be recognized as
leaders in agricultural pursuits. They are of the class of Negro
farmers of whom the "white-caps" in our southern tier of
counties made such strenuous and successful efforts to rid
themselves several years ago.
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ALEX MYERS.
Air. Alex Myers, blacksmith-farrier-mechanic was born Feb¬
ruary 13, 1864, at Hebron. Lawrence County, Miss. He at¬
tended public school to about the age of eight years when his
boyish service was required
•msmm
Alexander Myers
in the field along with his
step-father. He was ap¬
prenticed to the trade of a
black-smith and wheel¬
wright at the age of
eighteen. One year later
married to Miss Brillie Ann
Dampeer. Pie is a staunch
member of the Bethel A. M.
E. Church at Mound Bayou
which religious organization
he joined in 1892. So great
was the confidence of the
church membership in his
profession of conversion that
the usual probationary rule
was suspended, he was re¬
ceived into full membership
a church trusteeship. lie has never been
Myers was the first treasurer of the town of
and held the ollice for
and advanced to
disciplined. Mr.
Mound Bayou after its incorporation
five consecutive years. He has been engaged in various occu¬
pations and business during his residence here and has encount¬
ered D.succession of successes and failures but has determined-
95
ly held his grip. He is now the proprietor of the largest
blacksmithing establishment in town, and owns some very
valuable though unimproved property in the town.
BEVERLY J. ARRINGTON.
Mr. B. J. Arrington is another of the early settlers of Mound
Bayou who joined the first immigrants coming from the neigh¬
borhood of Vicksburg. He is consequently one of the men who
have borne the "brunt of the battle" of exploration and settle¬
ment in the heat of the day. Mr. Arrington was one of the
famous early timber workers. He owns a nice farm of eighty
acres and a limited amount of desirable city property.
REV. JOHNSON N. TURNER.
Rev. J. N. Turner, one of the strongest factors in the Chris¬
tian Church denomination in this part of the country was born
on the Point Pleasant plantation, in Louisiana, Sept. 16, 1851.
Pie was allowed to remain ten years here, or until 1861, when he
was seized and carried away by federal soldiers. At the con¬
clusion of the war he made his way back to Point Pleasant, La.,
remaining here now till 1884 when he moved to Milliken's
Bend, La. Here he undertook to enter on the purchase of some
iand but was advised by the white people according to his state¬
ment that the time was not yet ripe for disposal of lands to Negro
owners. Mr. Turner had learned from some source that the
L. N. 0. & T. Railroad Company was offering lands for sale to
Negro customers in Mississippi. Determined on purchasing
a home of his own he went to Vicksburg and there came in
touch with Isaiah T. Montgomery, and his land seeking troubles
were over. The Mound Bayou proposition was brought to his
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attention and he at once grasped the opportunity of joining the
colonization effort. He entered the purchase here of one hun¬
dred and twenty (120) acres at seven and eight dollars per acre.
On the land thus bought he
built a little log cabin in the
woods into which he moved
his family and which was
occupied by them for many
years.
About 1897-98 associated
with some other gentlemen
he negotiated the purchase
of a half acre block within
the corporate limits of the
town on which was erected
the Planters' G i n Com¬
pany's gin plant. This gin
has played an important
part in the preparation of
the local cotton crop for
market.
Rev. Johnson N. Turner rpurner subsequently
0|? bought out the interests of those who had been associated with
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him in the enterprise and he now has entire control of the plant.
In addition to this he has acquired possession of other desir¬
able city property. He was the founder of the First Chris¬
tian Church here and has been a member of that organization
since 1867. He has been a trustee of the Mound Bayou pub¬
lic school practically ever since its establishment.
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JOHN H. BRYANT.
Mr. John II. Bryant was born in the city of Raleigh, N. C.,
January 9, 1878. He attended the public schools of his native
city and came to Missis¬
sippi in 1893, settling at
Greenville. He has fol¬
lowed the barber's trade all
his life and is a very com¬
petent workman. He is
proprietor of J. H. Bryant's
Shaving Parlor, one of the
most elaborately fitted
shops in the city. Mr.
Bryant is a leader in local
athletic circles and has
been for several years man¬
ager of the Mound Bayou
baseball team. He was
married Dec. 18, 1907 to
Miss Gertrude A. Jones,
principal of the Mound
Bayou public school
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REV. S. M. MORGAN.
Rev. S. M. Morgan, presiding elder of the Mound Bayou
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church District, was born April 15,
1860, in Sumpter County Alabama. He attended public schools
in Alabama from 1863 to 1876 when he was permitted to enter
the Belmont Academy, at Belmont, Ala. He also had the bene-
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fit of instruction in the Tuscaloosa University at Tuscaloosa,
Ala. He was married April .'J, 1879 to Miss Nancy Powell and of
the union twelve children have been horn, six hoys and six girls.
Rev. Morgan made pro¬
fession of conversion in
1887 and was licensed to
preach two years later, or,
in 1889. He was ordained
a deacon by BishopC. C.
Petty in 1892, his ordina¬
tion as an elder following
in 1894. He has pastored
many of the most impor¬
tant charges of his denomi¬
nation in the states of
Louisiana and Mississippi.
Rev. Morgan was promot¬
ed to the presiding elder¬
ship by Bishop Geo. W.
Clinton in 1903. He moved
in 1902 from Tallulah, La.
Rev. s. M. Morgan Mound Bayou purchas¬
ing forthwith one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land. This
land he has reduced to a high state of cultivation considering
the brief period he has occupied it, building meanwhile a very
commodious and comfortable family residence, and the nec¬
essary tenant premises required for its profitable cultivation.
He has also erected on the plantation a C. M. E. Church build¬
ing where regular services of the denomination are held. Rev.
Morgan is secretary of the Board of Directors of the Bank of
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Mound Bayou, in which institution he is a substantial stock¬
holder; he is also a stockholder of the Mound Bayou Loan and
Investment Company and secretary of this corporation. He
is interested, too, by investment in the stock of the Mound
Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company. He is a trustee
of the Mound Bayou Normal and Industrial Institute.
In addition to his splendid farm property, Rev. Morgan owns
a considerable block of very valuable town realty. Fraternally
he is an active member of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights
of Pythias, Knights of Tabor, Jacobs and Court of Calanthe.
GEORGE A. LEE.
Mr. Geo. A. Lee would very naturally rise in sufficiently
well provoked indignation and smite us with deserved dis¬
approval did we attempt to set him forth in the garb of "thrust-
upon-him" greatness, and still he has with consistency, with
or without consciousness of the fact trodden steadily along the
path which many eminent Americans have followed from obscu¬
rity to undying fame in the annals of the republic, in that he
was born on a farm. The earliest dawn of physical existence as we
know of it, first shown for George A. Lee on a farm bordering
Lake Lee, a few miles south of Greenville, in Washington Coun¬
ty, Miss., in 1867. He entered the county schools of Washing¬
ton County in his boyhood and soon gave unmistakable evi¬
dences of an exceptional measure of intellectual acuteness that
prophesied of brilliant future accomplishments. He was moved
with his parents, while yet a youth, to Warren County where
they engaged in farming. Mr. Lee's first gainful employment
was entered upon when he was engaged as assistant teacher in
the Brunswick public school, at this time under the adminstra-
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tion of a white principal, an Englishman. Later he matricu¬
lated in the Tougaloo University, at Tougaloo, Miss. Leaving
here he made his way to Nashville, Tenn., and entered the Fisk
University, where he devoted six consecutive years to the
assiduous pursuit of the
higher branches of learning.
He came to Mound Bayou
about 1888-89 and was
married shortly thereafter
to Mrs. Mollie A. Wilson.
Mr. Lee is conspicuously
prominent in Masonic cir¬
cles, having attained to the
thirty-second degree in that
ancient and honorable or¬
der. He was for a number
of years Grand Orator of
the M. W. Stringer Grand
Lodge, and held for five
years the responsible sta¬
tion of Grand Secretary of
this great fraternal body,
resigning this to enter
Georjje A. Lee
upon the study of law in the Illinois College of Law, of Chi¬
cago, from which institution he graduated with the degree
of LL. B., with the class of 1908. He is past Master of Lampton
Lodge No. 141, the local lodge of Masons. He was the first
county Justice of the Peace for the Mound Bayou District,
J. McLaurin, now representing Mississippi in the senate of the
United States.
Mr. Lee is a man of irreproachable moral character, excellent
intellectual attainments, a close student, a deep and logical
reasoner, a brilliant conversationalist, a convincing orator, and
a most companionable associate. We can conjure up no reason
why his career at the bar may not be one in which all of us may
justly take pride. His realty holdings 'n the town and in the
country are by no means inconsiderable.
Mr. Lee is a member of the A. M. E. Church and is active
in his efforts for the support of every feature of the church work
rendering specially effective service in the work of the choir.
HENRY A. GODBOLD.
Mr. H. A. Godbold was born at Ilazlehurst, Copiah County,
Miss., May 25, 1861. Has public school education only. He is
engaged in farming and general merchandise. He was married
in 1889 to Miss Mary Rucker, of Stoneville, Miss., and
came to Mound Bayou in 1900. He immediately joined hands
with the progressive citizenship of the community and drove
straight into the work of town and community building. His
value as a worker was soon demonstrated and in 1908 he was
elected a member of the Board of Aldermen and designated
Street Commissioner, which position he now holds rendering
the most faithful, efficient, and satisfactory service. 'Mr. God-
bold is a loyal member of the Bethel A. M. E. Church, and a
Knight of Pythias. Pie owns forty acres of land and a double
lot of the most valuable combination business and residence
property in the city.
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receiving his appointment from His excellency Governor Anselm
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 99
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J. GREEN HUDDLESTON.
Mr. J. G. Huddleston was born, Jan. 3, 1872 at Macon, Ga.
His parents moved, bringing him with them to Mississippi in
1880, locating at Anguilla, in Sharkey County. He assisted
them as well as he could
with the general work of the
farm in which they were en¬
gaged and attended the
public schools in Sharkey
County until 1890, when the
fatnily moved to Mound
Bayou.
They at once entered up¬
on the purchase of a farm
home two miles east of the
town, and Mr. Huddleston,
now eighteen years of age
had opened to him the oppor¬
tunity of entering the Mound
Bayou Normal and Indus¬
trial Institute. This he did
J. Green Huddleston and remained in the institu¬
tion until he had finished with credit the course of study pro¬
vided, graduating with the class of 1895. In the same year, or
on July 7th, 1895 he was married to Miss Fredonia L. Cooper,
a most excellent young lady, of Bobo, Miss.
They lived happily together for several years and two sons
were born to bless the union when Airs. Huddleston was un-
could be found and he was left the victim of one of the saddest
bereavements of life, the loss of a helpful and devoted wife.
Mr. Huddleston owns eighty-five acres of good farm land and
a block of extremely valuable property in the town of Mound
Bayou, comprising four business houses, one of them a nice
two story frame house on one of the most prominent corners in
the city. Pie is a member of the A. M. E. Church, the Masonic
Lodge, the Knights of Tabor, and the Knights of Pythias. He
is Past Chancellor and was for several years in succession Chan¬
cellor Commander of the local Pythian Lodge.
RICHARD R. McCARTY.
It is not easy to see just how the place that has been filled by
Mr. Richard R. McCarty in the general scheme of Mound
Bayou development might have been supplied but by himself
just as has fortunately been the case.
He has been with the Mound Bayou elTort since 1889 and
during every day of the time and many, many of the nights has
wrought with might and main for the furthering of every prop¬
osition that seemed to hold out promise of advancing the in¬
terests of his adopted home. Richard McCarty was born at
Hannibal, Mo., and while yet quite a small boy was brought
by his parents into the state of Louisiana, settling at Delhi, in
Madison Parish.
They were farmers and to this life young McCarty was
thoroughly trained. As distinguished, however, from many
other boys who have trodden the same path McCarty not
only worked on the farm, but as he worked he thought..
While faithfully performing with his hand the monotonous
daily routine of the every day farm hand he applied his inquisi-
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fortunately stricken with a malady for which no medical relief
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100 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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tive mental faculties to a deep study of the philosophy of
each operation. lie not only wanted to know that it is necessary
to do certain things with certain implements and in certain
ways but why this is so, must always be answered to his satis¬
faction. Consistently pursuing such a course of self education in
the vocation to which he had been called was necessarily bound
to bring results. McCarty gradually rose above the level of
his fellow laborers. His methods of study soon began to bear
fruit and his superior intelligence with respect to agricultural
science and farm management soon made itself evident and
then began a series of promotions the end of which has not yet
been reached. He was made gin superintendent of the big
plantation of Mr. Geo. M. Bedford, (white; near Delhi, and in
this position was personally responsible for the weighing, ginn-
ng, marking and other handling of all cotton that passed
through this manufactory. Here his previous self training
stood him in good stead and he was able to measure up to every
requirement of the responsible situation giving utmost satis¬
faction to his employer on the one hand and to his extensive
patronage on the other.
As has been remarked, Mr.McCarty came to Mound Bayou
in 1889, bringing with him those same sterling qualities and
characteristics that had made his life a success in Louisiana.
He applied them here with increased energy and vigor, if that
be possible and here too they have brought him an abundant
measure of success. Fie and his excellent wife, Mrs. Priscilla
R. McCarty, own a magnificent plantation of six hundred
and forty (640) acres of fertile land, a good part of it touching
the corporate limits of the town of Mound Bayou. They have
a plendid gin of one of the improved systems, approximately
one mile north of the town, and they supply their extensive
tenantry from their own big plantation store, in addition to car¬
rying a heavy line of general merchandise, groceries and pro¬
visions.
Some two miles farther north, Mr. McCarty operates a
saw-mill plant that finds its capacity in supplying the domestic
demand for the different kinds, grades and characters of lumber.
He is a member of the Christian Church. Fraternally he is a
Knight of Pythias, and a Knight of Tabor.
He is largely interested in various investments, being a stock¬
holder in the Mound Bayou Loan and Investment Company,
and the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company.
Air. McCarty is a substantial stockholder of the Bank of
Mound Bayou, and chairman of the Board of Directors of that
institution.
EDWARD WILKINSON LAMPTON, D. D., LL. D.
Bishop Edward W. Lampton, presiding bishop of the Eighth
Episcopal District of the A. M. E. Church, of Greenville, Miss.,
is not, broadly speaking, a citizen of Mound Bayou or of Green¬
ville, nor of Mississippi; but his life and his services to his people
make up an invaluable bequest to the incalculably rich treas¬
ury of the achievements of great rren to the advarcing civiliza¬
tion and enlightenment of the American Nation of the twentieth
century. No words that we could say would serve to introduce
Bishop E. W. Lampton to the people of this country. By his
disinterested work and his unselfish service to the cause of racial
harmony and good feeling he has endeared himself to the con¬
flicting elements and demonstrated the value of his spirit of self
abnegation in a way and to an extent that must render all at-
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101
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^ tempts at explanation nugatory and but little more than mere
"j" mockery. We take pleasure, however, in presenting the dis-
tinguished and eminent prelate as a steady, consistent, and con-
^ stant friend of the Mound Bayou movement. Bishop Lampion.
r£»t was born, and this may be merely a matter of coincidence, Oct.
rj(\ 21, 18-57 at Hopkinsville, Christian County, Ky., the same
1 county in which both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis
"I* were born.
«7» For a number of years in his young manhood he followed the
V profession of teaching, then engaged in agricultural pursuits,
mastered the trade of the bricklayer, and finally engaged with
rt, the L. N. 0. & T.Railroad Company, probably through the
influence of his warm personal friend, Hon. Jas. Hill, as a land
agent of that corporation. He was successful in each of these lines
n- of work to an extent that might have satisfied another man. But
0j? his call was to a higher, a more exalted sphere of labor and con-
^ sequently no measure of success, however great, was cal-
r*-. culated to bring contentment to him. Edward Lampton was
J* converted in the year of 1875, and two years later or in 1877, he
entered the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
and right now was answered the call to higher service. Now he
0? enters a realm where it is possible for him to contemplate with
$!r> some degree of satisfaction and pleasure the long roadstretch-
r,'-1 ing out before him but leading in the direction of the realization
of an early fixed ideal, an honorable and exalted station in the
ministry of Christ.
•7? Here lay the pathway of his greatest usefulness and with un-
0f? exampled eagerness he enters it and treads steadily lorward un-
r^ moved by the skeletons of failure scattered along the way and
r'-> unterrificd by the apparitions of unrealized ambitions. From
J- his ontrv into the ministry as a local preacher his rise has been
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Edward Wilkinson Lampion, D. D., LL. D.
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102 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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uninterrupted and phenomenally rapid. Not uninterrupted
in the sense of not having been forced to meet and overcome
opposition, but that all the power of opposition that has been
sprung against him has been able to accomplish no more than
perhaps to momentarily arrest his progress forward. Bishop
Lampton is, in a moral sense, a born fighter. He could never
have enjoyed nor appreciated a success that came to him in the
nature of a presentation with compliments. He has been am¬
bitious to succeed. Of this there can be no doubt. But he
has wanted only the success that should come as the merited
reward of the expenditure of his own tremendous energy.
"Cireafc winds do empty lly, unmet of woods or buildings;
Great ilres die, that want their matter to withstand thorn."
Bishop Lampton is the son of Albert R. and Delilah W. Lamp-
ton, and the grandson of Rev. Edward Wilkinson and Anna B.
Jones. In the year of Bishop Lampton's birth, 1857, his grand¬
father, Rev. Edward Wilkinson, was arrested and thrown into
prison for attempting the organization of the great Church of
which his distinguished grandson has come to be recognized as
one of the most illustrious and shining lights. This same Rev.
Edward Wilkinson, Bishop Lampton's grandfather, was the
first African Methodist Episcopal preacher in the state of Ken¬
tucky.
The Bishop was promoted to the presiding eldership in 1892;
was elected Financial Secretary of the General Conference in
1,902, and elevated to the bishopric in 1908. By his thorough
preparation, his magnificent natural ability, and his wonderful
power of concentration Bishop Lampton, has been able to
successfully meet every test that has been required of him to
add distinction and dignity to every station that he has ever
held.
As a church financier his record has been unrivalled; as an
effective speaker and a strong gospel minister he has few equals
in this country or elsewhere; and as a presiding officer he is al¬
most in a class by himself.
He was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic fraternity
at Chotard, Miss., in 1880. Applying himself with his accus¬
tomed diligence to the mastery of the lessons here set out be¬
fore him he was advanced by successive steps to the grand mas¬
tership of the Mississippi State Grand Lodge of Masons, being
elected to this highest station in the gift of the jurisdiction at
the Annual Grand Lodge Session at Jackson, Miss., in 18.93.
He still wields the gavel of executive authority in this ancient
and honorable fraternity, and perhaps no greater tribute can
be paid to his ability in this connection than to say that as a
ruler over them, Bishop Lampton is idolized by his fellow crafts¬
men. He is a member and supporter of many other of the
fraternal organizations in this state working toward the better¬
ment of conditions for his people. It certainly would not be
wide of the truth to say that Bishop Edward Wilkinson Lamp-
ton is probably the most popular man of his race in Mississippi.
His people love him because they know him. He has been t rieel
by all the tests and his heart has been always found to
ring true on every question touching the welfare and interest
of his people. He was a member of the committee that secured
from Mr. C. P. Huntington a donation of one thousand acres
of land near Mound Bayou, as an endowment for the Campbell
College, the college operated under the auspices of the A. M. E.
Church, and located at Jackson, Miss.
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
103
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fie paid the first dollar toward the establishment of the Mound
Bayou Normal and Industrial Institute and was the first treas¬
urer of the institution; he is a substantial stockholder of the
Bank of Mound Bayou, and suggested the site on which the
bank building is located; he holds stock certificate No. 1, of the
stock of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Com¬
pany, having subscribed the first one hundred shares of the stock
of that corporation. In fact, Bishop Lampton has manifested
a helpful personal interest in every move that has been made
for the development of Mound Bayou since the colonization
effort was first begun.
In the world of letters too, the bishop has made the impress¬
ion of his strong personality. He has]written several books that
have been well received chief among them being:—his "Analy¬
sis of Baptism," "Rulings and Decisions of Bishops," and
"Cipher Work in Free Masonry." The first two of these have
exerted a marked influence in a religious and race way. The
latter would of course, appeal more peculiarly to members of
the Masonic craft.
Bishop Lampton's Episcopal diocese embraces the states of
Aiississippi and Louisiana. Mississippians are overcome with
the exuberance of gratitude to the General Conference for this
assignment which gave to Bishop Lampton oversight of the
work of the Church in this his home state, and this has proven
to be one instance in which a prophet finds honor in his own
home, for surely do Mississippi Negroes delight to honor Bishop
Edward Wilkinson Lampton. In conferring this honor Mound
Bayou yields to no other town or community in the state.
Lampton it was who made Mound Bayou a station in the A.
M. E. connection; and it was he who named one of the districts
of the North Mississippi Conference "Mound Bayou."
SIMON GAITER.
Among the first men who joined with Isaiah T. Montgomery
in the attempt to found a self governing colony of Negro people
at Mound Bayou is Mr. Simon Gaiter, who also came from the
neighborhood of Davis' Bend, Warren County, Miss. Mr. Gai¬
ter is today a prosperous citizen of the community, and fairly
typical of that clas,"* of our people who have made possible the
solid growth and development of the colonization idea here.
Mr. Gaiter has kindly contributed the following account of his
experiences, which we believe will serve to interest some of the
readers of "The Negro at Mound Bayou":—He says:—
One day in the year 1887 I was engaged by Benjamin T.
Green in conversation and he said to me among other things,
that Mr. Isaiah T. Montgomery had desired him to get word to
me that he (Montgomery) wished me to avail myself of the first
opportunity to come to Vicksburg, as there were some matters
of importance that he wished very much to discuss with me.
Mr. Green volunteered information to the effect that the estab¬
lishment of a colony to be settled exclusively by Negro people
somewhere in the neighborhood of Mound Bayou (up in the
delta) was the main subject about which Mr. Montgomery wish¬
ed to confer with me.
I was attracted at once by the novelty of the idea and so
expressed myself to Mr. Green.
On or about the 15th, of October, of the same year I went to
Vicksburg, sought out Mr. Montgomery, found him, and dis-
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J- 104 The Negro at Mouncl Bayou. .
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cussed with him at considerable length the idea of the coloni¬
zation scheme planned for Mound Bayou, finally agreeing on
the main features of the plan to be adopted in carrying the
proposition into effect.
As to my own humble part in the development 6f the plans
thus formed:—I came to Mound Bayou in 1887, and purchased
from the L. N. 0. & T. R. R. Co., forty acres of land on the
terms fixed, by them for such purchases. In 1888 I cut timber
from this land and built a log house on it, and into this log
house I moved my family whom I had brought up from Vicks-
burg, in February of the same year. When I started to Mound
Bayou I had one hundred and seventy-five ($175) in total cash
assets. Out of this amount I paid my transportation. I also
paid the initial, or entrance payment on my forty acres of land,
and after purchases of provisions and other items of pressing
necessity I had left, only ten dollars. I bethought myself now
as to-the best steps to be taken when this little surplus of're¬
sources should be gone. I proceeded to clear off a small plat
of ground and planted a garden. About this Lime I was em¬
ployed by Messrs. Montgomery & Green to clear up the land,
about five acres, where the town site is, at four dollars per acre.
I do not need to say that I appreciated this opportunity to earn
a few very urgently needed dollars. I set my wife, Annie Gai¬
ter, and my children about this employment, while I myself,
went into the woods and engaged in getting out stave boards at
six dollars per cord, as there was at this time no land open that
we could work. In the fall of the same year most of the women
and children of the neighborhood went to Shelby and picked
cotton for fifty cents pfr hundred. I succeeded this year in
clearing up and planting in corn about one-fourth of an acre.
The following year I planted cane and made some molasses, and
also planted some rice.
In 1889 I took my children and went about thirteen miles
west of Mound Bayou and picked cotton for the Messrs. Blan-
chard Bros., white planters, at seventy-five cents per hundred.
Following this work I was able to earn from forty dollars to
fifty dollars per week, and this enabled me to keep the "wolf"
frightened away from the door, and in the meanwhile to pay
for the forty acres of land I had bought.
The general outlook from here at this time, however, was
somewhat less than altogether encouraging. A prominent
white gentleman in conversation with me one day when we had
casually chanced to meet, remarked;—"Uncle Simon, I can't
see what Montgomery and Green brought you all up here for
unless they brought you up here to starve." I replied, "Mr.
Blank, our forefathers wrought in the opening up of the United
States for settlement and occupation, and with a far greater
measure of obvious personal interest are we determined to work
out the development of Mound Bayou."
There is no use in saying that a thing can not be done until
it has been tried to exhaustion, and it was with a determination
to exhaust every resource of energy and endurance that we
came to build Mound Bayou. /
I "rolled" logs at night and burned them, and made staves in
the day for my own support and that of my family. When the
cotton chopping season came my wife and children would go
and chop cotton for people round about within reasonable dis¬
tances from home thus materially adding to the support fund.
In 1830 I contracted with Mr. J. C. Lauderdale, (white) to
cultivate for him four acres of land on the share system, which
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105
means that he was to furnish the land, the team, team feed,
tools and seeds, while I was to supply the labor, and to tend and
harvest the crop which was then to he equally divided between
vs. There were no gins here at this time and the cotton had to
be shipped in long sacks to
Memphis, Tenn., for gin¬
ning. I have Mr. Lauder¬
dale's word, however, for
the remarkable yield of
these four acres for this
year —seven full weight
bales of cotton.
There can be no greater
mistake than to get the
notion, in this every day
life, that we can not get
along without this thing,
that thing, and the other
thing. For, many times
we had bread only to eat
and water alone to drink
with it. Grease, for use in
the preparation of our
scanty meals, at times we did not have, except for a little lard,
and meat, well, it was a rarity, and we often made along as best
we could without it sometimes for two and three months in
succession.
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Mr. ami Mrs. Simon Gatter
we were brought face to face with a large she-bear and two
small cubs. We dispatched the mother bear after a stubborn
resistance and then easily succeeded in making captives of the
cubs. By many people bears' flesh is regardpd as a delicacy,
even when other meats are available, so, in our circumstances
it may be easily imagined that the capture of these animals was
a most gratifying contribution to our larders. At night we used
regularly to hunt for 'coons and 'possums which were plentiful
in the woods around.
While at work one day cutting timber in the woods, my two
iittle boys had been sent to bring my dinner. They saw on the
way what they thought to be two large black dogs, but which
I discovered on investigation to be two young bears. My mill
at this time (and I have it yet) was simply a grater made of an
old tin bucket.
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men, John Montgomery, Morgan Thurston, and Alex Wilbert
rjp in search of a hog which I owned and which was missing, when
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tional forty acres of land. Along with Mr. I. T. Montgomery,
I, too, was a slave of the renowned Davis family, having been
owned by Joseph E. Davis, brother of the president of the
Southern Confederacy.
In closing this brief sketch of my experience at Mound Bayou
I want to confess that I should not have succeeded, even as well
as I have done but for the congenial disposition and willingness
of my wife to assume on every occasion her full share of the mu¬
tual responsibility, and to uncomplainingly submit to the hard¬
ships we were forced to undergo and the privations we had to
endure.
JOHN W. FRANCIS.
Born forty years ago in the city of New Orleans, La., the his¬
tory of Mound Cayou that does not take into significant ac-
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106
T7ie Negro at Mound Bayou.
count the life and activities of Jno. \V. Francis would be sadly
wanting in fullness and authenticity. Nothing preserved him
through the strenuous struggleof hisearlydays and enabled him
to withstand the rigors of the severe discipline to which he was
subjected save the ever distinguishing traits of real and worthy
manhood that came to him by fortunate transmission through
heredity. He was thrown on his own resources at the early age
of fourteen, and was from this time forced by circumstances to
fight for himself the fiercest contested battle for survival.
He was possessed of the necessary stamina, however, and kept
ever before the eye of his mental vision a strong purpose and
determination to work out for himself a name and a place in the
world. His present standing in the town of Mound Bayou, as
a business man and a citizen, is all that is needed to confirm the
impression that he was fitted to survive.
He plunged without hesitation into the performance of men¬
ial services during the first years, working in hotels, on steam¬
boats, and in the merchandise business, but keeping before him
always the idea of getting ahead.
He came to Mound Bayou in 1888 and engaged with the firm
of Montgomery & Green as a clerk in their store fron/ which
position he soon rose to the managership of the store. l/He sub¬
sequently engaged in the merchandise business for himself, and
today, in addition to a variety of large business interests other¬
wise, he is the head of the largest and strongest mercantile firm
in the town of Mound Bayou.
As a business man Mr. Francis is astute and farseeing and he
has cultivated the happy faculty of applying to every business
transaction the stern test of round business judgment. He is
the proprietor of the only undertaking establishment here; a
member of the firm of Banks & Francis, lumber and building
supply dealers, and is very extensively interested in Mound
Bayou city and farm realty. He is president of the Bank of
Mound Bayou and a substantial stockholder in various indus¬
trial and business enterprises here and elsewhere. His residence
is a beautiful two story frame structure on the "West side of
Montgomery St., just opposite the Y. & M. V. Railroad station,
and here under the direction of his very highly accomplished
wife have been enjoyed some of the most elaborate social func¬
tions with which this section of the country has ever been fa¬
vored.
Mr. Francis has been for several years, and is now the Wor¬
shipful Master of Lampton Lodge, No. 141, the local lodge of
the Masonic fraternity.
He is also prominent in Pythian circles, and identified with a
number of other fraternal benefit orders. Jno. W.Francis was
born to the leadership of men and right well has he been fitted
both by nature and experience for that leadership. His career
extending over and through an intense hard struggle against the
handicap of impecunious circumstances, the brave fight that
he has made and the success that has crowned his efforts in the
direction of self help and the attainment of an independent com¬
petency can not but serve as an inspiration to other boys simi¬
larly circumstanced.
On the organization of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manu¬
facturing Company Mr. Francis was designated treasurer. The
funds of the company could be no more secure against peculation
or improper application if they were in the strong box of the
government treasury. Personally he is optimistic of disposi¬
tion, easy of approach and contrary to what is ordinarily ex-
of:
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 107 ^
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pected of men in his financial condition he is one of the most
friendly, courteous, and companionable men. Jno. W. Francis
has inscribed his name on the page of Mound Bayou history in
characters that can never be effaced, in deeds of liberality and
helpfulness.
JOHN ST. ANTHONY GREEN.
Mr. Jno. St. A. Green was born Dec. 9, 1886. He is the
eldest son of the late lamented Benjamin T. Green, and was
brought by his parents while yet an infant to Mound Bayou in
the earliest days of the life of the colony. As soon as he had ar¬
rived at a sufficient age to permit of his admission to school he
entered the Mound Bayou Normal and Industrial Institute and
was kept constantly here until he had completed the course of
study prescribed in the curriculum. He then entered the
Alcorn A. & M. College, at Rodney, Miss., and spent several
years in this institution.
To complete the line of educational work that he had planned ^
for himself he now went to Nashville, Tenn., and matriculated
in the Fisk University., remaining here until he had completed
the collegiate course in this celebrated institution, graduating
with the class of 1909.
It will be seen that he has just but passed his majority and
could not now be expected to have made for himself a career,
but Mr. Green is altogether fitted by nature, character, and
education for whatever duties and responsibilities the future
may hold in store for him.
Mr. Green is at present in the employ of the Annie T. Jeanes
Educational Fund in a supervisory capacity. Some of the
objections to Mr. Green's assignment for the reason that he
he did not hold the regulation county teacher's license. This
was but the expression of the tribute that treachery pays to
konesty; weakness to strength;meanness to magnanirnity;and
vice to virtue. In order, however, to avoid creating an un¬
necessary and meaningless issue of the objection Mr. Green
presented himself before the County Board of Examiners and
passed the examination prescribed with a general average of
ninety-five (95) winning the most flattering tribute from those
who had the pleasure of grading his papers on that occasion
for the excellence with which they were executed.
WILLIAM THORNTON MONTGOMERY.
Mr. Wm. Thornton Montgomery was the eldest brother of
Hon. Isaiah T. Montgomery, and like him a slave of the Davis
family before the war.
He did not join at once with his distinguished brother in the
founding of the Mound Bayou colony but went to the far north
and settled in North Dakota, where he engaged in grain
raising. The last ten years of his life however were passed
at Mound Bayou, where he did Trojan service in the effort
to advance every interest affecting the welfare of the com¬
munity.
He was a man of exhaustive intellectual resources, widely
read, and keenly alive, to the time of his death, to the trend of
current affairs in the world's history. He was general manager
of the Montgomery interests here and had a very comprehen¬
sive and thorough knowledge of agricultural operations. He
was postmaster at Mound Bayou for two consecutive terms; was
vice president of the Bank of Mound Bayou and a member of
little tight headed county school keepers objected, or, made
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its directorate; and was president of the Mound Bayou Loan &
Investment Company He left large land interests in the pro¬
vince of "Winnipeg, Dominion of Canada. He died July 3,1909
at the age of sixty-six.
Mr. Montgomery was
born o n the Hurricane
plantation, in Warren
County, Miss., in 1843 and
his rise in life came solely
through his own unaided
efforts. He never went
to school. Ii i s father
taught him the rudiments
of English and upon this as
a foundation he reared the
structure of his magnifi¬
cent ability continuing to
build thereon during a 11
the years of his useful life.
The confidence and esteem
in which he was held by
his fellow citizens in the
county of his nativity is told in the fact that he was twice
elected and served two terms in the responsible office of treas¬
urer of Warren County.
BENJAMIN A. GREEN.
Mr. B. A. Green was born at Mound Bayou, Miss., Septem¬
ber 30, 1888, and enjoys the unique distinction of being the
first child of Mound Bayou
' "a •• ?f. V*VJ
i y: / : V .
Wm. Thornton Montgomery.
He is a younger son of the late B. T: Green, and a brother to
Mr. Jno. St. Anthony Green, and his school training has been
identically the same as that of his brother, he too, graduating
this year (1909) from the collegiate department of the Fisk
University, Nashville, Tenn. They enjoyed the pleasant
though unusual experience of entering school together as little
boys, passed over the same courses of study, and graduating
in the same class. Mr. Green has an inclination to engage in
the insular service of the government, having with a view to
this end been recently examined under the civil service regu¬
lations for a bookkeeping position in the Philippines. It is a
distinct pleasure to introduce such young men to the world as
showing the character of hands into which the future of Mound
Bayou is after awhile to be intrusted.
R. A. FOURSHEA.
Mr. R. A. Fourshea was for many years a most helpful factor
in the civil and political building of the town of Mound Bayou.
It would perhaps not be too much to say that he was the
most well liked and popular man who ever held office at Mound
Bayou.
He was at the time of his death, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1909,
serving his second term as city marshal. He had been during
several consecutive democratic adminstrations of county affairs
deputy sheriff for the district of Mound Bayou. He was a
most companionable associate, full of human sympathy, and
considerate of the rights of others even when those others may
have fallen under the severe displeasure of the law.
He was a member of the Green Grove Baptist Church, a
punctual and dutiful member. He was Chief Mentor of the
oj? oj? of: of: of; of; of: Olc of: of; of: of; of: of; of; of; of; of; of; of; rJjp of; of: of: of: of; & & of: of: of; of: of; of; of? of; of; of; of: of: of;
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The Negro at Mound Bayou. 109 ^
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local Temple of the Knights of Tabor, and identified also with
the sons and Daughters of Jacob, and the Independent Order
of Eagles of America. While a man of giant stature, weigh¬
ing at one time three hun¬
dred and fifty pounds, he
had been in frail condition
of health for the past two
years, and his friends were
not altogether unprepared
for the final fatal outcome
of the complication of ail¬
ments with which he was
afilicted. His funeral
Thursday, Oct. 13th was
one of the most largely at¬
tended ever held here and
testified to the high esteem
in which he was held by the
people of his home com¬
munity. Heownedahome
in the city and is survived
by a wife and fourchildren.
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CLYDE W. LEE, M. D.
Dr. Clyde W. Lee was born June 21st, 1S84, at Jackson,
Miss., where his early education v/as begun in the public schools
of that city. He was brought by his mother to Mound Bayou
in 1890 and entered the Mound Bayou Normal and Industrial
Institute, where it may be said the foundation was laid for his
future intellectual acquisitions. He was for several years a
student in the Alcorn A. and M. College, at Rodney, Miss., and
leaving here entered the Tougaloo University, at Tougaloo,
Miss. His inclination leaning in the direction of the study of
medicine he made his way to the Meharry Medical College
(Walden University) Nashville, Tenn., where he remained for
the required four years completing with credit the medical
studies prescribed, and graduating with honor with the class of
1907.
He immediately returned to Mound Bayou and engaged in
the successful practice of his chosen profession. Dr.Leewasmar-
ried the same year to Miss Lelia M. Creswell, one of Mound
Bayou's most charming and cultured young ladies, and the eld¬
est daughter of Mayor and Mrs. B. Howard Creswell.
His parents were so circumstanced as that he did not have to
submit to the disciplinary rigors through which so many less
fortunate Negro boys have been compelled to pass and. yet he
did not grow up with any of the tendencies of the sluggard. He
was never pampered to any debilitating extent and has been al¬
ways disposed to keep busy at some gainful work of some charac¬
ter. He apprenticed himself voluntarily to the work of a print¬
er and under that veteran newspaper printer-manager Joseph
W. Covington he successfully mastered the details of the com¬
positor's trade and became an all around printer. A bright and
useful future is before him.
JOSEPH WAYLAND COVINGTON.
Mr. Joseph W. Covington, editor and manager of the Mound
Bo you Demonstrator, is the contribution of the city of Columbus
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110 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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Miss., to the citizenship of Mound Bayou. He was born at
Columbus, February 12, 1878. He was educated in the Colum¬
bus Normal Institute, of that city, and in the Rust University,
Holly Springs, Miss. He was
apprenticed to the trade of a
printer while yet quite a boy
and his subsequent mastery
of the principles of that pro¬
fession indicates that he
made no mistake in the
selection of a calling. In
h i s splendid qualifications
for the execution of the
mechanical features of his
work is embraced every¬
thing that can be included
in the term "practical print¬
er." As an artistic designer
in the way of advertising
and job devices built out of
type, Mr. Covington can
have few superiors. He
has been employed on the Columbus Dispatch, and other in¬
fluential white journals, and was for ten years associated with
Rev. C.A. Buchanan in the publication of the "Safeguard."
He was married Dec. 25, 1899 to Miss Victoria Clark, of French
Camp, Miss. Five children have been born to the union, four
of whom survive and his is a most interesting little family
J. WaylnnU Covington
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ANDREW T. BROADWATER.
Naturally retiring in disposition, void of all affectation, tire-
somely attentive to his own individual affairs, and with a dolor¬
ously droll sense of humor, Andrew T. Broadwater, has, in his
own way, accomplished as much for the upbuilding of Mound
Bayou as any man who ever lived here.
He is a shoemaker by trade, having learned that business un¬
der his father in the city of Vicksburg, Miss., in the days when
hand shoemaking was a most, representative and profitable craft.
Andrew learned well every minute detail of the business
and is himself a thorough workman. He came with the Mont-
gomerys to Mound Bayou in the earliest days of the settlement
and has linked his elforts for its upbuilding with those of others
in such a way as to have made himself a very material part of
the history of the town.
He established a shoemaking and repairing shop and in ad¬
dition to this accepted a situation with the Montgomery firm
as general farm manager. In this position he rendered the
fullest measure of satisfaction. When the Mound Bayou post-
office was established in 1888 he assumed the assistant post-
mastership and performed to satisfaction the actual duties of
the position, acting meanwhile in the capacity of real estate
agent and acquiring at one and the same time the most intimate
and comprehensive knowledge of property locations in the town
and throughout the community.
When the Y. & M. V. Railroad Company established its de¬
pot here in 1900, A. T. Broadwater was made local agent, and
a few years later when the American Express Company located
a branch office here he was also placed in charge of this. No
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higher compliment can be paid to the efficiency with which !
their interests were subserved than to say that when lie tendered
his resignation at the end of five years continuous service it j
was accepted only with utmost reluctance. He was married '
in 1897 to Miss Ruby E. Shirley, of Vicksburg. Mr. Broad- j
water owns eighty (SO) acres of land in Sunflower County; forty |
(40) acres in Bolivar County; and some of the most valuable f
residence property at 'Mound Bayou. lie is a member of the
Episcopal Church, a Knight of Pythias, and a Knight of Tabor.
He has been for several years Chancellor Commander of the
local Pythian lodge.
Mr. Broadwater was born July 22, 1871, in the city of Vicks-
burg, Miss., and his only education was acquired in the schools
of that city.
SCOTT K. HARRIS, M. D.
On the 26th day of May, 1881, in the sleepy little old town
of Fayette, .Jefferson County, Miss., the doting mother of a
little Negro boy lovingly fondled in her arms for the first-time
an infant son just ushered into this uncertain and peculiar state
of physical existence. Could she then have foreseen the paths
of honor and distinction that its innocent little feet were des¬
tined to tread in after years her sentiment of maternal pride
must have been immeasurably enlarged and infinitely intensi¬
fied.
This boy was Scott H. Harris and he had inherited on both
the paternal and the maternal sides a wealth and power of in¬
tellectual endowment that was to stand him in good stead in
the fierce struggle of competition through which he must force
his way to the recognition and respect of his fellows as he ad-
rwv,
vanced along the bitterly contested highway to success and to
honor. The development of his mental faculties was begun
at the earliest practical moment and soon were revealed evi¬
dences of an unusual pre¬
cocity on the part of the ex¬
ceptionally bright youngster
which were very naturally
translated into prophecies
of a brilliant future.
Dr. Harris passed without
incident worthy of remark
through the course of study
embraced in the public
school curriculum and en¬
tered the Alcorn A. & M.
College, remaining there sev¬
eral years, or to the honor¬
able completion of the stud¬
ies prescribed in the college
course, graduating with
honor in the class of 1906.
Several years of his life
have been devoted to public school work, and he has held
with credit various assignments in the government civil serv¬
ice, among them that of meat inspector, and bookkeeper in
the insular service. But his mind was fixed on the study of
the science of medicine as a permanent profession, and in
pursuance of this design he entered the Meharry Medical Col¬
lege (Walden University), Nashville, Tenn., and with tireless
energy and unwavering determination to excel he devoted
Dr.'S. II. Harris
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u
112
T/ie A/e<7ro at Mound Bayou.
himself with a singular oneness of purpose to the mastery of
that science, graduating with highest honors in the class
of 1909.
To those who know of the high standard of scholarship and
merit required to be granted a certificate of graduation from
this deservedly renowned institution the statement that Dr.
Harris graduated with the highest honors of his class will carry
a weight of significance far beyond the realm simply of polite
compliment. It speaks of a measure of intellectual strength
and a thoroughness of preparation that lies beyond the reach
of the many and that is within the possibility of attainment
only of the few.
Through the passing of the "Rubicon" of medical examina¬
tions in several of the states and the extension of professional
inter-state courtesies, Dr. Harris is licensed to practice medi¬
cine in twenty-nine of the states of the Union.
Dr. Harris is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church,
and of the International Order of Twelve, Knights and Daugh¬
ters of Tabor.
He will be heard of one of the days in the future as in the
nature of an honor and ornament to the achievements of Ne¬
gro people in this country.
MRS. MARTHA R. MONTGOMERY.
'Mrs. M. R. Montgomery is the excellent wife of Hon. Isaiah
T. Montgomery, and has all along through his eventful and
honorable career contributed in no small measure to the success
of his undertakings. She is indefatigably industrious and has
never spared any effort nor energy in aiding her distinguished
husband in the prosecution of his designs. There has been no
hour too early or too late; no season too hot or too cold for her
to be found busy at some task that held out promise of being
helpful to him. Shehasrear-
ed an excellent family of six
girls to model young woman¬
hood, three of whom are
now happily married and
themselves following in her
footsteps along the paths
of virtue and industry.
The little one in her arms
is Miss Corinne E. 'Mont¬
gomery, a younger child of
the family, now a well
grown up young lady, a
graduate of the Straight
University, New Orleans,
La., and at present the ef¬
ficient assistant to the post¬
master atMound Bayou.
tw. ■' rt.**; .
Mrs. Martha Ft. Montgomery
WM. M. WARREN.
Mr. Wm. M. Warren, who has held the important and very
responsible post of assistant cashier in the Bank of Mound
Bayou the past five years was born in the county of Richmond,
near the city of Augusta, Ga., November 29, 1879. He was
not a favored son of fortune and has been forced to hew out
his way by his own unaided ellorts almost from the beginning.
He enjoyed the privilege of attending the public schools of
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/l/,».«rf Boffou. 113
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the city of Augusta for two years and spent two pnilM •'•'''*
yours in attendance at the Ware High School, in the sain" ' 11 J'
In 1897 he entered the Tuskegee Normal and Induslriiil "
tute a n d by hhhI'I1'""'1'
hard and steady wo/I* """
graduated from l.li" A'"
demic and Indus)n"' 'l>'
partments of this Imit''"-1
institution, May 2!',
He had during th*«
spent at Tuskegee
lated the spirit of thf ' '• h
ing breathed through
utterance of Dr. '
T. Washington, th»> <>•
trious principal, and
he left the school in * '
to come to Mound ('<*/'''
he was imbued with 'A
power, the will and /A
termination to mak" ' ''
Win. M. Warren . way. Thus armed •" '
the ability and the character no obstacles could interv''.'.''' ''
check or to thwart his purpose. Mr. Warren reached /'
Bayou in 1904 and engaged in harness making and repm-
The development of the town at that stage of its histor/
not however warrant the hope of any flattering imrrifl
prospect of great success in this field and he accepted the prvr--y
of his present station with the Bank of Mound Bayou. V ""
post he has held and continues to hold with credit to hi><"
and to the entire satisfaction of the bank authorities and the
public. Mr. Warren is a young man of quiet, sober, steady and
industrious habits and performs conscientiously every duty of
his situation. He was married April 22, 1907 to Miss Louise
]•'. Green, a daughter of the late lamented Benjamin T. Green,
lie is a member of the A. M. E. Church and an active local
worker in the Allen Endeavor League.
T. M. CAMPBELL.
Mr. T. M. Campbell, a young man whose life and activities
I'irnish a very splendid illustration of the possibilities spread
out before the man of however limited opportunity in this
country if he is only imbued with correct ideas to begin with
and lias the necessary determination to get ahead was born in
i he small town of Bowman, Georgia, twenty-five years ago.
J lis father was a farmer in very moderate circumstances, as
must appear from the statement that at the age of fifteen years
he walked a good part of the distance of three hundred miles
Imin his home to the town of Tuskegee, Ala., with the design
of entering the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
When he arrived on the campus of the famous institution his
purse carried the plethoric balance of fifteen cents, he had no
M-unk nor necessity for one since his entire wardrobe consisted
only of a single suit of clothes. He was stricken three months
alter his matriculation with a rather serious spell of malaria
,j.od the doctor declined to sign a health certificate for him, pro¬
nouncing him at the same time a physical wreck. Pie was ad-
nutted, however, on trial and his health fortunately improved.
Beginning in the lowest grade he finished a seven years course
,n agriculture, paying for his board by extra work at night.
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114
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The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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Mr. Campbell just simply declined to become discouraged
and wrought with all his might at whatever his hands found
to do, receiving in the way
of assistance only two dol¬
lars during the entire seven
years school period.
He was graduated May
26, 1906 and was in No¬
vember of the same year
appointed collaborator for
the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Bureau of
Plant Industry, with head¬
quarters at Tuskegee In¬
stitute. He was promoted
March 1, 190S to a district
agency with territory cov¬
ering the states of Missis¬
sippi and Alabama, with
oversight of the work of
T. M. Campbell , , , .
four local agents. A sig¬
nificant part of Mr. Campbell's work consists in the intro¬
duction of the study of agriculture in Negro schools. He
holds local headquarters at Mound Bayou and is a member
of the advisory board of extension work for the "Negro Town."
C. S. LOCKETT.
the world by tireless push and unflagging energy backed by the
unconsciousness of his own
, , ' '
...
; '« . • •wi' ■ -r-.i't M. Il
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power. Mr. Lockett was born
at Wahalak, Kemper Coun- 0j?
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ty, Miss., May 11, 1862.
He has had the benefit
of only a common school
education and was married
in November 1884, to Miss
Maria Stewart. He came
to Mound Bayou in 1896
and drove straight into the
work of home building
along with the leaders of
the movement. He is a
member of the Masonic
fraternity and of the A. M.
E. Church. Mr. Lockett
owns one hundred and sixty
(160) acres of good land in
a splendid state of cultiva¬
tion, with sufficient teams,
tools and implements for the effective cultivation of the same.
He also pays some attention to hog raising, stock and cattle
raising and is, taken all around one among the best fixed of
our people at Mound Bayou.
LAND HOLDERS.
C. S- Lockett
Mr. Cyrus S. Lockett is a splendid representative of the
class of Mound Bayou citizens who have made their way in
o|?
It would scarcely be expected in a work of this character
that each individual citizen of the community would be per-
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Negro at Mound Bayou. 115
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sonally mentioned, and yet we have thought that it might not
be entirely out of place to append hereto a list of those, or at
least a partial list of those who have by their individual exer¬
tions succeeded in enrolling their names on the roll of those
who have labored for the upbuilding of Mound Bayou.
With this idea in mind it is a pleasure to present below at
list of the freeholders of the community together with the
quantity of ia'nd (in acres) held by each of them:
Samuel Thompson, 80; Daniel Thompson, 40; Allan Darling,
120; Mrs. Samuel Reed, 310; Alfred Johnson, 40; Samuel Tick-
ens, 80; J. A. ("lagan, 80; Spencer Knighton, 40; Micajah Jones,
80; Fred C. Church, 160; Jno. Simmons, 80; William Brownlee, '
40; Edw. W. Fletcher, 40; Rev. M. H. Winston, 40; Benjamin |
Henderson, 80; Jack Harrell, 40; Jno. A. Draper, 80; Richard j
McDaniel. 40; Colonel Burton, 40; Otis Scott, 80; Hilliard H. j
Haulcy, 80; Airs. L. Lewis Dickson, 40; Leonard Wilbert, 40; I
Israel Fisher, SO; Robert B. Randall, 40; Marcus Anderson, J
40; Frank A. Anderson, 40; Mrs. Rebecca Pickens, 80; E. L. ■
Ishmon, 80; Prince Hutchins, 100; Frank Jones, 40; Luck Cole,
80; Jacob W. Evans, 40; Perry M. Strong, 120; Joseph Moore,
40; E. D. Ifearn, 40; Dudley H. Harvey, SO; Claiborne H. 1
Humphrey, 80; Joseph H. Hibblef, Rev. J. C. Hibbler, Lewis
Shelby, 40; Clarence S. Lockett, 80; Calvin Ramsey, 40; Peter
Austin, 40; Nelson Travier, 120; B. W. Byram, 40; Brooks
Byram, 40; Frank McDonald, 10; Lewis Pratt, 10; J. Foster
Brooks, 80; Allan R. Royster, 40; Emanuel L. Strong, 40; Mrs.
Maggie Dorsey, 40; Thos. Richardson, 40; Simon Harvey, 40;
J. J. Winston, 120>»Robt. Irvin, 40; Joseph Johnson, 40; John
Johnson, 40; Henry Williams, 40; Wiley Berry, 40; X. W. Coas-
ton, 80; R. D. Dillard, 40; Will McClain, 40; Douglass Frank- i
lin, 40; Rev. J. P. Dennis, 80; Jack Aldrich, 120; Prince G.
Gilmore, 40; C. F. Bolton, 1G0.
The first woman to arrive at Mound Bayou was Mrs. Delia
Wilbert, in 1887.
The first child born at Mound Bayou was Benjamin A. Green,
son of Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Green, September 30, 1888.
The first marriage at Mound Bayou was that of Mr. and Mrs.
Geo. A. Lee, solemnized August 14, 1890.
The first postmaster at Mound Bayou was Isaiah T. Mont¬
gomery, 1888.
The first (Green Grove) Baptist Church established at
Mound Bayou was in 1888. t
The first (Bethel) A. M. E. Church established at Mound
Bayou was in 1888.
The first railroad ticket agent at Mound Bayou was Benja¬
min T. Green.
The first railroad and express agent at Mound Bayou was
Andrew T. Broadwater, 1900.
The first bank (the Bank of Mound Bayou) established at
Mound Bayou was opened in 1904.
The first public school teacher engaged at Mound Bayou was
Miss M. Virginia Montgomery.
The first mayor of Mound Bayou was Isaiah T. Montgomery.
The first marshal of Mound Bayou was Wm. Lawson Grady.
The first lodge established at Mound Bayou was Lampton
Lodge, No. 141, A. F. & A. M.
The first lawyer to enter practice at Mound Bayou was
Joshua P. T. Montgomery.
The first practicing physician to locate at Mound Bayou
was Dr. Joseph W. Spicer.
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116
The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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The first teacher of the Mound Bayou Normal and Indus¬
trial Institute was Mrs. Randolph.
Tne first treasurer of the town of Mound Bayou was Alex¬
ander Myers.
CONCLUSION—RELATIONSHIP WITH WHITE
PEOPLE—CAMPBELL COLLEGE.
Mound Bayou has been brought from the beginning into
close and almost constant business contact with white men
from other places and this intercourse has been invariably
pleasant, amicable and mutually profitable.
There has never been any suggestion of the question of social
equality and it has been utterly impossible for any such trouble¬
some and unreal phantasm to even approach the Mound Bayou
situation.
But if there be any Negro men and women anywhere, and
that there are, is certainly difficult of realization, who desire to
associate with white men and women socially; Mound Bayou
would be indeed a queer place in which to look for them. In
fact the very genius of the colony and the spirit of its founda¬
tion is antithetically opposed to the visionary bugaboo.
What Mound Bayou men and women have desired and what
they have sought has been the unrestricted opportunity to rear
for themselves as best they could a social fabric of their own
with no thought, wish, or design to encroach on the social pre¬
serves' of others or to trespass their social domain. To deter¬
mine whether or not we have succeeded in this, or are succeed¬
ing one must needs visit Mound Bayou, go into our schools,
churches, and societies and gain admission into our social circle.
There is probably not one day of the three hundred and sixty-
five that white men, commercial travelers, cotton buyers,
lumber and timber dealers are not to be found on the streets of
Mound Bayou busily prosecuting their various lines just about
in the same way as they are doing in all the other towns in the
country. They sell us their wares and buy our products.
There is no more occasion for remark for the appearance of
white men on the streets of Mound Bayou than there could be
for the familiar appearance of Negroes in Memphis or Green¬
ville. Some distinguished white men have visited us from
time to time as students or investigators of sociological con¬
ditions, but as a rule white men come here just as they go and
have gone to every other accessible quarter of the earth, in the
characteristic Anglo-Saxon search for profitable business and
trade.
It so happens that these men when here are obliged to eat, drink,
and in many instances also to sleep, and, it is the unanimous
verdict of all such that better provision for their satisfactory
entertainment in this respect is not to be had anywhere outside
of the larger cities than is afforded at Mound Bayou. This
all comes let it be remembered, in the regular course of business
and there has never been nor ever can be any questiou of soci¬
ability. We do not know how this happens, but it is declared
to be a fact by nearly all the Y. & M. V. Railroad conductors
in charge of passenger trains along this division that the Mound
Bayou Negro is, taken on the whole, the most quiet, unobtru¬
sive and well behaved Negro passpnger that he has to handle.
They claim to be able in most instances to determine from
his general behavior on the cars whether or not a Negro hails
from Mound Bayou.
As of interest by way of illustrating the good faith and earnest-
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ness of the L. N. 0. &. T. Railroad Company in holding out in¬
ducements for Negro men to buy and settle on its territory in
the delta it may be pointed out that Mr. C. P. Huntington
gave to the Campbell College, an institution of higher
learning under the auspices of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church, and domiciled in the city of Jackson, Miss., one thou¬
sand acres of land near Mound Bayou. Many acres of this
land have already been cleared and put in cultivation thus con¬
stituting a very materially helpful source of revenue for the
support of this worthy and growing institution.
PRESENT CONDITIONS.
The elemental composition of the soil in the delta country
has always presented what have heretofore been regarded as
practically insuperable obstacles in the way of successful road
(public road) construction, and to a greater or less extent the
progress of the entire section has been hampered by reason of
this condition. Mound Bayou has, of course, shared in com¬
mon with all the other settlements the handicap involved in the
want of good roads. It has not been more than a dozen years
since the town was during a very large part, of the year almost
wholly inaccessible to people living at any distance either east
or west, and in fact from any direction save a north and south
line running parallel with the railroad right-of-way. In the town
itself it was a difficult trail over which wagons and buggies had
to be steered to avoid collisions with trees and stumps.
Now there are well opened roadways leading in all directions
from the town and these have been in nearly every instance
partially graded and rendered easily and conveniently passable
at all seasons of-the year. There are no longer stumps and
trees obstructing the streets. These have been regularly laid
out according to the original plat of the town, all of them graded
and maintained in good
condition throughout the
year.
The soil generally speak¬
ing is a composition either
of black sand loam, or
buc'.cshot, and the pre¬
dominant timber growth
consists of gum, oak, ash,
hickory and cypress. The
natural direction of drain¬
age is to the Sunflower
River, marking the bound¬
ary between Bolivar and
Sunflower counties, s i x
miles to the east of us: ar.d
to Six Mile Lake, a magnifi¬
cent inland sheet of water
about the same distance to
the west of us.
The soil and climate are admirably adapted to the growth of
cotton, corn, oats, hay, alfalfa, peas, potatoes, fruits and garden
vegetables and all products of the soil that thrive in this latitude.
As a stimulus to the interest and energy of local agricultural¬
ists the Mound Bayou Farmers' Institute offers each year a
series of cash prizes for the production of the best crcps of
cotton, corn and hay.
These prizes were awarded last year (190S) to Messrs. Thos.
PROF. BENJAMIN F. OUSLEY.
Principal Mound Bayou Normal
and Industrial Institute.
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118 The Negro at Mound Bayou.
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Swearingen, Albert Swearingen and Jno. Simmons, respectively.
Mr. Swearingen, the winner of the prize for cotton grew 32
bales from the cultivation of 26 acres.
IMMIGRATION.
It will have been observed that the nucleus of population
comprising the citizenship of this town came from the neighbor¬
hood of Davis' Bend, in Warren County, Miss., and consisted
pretty largely of acquaintances and friends of the Montgomery
family. To these constant additions have been made from all
sections of the state of Mississippi, and other states until now
the population of the community is in many respects truly
cosmopolitan. Some of the best people we have, have come
from the counties of Amite, Lincoln and Pike in the southern
part of this State, leaving that section on account of the per¬
nicious activity of the "white-cap" organization during the
reign of lawlessness and terror instituted by them about 1893-95.
These people have proven in almost every individual in¬
stance a veritable tower of strength in carrying forward the
work of race building here.
They came well recommended, were received with open arms,
and found here the open door of opportunity to accomplish the
best there was in them. They have been found to be a sober,
virtuous, intelligent and industrious class of men anxious only
to get ahead in the world by their own honest exertions and
their coming had the effect to infuse new life and energy into
the situation and has resulted in much benefit to the general
community.
A WHITE MAN'S IMPRESSION.
As illustrating the average white man's impression of Mound
Bayou, formed at close range, and based on actual contact and
personal experience, a young white man from one of the towns
up in Tennessee, who has been at work here as a lumber in¬
spector, remarked to us recently that on a visit to his home, when
it had been explained that he was living in a town made up of
an exclusively Negro population surprise was expressed that a
calamity of some nature had not befallen him. He says that
he took a great deal of pleasure in testifying to his Tennessee
friends of the quiet, sober, orderly and industrious character
of the average class of Mound Bayou people adding that he
felt more secure here against any form of molestation than he
did even in his own home town, though surrounded by associates
and friends of his own race. He stated to them, he says, that
Mound Bayou was the first town in which he had had occasion
to stop for any considerable length of time, for years, in which
he had felt free to go about unarmed at any hour of the day or
night with no fear of assault, or insult, or interference of any
character.
MISSISSIPPI HISTORY.
The 1907 edition of the History of Mississippi, Vol. II, pp. 283
and 284 by Dr. Dunbar Rowland, director of the Mississippi
Department of Archives and History recites in complimentary
vein interesting incidents in connection with the founding and
growth of Mound Bayou. Dr. Dunbar deduces the flattering
conclusion that Mound Bayou presents an example of accom¬
plishment worthy of emulation and imitation on the part of
Negro people everywhere.
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it has been observed by some who had thought of the matter,
who very probably learned the truth of the statement through
experience that it is practically impossible for one to write
with exact and full truth and justness about one's immediate
contemporaries; for the proneness, on the one hand, to exagger¬
ate the good points in the character of one's friend and to mini¬
mize or obscure the ill ones; and the temptation on the other
hand to reverse the process, that is, to eliminate the virtues
and magnify the ili features of the other fellow's character.
In the manner in which we have written the preceding pages
we apprehend that it will be alleged that we have erred in the
former direction, and, so may it be. If errors or exaggerations
have been inadvertently permitted to creep into our humble
narrative of the struggles, growth, and rise of an humble people
then by all means let them be on the side of magnifying the
virtues of our fellow men.
We think it proper, however, right now and here to disclaim
any design, thought, purpose, or intention of setting up the
preposterous, illogical and absurd contention that all the Ne¬
groes at Mound Bayou are good Negroes; that they are a
sanctified, law-abiding, moral, intelligent, thrifty, God-fearing,
church-going, public-spirited citizens. No, sir.
We are far from indulging even a hope for the realization of
any such Utopian dream, either at Mound Bayou or elsewhere.
We would respectfully and at the same time as vigorously de¬
cline to be drawn into the support of any such impossible prop¬
osition.
We cannot undertake to set out that the Negro at Mound
Bayou, as a man, is any better or worse than the Negro else¬
where, except in so far, and this we think may be easily conceded
as the life of the Negro man of average intellect must be ap¬
preciably effected, and almost invariably for the better by the
superior liberty of his environments as illustrated in the ordi¬
nary adminstration of municipal affairs here.
It may be said, and this too, we think may be accepted as
reasonable, that the original group of men who joined Mont¬
gomery in the attempt to found a colony of Negroes here, were
taken as a whole, men above the then average of intelligence.
The fact that they came on such an enterprise, forewarned of
the hardships to which they must be subjected, and the priva¬
tions they must be compelled to endure; and urged alone by
the intense, burning desire to attain by conquest a larger inde¬
pendence for themselves and their children; seeking only for
freer atmosphere and wider range of opportunity, would at
least indicate that they were thinkers and that they had thought.
In the list of men and women whom we have mentioned in
these pages it has been our object, and we have sought to intro¬
duce to the world the type of Negro men and women who have
made Mound Bayou; who may be taken as fit and worthy rep¬
resentatives of her present standard of citizenship; and in
whose characters are embodied the future aspirations of the
town, the colony, the race, the Nation.
But, the "bad" Negro, and he is not so bad after all if you
only know how to handle him, we have him also with us and
have not yet met with any insuperable difficulties in the way
of restraining, or, holding in restraint his evil tendencies.
Let it be remembered that in all we have said, Mound Bayou
does not pose as, nor propose to be represented as an ideal
municipality. We had just as reasonably expect the same of
Memphis, Tenn., New Orleans, La., or San Frarcisco, Cal.
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Infractions of the law occasionally occur, usually of minor
significance and are disposed of in the Mayor's court. Less
frequently and for larger offenses there are commitments to
the county bastile for
disposition by the courts
of superior jurisdiction.
Every process, how¬
ever, is carried o u t in
strictest conformity to
the provisions of the law.
While Mayor B. How¬
ard Creswell, the pres¬
ent incumbent of the ex¬
ecutive station of the
municipality .is a Chris¬
tian gentleman, a man of
piety and devotion, a
mild mannered man and
intensely human in his
sympathies, still if the
conclusion of a fair and
impartial trial before a
jury of his peers consigns an alleged culprit to the heaviest
penalties in the jurisdiction of his court to inflict he has learned
to be mercifully severe and will exact to the uttermost
limit the demands of the violated law.
Having established this record his court is as much feared
and respected by the evilly inclined as any tribunal in the land
anywhere and Negroes no longer, if they ever did, come to
Mound Bayou under the erroneous impression that they are
A. P. HooU
at liberty to do as they please, without regard to the rights
and immunities of others simply for the reason that there are
none here but Negroes. If such come, their minds are soon dis¬
abused of the delusion and they are made easily to conform to
the requirements or to suffer the penalties of disobedience.
They usually respond or seek more congenial atmosphere in
other climes.
There is one truth that the operation of the Mound Bayou
government under the sole and exclusive control of Negro men
has served to conclusively prove, by the just and equable ad¬
ministration of justice under the forms of law, and that is that
every Negro man who renders himself, by suspicion or other¬
wise subject to detention by legal arrest is not a criminal, and,
in a majority of instances when proven criminal is not always
necessarily of the dangerous, desperate class.
Just the direction the mind of a suspect may take when taken
into custody must depend to some considerable extent on the
nature of the treatment accorded him in the interval between
his arrest and his arraignment, trial and acquittal or conviction,
as the case may result.
Mound Bayou justice has thus far been executed on the hy¬
pothesis taking for granted the innocence of the accused until he
has been proven guilty, and the grade of our morality nor the
standard of our citizenship has been hurtfully effected by a
strict and faithful adherence to the pursuance of that policy.
The simple fact of residence under conditions existing here
seems to inspire in the mind of the Negro man a new conception
of the dignity and responsibility of citizenship in a government
where all men are equals before the law. There can be no
stronger incentive to draw out the best there is in the average
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man, whether it be the Negro man or some other, than bringing
him to a recognition of the sense of responsibility.
This average Negro rmin coming to Mound Bayou for resi¬
dence has not, perhaps thought of the matter directly in this
light, and yet he has not been long here before he has been made
to feel that he is, in reality a living, breathing, and important
constituent element in the life of the community. Recognition
of this single fact brings to him the consciousness of a self im¬
portance that he had not before felt and he is desirous above ail
things else to justify the estimate of his associates and friends.
All of his neighbors and fellow citizens are interested in him.
There are no inequalities of opportunity. He finds here no
distinction of superiority and inferiority except such as are
based on intellect, energy, industry, and character. There is
no position, office, or station to which his son or his daughter
may not worthily aspire.
There is a new experience for him and a revelation. The
scales fall from his eyes and with the opening of the new vision
comes the realization of his own responsibility. He feels with¬
in himself that for all the benefits conferred on him some sacri¬
fice, some contribution, some return is due to the community
through which they are assured, and this realization is the be¬
ginning of good citizenship.
OUR WEITE NEIGHBORS.
We should feel guilty, and reprehensibly so, of the grossest
dereliction of duty if we failed or neglected, in concluding this
modest little volume to pay to the white men by whom we are
surrounded, the sincere compliment comprehended in the ac¬
knowledgment or confession that but for their kindly tolerance
and uniformly friendly offices all of our exertions might have
availed us nothing, might have gone for nought.
In-so-far as regards the question of race relationship our
lines have been cast in pleasant places. Our efforts from the
beginning could have been sadly hampered by the indifference
or silent opposition of our white neighbors, and their active
disapproval must have had the effect to have totally nullified
all of our exertions. But, thanks to their general conservatism
of temperament; their inborn sense of justice and fair play
they have been patriotically interested in the outcome of the
Mound Bayou experiment. They have insisted, and their
insistence is as a general rule most unusually effective, that
we be "let alone" to succeed or fail in working out the demon¬
stration of our fitness for race autonomy.
We have no reason to doubt that they are as much gratified
with the successful outcome as we, ourselves are.
There have been invasions by white men at intervals which
have been very naturally resented by the citizens and so em¬
phatically discountenanced by the class of whites to which we
now refer that they have been in every case unable to with¬
stand the pressure, and after uncertain temporary residence
here have been forced tp move. We can never tire of giving
to these men due meed of praise and credit for the support
both moral and material that they have, in every necessary in¬
stance shown themselves ready and willing, and anxious to
contribute to the welfare of Mound Bayou.
THE FUTURE.
In the mind of every thinking man to whom the founding,
growth and development of Mound Bayou as a distinctive
Negro community presents itself the question natu^illy arises,
"Having progressed so far in vindicating the theories on which
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iXy 122 T/ie A/'cffro at Mound Bayou.
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your proposition was originally based, and having worked out
for Mound Bayou the station which she now proudly holds, as
representing the farthest step forward in the demonstration
of the Negro man's capacity for self government, what of the
future?"
We shall allow Mr. Chas. Banks, cashier of the Bank of
Mound Bayou, and- chief promoter of things in connection
with the current growth and further development of Mound
Bayou to reply. The question, "What of the future was pro¬
pounded to Mr. Banks by a representative of the Planters'
Journal, of Memphis, Tenn., and we quote his reply.
Mr. Banks says—"You ask what of the future of Mound
Bayou?" What Mound Bayou is now and what it has al¬
ready accomplished is largely prophetic of its future. Situated
in the great alluvial Delta district, lands, the productive quali¬
ties of which are not surpassed by any known to civilization,
timbered by hardwood that finds ready sale at fabulous prices,
her natural advantages are admirable indeed. No part of
this great section has yet reached its full development; the
beautiful, thriving, hustling towns dotted here and there,
throughout the delta, with their factories, waterworks, electric
lights and other modern improvements have reached their
present stage with the Delta only partially developed. What
may we expect when practically all the lands have been cleared,
properly drained and tiled and a full supply of contented and
efficient labor everywhere to do the work?
"In proportion as the whole Delta approaches these condi¬
tions, Mound Bayou will progress also. There is another dis¬
tinction that is more than likely to come to Mound Bayou: As the
years go by, and our schools, colleges and churches improve in
power and capacity, as our streets are drained and paved, our
oil lamps replaced by electric lights, the old antiquated char¬
acteristic Delta pump is displaced by bountiful streams of
pure artesian water, Negroes will begin to make this their
resident home, even though they are engaged in business or
make their livelihood elsewhere; there will be an atmosphere
in which to raise their children and a social status for their
wives and daughters very much to their liking.
"There are those who ask, 'Are you not afraid that some day
thewhites will be moved to wipe out Mound Bayou by violence?'
Knowing the controlling forces among the whites as I do, in this
section, gathered by a stay of thirty-three years among them,
I 3ay no, we are not afraid.
."The Negroes who shape and control the destiny of Mound
Bayou understand conditions too well to allow any radical,
nonsensical, and indiscreet policy to prevail here, on the one
hand, and there are too many white men around us or in easy
reach, who are our friends and willing to see that no impedi¬
ment is thrown in our way or undue advantage is taken of us
by irresponsible parties, on the other. This has been demon¬
strated on several occasions. Verily, the future holds much in
store for Mound Bayou."
The experience of the author accords entirely with that of
Mr. Banks and we have no reason to doubt the conclusion de¬
duced by him, a conclusion based on actual experipnee.
Enough we think has been written and represented herein to
demonstrate to the investigator that the town of Mound Bayou
is an actual, living reality and not a diagram on paper simply.
The facts herein set forth and the conditions portrayed are
entirely easy of verification and the gates of the little city stand
open at all times and seasons with an earnest invitation to the
prospector to enter and investigate for himself.
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PRINTED BY
J A. M. E. SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION
I NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
S 1910
EMORY UNIVERSITY