SMITH COUNTY
Chapter XLIV, pages 824-825
The county above named is located a little
to the south of the center of the State, and was the southwestern corner
of the large tract of land ceded to the United States by the Choctaw treaty
of Dancing Rabbit in 1830. It was established December 23, 1833, and was
named in honor of Major David Smith of Hinds County. Its limits were defined
as follows by the act which created the county: “Beginning on the line
between ranges 9 and 10 east, at the point at which the line between townships
4 and 5 crosses said line, and from thence south with the said line between
ranges 9 and 10 east, to the southern boundary of the Choctaw nation; from
thence west, with said southern boundary line, to the western boundary
line of said Choctaw nation; from thence north with said western boundary
line, to the point at which the line between townships 2 and 3 strikes
said western boundary line; from thence west to the line between ranges
5 and 6 east; from thence north with said line between ranges 5 and 6 east,
to the line between townships 4 and 5; and from thence to the place of
beginning.” A large influx of settlers from the older parts of the State
came to the new county at an early date, and by 1837 there were 1,085 free
whites, owning some three hundred slaves. A list of the county officers
for the year 1838 follows: Abraham Carr, Sampson Ainsworth, Emanuel A.
Durr, Thomas J. Husbands, John Sprinks, members of the Board of Police;
James B. Graham, Sheriff, Assessor and Collector; Benjamin Thornton, Clerk
of the Circuit and Probate Courts; John Campbell, Judge of Probate; James
L. McCaugh, County Surveyor; Abner Lewis, Coroner; Charles C. Horton, Ranger;
Reuben Craft, County Treasurer; David Ward, Justice of the Peace, Jesse
Rose, Constable.
The original site was located at Fairchild,
about four miles south of Raleigh, but was soon abandoned. The new county
seat was then established and called for Sir Walter Raleigh. As in this
instance, the names of places in the State when not the sweet, musical
ones of the Indians are culled from history and indicate a reading class
of settlers. It is a small town situated near the center of the county
and without railroad connections. The only line in the county is the Laurel
branch of the Gulf & Ship Island railroad which cuts across the southern
part of the county. Its stations are Taylorsville, Mize, Wisner, Cooley,
Abel and Low. Two of the oldest towns in the county are Polkville and Trenton,
established during the ‘40s and located on the Strong River in the northwestern
corner. Other rural settlements are Boykins, Lorena, Lemon and Syvarena.
The water courses of the county are the Strong and Leaf rivers. The long
leaf pine is found in considerable quantities along these streams and their
tributaries, but the county is mainly a collection of farming communities.
Its farm property—lands, buildings, implements and all—was valued at $3,782,000
in 1919; its crops at $2,723,000 and its live stock at $1,221,000.
