TISHOMINGO COUNTY
Chapter XLVIII, pages 838-840
Tishomingo County, which forms the extreme
northwest corner of Mississippi was established February 9, 1836, and was
one of the twelve counties formed in that year from the Chickasaw Indian
cession of 1832. It was named for a king of that tribe, the word Tishomingo
signifying Warrior Chief. On February 14, 1836, Peter G. Rivers, A.M. Cowan,
James M. Matthews and James Davis were appointed by legislative act to
organize the county. It was originally large, containing an area of about
30 townships, or 1,080 square miles. Its original limits were defined as
follows: “Beginning at the point where the line between townships 6 and
7 intersects the eastern boundary line of the State, and running with the
said boundary line to the Tennessee River; thence down the said river to
the point where the northern boundary line of the State intersects the
same; thence with the said northern boundary line, to the line between
ranges 5 and 6 east of the basis meridian; thence south with the said range
line, to the line between townships 6 and 7; thence east with the said
township line to the beginning.” More than half its area was taken from
it in 1870, when the counties of Alcorn and Prentiss were established.
This division reduced the area to 428 square miles.
A list of the county officers soon after
its establishment is as follows: James Harris, L.B. Estes, W. Belcher,
John C. Catter, David Ross, Members of the Board of Police; Samuel Dancer,
Benjamin Ballard, B.M. Cobb, A.J. Aldride, Mathew Gage, T.B. Phillips,
Jacob Walker, G.B. Rogers, John Ritcherson, John H. Alstote, William B.
Owens, Thomas Walker, John Kennerdy, Magistrates; Stephen H. Hogull, Sheriff;
William Cowan, Coroner; William Rushing, Treasurer; Stephen O. Gilbis,
Assessor and Collector; Jeremiah Phillips, Surveyor; C.D. Day, Judge of
the Probate Court; Thomas Pate, Clerk of the Probate Court; Mathias B.
Click, Clerk of the Circuit Court; Jehu D. Moore, Ranger.
The first white settlement in old Tishomingo
County was at a place called Troy, in the present county of Alcorn, on
the old Reynoldsburg road, near the Tuscumbia River. On the west of the
settlement was an abundance of freestone, spring water, suitable for tanyards,
for which the place was well known. The first circuit court in the county
was held at a log house in Troy. As the settlement grew, the name was changed
to that of Danville, as there was already one Troy in the State. A few
of the early settlers of Danville were Dr. Broady, Dr. B.F. Liddon, H.B.
Mitchell, father of Judge L.B. Mitchell, of Corinth, the first probate
judge of the county; A.B. Dilworth and Cody Fowler, representatives of
the county in the legislature, and the former, Secretary of State, from
1855 to 1860. The town was destroyed by Federal troops during the war.
Other settlements in old Tishomthgo were
Cammel’s Town, on the old Reynoldsburg road, and about 15 miles south of
the home of Pitman Colbert, a wealthy half-breed Indian; Boneyard, established
in the early ‘30s by William Powell, on the stage road running from Jacinto,
to Lagrange, Tennessee; Jacinto, in the southeastern corner of Alcorn County
and the first seat of justice of old Tishomingo County; Carrollville, in
the present county of Prentiss; and Farmington, a flourishing place until
the year 1855, when the Mobile & Ohio railroad and the Memphis &
Charleston railroad made a crossing about four miles to the southwest at
Corinth, and killed the old town. The Federal forces completed the destruction
of the town during the war. Many prominent pioneers rest in the old cemetery,
which is still maintained. Gen. M.P. Lowrey, Drs. Stout, Joel Anderson,
J.J. Gibson and George Gray and numerous others are interred there.
The county seat is located at Iuka, an
incorporated town of 1,300 people, rich in history, located on the line
of the Southern railway in the northeastern part of the county, which section
is noted for its mineral springs. There are no other large settlements
in the county. Worthy of mention, however, are Burnside, also on the Southern
line, a few miles west of luka and Golden, Paden, and Tishomingo, on the
Illinois Central. Besides the Tennessee River, which forms about eighteen
miles of the county’s northeastern boundary, there are numerous small streams
which water the region. The territory bordering the Tennessee is broken
and hilly, but most of the bottom lands are level. Generally the soil is
light, sandy and easily cultivated, except on the richer alluvial bottoms,
where it is heavier but more fertile.
The 1920 census estimates the value of
the farm property of Tishomingo County at $6,596,000, and its crops at
$2,499,000. The cereals do well in this part of the State, and it is becoming
one of its best sections for the raising of fruits. In 1919, there were
more than 41,000 fruit trees of bearing age, which produced 42,000 bushels,
or more than a bushel to a tree. The bulk of the yield consisted of peaches,
26,000 bushels of which were gathered, mostly for the market. The county
also contained live stock valued at nearly $1,000,000 and its dairy industries
were growing. Little is to be said of the industries of the county. Its
sawmills are small, but quite numerous. Altogether their proprietors distributed
nearly $160,000 in wages during the year 1919, and the products of these
establishments were valued at $700,000.
Since Tishomingo County gave so much of
its territory in the formation of Alcorn and Prentiss counties it has steadily,
although not rapidly increased in population. In 1870, after the reduction
of its territory, it had a population of 7,350, which had increased by
1890 to 9,302, in 1910 to 13,067, and in 1920, to 15,091.
