WAYNE COUNTY
Chapter XLVIII, pages 851-854
A southeastern county, on the Alabama border,
Wayne County received its name in honor of the Revolutionary hero, General
Anthony Wayne, as did its county seat, Waynesboro. It was created by act
of the General Assembly of Mississippi territory, December 21, 1809, and
embraced the western, or Mississippi portion, of the old county of Washington,
established in 1800 by proclamation of Governor Sargent and perpetuated
in the present county of that name in Alabama. The act of 1809 which created
Wayne County recites that Washington shall be divided as follows: —“beginning
on the line of demarcation, where the trading road leading from the Choctaw
nation to Mobile crosses the same, thence along said trading road to the
present Choctaw boundary line, thence along said boundary line to Pearl
River, thence down the same to the line of demarcation, and with the same
to the place of beginning”; all to be called the county of Wayne. Out of
this vast region have been subsequently carved the counties of Greene,
Covington, Jones, Perry, Lamar, and those portions of Lawrence and Marion
lying east of the Pearl River. Finally, the act of December 23, 1833, which
divided the Choctaw cession of 1830 into counties, declared that “all the
territory south of Clarke County, known as the Higoowanne reserve, be,
and the same is attached to, and shall constitute a part of Wayne County.”
The present county of Wayne, with its area of 812 square miles, thus lies
on the southeastern border of the State, with the old Choctaw boundary
of 1805, for its northern line, dividing it from the county of Clarke,
the State of Alabama on the east, Greene and Perry counties on the south
and Jones County on the west, and embraces an area of about twenty-one
townships. The following is a list of pioneer residents and county officers
during the years 1818-1827: James Patton, Josiah Watts, Clinch Gray, William
Houze, Obadiah Hand, David Williams, Justices of the Quorum; Tristram Thomas,
Alexander Powe, Collins L. Horne, Edmund Gray, James B. McRae, James Williams,
James Huntley, Assessors; Edmund Gray, James B. McRae, James Williams,
Sheriffs; Iridell L. Phillips, County Surveyor; Reuben Grayson, Elijah
Trim, John F. Crawford, Sam’l Fulton, Amos McCarthy, James Clark, Sam’l
Grayson, Joshua Terrell, Constables; Willis Lang, William Patton, Rangers;
Thomas A. Willis, Thos. S. Sterling, County Treasurers; William Houze,
James Patton, Judges of Probate; Obadiah Hand, William King, Associate
Justices; William Webber, William B. Graham, Coroners. Among the earliest
settlers of Wayne County were the McRaes, McArthurs, McDougalds, McLaughlins,
McDaniels, McDonalds and McLaurins, conservative and industrious Scotchmen
from Virginia and the Carolinas, who settled along Buckatunna Creek not
far from the place now known as the Philadelphia Presbyterian church. Other
early settlers in Wayne along this creek, the Chickasawhay River and near
the larger streams in the county, were Alexander Powe and William Powe,
and the Slays and Sumralls, from Chesterfield district, South Carolina,
Gen. James Patton, William Patton, Joseph Patton, William Webber, Zachariah
Rogers, Capt. George Evans and John Evans. Winchester, incorporated 1818,
near which Patton’s fort stood, was the early county site, until 1867,
and a place of importance in the territorial and early statehood period.
It is said at one time to have contained more than thirty business houses.
It numbers among its early residents many distinguished men. Among them
were John McRae, father of Gov. John J. McRae; Gen. James Patton, who had
charge of the fort above mentioned at the time of the Fort Mim’s massacre,
and was, with Clinch Gray, a member of the constitutional convention of
1817, for Wayne County, and afterwards Lieutenant Governor of the State;
Judge Powhatan Ellis, U. S. senator and minister to Mexico; Judge Thomas
S. Sterling; John A. Grimball, Secretary of State; James Mayers of Richmond,
Virginia; Gen. Wm. Lang; Willis and Stephen Lang; John H. Mallory, Auditor
of Public Accounts; Thos. L. Sumrall; Samuel W. Dickson; Gen. Thomas P.
Falconer; Judge John H. Rollins; John H. Horn and Collins Horn.
The Creek Indians, during the War of 1812,
were a constant source of menace to the early settlers of Wayne, which
fact led to the erection of Patton’s Fort at Winchester, and Roger’s Fort,
about seven miles north of that place. The old ditches of Patton’s Fort
may still be readily traced. The old town of Winchester has quite disappeared,
the last of its structures to crumble being the court house built in 1822.
The name survives in the town of the same name on the Mobile & Ohio
railroad near the old site. It is said that the lack of adequate hotel
accommodations during the terms of court, led to the removal of the county
seat to Waynesboro a few miles to the north of the railway. It is an interesting
fact that in these earliest settlements on Buckatunna Creek and at Winchester,
and in the first school established about 1812, the Gaelic language was
exclusively spoken and remained the vernacular until the early ‘20s, when
the influx of English speaking settlers caused its disuse.
Wayne County is rather sparsely settled
and there are no large towns within its borders. Waynesboro, containing
700 people and the present county site is the largest town; after which
come Bucatunna and State Line, the latter divided between Greene and Wayne
counties. Both are stations on the line of the Mobile & Ohio. The railroad
named runs through the county from north to south, and a spur connects
with it and runs a few miles west, known as the Chicora & Northwestern.
The largest streams in the county are the Chickasawhay River and Buckatunna
and Thompson’s creeks.
The natural resources of Wayne County make
it partake of both industrial and agricultural characters. The cereals
and fruits common to the State are readily produced, as the reports of
the 1920 census demonstrate. Its entire farm property in 1919 was valued
at $4,381,000, and its crops were estimated at $1,584,000 for the year
named. Most of the large fruits were raised, peaches being most prolific.
The live stock of the county was valued at $878,000. As to its industries,
it was reported that the 22 establishments in that class employed nearly
800 people, who received $429,000 in wages. The products of these manufactories
amounted to $1,300,000.
The population of Wayne County has not
decreased from decade to decade, although it has never been large. In 1850,
it was 2,892; 1870, 4,206; 1890, 9,817; 1910, 14,709, and in 1920, 15,467.
