Garlandsville, Jasper County, Mississippi

A History of Garlandsville, Mississippi

Located eight miles south of Newton near the Newton County Line, Garlandsville is one of the most historical towns in the state. During the French rule of Mississippi Territory, the French came from Mobile, Biloxi and New Orleans to Garlandsville to trade with the Indians. It was the capitol of the Sixtowns and a great part of the time, the capitol of the Choctaw Nation. Pushmataha was living at Garlandsville, then later was the Chief of the Choctaws. During the war of 1812, he lead a force of Choctaws to the aid of General Jackson, who was about to be surrounded by the fierce Creeks. He later followed Jackson to Washington and secured the grounds for the City of Jackson. The first settler was John H. Ward who, in 1835, operated an inn in a small house owned by John Garland, a half-breed. The Indian gave the place to Mrs. Ward, who named it Garlandsville in his honor.

The John Garland house was soon replaced by a three-story frame building which served as a relay station on the stage coach line from Enterprise to Jackson. Among the inn's early guests were the Commissioners of the Federal Government who came to make arrangements to move the Choctaws to the Indian Territory. Ward, being familiar with the Choctaw Language, acted as interpreter for the them.

Mail was delivered to Garlandsville by stage coach and was handled by Mrs. Ward. In 1845, her son-in-law, J. M. Williams, was appointed postmaster. Williams held this position for thirty~eight years except for a short time during reconstruction. Upon the death of Williams, his daughter, Miss Josie Williams was appointed postmistress, serving continuously for forty-five years until her death in 1928.

In 1855 when a railroad was being built from Vicksburg to Jackson and on to the east, the railroad company wanted to build through Garlandsville and Enterprise but the citizens of Clarke and Jasper Counties would not lend their support to the project so the line was built through Newton and Meridian. This proved to be the death blow to Garlandsville as most of the businessmen moved to Newton or Meridian.

Prominent citizens included: Albert J. Brown, the first white child born in Jasper County. He became a prominent merchant here before moving to Newton where he wrote "The History of Newton County from 1834 to 1894."; Judge John Watts a pioneer lawyer and Judge of the region who served as strict Attorney for eleven years and as Circuit Judge for twenty-two years. He was a State Senator from 1871 until 1873 and was also a Methodist Preacher for thirty years.


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