When My World Was Young...
by Rev. F.
L. Applewhite
Reprinted from the Tylertown Times
The county of Walthall organized (This is another article from Rev. F. L. Applewhite's
book When My World Was Young, no longer available for purchase. This and
subsequent articles were first printed in The Tylertown Times. In an effort
to renew interest in the history of the town and county during the 150th
anniversary of a settlement that later became Tylertown, The Times is
reproducing many of the book's articles.) Introduction: This particular section was
not written by me. It was written by members of a WPA project around 1936 and
was found in a book of articles on Walthall County collected by Catherine B.
Futch and kept in the Walthall County Library. Thanks go to Mrs. P. H.
Pittman for help at the Library. I feel that this short history will be of
value to you who are interested in history, and who will carry this interest
on into the twenty-first century. Walthall County, whose seat is Tylertown,
is one of the newest counties in the state having been created from Marion
and Pike Counties in 1912. At least two-thirds of it once belonged to Pike
County and the early histories of the two counties are so closely interwoven
that they are difficult to separate. However, because of legal technicalities,
the county did not set up its local government until 1914. The county has a
total area of 403 square miles. Our county is located in the southern
part of the state, in what is known as the long leaf pine belt. It is
situated on ridges, or hilltops, forming the divides between streams, with a
sloping surface draining to the south; while the hilltops are rounded and the
latter areas not too level for good drainage. The county is about 300 to 400
feet above sea level in an area sloping gently toward the south. The even climate is one of the county's
best assets with short open winters favorable to the growing of early crops
for the markets. The annual rainfall is about _5 inches per year. Walthall is one of the smallest counties
in the state; yet it has many advantages over some of the larger counties,
and has made rapid progress during the last five years. Not only has it
progressed in the agricultural lines, but in the educational and industrial
lines as well. In its early history, this county was
mostly agricultural, with cotton being the major crop. Although corn,
potatoes, sugar cane, and other crops yielded excellent returns for the
farmer. (Today, the scene has changed and the main enterprises are now
dairying, the raising of beef cattle and tree farming.) The oldest settlements in the county are
China Grove and Sartinsville; both of which have interesting
histories. History shows that the first settlers in the China Grove section arrived in
1802. China Grove community, so called because
of a large grove of china trees set out on the grounds around the school
house and church, was first settled in 1815, according to "Luke Conerly's
History of Pike County." The land for the church, which was the center
of the community, was first deeded to the church July 20, 1840. The deed
itself is dated four years earlier, October 4, 1836, but was not recorded
until the later date. An interesting feature of the deed is that although it
was public land, it is described by roads, trees and creeks, rather than by
township, section, and range. In 1855, N. Raiford,
one of the community's early settlers, took up this land from the government
and re-deeded the church property to the community. In the historic cemetery adjoining the
church, many of Walthall County's leaders have been buried. Citizens of China Grove were farmers who
came from English, Scotch and Irish stock. Many of them migrated to this
section from South Carolina; others came from the New England states. In addition to farming, at which many of
them prospered, the citizens operated several small mills. Drury and Stovall
employed John Barnes, the grandfather of Major Sartin,
to construct a set of mills about a mile south of the church. These mills,
which were run by water power, included an upright saw, cotton gin and press,
a rice pestle mill and fan and a grist mill. One resident, a Benjamin Holmes,
in addition to being a farmer was also a bell manufacturer. He made them by
hand in his shop and supplied his neighbors with bells. At present, the old church and one or two
old homes are all that are left of China Grove. The post office which was
established in 1836 had been discontinued, the school abandoned. The church,
a one-story frame structure built in 1854, is used only for funerals. The
building has a balcony, which in pre-Civil War days was used by slaves, who,
like their masters, attended church regularly. In 1913 [1813], Sartin's
Church was established by John Sartin and others.
This community is now known as Sartinsville. The Conerly "History of
Pike County" says one Stephen Ellis was the prime mover in the
establishment of this church, whose first building was made of peeled pine
logs. Another group of settlers at an early
date established their homes along Magee's Creek, the largest creek in the
county. In 1842, Chauncey Collins, who came here from Connecticut, settled on
this stream and established a tannery and shoe shop. He is said to have
prided himself on the high type of work he turned out and in order to have
his hides properly tanned, kept them in vats for two years. Tylertown, the only incorporated town in
the county, was first known as Magee's settlement. Cullen Conerly went there
in 1850, became owner of a tract of land, bought a small store known as the
Garland Hart Store, and established a post office which was called Conerly's
post office for many years. Mr. Conerly erected a mill about a mile
from the Tyler of Owens mill, which, according to history, was first located
on Dry Creek about 1800 or 1805 by a Jacob Owens. Because of a lack of water,
Owens went lower down and built another mill which subsequently became the
property of William Clanville Tyler, for whom
Tylertown is named. According to available history, the land
on which Tylertown is located was originally acquired by J. Thornhill, September 20, 1808. During the time that this county was
being settled and Tylertown was growing into a town, Walthall County, as a
county, did not exist. This land, now known as Walthall County, was part of
Marion and Pike Counties until 1914, when it set up its local government. Walthall County was created by an act of
the Legislature while Governor Earl Brewer was the head of the state. It was named for General Edward Cary
Walthall, who served Mississippi faithfully for many years. General
Walthall's service during the War Between the States won recognition
throughout the Confederacy. He served the state as United States Senator from
1885 to 1894, resigning on account of ill health. Owing to legal technicalities, the county
officials did not take office until May 1914, although the county was created
in 1912, from parts of Pike and Marion Counties. The county's first officials appointed by
the governor took their oath of office in May, 1914. These officials were: S. A. Simmons, Sheriff; C. H. Carruth,
Chancery Clerk; J. J. Lee, Superintendent of Education; B. B. Breeland,
Circuit Clerk; and G. C. Ball, Assessor. The members of the first Board of
Supervisors were: D. M. McElveen, W. H. McDaniel, W. B. Dunaway, T. B. Jones,
A. D. McGuffie. The County
Treasurer was L. O. Bridges. These officials served until January,
1916, when new officers elected in the general election of 1915 were
installed. At this time, S. A. Simmons was re-elected Sheriff; J. C. Luter, Chancery Clerk; C. W. Hinson, Circuit Clerk; B. B.
Breeland, Assessor; C. I. Brumfield, Superintendent of Education; and H. J.
Brumfield, Treasurer. This article
appeared in The Tylertown Times on September 2, 1999 and is used here
with the kind permission of Carolyn Dillon, Editor. Thanks to M. Clint
Lee for calling this article to my attention and sending me a copy to
transcribe for this page.
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