Jefferson County Officials
To his deserved popularity and business qualifications is due the success of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Shelton was born in Copiah County September 1, 1870, and came to Jefferson County in 1894. In the ten years of his residency he has successfully been a member of the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff and Tax collector, and in 1903 was elected to his present post as Chancery Clerk. He received his education at Union Church High School and at the Mississippi A. & M College. Subsequently he took a commercial course at Wyatt’s Business College, Jackson. Miss. For four years he was employed by Laz. Levy’s Sons, Port Gibson, Miss. Mr. Shelton is an example of what a young man can do who combines honesty with his progressiveness.
Mr. C. C. Coffey, the present Clerk of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County, is a son of the late Capt. C. S. Coffey, an old
and respected citizen of Jefferson County, and a soldier of
distinction in both the Mexican and Confederate armies. Captain
Coffey organized and was captain of the “Thomas Hinds Guards,” the
first company which left for the war from Jefferson County.
The
subject of this sketch was born in Fayette January 27, 1853, and
from 1867 to 1870 attended the University of Mississippi. He was
elected Clerk of the Circuit Court in 1884, and served as such until
1896, when he was elected Sheriff of the county. Upon the expiration
of his term in 1900 he retired to private life, but in 1904 he was
again elevated to the Clerkship of the Circuit Court. Mr. Coffey
stands high among his fellow citizens and is a competent, capable
and accommodating official.
One of Fayette’s most enterprising citizens, is a native of Franklin- County, where he was born October 7, 1868. This gentleman, Mr. Felix H. Noble, spent the early years of his life in Brookhaven and attended school in that place. In 1891 he moved to Harriston and conducted a livery business and three years later came to Fayette, establishing a similar business. He was elected Mayor of Fayette and served during the years 1897-1898. In 1903 he was elected Sheriff of Jefferson County and is the present incumbent. To Mr. Nobles push and energy is due, to a large extent, the substantial growth of Fayette, and that his efforts have been appreciated by his town and county-men is testified to by his election to the offices which he has held.
Judge Truly is yet a young man, having only passed the
forty-second year of his life and not quite the twenty-first year of
his career as a lawyer. He was born In Fayette July 21, 1861, on the
day the battle of Manassas was fought; was educated in the common
schools of the county, afterward at tending a high school in
Natchez. In 1879 he entered the law office of the late Capt. J. J.
Whitney, of Fayette. and studied under him two years; in 1881 and
1882 he was in Saint Joseph, La., and further prosecuted his studies
in the law office of Steele & Garrett (the senior member of this
firm afterward moved to New York, and became District Attorney of
Cook County.
Upon leaving Messrs. Steele & Garrett. Mr. Truly matriculated at Tulane Law College, New Orleans, and took a common law course. He was admitted to practice in the fall of 1883, hanging out his shingle In Fayette, and at once showed such energetic zeal and level-headed grasp of facts, as well as a splendid ability to analyze evidence and understand human nature, that he very quickly built up for him self a lucrative practice which continued to grow until December 1, 1898, when he was appointed Judge of the Sixth District by Governor A. J. McLaurin. He has served out one full term as Circuit Judge and was re-appointed by Governor Longino. To know of his success in prompt dispatch of business before his courts, quick and uniformly fair and correct rulings, and impartial and fearless Judgment in all matters before his tribunal, one has only to ask the attorneys who practice at the various bars in the district for an opinion.
Judge Truly was appointed Associate Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court in August of last year, by Governor Longino. His appointment is for a term of three years, and is to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Terrall, who died last spring.
Judge Truly owns considerable property in Fayette and Jefferson county; is a stockholder in and director of the Jefferson County Bank; is a thoroughly progressive citizen, and led the local fight for the installation of the waterworks and electric light plant.