Brookhaven and Bogue Chitto, Lincoln County, Mississippi, 1891
Brookhaven
The city of Brookhaven is located on the Illinois Central railroad one hundred
and twenty-nine miles north of New Orleans, fifty-five miles south of Jackson,
the state capital, and seven hundred and eighty-six miles south of Chicago. It
is five hundred feet above tide-water and is the highest point on the Illinois
Central railroad between New Orleans and Holly Springs, Miss. It is the county
seat of Lincoln County, where all county business is transacted. The corporate
limits embrace a square mile, of which the railroad depot is the center. The
first settlement of the place was in the fall of 1856 and spring of 1857. John
Storm, who closed a useful and well-spent life a few years ago, after having
raised a large family who are now among Brookhaven' s most active and respected
citizens, and Mr. Jesse Warren, who also raised a large family and was long
circuit clerk of the county, were among the first settlers. Messrs. Warren and
Storm were also the first regular merchants of the town; what few shops existed
before they opened business in the spring of 1857 having been of a very inferior
and unpretentious order.
For a year or two the railroad extended no farther from New Orleans than Summit,
which was its northern terminus and the distributing point for freights for all
of the sur-rounding towns and counties. Finally, however, the road was completed
to this point, and in May, 1857, the first train reached Brookhaven. It was
freight, and Mr. A. O. Cox, ex-sheriff of the county, who was the first station
agent of the railroad, stated that the tariff on the cargo for delivery at this
place was $1,350.
For eight or ten months Brookhaven continued as the northern terminus of the
railroad, and during this time its growth was very rapid and its business large.
The first year it was a railroad town, the shipment of cotton amounted to
eighteen thousand bales. But the railroad was soon completed to Beauregard,
Hazlehurst and other points farther north, thus dividing the business, and from
that time its growth was more gradual and business settled down to the permanent
basis which it has since maintained. The population has increased steadily and
is now fifteen hundred.
The business of Brookhaven is of a stable and promising character. The record
will show that there have been fewer failures among her business men than in any
other town of like size in the state. It is the market and trading point of a
majority of the people of the county, as well as a very large proportion from
Franklin, Jefferson and Lawrence counties. The building of the Meridian and
Northeastern and the Mississippi Valley railroads has no perceptible effect
toward drawing away trade, nor is it feared that it will, as this will only take
off a few from the outskirts of Brookhaven' s trade territory and will be more
than offset by the constant development that is going on. The twenty-seven
sawmills of the county, with their hundreds of employees and dependents, and the
sturdy agricultural population will sustain and continually increase its
commercial importance.
The city is under the direction of a board of mayor and aldermen and a marshal
(who is also ex-officio tax collector, elected every two years.
Brookhaven has ever been noted for the beauty of her women and the gallantry of
her men, and in point of intelligence, culture and animation her society circles
will com-pare favorably with those of any other community. With schools the city
is peculiarly favored. First and foremost among these is the now famous
Whitworth Female College. In addition to this a male academy of high grade is
conducted, and several competent and experienced teachers; each conducts a mixed
school for small boys and girls. The public schools of the city are also run
four months of each year.
The Presbyterians, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists and Episcopalians all have
commodious and comfortable churches, and all except the latter have regular
religious services and Sunday-schools.
Though owning no synagogue the Jewish citizens also maintain a religious
organization and hold worship at stated periods. The colored population likewise
displays a creditable interest in religious matters, and support one Baptist and
two Methodist churches with very comfortable houses of worship.
Secret societies are represented by lodges of I. O. O. F. , Masons, Knights of
Honor and Knights and Ladies of Honor, which meet in a large and commodious hall
built and owned by the Masonic fraternity. Heuck's hall, capable of seating six
hundred persons and equipped with a well arranged stage and fine scenery,
furnishes accommodation to various excellent traveling combinations during the
winter months, and amusement to lovers of the drama.
Other towns in this county are. Bogue Chitto, Montgomery and Caseyville.
Bogue Chitto
Bogue Chitto, about ten miles south of Brookhaven on the. Illinois Central
railroad is situated on the Bogue Chitto River. It is one of the oldest towns
along the road, having been in existence ever since the railroad was built.
Owing to various causes, the growth of this town has been very slow. Its
buildings being entirely wooden structures, it has been twice destroyed by fire
and until within the past few years was had a hard struggle for existence. The
population of Bogue Chitto is two hundred and twenty-five, nearly double what it
was a few years past, and is increasing rapidly and steadily. Its volume of
business has swelled until it is ten times greater. There are five dry goods and
grocery stores.
Messrs. B. E. Brister & Co. own two large saw and planing mills, besides doing a flourishing mercantile business. J. M. Tyler also owns a fine watermill and gin about a half-mile from town. The lumber manufacturing interests of Bogue Chitto are equal to those of any and superior to those of a great many places of much greater pretensions. There are seven mills for manufacturing rough and dressed lumber in the vicinity of the place. The annual shipment of lumber is about $40,000 to $50,000. Messrs. Wesson & Money own one of the finest bodies of pine timber in the country, with a narrow gauge railroad and locomotive running through it to a distance of eight miles east, and there is a probability that the road will be extended to Pearl River.
The Natchez, Bogue Chitto & Ship Island railroad will possibly become a fixed fact in the near future, though it may take a different name, and in view of that fact the value of property in and around Bogue Chitto is increasing.
The corporate limits of the town include about a mile square. There are some very sightly residences and very fine sites for many more. The school facilities are fine. There are two churches, one white (Methodist) and one colored (Baptist); one Masonic and town hall.
Back to: Mississippi Counties, Cities and Towns, 1891
Source: Biographical and Historical Memories of Mississippi, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891
