Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi, 1891
Woodville (population one thousand) the seat of justice for Wilkinson County,
is one of the oldest towns in the state, and prior to its incorporation (which
dates back to about 1808) was one of the earliest settlements in the then
Natchez district. Peopled by one of the proudest races on earth, its population
comprised men whose sense of honor was the most exalted, and whose chivalry,
exhibited whenever occasion presented, led them to deeds of valor and heroism.
It would be difficult to point out a location for a town that would combine more
advantages than that of Woodville. Situated upon an elevation four hundred and
fifty feet above the river level at Bayou Sara, the breezes of the gulf are here
distinctly felt and enjoyed. The topography of Woodville and its immediate
environments is one that is admirably, adapted to thorough drainage and perfect
sanitation. The watershed of the town is four-fold, and drainage occurs at the
four cardinal points of the compass. The inevitable consequence of all this is
that Woodville is one of the most healthful spots in the country, and enjoys
unusual immunity from the ills that flesh is heir to.
Woodville is supported wholly by the trade afforded by its surrounding
agricultural country, whose inhabitants raise principally cotton, corn, oats,
hay and live stock for the market, the county being specially adapted to the
successful cultivation and growing of either. Wilkinson County contains
twenty-five townships, and has a population of about seventeen thousand five
hundred and sixty-four, the principal portion of which is engaged in
agricultural pursuits. Were its arable lands wholly occupied it could, with
ease, sustain a population of from sixty thousand to seventy-five thousand
souls. It will thus be seen that excellent opportunities exist for the
acquirement of land and homes by immigrants from other states and countries.
Quite a number of large, well supplied stores provide the agricultural
population with all needful supplies, and during the busy cotton season this
town wears an aspect of thrift and bustle that would be creditable to much
larger business places. The enterprise and promptness of her business men are
proverbial.
Perhaps no town in the state takes greater pride in her secret organizations
than Woodville. The Masons have a lodge, a Royal Arch chapter and council, all
of which have large membership and are in first-rate financial condition. The
Odd Fellows have a lodge and encampment in like excellent standing. This latter
order is in a flourishing state financially. The Knights of Honors have a large
membership and a flourishing lodge, the order being justly popular here. The
American Legion of Honor is also represented in a lodge numbering about
forty-five members.
The Protestant Episcopal Church (St. Paul's) is one of the oldest churches in
the town, and has its pulpit regularly supplied. This church has a fine organ
and a choice choir.
The Catholic congregation of Woodville has an attractive, commodious house of
worship, where services are held every fourth Sunday in each month.
The Methodists have a large congregation and a handsome church edifice, where
they worship every Sunday.
The Baptist church is likewise a very handsome building. This denomination is
also a large one. They have services on the first and third Sundays in each
month.
The Presbyterian congregation worships in a large and comfortable church in the
town, and number among their worshipers a goodly list of the old residents of
the town and county.
The Hebrew population of Woodville numbers about twenty families, who hold their
regular weekly services in the Jewish temple, Beth Israel, which was built in
1878. The congregation was organized a few years prior to the construction of
the temple. Rabbi Henry Cohen, formerly of Kingston, Jamaica, and London,
England, is the spiritual head of the congregation. Besides filling the pulpit
at the synagogue here, his labors extend to Bayou Sara, where he has a large
Sabbath-school, and to other neighboring localities. There is also a Jewish
cemetery here, which was dedicated about twenty years ago.
There is a large public school for whites in Woodville, in a most satisfactory
and flourishing condition. There is also a public school for colored people in
the town. This is perhaps one of the best colored schools in the South. The late
Judge Edward McGehee donated, during his life, a handsome sum of money toward
the education of the youth of Woodville, which was one of the many generous
benefactions bestowed by this big-hearted philanthropist. The donation is
represented in a fine building and ample grounds, in the corporate limits of
Woodville, and is under the management of the conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Though controlled by the Methodist church the school is in no
wise sectarian. The public schools throughout the county are sufficiently
numerous to meet the requirements of the school population, and here, as
elsewhere in the South, there are ample educational advantages for all.
Woodville has only one direct connection by rail with Bayou Sarah, via the West
Feliciana railroad, over which trains leave Woodville at 7 a. m., on Mondays,
Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; returning, arrive here at 4:30 the same day.
A mail is carried over this route.
There is also a regular hack line (conducted by Mr. G. M. Petty), which connects
Woodville with the Mississippi Valley railroad. The hack leaves Woodville every
morning at 7:30 o'clock, making close connection with the south-bound train at
Centerville, Miss. The hack lays over and connects also with the north-bound
train, and, returning, arrives here at 4:30 p. m. This gives Woodville a daily
mail from New Orleans, as well as from the North.
The Woodville Republican is the name of the local paper, whose editor and
proprietor, Mr. J. S. Lewis, devotes himself assiduously to its publication. The
Republican is a hand-some county paper and deserves to be well supported.
The patriotic ladies of Wilkinson County organized themselves into a Confederate
Monumental Association, and through their noble efforts, ably seconded by the
veterans of the lost cause in the town and county, erected a beautiful monument
in a square lot opposite the south side of the courthouse, "In memory of the
Confederate soldiers of Wilkinson County 1861 to 1865." The foregoing
inscription appears upon one side of the shaft, near the base, and just above
the word "Confederate." Upon another side appears the Confederate battle-flag,
and just beneath a private soldier wearing the gray, his musket held at rest. On
a third surface is the coat of arms of the Confederate states, and upon the
front a Confederate cavalryman, mounted and equipped for battle. Above this
figure a second battle-flag is unfurled. The shaft is sixteen feet high and
surmounts a mound covered with an evergreen sward. It is a very handsome
monument, and the entire work reflects credit upon the dutiful daughters of
patriotic old Wilkinson. A suitable iron railing to enclose the monument square
completes the work.
Fort Adams was settled by Wilkinson's army in 1798, when the soldiers were in
cantonment until about 1807. Fort Adams was named in 1800, in honor of the
president. Pinckneyville, the original seat of justice, was founded in the first
settlement of the territory. It was platted in 1805 by Thomas Dawson, and its
plat was recorded in 1806 by James Johnson, clerk.
Jackson academy, incorporated in 1814, was located in what is now John A.
Redhead's yard, where the site is still to be seen. The school flourished for a
number of years, and afterward the place was known as a stand for physicians.
The Wilkinson lodge No. 10, I. O. O. F. was started in 1846. Asylum lodge No. 63
was chartered about the same time.
The Baptist church in Woodville was incorporated in 1824;
Presbyterian Church at Cold Spring in 1825;
St. Paul's Episcopal church in 1825;
Consolation church below old Mount Pleasant, in this county, in 1831;
Bethel church, at the old camping grounds near Thompson creek, the present site
of Bethel church, was first built of logs by Edward McGehee, William James and
friends, and was dedicated by Rev. Lewis Hobbs in 1813. Some years after this
building was replaced by a frame church, that later by a brick building, which
stands as a monument to the honor of Judge Edward McGehee.
The Methodists had a church at Pinckneyville some years before this, and another
at Loftus Heights.
The next oldest church was at Midway, first known as Grave's church, founded by
the Bowman family and established about 1815 or 1817 by Mark Moore, afterward
moved to Centerville, where there is a flourishing organization with a
membership of one hundred.
The Presbyterian church of Centerville has a neat frame building and a
membership of fifty. The Baptist church at same place numbers about thirty-five
members.
In the western part of Wilkinson County, Miss., is a stream running almost due
north and south. It runs through an alluvial country and in many places has high
banks. With almost every overflow, like the Mississippi River, it changes its
current and causes large caving of the banks. For many years these caving banks
have brought to light remains, such as bones, tusks and teeth, of some extinct
animal, said to be the mastodon. In one instance a tusk was found measuring five
feet, from the point, in length, and six inches in diameter at the largest part.
Unfortunately this specimen was neglected and gradually crumbled away from the
action of the air. If varnished with common copal varnish these specimens may be
preserved indefinitely, otherwise they soon crumble and perish. There are in the
county many valuable specimens, such as jaw teeth, front teeth, points of tusks
and larger bones, which have been treated with varnish and are well preserved.
One specimen consists of the jawbone with the teeth all in good state of
preservation. The Negroes gather up these remains after an overflow, and for a
consideration bring them to the curious in such matters. The supply seems to be
inexhaustible.
Back to: Mississippi Counties, Cities and Towns, 1891
Source: Biographical and Historical Memories of Mississippi, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891
