HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI THE HEART OF THE SOUTH BY DUNBAR ROWLAND, LL. D. VOLUME I ILLUSTRATED Chicago-Jackson The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Cout. tayou 6-15-34 INTRODUCTION There is no field of American history more important nor more interesting than that of the various States of the American Republic. The story of the Nation is largely a combined one of all the States of the Union, many of which made the earlier chapters of the history of the country before National history began. The history of each State and Territory embracing the group created after the union of the original thirteen colonies down to 1812 is necessary to the right understanding of our complete independence as a Nation of all foreign interference. The history of the States created thereafter up to the War for Southern Independence must be studied to understand the history of the Nation lying between 1812 and 1860, and the study of the entire number is necessary to the interpretation of our history as a whole. A proper presentation then of what took place in the various governmental divisions of the Union illuminates the whole and makes it easier for the student and reader to understand the continuous history of the country. The foregoing being true, one of the important objects and tasks of American historians is the writing of adequate State histories. This field has been attractive to writers of history from a very early period and much good work has been accomplished; and for the last twenty-five years it can be said that some of the best historical work in the United States has been done in the field of State history based on original sources. Many of the States of the Union are at present engaged in the collection and publication of original historical records. Since 1902 the State of Mississippi has been actively engaged in the collection of its original historical sources and during the course of these activities the historical archives of the State have been centralized, classified and made accessible for use and are being printed. The archives of England, France and Spain have been carefully searched for materials concerning the colonial period of Mississippi history; and sixty-one volumes of these early transcripts have been secured and are being translated. In 1907, with the use of such sources an Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, was issued by the author as a working medium in the administration of the work of his office. In the preparation of that work the historical archives were extensively used for the first time. While the Encyclopedia was adapted to the use for which it was prepared and has proved of great service to readers and students for ready reference in the study of special subject it has not taken the place of a definitive narrative history of the State. There has for a number of years been a desire on the part of the people for a narrative history based on the best original sources of information and these volumes have been prepared and published in response to public demand. Both original records and the Encyclopedia which was prepared from original sources have been used in its preparation with quotations from the best authors. In the early chapters original documents have been liberally used wherever these continued to logically unfold the story. The work is the final result of long years of laborious research and I trust that it will answer the purpose for which it is intended. The people of the State of Mississippi who have never been unmindful of their history have welcomed this further effort in a most generous manner and have given the author every assistance and encouragement possible. In a brief foreword written for the purpose of announcing a narrative history of the State it is not possible to even so much as faintly outline the achievement and progress of the people of Mississippi, but I cannot forego the pleasure first of all to acknowledge the debt we owe to its early founders,-those who dared the unknown and those who came later with the axe in their strong hands to clear the primeval forests, establish homes, risk the massacre, defend their settlements against the savage foe and build altars to the known God-these are our great Benefactors. When culture, wealth and ease come to a people they are apt to forget the pioneers of their race, and the historian who neglects the achievements of these early periods fails in one of the most essential points of history. It is to these early backgrounds that |