This chapter may be interesting
to you also. Do you know what a "barrus" is. I am not familiar
with the word and think that is what he is calling the area he settled.
The place where he buried his father, mother and wife (Rachel Hamilton)
are all on his farm. Maybe there are land records telling where this
land is. I find when I look at a modern map, many of the towns he
mentions are no longer there.
I am having a wonderful
time reconstructing this man's life but any help you can give me will be
appreciated so very much. There is much more of the journal but after Yazoo
becomes Holmes I am not sure you will want to wade through his long windedness.
He builds a mill near Richland "eight or ten miles from Lexington".
I cannot find Richland near Lexington on a map. Well, here is what
I have to offer. I hope someone reads it and knows exactly where
he is talking about and even some of the people he mentions. That
would be a wonderful "find" for me. Thank you so much for your interest.
Sally
Chapter 26
But to return to temporal
matters, Bro. John had moved and settled in the hickory "barrus" near my
canebrake settlement, and I saw his crops was far superior to mine, and
that I had been deceived with regards to the richness of the hickory "barrus"
! I sold my settlement farm, entered some land near my brother's, went
into the woods without a stick missing, built some cabins, cleared and
fenced my farm, plowed and planted all I could the first year, prepared
new land for the second year, planted in corn and planted cotton on the
balance which grew and made a splendid crop.
Here I missed the opportunity
to have speedily made a splendid fortune. There was any amount of vacant
land all around me, but up to this time improved lands could hardly be
sold for the improvements put on them, but in two or three years emigrants
(some rich) began to pour in and land ran up as high as twenty and thirty
dollars per acre. I could have bought all I had money to pay for, at one
dollar twenty-five cents. Alas, I don't know what might have been, but
I didn't see far enough ahead, and turned my cotton in a different speculation.
Ever since I had learned
book "ceeping" I had a hankering for the mercantile business, and I now
thought an opportunity had presented itself. There was a beautiful spot
for a town not far from my farm, a good many bold springs parallel with
the town site, easily accessible. This place was several miles from the
nearest village and a sprinkling of settlers all around. Why not build
up a town and commence merchandising?
The idea struck while I
was bending my back in the hot sun picking cotton. I remember it as well
as if it was yesterday. I picked up my basket, carried it to the cotton
house and picked no more cotton for a long time afterward.
Well, with a young man I
went to take the numbers of the land I wanted to purchase. While on the
ground I met two men I knew, living in the nearest village. I guessed they
were after the same enterprise, which proved true, but I started a man
to the land office. He rode all "knight" and beat my competitor only a
few minutes.
Well, I surveyed (I had
a surveyors compass) my town, the streets at right angles, broad, the blocks
when staked off looked tempting, but the map and town on paper was a fortune
to look at. Oh, it was a splendid town, but it all turned out like the
milk maid's milk! However, I built a storehouse on one lot, a dwelling
on another, a gin on another, a tanner made a tanyard below the spring,
and finally another merchant built on another lot, and this was the extent
of my splendid town, Eaton. I had sent on and been appointed postmaster,
and by this time a Doctor Row came in town. I had medicine having procured
a dispensary. The doctor used my medicines as wanted.
Well, I filled my store
with goods and did well for nearly two years. But trouble began to overtake
me, and its said hardly ever comes single.
About the end of the second
year, I became acquainted with a Mr. Erwin. He was worth about as much
as I was. We entered into a co-partnership. He was a widower, had one little
daughter. We concluded to buy goods at the north. I had been buying
in New Orleans and as he had no family it suited for him to go north and
buy our northern stock, which never reached us. He bought in Philadelphia
some thirteen thousand dollars worth, insured them to New Orleans at ten
per cent more than cost, and wrote to our merchants in New Orleans to insure
our goods not stating how much (I afterwards saw the letter. There was
no amount specified). Our merchants insured for five thousand dollars.
The boat ascending the Mississippi River struck a snag, the goods was thrown
out on the bank, exposed to a week's heavy rain, carried back to New Orleans
and sold for the benefit of the under "wrighters" and we lost upwards of
five thousand dollars.
Mr. Erwin was in appearance
and really was a gentleman of integrity, but no merchant. He was a good
farmer but knew very little about the mercantile business. I went to New
Orleans and laid in a good stock of goods. We "wasn't" broke yet!
Soon after this my mother
died. She died very suddenly without a groan. I carried and buried her
alongside of father. Not long after the death of mother, my wife died in
giving birth to Rachel! (1833) My wife lived but a few hours after the
birth of her child!! With five little children, the oldest not over eight
years, the infant was fortunate to have a kind aunt who took charge of
her the day she was born and raised her as one of her own until she was
nearly grown.
Losing a kind mother, affectionate
prudent wife, no wonder I felt desolate! And about this time my visions
of a town died also!
The county of Yazoo was
divided and Holmes county struck off. The legislature had included in the
law for the county of Holmes, that the County seat should be located within
the radius of five miles of the center of the county. If the circle had
included Eaton, I believe Eaton would have had a fair show for its life,
but it was a little outside and Eaton lost its name!
The new county held an election
for all the offices required for conducting the business of a county. Amongst
the rest, I was elected one of the commissioners to ascertain the bounds
of the county, locate the site for the county seat, name it, sell lots
and have the court house built.
The commissioners sent me,
with the county surveyor to establish the county lines and find out the
center of the county. We went and executed our work, returned and the surveyor,
a Mr. Griffin, and I each drew a map of our survey. I don't think Mr. Griffin
expected that I would draw a map, or he would have taken more pains and
drawn a neater one if he could, but as I had a good case of instruments,
I drew up one for my own benefit. Mr. Griffin presented his to the commissioners
and I saw mine was the best executed, and showed it. My map was adopted.
I don't think the surveyor liked it much and was cool towards me ever afterwards.
We selected a nice level
site, had the lots surveyed, advertised and sold. Then had the court house
built, a respectable brick building, with the money the lots sold for and
had some left.
Taylor and Erwin bought
several lots, built a two story on one, had it full of goods, started another
store forty miles distant under the charge of Col. Sandey, a particular
friend and much of a gentleman, found some valuable lands, that was coming
into market. I went to the land sales at Columbus and was there when the
great and marvelous falling of the stars occurred. This was the most wonderful
phenomenon I have ever seen. The stars, meteors, or whatever it was, looked
like the whole of the stars of heaven were falling, shooting in every direction.
It did look very alarming.
I attended the sales and
bought two and one-half sections, some was run up on me, but the most of
it I bought at $1.25. I overheard a speculator say to someone, "That's
a lucky dog."
We built a saw mill and
cotton gin on a creek that ran through our land. We had a force sufficient
to have a (I can't tell what this word is. It looks like agir.)
Now we had our ship in deep
water, we knew it was strong, and sailed well and we were considered rich
at that time. It now takes millions to make a man considered rich, a hundred
thousand was considered rich enough. I had friends to tell me we must be
worth a hundred thousand. I knew better, but did not enlighten my friend,
merchants don't tell everyone how their business stands, but we had met
our debts punctually and had unlimited credit.
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