Holmes County is located in the west central part of
Mississippi. It was created February 19, 1833 out of the land originally ceded
by the Choctaw Indians in the Treaty of Doak's Stand, October 18, 1820 and
known as the "New Purchase." Out of the original large county of Hinds was
formed Yazoo County, and Holmes was formed from Yazoo in 1833. A portion of
western Holmes County was contributed to the formation of Humphreys County in
1918. Holmes County was named for Governor David Holmes, fourth Territorial
governor, first Mississippi state governor, and later U.S. Senator.
Some of the names of very early settlers of Holmes County
are Nathaniel Rives, Archibald Paxton, W.T. Land, Dr. Garret Keirn, Robert
Cook, James R. Enloe, James Dyer, John W. Dyer, John W. Anderson, Israel W.
Pickens, W.W. George, Dr. Frances R. Cheatham, Dr. Ira S. Mitchell, Joseph
Plummer, Alexander Magee, Vincent Carraway, William H. Hines, John W. Cowen
and William McLellan. (1)
Between 1820 and 1830, nearly 30,000 people moved into the
lands opened up by the Doak's Stand Cession. The population of Mississippi
increased 175 percent during that decade. Between 1833 and 1837, prices "rose
like smoke," and Mississippi land offices sold over seven million acres of
land on a seemingly limitless supply of credit. Towns sprang up overnight, and
the charlatans, gamblers and speculators swarmed into Mississippi, ready to
make their fortunes. The land boom created an atmosphere much like California
would experience in 1849. The bubble burst in 1837, when Andrew Jackson
ordered federal land offices to accept nothing but hard cash for land, and
land prices plummeted. There was a mass movement westward, often to Texas, as
speculators went broke and moved on to a new start. (2)
Not all immigrants were speculators or charlatans, however.
Great numbers of small farmers moved into these lands from the soil-weary
seaboard states, attracted to the virgin soil. Census schedules often reflect
the migration patterns of these families, as often the birthplace of the
parents was Virginia, North Carolina or South Carolina, that of their older
children Tennessee or Alabama and the younger children and grandchildren,
Mississippi. Very few settlers in these counties were foreign-born. (3)
Holmes County attracted many of these immigrants, drawn to
its rich soil. All crops grew well, but the area was especially suitable for
farming grain and fruit. Timber was abundant, and there were numerous rivers
and lakes. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad connected Durant and Tchula
with the county seat, Lexington, and this farming region shipped large
quantities of produce to northern markets through the connection in Durant
with the Illinois Central Railroad.
Four of the oldest settlements in Holmes County are now
extinct: Rankin, Montgomery, Vernon and Georgeville. Rankin was located about
five miles from Tchula. Montgomery was on the west bank of Big Black River at
Pickens Ferry. Vernon was about 12 miles north of Lexington, and was once a
thriving town. (1)
Sources:
(1) Rowland, Dunbar. History of Mississippi, the Heart of the
South, published 1925.
(2) Skates, John Ray. Mississippi, A Bicentennial History,
W.W. Norton & Co.,
New York, 1979.
(3) Weaver, Herbert. Mississippi Farmers, 1850 - 1860, The
Vanderbilt Press, 1945.
Copyright 1998 Cindy Greene
