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RAYMOND
A
History... 1821-1876
Two
award winning papers on a period in history of Raymond, Mississippi, a
small Southern town, County Seat of the Second Judicial District of
Hinds County, Mississippi.
by
Beth Ferguson
PART II
The Dismal Decade For Raymond, 1866-1876
The period of reconstruction after the War Between
the States was a time of struggle for the people of Raymond. The
peaceful community in the heart of Hinds County had thrived for
approximately forty years, since Raymond had become the county seat in
1827.
Men were returning to Raymond who had
joined the Southern army in the struggle for what had been their way of
life. Some of these soldiers suffered from loss of arms and legs, and
some never returned. By the Act of 1867, some of the disabled veterans
received a pension for the loss of a limb from their body.2
Before the war, several large cotton
plantations were located in the Raymond area. One was Burleigh, located
between Raymond and Dry Grove, which had 4,000 acres of land with a
labor force of about 500 slaves.3 Mr. John Shelton, a Raymond
attorney, was an intimate friend of the owner, Thomas Dabney. Dabney was
forced during these troublesome years to put the beloved plantation up
for auction, but with the help of his friend, Mr. Shelton, he retained
the privilege of buying the plantation back in a certain time. Many
honorable men in the South were forced to claim the benefits of the
bankrupt law, but Dabney refused to listen to such a proposal offered by
his friends.4 Dabney was determined to keep his daughters
from having to do hard work. Out of devotion to his family he did
everything physically possible to pay his debt. At seventy years of age
he had never performed manual labor, but Dabney learned to use a hoe as
a means of supplying his family with vegetables. Three years before his
death in 1885, the last of the debt on Burleigh was paid.5
The planter with his large plantation had
suffered severely from the destruction of the war, but the small farmers
also bore heavy burdens.6 Fences were down, fields were
infested with weeds, farm tools and work animals were scarce, and there
was no available labor force.7 Soon landowners began to
bargain with the unskilled freedmen who had no means of livelihood.
Sharecropping began! The landowners furnished the land, work stock, and
equipment. Cash expenses and receipts were shared on a fifty-fifty basis
after the harvest. Along with the land ostensibly came cabins,
enclosures for cows, hogs, and hens, and a patch for the vegetable
garden for the Negro family. Gentlemen farmers still felt that Negroes
had to be cared for, and this they did in return for labor.8
"The basest fraud on
earth" declared the Hinds County Gazette, "is
agriculture. No wonder Cain killed his brother. He was a tiller of the
ground. Agriculture would demoralize a saint." 9
This appears to be an accurate picture of agriculture around Raymond
after the war.
The war also had devastating results on the
publication of newspapers in Mississippi. By the close of the war the
number of papers was reduced from fifty to fourteen in publication. In
Raymond the press of the Hinds County Gazette was destroyed and its type
dumped into a well during the Vicksburg Campaign in May, 1863.10
The office equipment of the Hinds County Gazette, and records which had
been accumulated for twenty-five years were destroyed.11
By October, 1865, publication of the Hinds
County Gazette in Raymond had resumed by Major Harper who
returned to Raymond after serving in the Confederate Army. Harper has
been referred to as the "dean of Mississippi editors."12
His home which is now owned by the E. E. Jacksons, was used as a
hospital after the Battle of Raymond. Major Harper was a respected
citizen of the village of Raymond having served as mayor of the town
before the war. He was an active member of the Methodist Church, a
Mason, and an Odd Fellow. In 1875, he was elected to the Mississippi
Legislature.13
Although General Grant did not burn the
town of Raymond when he passed through, his troops did threaten to burn
many of the homes, buildings, crops and railroad. Perhaps the reason
they did not burn any buildings was because 331 wounded Union soldiers
were hospitalized in the Raymond Courthouse, The Episcopal Church, The
Oak Tree Hotel and in homes in Raymond.14
For many, the winter of 1867-1868 was the
worst of the series of difficult seasons to come. Society was leveled to
a state of destitution by the economic catastrophe of the time.15
As throughout the South, property in the Raymond area declined to its
lowest level since the settlement of the state and good land was
practically given away (usually at the rate of twenty-three to
twenty-five cents an acre) to satisfy claims.16
The first railroad in Hinds County was the
eight mile track of wooden rail connecting Raymond and Bolton. (The
railroad cut ran between the Gillespie and Peyton property at the North
end of town.) It had been used chiefly to transport agricultural
supplies before the war. At the close of the war many railroads had been
destroyed and the Raymond Railroad Company was not used anymore.17
The fact that the South was not in a position to keep her railroads in
good repair and runnin gorder was one factor in the South's defeat.18
An amusing story is told of one of the early engineers on the Raymond
line. A Negro was walking the track toward Bolton. The engineer asked
him if he wished a ride. "Naw Sir Boss," was the reply.
"I'se in a hurry to get to Bolton."19
The first church building constructed in
Raymond consisted of two very large rooms-one upper story, which was
used as a lodge by the different clubs of Raymond, and the lower story
was used as a place of worship for all denominations in Raymond. This
church, built in 1837 on land given by Francis Devine, was called the
"Raymond Church" and was located at the present site of the
Methodist Church. Various programs and concerts were given here,
sometimes with as many as 100 children taking part.20
The Raymond Methodist Church had been
founded in 1837, but did not have a separate place of worship. The
Methodists purchased the lower portion of the "Raymond Church"
in 1844 and organized the Methodist Sunday School and Church. The
trustees' names in the deed were Arthur Isham, Thomas I. Hunter, George
W. Osburn, Samuel King, Thomas Mount, Thomas Downing, and Cornelius
Vanderpoole. Thomas I. Hunter proved to be a strong leader in the church
by serving as Sunday School superintendent and song leader.21
The Raymond Presbyterian Church was
organized in 1842 under the leadership of Reverend Silas H. Hazard of
the Clinton Presbytery. In the autumn of 1868, a lot was bought, and a
church building was constructed. The present auditorium stands exactly
the size as when it was erected. Originally, the floor was level and the
rostrum was made of one by twelve planks. In later years the church was
remodeled, and an inclined floor and pulpit rails were installed.22
Raymond's first Baptist Church
building was constructed in 1844. It was located at the site of the
present Baptist Church. The original building burned in the early
twentieth century and a new building was constructed.23
The Immaculate Conception Catholic
Church was established as a Parish in 1870 by a priest from Greenville.
The present building was constructed in 1885.24 St. Mark's
Episcopal Church which was organized in 1837 and the building erected in
1854, stands today along with the Raymond Courthouse as one of the
town's most historic buildings.25
The Methodist Church erected a
balcony for Negro slaves. Some slaves continued to worship in the white
churches in Raymond during the War Between the States; and after the war
some former slaves were still permitted to be a part of the churches.
Eveline Shearer, a slave of the Shearer family, kept her membership in
the Raymond Methodist Church until the 1960's26 In 1843,
Roda Saulsbury, a colored servant of Dr. J. R. Daughtery, became a
member of the Raymond Presbyterian Church.27
On May 12, 1868, the children
of Raymond celebrated the thirty-fourth anniversary of the Raymond
Sunday School, at the Methodist Church. An interesting event took place
at this celebration. At 6 o'clock in the morning the children and
teachers assembled at the beautiful residence of Major Harper, on the
south side of town. At evening the children formed a procession and
carried banners through every street of the village. They were cheered
by all the citizens of the community-black and white. The procession
ended at the Female Institution at the North end of the village where
they were served supper by the ladies of Raymond.
Raymond had several private schools for
white students. (Public schools were not established in Raymond until
after 1876) .The Methodist Female Seminary was located on the adjoining
Biggs and Gillespie property. The establishment consisted of several
buildings, and accommodated some boarding students.26 A new
school for male and female students was organized during the years of
reconstruction. This school was called the Spring Ridge Male and Female
Academy, and was located between Raymond and Byram.29
William Thomas Ratliff, an outstanding
military leader during the Civil War opened a male military school in
his home, that is now owned by the E. E. Thrash family. Large windows in
the front of the house were made into doors, and the downstairs rooms
were used as classrooms. The young boys loved attending school under
Colonel Ratliff.30 Colonel Ratliff was a leading citizen of
Raymond. He held the offices of probate clerk, chancery clerk, sheriff,
and county administrator. After the war he became chairman of the Hinds
County Democratic League, a group which helped overthrow the carpetbag
regime in Hinds County.31
New homes were being built in
Raymond despite the dismal economic, social, and political conditions of
the time. An example is the Gillespie home on Oak Street. It was built
by Chalmers Williamson and later bought by Cade Gillespie, Sr., a
Confederate veteran and lawyer of the village. Across the street from
the Courthouse, a hotel was built in much the same architectural style
as the Gillespie home.
After the war the South was divided
into five districts. Mississippi and Arkansas made up the fourth
military district, under the command of Major General E. C. Ord, who was
stationed at Vicksburg. General Ord had almost unlimited power. When it
pleased his fancy, he set aside state laws and court decisions. White
men who were accused of crime were often refused trial by jury and were
court-martialed, or tried in army style. Only a small number of white
citizens were permitted to vote.32 The voting citizens were
required to take an oath that stated that they never supported The
Confederate States of America. When the citizens of Raymond registered
to vote only 366 persons did so. Out of the 366, there were no white
voters.33
During Ord's administration, a
convention was called to decide on the necessary steps before the state
could be taken back into the Union. An election was held in Raymond to
elect representatives to attend the convention. The election was
conducted by four white scalawags, all of whom except McCloy (of the
federal army who had resided in Raymond since the surrender) were
strangers to the people of the community. The election was a Negro
arrangement exclusively, not a white man approached the polls. The
Negroes simply carried out the orders of the white thieves.34
To the great distress of the few white representatives who were allowed
to take part, the convention was run almost entirely by uneducated
Negroes.35
In the Hinds County election of 1867, a
Negro was elected as coroner, as sheriff, and two as state
representatives. These were all residents of Raymond.36
Finally on February 23, 1870, Grant approved the bill readmitting
Mississippi into full fellowship in the Union.37
The Ku Klux Klan made its appearance in
Raymond and in other parts of Mississippi. This shadowy organization
threatened the uneasy political equilibrium in the state and signified
the determination of many whites to carry the election by any means
possible, albeit short of racial war or military repression.38
The Klan was basically concerned about the illiterate Negroes that were
becoming active in the political affairs of the state. Patriotic white
citizens felt that they could not stand by and watch as the Scalawags
gained the confidence of the freed Negroes.39
The freedmen were different from the
slaves that the people of Raymond had known. The freed slaves were
described in the Hinds County Gazette in 1866, "Negroes
drink mean whiskey, frollick with carpetbaggers, chew cheap tobacco, and
kiss the scallawags."40
The Democrats were ready to do away with
Republican control. The Democratic Campaign Committee immediately
went to work to decide on a plan of sure victory for the democrats. W.
Calvin Wells of Raymond, secretary of the Democratic Campaign committee
of Hinds County in 1875, outlined the policies to be followed in the
campaign. In summary form they were:41
1. Organize a solidly Democrat front.
2. Intimidate Negroes if persuasion fails.
3. Stuff the ballot box with Democrat tickets.
4. Destroy Republican tickets.
5. Substitute Democratic for Republican tickets for illiterate
Negroes.
6. If these plans do not work. then count out the Republicans and
count the Democrats in.
One of the most horrible events of this
dismal decade was the Clinton Riot which involved several citizens of
Raymond. The riot erupted from a Republican meeting held just outside of
Clinton. Attending the meeting were about 1,000 Negro Republicans and
about 100 white Democrats. Judge Amos R. Johnston opened the meeting for
the Democrats. Suddenly there was a small uprising and a single shot
sounded. When the shot was heard there was a mad rush of Negroes and
three or four of them were killed. Some of the whites were wounded while
seeking escape from the scene of the riot. Frank Thompson, a lawyer from
Raymond, was wounded and lost so much blood in the escape that he fell
from his horse. When he was found later, he was dead. After the shooting
in the valley, the whites retreated and were met by a party of armed
Negroes who knocked down Martin Sivly, another citizen of Raymond. Sivly
reached an open field near the Raymond Depot before he was overtaken by
the Negroes who beat him with fence posts. This beating cost Sivly his
life.42
The Clinton Riot Of September 4, 1875,
certainly convinced the white Democrats of Raymond and the rest of
Mississippi of the need for political unity in the state. The Clinton
Riot, as it became known throughout the state, was the focal point
for Democratic orators during the weeks before the election of 1876.
Democrats claimed an impending race war could be avoided only by the
complete restoration of Democratic control of the state government.43
Following the Clinton Riot there was a
sharp decline in Republican strength throughout the state and in the
Raymond area. This decline was attributed to several factors. Among them
were methods of intimidation borrowed from the First Mississippi Plan
of 1875, some Negro and white Republicans switched to the Democratic
Party, and finally, many Negroes were disfranchised because of the
complex election law passed by the Democratic legislature of 1876, which
required Negro voters to know the section, township, and range in which
they lived.44
The bold Southern people who had
sacrificed so much in the Civil War were, at last, victorious in the
election of 1876. The Democrats experienced a sweeping win, and during
the following years, the men who dominated the political, economic, and
social scene in Mississippi were a colorful group.45 Most of
these men were Veterans of the Civil War.46
Dismal as the decade was for Raymond, the
town did have one advantage over many Southern towns. Raymond was not
burned. This helped the town recover from the ravages of war. Business
and farming slowly recovered in the 1870's. Raymond, however, never
reached its pre-war conditions until the twentieth century. Recovery was
slow and conditions were very hard for those living in the dismal decade
of 1866-1876.
Part III
ADDENDUM |