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?___j,aairv-irn? mnn Mranrn namtramacif wa-; hnrn near ;\atcnczj
la the field of poetry there was William Ward, a New Englande^fjv? turned Mississippian, who enlivened the towns of Columbus and Macon with his verses. He became editor of the Macon Beacon i? 1870. One of.,'-? his light poems, ?Katie Did,? won national recognition.07 During the period following the war, historical writing
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f
4*v-
MISSISSIPPI
.... ^
flourishctl.iv^ - |qt,^ghpd |he;-rspeculation and ruined those concerned in
.^jP
ere wrecked in for-; -y
^ J. F. H. Claiborne, who had been a party to the founding of the Missi**, I'iCol. Claiborne, both of whom w J slPPi Historical Society in 1858, and had produced biographies of SanmeJ*. $ 'ptfoe^moved to New Orleans shortly after the acrimonious con-HDale and John Anthony Quitman which were published in 1860, spei^._J$0ften met, but never spoke.? But tliev were reconciled1*
tesL?!!S.f|'^fa:;fewdays before the <
'? the autumn years of his life writing a history of the state. Althou; first volume nf his histor.v. Mississippi nt n Prmiinrr Territory nnrt Stately.*,
5-was puolished in 1880. the second volume was destroyed in mannsrripi
id
death of Prentiss. At New Orleans Claiborne
fiX'
the Jeffersonian and the Statesman, and later the Courier,^ Pierce for the presidency. He declined a diplomatic, y$jl
Vwhen hk home, ?Dunbarton.? homed.- jpffmnn n-nrii TiTPtf his	desiring	to	live	on	the	Mississippi coast, and the office 0%,
and Mrs. Davis wrote her husband's hinpraphv. In Aberdee^^^^dM-of-public timber in Alabama, Mississippi and Louislapa!^ 5 Reuben Davis wrote his Recollections of Mississippi and Mississippians.	r~-	u:_	1-... _cc.. ..
ccences. %
|s,
^tJ$?kted ^or benefit, an office to which he was reappointed^ .......
usan Dabney Smedes? Memorials of a Southern Planter proved to bc^^y||^f.^fesident Buchanan. He .made his home near Bay St.
N?ne of the most famous accounts of the idealistic aspects of slavery. Henry^|.in 'ttte1-growing of sea island cotton." Because oHm^j ' Stuart Foote?s War of the Rebellion was published in 1866, his Casket of	healtChis	life	was'always one of the greatest simplicity :
Reminiscences in 1874, and The Bench aful Bar of the Southwest in 1876:**	recrement.	When	war	began	in 1861, he sent his wife and
At West Point, fames D. Lynch, who was the author
ode for the Chicago World?s Fair in 1893, wrote Bench
of the centennia|^p^^^|rliter to Natchez, and remained on his plantation. t and Bar of	had	no	official	connections	with	the
He opposed
.	_____	____	__	Confederacy.,
sissippi? In the 1890s, the Mississippi Historical Society, which had	asked	'in	1869	to be. a candidate for Congress, but declined."
lapsed on the eve of the war.,was revived and soon began to flourish^absorbed in historical investigations and the collection ofv;
Guided by Professor Franklin L. Riley, of the University of Mississipph'^V ^ni^teriaLof which the beginning was the papers of his uncle, father
pi Historical Society were .y-iV ^pej/grandfather. He spent much time on a History of the South-:
I
under whom the Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society ^	___r o____________	___ t.................	......_	..............
initiated in 1898, the society was soon veritably ?living the life of Riley.^| *|i 'west, but the manuscript when ready for the press was lost by the ^ x	finking	of	a	steamer	.on	the river. He reproduced, from memory, -. J#
Times of Sam Dale,? published in ":?? v
MISSISSIPPI
425
j;, Mr. Claiborne made his home in Madison county in 1835 and was in Jjj$vthe same year nominated for Congress by the first Democratic jK$tate convention held in the State. He was elected by a large ma-Ojority, and when he entered Congress was the youngest member of i$\that body, and the only member who was a native of the West. !:a^phrough his exertions the house passed the bill creating the Chick-' sjsaw, schooi fund. The Evening Post, of New York, then edited 'c^by William Cullen Bryant, said of him in 1837: ?The cause of ^'humanity and equal rights has gained an able advocate in the Hon.
bf this in the ?Life and the same year he put
Air ??S	*	/-v	?,	II *
jr: i?r. Claiborne, of Mississippi. High-spirited, fearless and indepen-he bids fair to be an ornament to the House and country.? ts of settlers on the public domain and de-
\fter the ex-
defended
jounced the congressional doctrine of contempts.
?^jpiration of his first term in Congress, occurred the famous Congressional muddle of 1837 (See Prentiss). At the election in July, for special session of Congress, Claiborne received 11,203 votes; fei-Gholson, 9,921; Prentiss, 7,143; Acee, 6,691. At the November f^jejection Prentiss received 13,651; Word, 12,340; Claiborne, 6,258; KsQhoIson, 6,032. The Democratic leaders contended that two-?,,?^thirds- of the Democrats refused to vote on the ground that the ?.election covered the following regular term of two years, i ^?ihbugh the figures do not so indicate. During the contest before ?? Congress Claiborne was dangerously sick. He was also unable to v * take part in the canvass that followed, which resulted in the following vote, Prentiss, 12,722; Word, 12,007; Claiborne, 11,'779; ^1*!, N. Davis, 10,346. In July, 1841 Mr. Claiborne became-one of the ^iditors of the Mississippi Free Trader a work that pleased him j^tnore than politics. In this famous journal he published his ?Trip fp|1tfQUgh the Piney Woods,? and his first contributions to the his-j^tory of the State. In 1842 he was appointed president of the Board Choctaw Commissioners, to adjudicate the claims of Indians ?finder the treaty of Dancing Rabbit, which were the basis of great corrupt speculation. (See Choctaw Land Frauds.) He fear-^%ies*lv denounced the frauds, though the interests were influential |:*and'S. S. Prentiss was employed on a contingent fee of $100,000 defend them. On account of his publication of these charges , /^hfi competency as a judge on the board was challenged by Mr. ^Prentiss. He made a vigorous response, and the work of the board ii'jwa9 postponed until advice could be received from Washington. ^i'^Th'reats were made against his life, and he received challenges * /'?'duel- from Messers. Forrester and Prentiss, which he
'i-Jii.V ?	.	/?	1	?	a	*	.1.	.	___________^	?
published the ?Life and Correspondence1* % r.><,,?Of>JoHtt A. Quitman,? in two volumes. In 1870 he removed to Pun-.', ^ r' ' ?barton, the ancestral home of his wife, near Natchez,.and worked ^ L/'- eatn^s^lyi being admonished that time was short, upon his ?Misis- .** K #sippi,as a Province, Territory and State.? Harper Brothers had*1 %? (r published his former works, and this, which was to be his great % :achieyectient,4he was anxious to have printed in Mississippi. He V'* .en'tnisted the first volume to Col. J. L. Power, and it was published	JS
FfV vb}f power & Barksdale in 1881. Working on, he completed the /second volume, which was destroyed by the burning of his liome on night of March 2f, 1884. The shock and grief was so great that - jaPfdiedH in NatchezT May 17, 1884. His historical collections of >??&! ^?'?jWanusCfipt had been presented to the State in 1882, and are now ^ the-Pepartment of Archives and History. (See Life, by F^ly'^P ^.vvRfley^MissJHist.--Soc. Publ. VII, 217, and offty portrait^. Clai-^ V fjorne?S'life of Quitman is probably to the general student the bestt:?!
.illustration of his genius. The history of Mississippi is a rich store * ?#$0$ sinformation, but has its defects, unfortunately. The prejudices 'j 'l'	historian,	which	were	very	strong, are given wide play,
and his peculiar habit of writing his own m6morieS>%nd
...__ - ... - **? *, , -
?bicentennial address at Bay St. Louis, July I,>187<i, he	theser; ;i
shores, as you have seen, the soldiers of tliree,5nations ;hay^ dis-.^.*
Pi* played the standards of their kings. For ourselves' we ^iftl|t.?but,K^H
one, and will have no other. And here, in the preset^" <>f, Alhiigh'ty.k,-;
I God, with the spirits of our departed friends,
..jswear eternal fidelity to our Union and its Flag.Xi
because of his duties to the government. Fr