Alphabet File page 262
Nachary, Wm. A. r 119 Citizen (Ph 55)
Nagle, T. M. -see: Cicuit Court article (SCE 10/28/1893)
Napoleon, a hamlet in the southwestern part of Hancock county, on the Pearl river, 5 miles north of Pearlington, the nearest banking town. The postoffice has been discontinued, and mail now goes to Huxford. (Encyclopedia of Mississippi History by Dunbar Rowland, LL. D., Vol II, 1907)
Napoleon - Located six miles north of Pearlington, this site was settled in 1798 when Simon Favre received a grant from the Spanish Government, on the Pearl River near what later became the town of Napoleon. When Favre came here it is said that he had two wives, one of them Indian. Noel and John J. Jordan played an important part in the early settlement of this community; the Jordan River being named for the two brothers. (Hometown Mississippi by James F. Brieger)
Napoleon (village)
Sunday 15 August 1852. Walked with Dr. Montgomery to the River Bluff, the site of the village of Napoleon, within the same section on which the Dr. resides. Several attempts have been made in the last thirty years to build up a town here, first under the name of Pearltown & more recently under the former name. The last attempt at first promised success, and several families settled there, some buildings were erected, and a distillery of Spirits of Turpentine & Camphine was established. This has, however, been abandoned and dismantled, the still removed to Florida, & most of the families have removed, and the buildings [are] fast going to decay and are unoccupied.
There are traces of extensive brickyards, the brick for the construction of Fort Pike, many years since, having been made here. The Scite [sic] like that of Gainesville, is a very handsome one, being a perfectly level one on a bluff bank of East Pearl River with a number of handsome live oaks. At Gainesville there is a large Steam Saw Mill. It is the County Seat, the Court house [is] a very poor frame building, & the place [is] quite a small one, & the site [is] not as handsome as that at Napoleon, three miles below.
(from SOUTH MISSISSIPPI IN 1852: SOME SELECTIONS FROM the JOURNAL OF BENJAMIN L.C. WAILES, Edited by John Hebron
Moore, Journal of Miss. History, Vol. XVIII, Jan. 1956, No. 1, page 24.)Napoleon
NAPOLEON COMMUNITY TOOK EMPEROR'S BROTHER'S NAME BY S.G. "Grandpa" Thigpen, Sr. There is a combination of romance, intrigue and mystery in the history of Napoleon community and how it got its name. The name came from the fact the Jerome Napoleon, brother of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France, once camped on the high banks of Pearl River just southwest where of Napoleon Baptist Church stood for years before being forced to move by the government.
The Emperor had been imprisoned on the Isle of Helena. His brother Jerome and others loyal to him plotted to rescue him from this prison. Due to the world-wide fame and the great prominence of the Emperor and because of his many enemies, the strictest secrecy was vital to the success of their plan.
If Napoleon Bonaparte was to be rescued they need a place of refuge for him, and that's where our interest in this story comes in. Jerome and a few of his faithful and loyal followers set out to visit the New Orleans area where the Emperor was thought to have many faithful friends and followers. They slipped away from the coast of France disguised as an ordinary cargo boat and crew. They carried with them a usual cargo for those times but, known only to Jerome land those the very closest to him, they also carried $80,000 in gold which they hoped to use to finance their clandestine operation in this area. They hoped that the great magic of the Bonaparte name, along with their skillful planning, would stampede this section of the banner of the Emperor and that they could establish a new nation here with him as its head.
The Bonapartes had friends and known followers in the New Orleans area that they hoped to contact and from whom they hoped for enthusiastic aid. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was uneventful but they w re warned of the dangers in the Gulf of Mexico from pirates and free-booters who infested those waters in those times. No ship that could not fight its way was safe there.
When they entered the Gulf of Mexico they tried to hide by day and travel at night. They did not dare to try to go up the Mississippi River, which was by far the best way to go to New Orleans because of the buccaneers who were known to hover around the mouth of this great river. Neither did they dare to try to go by way of the Rigolets and Lake Pontchartrain because of the pirates and robbers who pounced on all ships in that area from their headquarters on Honey Island. Their plan was to land on the Mississippi Gulf coast and then work their way by secret and little used passages into the City of New Orleans. By skillful and careful planning and maneuvering, they made their way to land in the general area of where Waveland now stands. They were met there by trusted aides, headed by Jeremiah Henley who lived at that time on Pearl River about a mile north of Walkiah Bluff. Jeremiah was sympathetic with, and had aided the French in their colonial arguments with Spain and as a reward had had his claim on Pearl River confirmed.
Incidentally, this big tract of land on the river still goes on the record books of Pearl River County as Jeremiah Henley Claim. Much information not recorded in history books has come down to us through the Henley family.
H.V. Henley of Eureka, California, a descendent of Jeremiah Henley, wrote, "In 1811 Jeremiah Henley with a group of French partisans joined with some French volunteers to aid Napoleon in his war against Russia. They sailed for France in time to be integrated into the French army that was to invade Russia. They were soldiers in Napaoleon's Grand Army that marched to Moscow, the Russian Capital. They stayed in Moscow less than two months. In the terrible march back to France in the cold and snow of a Russian winter, many of these soldiers from America were among those who lost their lives from cold and disease. My grandmother told me of Jeremiah Henley's description of this retreat from Moscow when the snow along the line of march was dyed red by the bleeding feet of the soldiers. Out of the 500,000 soldiers who went to Moscow, Jeremiah was one of the very few who returned. He had not been back very long before Franch agents contacted him again because of his known sympathies for France and asked that he organize a party to meet the French conspirators."
The French group were met by Jeremiah Henley and his aides at the appointed place where Waveland now stands with pack mules and supplies for a trip to a prearranged and prepared hiding place on the banks of East Pearl River just southwest of where old Napoleon Church stood.
Utmost secrecy was necessary as Jerome Napoleon, known world-wide as Bonaparte's brother, was at the head of the French group and would have been a great prize if captured. And, too, the Frenchmen carried with them
$80,000 in gold, which the numerous bandits in the general area must now know about.
The French with their American guides and protectors arrived at their prepared hiding place under two big old live oaks in a jungle thickness of wild growth about 1000 feet east of Pearl River. All signs of their entrance were carefully eradicated. As they were getting settled into the camp one of the mules brayed. He was killed instantly as they knew that if any of the many pirates infesting the river and nearby swamps heard the mule they would promptly investigate. They immediately buried it as they wanted no telltale buzzards informing the bandits of their location.