About
Yazoo County -
Yazoo County was
established January 21, 1823 as the state's 19th county and is the
largest county in Mississippi. Yazoo County covers about 1,018 square
miles (625,000 acres), most of which is used for farming. Situated in
the west central part of the state, the county has some of the most
fertile soil in Mississippi. Yazoo, an Indian name meaning "death", was
formed from part of the territory acquried
from the Choctaws in
1820; also known as the "New Purchase".
After the acquisition of
the Choctaw land, Yazoo County was quickly settled; mostly by pioneers
from
older parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North
& South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The first seat of
justice, Beattie's Bluff, was located on the Big Black river, twelve or
fifteen miles
northwest of the present day site of
Canton, Ms. In 1829, the county seat was moved to Benton, and Beattie's
Bluff died out.
Benton, incorporated in
1836, became a place of importance in the 1830's and early 1840's.
Surnames
of some of the early settlers of the area include: Holt, Burrus,
Harden, Grayson, Battle, Miles, Morough, Hagerman, Williamson, Yandell,
Rawlins, O'Reilly, Fisher, Jennings, McGaughey, &
Blundell.
The present day county
seat, Yazoo City, was settled by pioneers in 1824. First called Hannan's
Bluff by government surveyors, it later became Manchester (named for
Manchester, England) and changed to Yazoo City in 1839. In 1849 Yazoo
city became the county seat leaving Benton to shrink and in the early
1900's Benton had less than 300 people.
Located on the left bank
of the Yazoo river, Yazoo City is the largest town in Yazoo County. In
the early 1900's Yazoo city was a town ideal for commerce. It's easy
access to railroads and the Yazoo & Mississippi rivers made it a
center for shipping cotton and timber.
Yazoo City's first
newspaper was the "Political Progress" established in 1829. In 1831, the
name was changed to the "Manchester Whig" and later was called the
"Yazoo Banner". The "Yazoo Democrat"
was edited in 1844 by
Major Ethelbert Barksdale and James Clark formed the "Yazoo City Hearld"
after
the Civil War.
Yazoo City burned twice
before 1905. The first time was by General Arthur in 1864. After the
war, Yazoo City was rebuilt only to burn again in 1904, by the worst
fire in state history. The entire business
district
and some residential areas were burned to the ground, courtesy
of a witch, according to local legend.
Yazoo City has had its
share of hard times. The city was hit hard twice by Yellow Fever.
Epidemics in 1853 and 1878 killed many residents and often entire
families. The area also flooded twice before 1930. Once in 1882 and
later during the historic flood of 1927 which caused widespread sickness
and property damage.
The information above was
taken from:
Mississippi planned and edited
by Dunbar Rowland; Vol 11, 1907
Hometown Mississippi compiled
by James F. Brieger. Second edition, 1980
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