Claiborne County was
established January 27, 1802, fifteen years prior to the adoption of the first
constitution. It was named in honor of Governor Wm. C. C. Claiborne. Colonel
Ralph Humphreys, a soldier of the Revolution, grandfather of the late Governor
Benjamin G. Humphreys, after peace was declared was sent to Michilemacenac, a
frontier post in the State of Michigan. Before leaving for his destination,
he started his wife and Negro slaves from South Carolina to the Territory of
Mississippi, and Mrs. Humphreys located on that famous place, the Grind-Stone
Ford, on the south fork of Bayou Pierre. She had with her, her only son,
George Wilson Humphreys, the father of the late Governor and the grandfather
of G. W. Humphreys, now a resident and planter of Claiborne County. Col. Ralph
obtained a. twelve months' furlough to visit his family, and rode from his
post in Michigan to Grind-Stone Ford on horseback, where he soon afterwards
died. His widow married Col. Daniel Burnett, whose father was one of the first
settlers of the county. He had emigrated from South Carolina, where he had
served in General Francis Marion's command. Col. Daniel Burnett had served in
the Territorial Legislature and was a delegate to the Constitutional
Convention from Claiborne, as was Walter Leake, Thomas Barnes, and Joshua G.
Clarke. Among the early settlers were David, James, John, Samuel, and Jonathan
McCaleb, all natives of South Carolina and sons of Captain William McCaleb, an
officer in the Revolutionary War. One of the daughters of Samuel McCaleb
became the wife of Hon. Solomon W. Dowds, United States Senator from
Louisiana. David McCaleb was a member of the Legislative Council under the
Territorial government, and the father of Hon. Theodore H. McCaleb, for
twenty years Judge of the District Court of the United States for the State of
Louisiana. Judge McCaleb was a brilliant, scholarly man of fine literary
taste. Thomas Farrar, whose sons, Frederic H., Thomas P., and Edgar D., were
distinguished lawyers in Louisiana, two of whom became judges in that State.
Mr. Farrar was also the grandfather of E. H. Farrar, a prominent lawyer in the
city of New Orleans. Gibson and Davenport, merchants, Dr. Daniel Burnett
Nailor, William and Parmenas Briscoe, Thomas Freeland, William Young, James H.
Maury, father of Mrs. Benjamin G. Humphreys, Stephen D. Carlton, Henry G.
Johnson, John Henderson, Thomas Gale, William Sillers, a lawyer and planter,
Leonard N. Baldwin, lawyer and planter, Peter A. Van Dorn, father of the
distinguished and brilliant Confederate officer, General Earl Van Dorn, and
Mrs. Emily Van Dorn Miller, the mother of Hon. T. M. Miller, distinguished
in his profession, and now serving his second term as Attorney-General of the
State, William H. Martin, a lawyer who emigrated from Maryland, the father of
Hon. Jonathan McMartin, a lawyer of high standing, who represented Claiborne
for four years in the State Senate, James I. Person, the father of James
Person, now a resident of Port Gibson, Dr. Thos. B. Magruder, Dr. Robert
Harper, Hon. H. T. Ellett, who represented the county in the State Senate for
two terms, a lawyer of distinguished ability and for a number of years one of
the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State; John A. Barnes, B. D. Stockton,
Major James S. Mason, a bright and scholarly man, for many :years the editor
of the Port Gibson Reveille, John B. Thrasher, an uncle of Hon. Stephen
Thrasher, the present State Senator from Claiborne; John L. Torrey, Richard
Valentine, Passmore Hoopes, an extensive merchant in Port Gibson and an
affable gentleman, the father of Mrs. Dr. Winter of the city of Jackson,
Samuel H. Abbey, Robert Hume and Chas. A. Pearson, of the firm of Hume &
Pearson, Chas. Shreve, Joseph L. Kennard, Thos. Berry, the father of
ex-Chancellor Berry, Amos Whiting, James. and Evan Jeffrey, George Lake,
Robert Scott, Nahum Chunn, .Joseph E. Jones, Chas. B. Clarke, Cornelius
Herring, the McIntyres, Wm. Dodson, Volney E. Stamps and James Patton, the
latter the father-in-law of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge
E. G. Poyton.
The towns in the county are
Port Gibson, a handsome place of some 2,000 inhabitants, and noted for its
schools, churches, generous hospitality and cultivated people. David Gibson,
one of the pioneers of the county, was the owner of the plantation upon which
Port Gibson was located. Grand Gulf in an early day was the rival of Port
Gibson and came very near being chosen as the county site. It was a live
little city, shipped about 40,000 bales of cotton, supported two large hotels,
two weekly newspapers, and was a commercial point of very considerable
importance. It was, however, subjected to the most trying ordeals. The first
and second location caved into the river; the greater portion of the buildings
were destroyed by fire three times, the last time by the Federal troops during
the war. Subsequently the river made a cut-off just in front of the town,
leaving it two miles from the main river. The Louisville, Now Orleans & Texas
Railroad became the owners of the short line of railway extending from Grand
Gulf to Port Gibson, and not only discontinued it but took up the rails. This
left the place isolated and abandoned, and it may now properly be classed
among the memories of bygone days but for its brave struggle against manifold
misfortunes and the elements combined, it deserves a place in history. The
towns of Rocky Springs, St. Elmo, Hermanville, Carlisle, Tillman, and Martin,
with the exception of Rocky Springs, are on the Louisville, New Orleans, and
Texas Railroad. Before the days of steamboats, Bayou Pierre at Port Gibson was
frequently crowded with flatboats, extending a mile or more along its banks.
The planters from neighboring counties purchased their supplies of flour,
pork, potatoes, etc., from these boats. The Mississippi river forms the
western boundary of the county. Bayou Pierre is navigable as a general thing
three or four months in the year by backwater from the Mississippi river. Big
Black River divides Claiborne and Warren counties.
The railroads in the county are the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas and the
Natchez, Jackson &, Columbus.
There has been established at Port Gibson a cotton factory, which has added to
the commerce and population of the town.
There are in the county 114,137 acres of cleared land, the average value of
which per acre is 56.48.
Total value of cleared lands in the county, including incorporated towns, is
$1,043,276.
The population, as shown by the census of 1890 is Whites, 3,419; colored,
11,095; total, 14,514.
