Mississippi Historical Society
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B RECONSTRUCTION IN OKTIB EHA COUNTY. ‘ B Y Z . B ROW NE . F . As the courthouse in Oktibb eha county was destroyed by fire with most of the public records in 1 8 7 5 the material for this paper has of necessity been wholly drawn from the testimony of participants and - eye witnesses . From the time of the surrender of the civil government of Mississippi on 2 2 1 1 86 May until June 3 , 5 , when provisional Governor Sharkey , who h ad been appointed by the president in his offi cial capacity as - i n- of a of commander chief the army , took charge , the dministration civil affairs in Mississippi was entirely under the supervision of the military authorities . A large portion of the army of occupation still being in the State it was thought expedient by those in authority that companies of r a n caval y or infantry should be st tioned at strategic poi ts . In accord ance with this policy a company of cavalry commanded by Captain 1 86 of i Graves was quartered in 5 in the main street Starkv lle , the i county seat of Okt bb eha county . Martial law was at once estab ’ li sh ed . S , and Captain Graves word was law As a pecies of retributive 1 Zolli cofi e r was at 2 Fred Browne born Kosciusko , Mississippi , December 7 , 8 . and a a 1 8 7 He is the eldest son of Dr J A M ry Eliz beth Browne . ’ On his father s side he comes of the German Lutheran and Scotch—Irish Presby a of and a a . a a a a r teri n stock North South C rolin His p tern l gr ndf ther , George Hen y was a a a of a a a hi s Browne , who gr du te Newberry College , South C rolin , c me with a a M c Clin tock s W ar of and was wife , M rg ret , to Mis issippi before the Secession , fi a a a the rst org nizer of the Luther n Church in the St te . a a . a Through his mother , Eliz beth J ckson Browne , Mr Browne is rel ted to some of the best known families of Mississippi and Tennessee . Sam. A . Jackson of Kosci usk o and a a n n a was hi s , Mississippi , widely f vor bly k ow throughout the St te , uncle . a a a was a . Z l f a of a His m tern l gr ndmother Sus n A ol ico fer, niece Gener l Felix Z f Kirk ollico fer of Tennessee . a a of Mr . Browne is gradu te of the University Mississippi and of Princeton M a a h as a A . Theologic l Semin ry . He lso received the degree from Princeton . 2 1 1 1 a a M cB e e University November 9 , 9 , he m rried Miss Susie W lton of Lexing . now a oi a at a i ton , Mississippi He is p stor the Presbyteri n Church St rkv lle, — . DI T R Mississippi E O . 3 ? t r r ns f flr Th e Wh i t e Hous e ‘ 4 v 1913 2 74 Mississippi Historical Society . d justice for real or fancied wrongs committe upon the colored race, fin white men were arrested and ed upon the slightest pretexts . The only way of relief from the intolerable situation was found in the fact that with Graves and his soldiers the Ji ngle of the guinea in the hand of the white man was found to be a most effi caciou s salve for the hurt that honor feels . Graves was so absolutely venal that like the Romans in the time of Jugurtha he would have sold himself if he could have found a purchaser . The first authenticated case of rape by a negro on a white woman i k tibb eha i n O county occurred while Graves held sway in Starkv lle . The negro was arrested and brought to town and released by Graves 0 upon payment of $ 1 00 in gold . Upon the payment of $ 1 0 more by the grandfather of the outraged girl Graves permitted the released negro to be run to death by hounds . i ’ ! . To the great rel ef of all , the Graves r gime was short He was 1 6 a s transferred elsewhere in 8 5 and C ptain Fo ter took his place . Captain Foster discharged well and faithfully the duties of his trying of and diffi cult position . In the hour their humiliation he showed a genuine respect and consideration for those who had shown themselves of to be foemen worthy of his steel . He won the respect all with whom he came in contact . With the occupation of the town by Federal troops a branch of the ’ fre edmen s . bureau was established in Starkville C A Sullivan , a of Oktibb eha l native son county, cal ed in derision a scalawag , was its i fi . rst head He was a lawyer of some ab lity, and had been a Confeder . L s hi ate soldier ike all renegades , he was most zealous in howing s devotion to the cause of his erstwhile enemies . His influence on the o was n negroes and on p litical conditions in general very bad . K owing that he was most cordially hated he went armed all the time fi a iff Oktibb eha W . S . J mes, the sher of county under the Confederate ! of of r gime , having died about the time the inauguration martial f law , Crockett Sullivan was appointed sherif and tax collector . He s a a . B lun was , if pos ible , a worse char cter th n his brother y him the p of dering of the county under a form law was begun . He collected s v a n taxe le ied at exorbitant rates , never m ki g any settlements , and a finally decamped to Alab ma . 2 a a . a These facts were obt ined from convers tions with Prof Rhett M xwell . ti Oktibb eha — B r own 2 Reconstruc on in County e. 7 5 i of 1 86 6 . of In the fall , H C Powers, one of the most nteresting the of Oktibb eh a n characters the period, came to cou ty from Cleveland , O of . hio . Mr . Powers was a cousin Governor R C Powers and was a of . man culture , ability, and business experience Mr Powers began of his career in Mississippi , not as a carpetbagger , but as a planter i means . Hav ng failed at planting he went into politics and became l the most influential leader of the Repub icans in the county . Though placed in a diffi cult situation as the dispenser of Republican patronage i u . in the county and often rev led and mis nderstood , Mr Powers throughout this stormy period was always the friend of the white man and an advocate of good government . This was shown by the fact 3 u of that through his advice and influence Colonel M ldrow , a man a of Ku marked ability, afterwards gr nd cyclop the local Klux Klan d Oktibb eha an congressman for years from the district , was elected a of B en i member the State legislature along with Ch les , an ignorant colored man , at a time when there were eight hundred more negroes i e than white men registered in Okt bb ha county . As Muldr ow voted so voted B en Chiles . Whenever a vote was ! n B en called for or an Opi ion asked , would say I must see my friend l Ok ibb eha Colonel Muldrow . It was we l for t county and the State that Muldrow was there and that he was consulted . After the defal of 1 86 i f cation Crockett Sullivan in 7 , Powers was appointed sher f by 1 868 d on Governor Ames . In he was electe the Republican ticket Mc ri to this ofli ce in the regular election over Henry C ght and J . W . fli e James . He was an honest and capable o c r . His task was a very di ffi l one of cu t , for he was hated by many because the fact that he was a Northern Republican and had been elected by the negro vote . i n f Then , too, the negroes , grossly gnorant , and i ordinately pu fed up i n of i of this year jub lee their new found freedom , were exceedingly hard to control . Through their loyal leagues and other organizations they began to demand a share for themselves in the State and county i l government . The Republ can leaders general y were soon almost in ! of h wn the position im who was Hoist with his o petard . At one time when the negroes were organizing and marching to and n fro over the cou ty to the various voting places the white men , grown l him desperate , went to Powers and told him that they would ki l if ‘ of ol . Geo . w b C ul . e A sketch H L M drow by Hon . J Left ich will found in the Pu bli cati ons o th i i — — e M s ssi i Hi s to i c oci t 2 6 2 . DIT s r al S e R . f pp y , X , 9 79 E O 2 76 Mississippi Historical Society .