Leflore County Mississippi
McNutt51
The town of McNutt received its name from a beautiful lake upon
the south side of which it was situated. The lake was probably
named in honor of Alexander G. McNutt, who was governor of
Mississippi from 18381-842.
When Sunflower County was created in 1844, McNutt was made its
seat of justice. In the same year a log house was erected to
serve the double purpose of jail and court house. At that time
there was only one public road leading to the place, and paths
had to be cut through the surrounding growth of cane with
hunting knives before the logs could be procured with which to
erect the first public building in the history of the town. A
few years later the log court house was superseded by a more
pretentious frame structure, and this in turn was displaced
(1858), by a very substantial brick building.
When the county was divided by an act of the Legislature (1871),
and the county seat of Leflore County, in which McNutt was
situated, was moved to Greenwood, the brick court house became
private property. It was used in turn as a school building and
as a Masonic hall. For many years it was a favorite rendezvous
for refugees during the inundations. Tradition says a large
black bear was found asleep one morning in the wide middle hall.
At a later date this building became the property of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. The court room was then used for
divine service and the six other rooms served the purposes of a
parsonage. In April, 1901, the building became the property of
Mr. C. M. Dixon. It is still in a good state of preservation.
There are only a few other buildings and a cemetery left to mark
the site of this extinct town. The place still has a post
office.
Among the first settlers at McNutt were Randall Bluett, Thomas
Randle, Eli Ethridge, Hezekiah McNabb, and Ben Jones, all of
whom were farmers. At a later date (about 1850), the following
men became citizens of this place: Daniel Pond, T. G. Ellesberry,
J. W. Gleason, farmers; D. A. Outlaw, H. S. Smith, _____
Lightfoot, lawyers; Dave Portwood, Jno. Allen, R. M. Coile,
merchants; Rutledge and Lovelady, physicians. Only two of the
early inhabitants of the town. Dr. J. W. Gleason and Mrs.
Elizabeth Jones, are now living.
Point Leflore52
The old village of Point Leflore was situated at the junction of
the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers, which form the head of
the Yazoo River. The town was about two and a half miles above
the present city of Greenwood. In the 30's Col. Greenwood
Leflore purchased several hundred acres of land, including the
site of Point Leflore. Here he built a large steam sawmill and
subsequently a town. In order to make the place easily
accessible he constructed a turnpike and built twelve or
fourteen bridges, all at his own expense, which we are told
"from first to last amounted to not less than $75,000." The
mercantile firms of this place at the time of its greatest
prosperity were Leflore & Godfrey, Milton & Company, and S. P.
Lacock. It also had a church, a hotel and several other
buildings. As Col. Leflore kept up a good road to the town, it
drew a large business for many years. The Yazoo Pass was open
and flatboats and barges came through it, contributing greatly
to the commercial importance of Point Leflore. We are told that
this place afforded a market for almost every variety of
produce, corn, oats, flour, meat, lard, potatoes, onions,
apples, furniture, etc.
Just before the War between the States Col. Leflore built a fine
residence, which he named Malmaison, after Queen Elizabeth's
home in France. After the erection of this home, which was on
the edge of the hills, he began to lose interest in his town and
it went down. He willed it to some of his heirs and it was
afterwards sold for taxes. The site of it was later covered with
a dense undergrowth which was afterwards cleared away, and it is
now part of a cotton field.
Extinct Towns|
AHGP Mississippi
Footnotes:
51. The information upon
which this sketch is based was received from the Rev. W. L.
Anderson, of Schlater, Mississippi.
52. This sketch is based
upon information derived from Mr. T. C. Harris, Sr., of
Greenwood, Miss., who is a son-in-law of Col. Greenwood Leflore.
Source: The Mississippi Historical
Commission Publications, Volume V, Edited by Franklin L. Riley,
Secretary, 1902.
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