Alcorn County Mississiippi

Cammel's Town, About fifteen or twenty miles south of the home of Pitman Colbert, a Wealthy halfbreed Indian, who lived on Twenty Mile creek, there was at an early date a settlement known as Cammels Town. This place was situated on the old Reynoldsburg road.

Danville⁴ On the old Reynoldsburg road near Tuscumbia River, two men by the name of John Rives and Fitz, had a store. They called the place Troy. This was the first white settlement in old Tishomingo County, which county embraced at that time the present counties of Tishomingo, Alcorn, and Prentiss. Other merchants began business there and the place grew until it had the following firms: Young & Chany, Brewster & Dilworth, Adams & Cross, Stafford & Cross, H. Mitchell, L. B. Mitchell, and J. H. Buford. On the west side of Troy was an abundance of fresh, freestone spring water, suitable for tanyards, for which the place became noted. The first circuit court in the county was held in a small log house in Troy. One of the jurors was named B. F. Powell, who died a few years ago. Soon afterwards the citizens of this town wanted a post office and finding that there was already one post office by the name of Troy in the State, they changed its name to Danville.

Some of the early citizens of Danville were Allslot, a tanner, James Hamlin, Allen Kemp, Dr. Broady, Wm. Taylor, and Dr. B. F. Liddon. Nearby lived H. B. Mitchell, the father of Mr. L. B. Mitchell, of Corinth, Miss., the first probate judge of the county, who afterwards went by the name of Judge Mitchell; also A. B. Dilworth and Cody Fowler, who represented the county in the lower house of the Legislature. Dilworth was one of the leading Democrats of old Tishomingo County and was Secretary of State from 1855 to 1860. Danville never had more than one hundred and fifty inhabitants at one time. There was for years a close contest at this place between the Democrats and the Whigs. Mr. L. B. Mitchell writes:

"I have heard Gov. McNutt and Senator A. G. Brown speak in Danville. During presidential campaigns there was a great deal of excitement and both parties would raise their respective nags in honor of their man.

"Just west of Danville about two miles is what is called the New Hope neighborhood, and in these two neighborhoods lived some of the best citizens of the county, noted for their great piety and religious temperament. As an illustration of their law-abiding nature I will say that in 1860 there was a runaway Negro in the neighborhood a bright mulatto, much above his race in intellect, who stayed in a hole in the ground in day time and moved about among the Negroes at night. On one occasion he went to the house of William Dilworth, who was known to have money. Dilworth was sick in bed and when the Negro knocked at the door his wife opened it. Seeing the Negro she shut the door. He shot at her through the window and the sick man, seeing him at the window, shot him in the breast, but did not kill him. A long search was made for the Negro and he was finally captured, some of the Negroes telling where he was hidden. He was delivered up for trial without any effort to mob him."

Danville was incorporated by an act of the Legislature in 1848. The completion of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, which missed the old town about a mile, establishing the rival towns of Rienzi and Corinth, destroyed the early prosperity of that place. In 1861 it had four or five business houses and a hotel. Upon the evacuation of Corinth by the Confederate troops in the War Between the States the Federal forces camped all around old Danville. When they left the place they established a stockade, called Camp Davis, about three miles north of it, and across the Tuscumbia River. In order to furnish quarters for their troops they moved the houses, including a large church and a Masonic hall, from Danville. The place still has a post office, though no vestige of the old town is left.

Boneyard⁵ In the early 30's William Powell established a village on the old stage road that ran from Jacinto, the first seat of justice of old Tishomingo County, to Lagrange, Tenn. As the founder of this village was a very lean man the place was humorously called "Boneyard." At the time of its greatest prosperity it had three mercantile establishments, a cabinetmaker's shop, a tan yard, a saddler's shop, a blacksmith's shop, and a carding machine. The last enterprise was owned and operated by Mr. M. Suitor, who carded wool for people for fifteen miles around. A Masonic lodge (No. 179), was also built at this place. At one time the village had about one hundred inhabitants.

Boneyard was destroyed by the Federal forces in the War Between the States and was never rebuilt. A public school building, on the public road, eleven miles west and three miles south of Corinth, now marks the site of this extinct village. J. M. Lynch, of Corinth, Miss., and M. Suitor, of Kossuth, are the only persons now living in the county who were citizens of voting age in Boneyard before its destruction.

Farmington,⁶ The town of Farmington was a flourishing place prior to the year 1855. About that time the Mobile and Ohio and the Memphis and Charleston railroads made a crossing about four miles to the southwest and the old town began to go down. As late as the beginning of the War Between the States the place contained several houses and had a large population and a post office. But when the Federal forces advanced on Corinth they completely demolished old Farmington, tearing down the houses to make breastworks, flooring for tents, etc.

There is now a mill and a gin on the site of this once flourishing town. The old cemetery is still used as a burying ground, and is kept up by the surrounding community. In it rest the remains of many of the prominent pioneers of this part of the State, some of the tombs dating back to 1820. A Baptist church now stands on the same old site where one stood before the war. Among the pastors of this church were Gen. M. P. Lowrey, Ham. Savage, O. D. Fitzgerald, and R. G. Boothe. Rev. E. C. Gillenwaters, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, also conducted school at old Farmington at one time. The Farmington hotel was kept by Ben Jones. Some of the prominent citizens of this place were: Phillips, Reed, T. D. Barefoot, Ben Burton, T. P. Young, Eli Calahan, Columbus and Felix Bell, and Hyneman, merchants; Warren, Harris, E. F. Haynie and Jack Bean, grocery keepers; James Taylor, postmaster; Drs. Stout, Joel Anderson, J. J. Gibson, and George Gray, physicians; Jerry Capoot and George Geise, blacksmiths; M. P. Lowrey (afterwards Gen. Lowrey), a brick mason; John Henson and Calvin Lowrey, wheelwrights; "Uncle Dick" Smith, a ginner and farmer. At Farmington William, Charley, and Milton Bennett manufactured wheat fans, which they sold all over the State. A. J. Richards was a saddle and harness maker at this place. Other citizens of prominence, who lived at old Farmington during its flourishing days, were Col. C. W. McCord, R. J. and Henry Hyneman, Dr. Cook, Tolivar Shelton, James Box, Sr., Steve Box, E. W. Garland, Jeff Shope, Ely Nichols, Bird Smith, Peter Garland, M. G. Cumby, W. M. Driver, Allen Steger, and "Uncle Barnie" Nichols.

When Corinth began to build up most of these men removed with their families to that place, where many of their descendants still live.

Extinct Towns| AHGP Mississippi

Footnotes:
4. This sketch is based upon the information derived from Mr. L. B. Mitchell, of Corinth, Miss., and from Mr. L. J. Burnett, of Danville, Mississippi.
5. This sketch is based upon information derived from Mr. M. Suitor, of Kossuth, Mississippi.
6. This sketch is based upon information derived from Messrs. J. M. Cumby and H. S. Brooks, of Corinth, Mississippi, and L. J. Burnett, of Danville, Mississippi.

Source: The Mississippi Historical Commission Publications, Volume V, Edited by Franklin L. Riley,
Secretary, 1902.