Choctaw County Mississippi

Bankston¹⁹ In 1847 Bankston, situated on McCurtain's creek several miles southeast of Winona, was founded and named in honor of a gentleman by the name of Banks. A manufactory of cotton and woolen goods was established there under the management of Col. J. M. Wesson, with John D. Nance as president. This factory flourished until 1864, when it was burned by a Federal cavalry force. In the following year Col. Wesson established the Mississippi Mills in Copiah County, at a place which was named in his honor. After the war another factory was built at Bankston, but it was also burned, "supposed by an incendiary." At present Bankston is only a post office.

La Grange²⁰ When Montgomery County was formed out of a part of Choctaw (1871) it became necessary to move the seat of justice of the latter county from old Greensboro to a more central location. The removal was further facilitated by the destruction of the old court house by fire. La Grange was accordingly chosen county seat, the new court house being built in 1872. The land on which the town was built belonged to G. W. Gunter and J. K. Douglass. It was situated about two miles south of Big Black River, in the northern part of the present county of Choctaw.

In February, 1874, the court house at La Grange was burned by persons, it was thought, who wished to have the county divided in order to create a Republican county out of part of it. The Legislature of the State, which at that time contained a Republican majority, divided Choctaw County, forming Sumner (now Webster) county out of that part of it north of the Big Black. The seat of justice of Choctaw County was then (1874) moved to Chester, and La Grange was soon abandoned.

Among the lawyers who lived at La Grange during its prosperous days were Capt. J. B. Dunn, A. H. Brantly, S. R. Boyd, Capt. B. T. Holloway, D. B. Archer, and J. A. Pinson. Its leading physicians were Drs. A. R. Boyd and J. W. Robinson. Its leading business firms were Seward, Boyd & Company, Nolen & Bridges, J. M. Petty, G. A. Gunter, and Allen Philly. A post office is all that is left of this once thriving and prosperous town.

Greensboro. The acts of the Legislature which refer to the charter of this extinct town bear the following dates: 1837, 1838, 1 841, 1846, and 1848.

Extinct Towns| AHGP Mississippi

Footnotes:
19. See Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. I., p. 239.
20. The information upon which this sketch is based was derived from an article which was published about twelve years ago from the pen of Mrs. Lee Dobbs, now deceased.

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