Webster County Mississippi
Greensboro80
The first county seat of Webster County was Greensboro, which
was located in Section 8, T. 19, R. 9, E. The inhabitants of
this place, about 250 in number, were noted for their
hospitality. They were especially kind to the members of the
Legislature from this and the northern part of the State, who
were accustomed to pass through Greensboro on their way to
Jackson. There were at this place two or three saloons. After
filling their saddlebags with the best whiskey, the legislators
would take the old Natchez Trace for Jackson, a distance of 120
miles. They would make the entire journey on horseback in groups
of twenty or thirty.
Among the most prominent citizens of Greensboro during her
greatest prosperity were J. V. Steen, Wiley Marshall, Prank
Liddell, T. N. Davis, John Nolen, Capt. J. B. Dunn, Col. Wm.
Brantly, and J. J. Campbell. The place had about ten business
houses. Dry goods and groceries were hauled in wagons from
Greenwood, a distance of sixty-five miles, or Columbus, a
distance of forty-five miles.
The courts that formerly met at Greensboro were always important
gatherings, since their jurisdiction extended over the present
counties of Choctaw, Webster, and a part of Montgomery and other
counties. They were attended by such lawyers as J. Z. George,
Reuben Davis, E. C. Walthall, Wiley P. Harris, and Bob Hudson.
During the war the town was burned by the Union soldiers. After
the burning of the courthouse in 1871, the Legislature moved the
county seat of Choctaw to Lagrange. Greensboro then began to
decay. In her last days the saloons had full sway, and she
became noted for her desperate characters and the crimes
committed within her limits. During the life of this place
twenty-three men were killed within its limits. Yet there was
only one legal execution here during this time.
At present the site of the old town is one of the most
dilapidated looking places in that part of the State. The old
log jail, built in 1839 or 1840, is still standing. There is
nothing else worthy of note except "gullies and ditches" from
four to fifty feet deep. And, if the sand from underneath the
surface continues to wash and flow away for the next twenty
years as it has in the past, there will be nothing left of old
Greensboro but a hole in the ground.
Extinct Towns|
AHGP Mississippi
Footnotes:
80. This sketch is based
upon information derived from Mr. S. B. Dobbs, of Chester,
Miss., Circuit Clerk of Choctaw County.
Source: The Mississippi Historical
Commission Publications, Volume V, Edited by Franklin L. Riley,
Secretary, 1902.
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