Attala County was established on 23 December, 1833, and was one of the sixteen counties carved from the Choctaw cession of 1830. The name is derived from the heroine (Atala) of an Indian romance written by Chateaubriand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Attala County is bordered by Montgomery County (north), Choctaw County (northeast), Winston County (east), Leake County (south), Madison County (southwest), Holmes County (west) and Carroll County (northwest).<\/p>","nbr_img":null,"nbr_link":"http:\/\/www.msgw.org\/attala\/"},{"nbr_id":2,"nbr_name":"Carroll County","nbr_text":"
Carroll County, Mississippi was established by legislative act in 1833, and named for Charles G. Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland, one of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was carved out of a part of the territory ceded by the Choctaw Indians to the United States by the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. As originally established, it embraced territory more than twice its present size. It extended on the north three miles farther than now, and reached some five miles east of the present city of Winona (now in Montgomery County). On the west it was bounded by the Tallahatchie and Yazoo rivers. The southern boundary was as at present, but then extended from the Yazoo to Big Black River.<\/p>","nbr_img":null,"nbr_link":"http:\/\/www.msgw.org\/carroll\/"},{"nbr_id":3,"nbr_name":"Humphreys County","nbr_text":"
Humphreys County was named for B. G. Humphreys. Benjamin Grubb Humphreys (1808-1882), a native of Claiborne County, was educated in New Jersey and entered West Point in the same class as Robert E. Lee in 1825, but he was dismissed from the academy for participating in a Christmas frolic that turned into a riot. He returned to Mississippi, represented Claiborne County in the State Legislature from 1839 to 1844, and moved to Sunflower County, where he became a successful planter, in 1846. Commissioned a captain in the Confederate army in 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general after the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. On October 2, 1865, he was elected Governor of Mississippi \r\nunder President Johnson's Reconstruction policy, and he was re-elected in 1868; \r\nbut, with the institution of Congressional Reconstruction, he was removed from office by federal troops on June 15, 1868. He was engaged in the insurance business in Jackson until 1877, when he retired to his plantation in Sunflower County, where he died in December of 1882. Benjamin G. Humphreys was the grandson of Major David Smith, for whom Smith County was named. Created by the Fourth Constitution (1890), May 31, 1918 from Holmes, Washington, Yazoo and Sunflower Counties.","nbr_img":null,"nbr_link":"http:\/\/www.msgw.org\/humphreys\/"},{"nbr_id":4,"nbr_name":"Leflore County","nbr_text":"
Leflore County was created in 1871 from Carroll, Sunflower and Tallahatchie counties and is the namesake of Greenwood Leflore. Leflore was a Choctaw chief and a signer of the Treaty of 1830, in which the Choctaw Indians sold all their lands east of the Mississippi River. After the sale, many Choctaws migrated to present day Oklahoma, but Leflore stayed and became a politician and wealthy planter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The county is located within the state's delta region where cotton and catfish are plentiful. Mississippi is third behind California and Texas in cotton production, but 80% of all catfish produced in the United States come from the Mississippi delta.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Greenwood, once called Williams Landing, is the county seat of Leflore.<\/p>","nbr_img":null,"nbr_link":"http:\/\/www.msgw.org\/leflore\/"},{"nbr_id":5,"nbr_name":"Yazoo County","nbr_text":"
Yazoo County was established January 21, 1823 as the state's 19th county and is the largest county in Mississippi. Yazoo County covers about 1,018 square miles (625,000 acres), most of which is used for farming. Situated in the west central part of the state, the county has some of the most fertile soil in Mississippi. Yazoo, an Indian name meaning \"death\", was formed from part of the territory acquired from the Choctaws in 1820; also known as the \"New Purchase\".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After the acquisition of the Choctaw land, Yazoo County was quickly settled; mostly by pioneers from older parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North & South Carolina, and Tennessee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The first seat of justice, Beattie's Bluff, was located on the Big Black river, twelve or fifteen miles northwest of the present day site of Canton, Ms. In 1829, the county seat was moved to Benton, and Beattie's Bluff died out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Benton, incorporated in 1836, became a place of importance in the 1830's and early 1840's. Surnames of some of the early settlers of the area include: Holt, Burrus, Harden, Grayson, Battle, Miles, Morough, Hagerman, Williamson, Yandell, Rawlins, O'Reilly, Fisher, Jennings, McGaughey, & Blundell.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The present day county seat, Yazoo City, was settled by pioneers in 1824. First called Hannan's Bluff by government surveyors, it later became Manchester (named for Manchester, England) and changed to Yazoo City in 1839. In 1849 Yazoo city became the county seat leaving Benton to shrink and in the early 1900's Benton had less than 300 people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Located on the left bank of the Yazoo river, Yazoo City is the largest town in Yazoo County. In the early 1900's Yazoo city was a town ideal for commerce. It's easy access to railroads and the Yazoo & Mississippi rivers made it a center for shipping cotton and timber.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Yazoo City's first newspaper was the \"Political Progress\" established in 1829. In 1831, the name was changed to the \"Manchester Whig\" and later was called the \"Yazoo Banner\" he \"Yazoo Democrat\" was edited in 1844 by Major Ethelbert Barksdale and James Clark formed the \"Yazoo City Herald\" after the Civil War.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Yazoo City burned twice before 1905. The first time was by General Arthur in 1864. After the war, Yazoo City was rebuilt only to burn again in 1904, by the worst fire in state history. The entire business district and some residential areas were burned to the ground, courtesy of a witch, according to local legend.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Yazoo City has had its share of hard times. The city was hit hard twice by Yellow Fever. Epidemics in 1853 and 1878 killed many residents and often entire families. The area also flooded twice before 1930. Once in 1882 and later during the historic flood of 1927 which caused widespread sickness and property damage.<\/p>","nbr_img":null,"nbr_link":"http:\/\/www.msgw.org\/yazoo\/"}]}