D’IBERVILLE, MISSISSIPPI CHRONOLOGY

D’Iberville, Mississippi History

       17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Century Chronology of D’IBERVILLE

 

Commencing with the year 1682 and continuing to present day, I have subjectively gleaned salient dates and facts relating to our local chronology from journals and other authoritative sources. 

 

French Colonial Period [1699-1763]

 

1682

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687) reconnoitered the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes locating its deltaic mouth on the Gulf of Mexico in April 1682.  He claimed for France the vast area between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghenies drained by the Mississippi and all of its tributaries.  We know this territory as Louisiana, i.e. belonging to King Louis XIV of France.  La Salle called the Great River, Colbert, in honor of the French Minister of Marine.

 

1699

French soldiers led by Iberville in the service of King Louis XIV of France, commenced the construction of  Fort Maurepas, at present day Ocean Springs, Mississippi, in early April.  Fort Maurepas was named to honor the French Minister of the Marine (Navy), Jerome Phelypeaux de Maurepas, Comte (Earl) de Pontchartrain.  Several locales in North America bear the name Maurepas or Pontchartrain:  Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana and Point Maurepas on the island of Michipicoten (Ontario) in Lake Superior.  The Fort Maurepas settlement was also called Biloxi for the local Siouxan Indian tribe which lived on the Pascagoula River.

 

In late April, Bienville explored the area of present day D’Iberville and found it to be fine for a settlement.  Iberville also visited here and commented: “I found it very beautiful with pine woods, mixed with trees of other kinds in spots, many prairies, light sandy soil everywhere; I saw a good many deer.  Deer are killed everywhere in the vicinity of the fort.”

 

Iberville aboard La Badine and his fleet departed Ship Island for France in May.  He left a garrison of seventy-six men and ten officers under Sauvolle at Fort Maurepas.

 

1700

Iberville returned from France and anchored at Ship Island on January 8^th aboard  Renommee.  He departed Ship Island for New York and France in late May 1700.  At New York, Iberville sold 9000 pelts acquired from trappers in the Mississippi Valley.

 

February 6^th, the French establish Fort de La Boulaye (Fort Mississippi) on the Lower Mississippi, near Phoenix, thirty miles below New Orleans.  Bienville in command of fifteen men.  First French establishment in present day Louisiana.  Position abandoned 1707, with Juchreau St. Denis in command.

 

1701

Commandant Sauvolle expired at Fort Maurepas on August 22^nd.  Bienville assumed command of Fort Maurepas on Bilocchy [Biloxi] Bay.

Iberville arrived at Pensacola aboard Renommee December 15^th.

Iberville ordered Bienville to abandon Fort Maurepas on December 17^th and build a fort at La Mobile on the Mobile River, twenty seven miles from Dauphin Island.

 

1702

Fort Maurepas was abandoned in the early January 1702, as Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne (1680-1768), Sieur de Bienville removed the French garrison to Dauphin Island to construct a warehouse. 

Iberville laid out the streets of La Mobile in late March.

 On March 26^th, Iberville, Tonty, and Bienville, interpreter, met with three Chickasaw and four Choctaw chiefs at La Mobile to establish a peace between these warring tribes and discourage them from trading with the English. He gave each Indian nation the following: twelve muskets; 200 pounds of black powder; 200 pounds of bullets; 200 pounds of game-shot; 100 axes; 150 knives; kettles; glass beads; gun flints; awls; and assorted hardware.

Iberville left Pensacola for Havana on April 27^th with a load of beaver pelts and common animal skins.  Renommee sailed for Rochefort, France from Havana on June 17^th.

 

1706

Iberville died at Havana

 

1709

 

1715

 

1717

Fort Toulouse was erected by the French at the juncture of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers near present day Wetumpka, Alabama, just north of Montgomery, Alabama to prevent English trade with the local Indians and to deter Anglo settlers and traders from advancing from the Carolinas.

 

The French return to Biloxi Bay and locate on the site of old Fort Maurepas after a hurricane in August 1717 damages their harbor at Dauphine Island. 

 

1722

French move Louisiana Colony government to New Orleans on the Mississippi River.

 

1736

Bienville led French forces in the northeast Mississippi Chickasaw campaigns at Ackia and Cotton Gin (Amory).

 

1743

Bienville left Louisiana and arrived at Rochefort, France in October.  He retired to Paris.

 

1763

 

British Colonial Period [1763-1780]

The Treaty of Paris often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. Together with the Treaty of Hubertusburg, it ended the French and Indian War or Seven Years' War.^[1] The treaties marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe.^[2]  While the bulk of conquered territories were restored to their pre-war owners, the British made some substantial overseas gains at the expense of France and, to a lesser extent, Spain.^[3] Preferring to keep Guadaloupe, France gave up New France [Canada] and all of its claims to the territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. Spain ceded Florida to the British, but later received New Orleans and French Louisiana from France; Manila and Cuba were restored to Spain. France retained Saint Pierre and Miquelon and recovered Guadelupe,Martinique, and Saint Lucia in exchange for Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago going to the British. In India, the French lost out to the British, receiving back its "factories" (trading posts), but agreeing to support the British client governments, as well as returning Sumatra and agreeing not to base troops in Bengal. The British garrison on theMediterranean island of Minorca was returned to her control, having been captured by the French at the outbreak of hostilities in Europe.  Britain returned the slave station on the isle of Gorée to the French, but gained the Senegal River and its settlements. Britain agreed to demolish its fortifications in Honduras, but received permission from Spain to keep a logwood-cutting colony there. Britain confirmed in the treaty the rights of its new subjects to practice the Roman Catholic religion^[4] and received confirmation of the continuation of the British king's Hanoverian right as a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

 

1767

Bienville died at Paris. Buried Montmarte Cemetery

 

1768

In June 1768, George A. Gauld (1732-1782), a Scottish cartographer and surveyor, in the employ of the British Admiralty, made a map of coastal Mississippi.  He was operating fromHMS Sir Edward Hawke.  During his reconnaissance and charting of the region, Gauld made many observations about Horn Island.  He discovered that it was some sixteen miles in length, but in width no more than one mile.  Orientation was nearly east-west.  As regards to vegetation, Gauld noted that there were uneven groves of trees on the west end of the island.  The middle was characterized by dense growth, and the eastern end of the sand bar was fairly devoid of tree growth.(Ware, 1982, p.107)    

 

1776

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.

 

1779

In June 1779, Spain declared war on Great Britain.  In September, General Bernado de Galvez (1746-1786), Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory, captured Fort Bute at Manchac, Louisiana; the English garrison at Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and accepted the surrender of Fort Panmure at Natchez.

 

Spanish Colonial Period [1780-1811]

 

1780

On March 14, 1780, General Galvez captured Fort Charlotte and the city of Mobile, Alabama.  The Mississippi Gulf Coast became a part of Spanish West Florida.

 

1781

In May 1781, the English at Pensacola, Florida surrendered to Spanish forces led by General Galvez.

          

1783

American Revolutionary War ends with Great Britain the signing of the Treaty of Paris.  America is now bounded on the north by Canada; east by Atlantic Ocean; south bySpanish West Florida; and west by the Mississippi River.

 

1797

The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina; it was later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain. Land was purchased (generally through unequal treaties) from Native American tribes from 1800 to about 1830.

 

1803

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of approximately 530 million acres (828,000 sq mi or 2,100,000 km²) of French territory on April 30, 1803, at the cost of about 3¢ per acre (7¢ per ha); totaling $15 million or 80 million French francs. Including interest, America finally paid $23,213,568 for the Louisiana territory.^[1] The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota south of Mississippi River, much of North Dakota, nearly all of South Dakota, northeasternNew Mexico, northern Texas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide, and Louisiana on both sides of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans. (The Oklahoma Panhandle, and southwestern portions of Kansas and Louisiana were still claimed by Spain at the time of the Purchase.) In addition, the Purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The land included in the purchase comprises around 23% of the territory of the modern United States.^[1] The purchase was an important moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional. Although he felt that the Constitution did not contain any provisions for acquiring territory, Jefferson decided to purchase Louisiana because he felt uneasy about France and Spain having the power to block American traders' access to the port of New Orleans.                

 

 

United States of America [1811-2011+]

1810

The Republic of West Florida was declared independent of Spain in September at St. Francisville, Louisiana.  It lasted only forty-five days.

 

1811

When Dr. William 'Fat Doctor' Flood, the representative of Governor Claiborne of the Orleans Territory, was dispatched to the Mississippi coast to hoist the flag of the United States in January 1811, he found the population between the Pearl River and Biloxi to be about four hundred people chiefly French and Creoles.  Dr. Flood in his report to Governor Claiborne wrote:  proceeded to the Bay of Biloxi, where I found Mr. Ladnier (Jacques), and gave him the commission (Justice of the Peace).  He is a man of excellent sense, but can neither read or write, nor can any      inhabitants of the bay of Biloxi that I can hear of. They are, all along this beautiful coast, a primitive people, of mixed origin, retaining the gaiety and politeness of the French, blended with the abstemiousness and indolence of the Indian.  They plant a little rice, and a few roots and vegetables, but depend on subsistence chiefly on game and fish.  I left with all these appointees copies of the laws, ordinances, etc.  But few laws will be wanted here.  The people are universally honest.  There are no crimes.  The father of the family or the oldest inhabitant, settles all disputes......A more innocent and inoffensive people may not be found.  They seem to desire only the simple necessities of life, and to be let alone in their tranquility.  I am greatly impressed with the beauty and value of this coast.  The high sandy lands, heavily timbered with pine, and the lovely bays and rivers, from Pearl River to Mobile will furnish New Orleans with a rich commerce, and with a delightful summer resort.  For a cantonment or military post, in consideration of the health of the troops, this whole coast is admirably fitted.

 

1812

  Jackson County was created on December 12, 1812 as part of the Mississippi Territory.

 

1817

Mississippi entered the Union on December 10th as the 20th State of the United States of America.

 

1837

The Picayune began publishing it newspaper at 38 Gravier Street at NOLA on January 25, 1837 by Francis A. Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall (1809-1867).  The four page journal cost 25 cents per week or 6 1/4 cents per issue, the value of a Spanish picayune.  A three months subcription was $2.50.  By early November 1837, the paper became The Daily Picayune.  In 1914, The Daily Picayune merged with The New Orleans Times-Democrat to become The Times-Picayune.

 

1841

Harrison County, Mississippi was formed from Hancock and Jackson County, Mississippi on February 5, 1841.

 

1844

 

1847

On June 22nd, John Fayard sold the Federal Government a tract of land at Biloxi to build a lighthouse.  The consideration was $600.(Harrison Co., Ms. Land Deed Bk. 3, p. 392)

 

1852

Benjamin L.C. Wailes (1797-1852), State geologist of Mississippi, viewed the village of Back Bay, present day D'Iberville, from Biloxi on August 27, 1852, and observed the following:  Rode in the morning, after a call from Judge Smith, to Back Bay 2 miles, which is the extension of the Bay of Baluxi (sic).  Found a steam ferry running across where it seems to be a mile in width.  The extensive brick yard of Mr. Kendall, where bricks are made on a very extensive scale from dry compressed earth by steam power, was in sight of the opposite side, about two miles distant.  A number of small craft were in the Bay, and several along the shore were undergoing repairs.  Several steam mills, which are very numerous on the Bay, for sawing pine timber, were also in view.(Wailes, 1854)

 

1853

Yellow Fever struck Biloxi on June 29th, when it was brought to Biloxi by someone from New Orleans.  Dr. Andreas Byrenheidt (1768-1858) reported following the crisis that there were  533 cases of Yellow Fever in Biloxi, which resulted in 111 deaths.  He estimated that the population at this time was 5500 people, which included summer tourists and those fleeing the epidemic at New Orleans.(Testimony of Dr. A. Byrenheidt, M.D. in Report of the Sanitary Commission of NOLA on the Yellow Fever of 1853, 1854, p. 540)

 

The 1853 Yellow Fever epidemic at New Orleans killed about 10,000 of the 30,000 persons infected with the mosquito borne virus.  It earned the Crescent City the epithet "Necropolis of the South". 

 

1855

The Hurricane of 1855 of September 15th-16th hits near Bay St. Louis, and destroyed bath houses, piers and many houses at Biloxi between its three miles of waterfront development from west of the Biloxi Lighthouse to Point Cadet.(The New Orleans Daily Picayune, September 20, 1855, p. 1 and Sullivan, p. 135)  

 

1856

The Last Islands [Isles Dernieres] Hurricane mauls this seaside resort off of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana on August 11th and kills about 200 people.  According to modern estimates by the NOAA the storm was probably a Category 4 hurricane with central pressure of around 934 mb. It tied with Hurricane Hugo as the 10th most intense hurricane to hit the mainland United States.

 

1858

Dr. Andreas Byrenheidt (1786-1858), Biloxi physician and native of France, expired on March 4th. 

 

1860

John B. Toulme (1795-1860), native of Saint Domingue, now Haiti, expired at Bay St. Louis, on August 17th.  He was a pioneer settler of this village and assisted General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) with information on the British invasion forces in this area during the War of 1812.(The Daily Picayune, August 25, 1860, p. 2)

 

1861

The War of the Rebellion or American Civil War commences on April 12, 1861 in South Carolina.   

 

 “The Biloxi Rifles”, Company E, 3^rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment, C.S.A., were sworn into State military service on May 21, 1861 and mustered in Confederate service on October 5, 1861.(Howell, To Live and Die in Dixie, 1991, p. 565) 

 

1865

The Civil War ends on April 9, 1865 in Virginia.

 

1870

On October 29, 1870, the New Orleans, Mobile, & Chattanooga Railroad (Chartered 1866) completed the rail line between Mobile and New Orleans.  Rail service commenced on November 21, 1870.

 

1871

The N.O.M. & C. was reorganized on April 18, 1871 and became the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas Railroad.

 

1875

An editorial in The Star of Pascagoula blasted the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas Railroad as "nothing more that or less than a gang of highway robbers, entitled to as little consideration from the people as so many bandits who rob and plunder the weak and defenseless in defiance of the law.  The only remedy for these wrongs is the sale of the road.  Refuse to patronize the road, even if undergo inconvenience in doing so.(The Star of Pascagoula, May 22, 1875, p. 2)

 

In June, D.B. Seal, District Attorney of Hancock County filed litigation against the New Orleans, Mobile, & Chattanooga Railroad (sic?).  The plaintiffs were asking that the railroad build a draw bridge across the Pearl River.  The present bridge was blocking the East Pearl River channel, which was needed for the lumber trade.(The Star of Pascagoula, June 12, 1875, p. 3)       

 

1889

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) died at New Orleans on December 6th.  His remains were interred in the Metairie Cemetery.

 

1890

Misses Susie Henley and Lizzie McCabe opened the public school.(The Biloxi Herald, Novemebr 8, 1890, p. 4)

 

1893

In late May, the corporal remains of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) were sent from New Orleans by a L&N funeral car to Richmond, Virginia for burial on May 31st in the Hollywood Cemetery.(The Biloxi Herald, May 29, 1893, p. 1)       

 

The Mexican Gulf Coast Illustrated written by T.H. Glenn of Ocean Springs is complete and being bound.(The Biloxi Herald, July 8, 1893, p. 8)

 

Casmir Harvey commenced his ferry operation across Back Bay to Biloxi on December 2^nd.  His vessel was called ‘the Shrimp’.  Captain Ed Richards took over he rope or skiff ferry and handled the oars.(The Biloxi Herald, December 2, 1893, p. 1)

 

1898

The Spanish American War commenced on April    1898.

 

Mr. Saucier's mare beat Fannie, the mare of T.P. Dulion, by half a neck at the race track.(The Biloxi Daily Herald, June 25, 1898, p. 8)

 

1901

[This image was made between 1911 and 1926.  See oyster shell piles of Imperial Canning Company]

The first pedestrian Bridge, a wooden structure, across Back Bay Biloxi opened on August 3rd.(The Biloxi Daily Herald, August 3, 1901, p. 1)

 

1907

Henry Krohn, overseer, commenced work on a new road from the Tchoutacabouffa River south to the Back Bay Bridge in September.  It became known as the Lamey's Bridge Road.(The Daily Herald, September 22, 1907 and September 22, 1947, p. 1)

1909

The Seymour Eagles [from D'Iberville] a baseball team composed of Adolph Boney, Terrell Chinn, Emile Fayard, Walter Fayard, J. Joullian, Jesse Parker, Lazaro Quave, Peter Quave, and Joseph Santa Cruz defeated Ocean Springs 10-1.  J. Ryan and O. Fayard was the battery for Ocean Springs.(The Biloxi Daily Herald, June 20, 1909. p. 4)

 

1910

In February, the Back Bay Fishermen's Association was charted by Raymond Fournier; Philip Trochessett;Leonard Fountain; Henry Cannette; and Joseph Cannette.  This North Biloxi association provided members with weejly sick benefits and provided $20 towards the funeral of a deceased member.(The Daily Herald, February 14, 1910, p. 8)             

 

1912

The Harrison County Board of Supervisors ordered that a bridge be built over the Biloxi River at the Lorraine Ferry.(The Daily Herald, February 9, 1912, p. 1)

 

1913

In July 1913, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors let a $6300 contract to the Austin Brothers of Atlanta, Georgia to erect a structure across the Tchoutacabouffa River to replace the Lamey Ferry.  In November 1913, board member, F.W. Elmer Sr., was appointed to oversee construction of the bridge.(HARCO, Ms. Board of Supervisors Minute Bk. 10, p. 274 and p. 391)             

 

1914

At its April 1914 meeting, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors accepted the completed work and paid the Austin Brothers for the Tchoutacabouffa River bridge.  Philip Lamey was appointed bridge keeper for one year and paid $30 per month for his services.(HARCO, Ms. Board of Supervisors Minute Bk. 11, p. 6 and p. 10)

Raymond Fountain sold the Little John, a schooner barge, to Peter Quave (1863-1936).  Willie Beaugez was endorsed as master.(The Daily Herald, May 22, 1914, p. 8)

WW I commenced in Europe when Germany declared war on Russian and France in early August.

 

1915

In late April 1915, D.B. Lemon, an experienced mill man, planned to harvest timber from Cat Island.  Estimated reserves at 3,500,000 board feet.  Mill could process 7,000 board feet each day.  Lumber shipped to Gulfport for domestic and export utilization.(The Daily Herald, April 28, 1915, p. 7)

 

Captain F.P. Barry arrived in Biloxi from Tampa to take charge of the Deer Island Ferry service.(The Daily Herald, May 15, 1915, p. 2, May 24, 1915, p. 2, and May 30, 1915, p. 4)

In June, A.B. Lemons of Gulfport commenced his sawmill on Cat Island and planned to cut 10000 board-feet per day.  The lumber has been sold to a NOLA interest.  Estimates are that he will cut 4 million board feet in 400 working days.(The Gulfport Advocate, June 5, 1915, p. 4)

The Deer Island Island Development Company formally dedicated their Deer Island amusement center on June 23rd.  Meyer Eiseman of the DIDC;  George W. Grayson of the Biloxi Commercial Club; Mayor Glennan of Biloxi; Mayor Foote of Gulfport; and Mayor Saucier of Pass Christian spoke at the ceremony.  Ocean Springs beat Biloxi 5-2 in the baseball game.(The Gulfport Advocate, June 26, 1915, p. 1)

A hurricane struck D'Iberville and the Mississippi Gulf Coast on September 29th.

 

1917

The United States declared war on Germany on April 6^th.

 

Peter Quave (1863-1936), former manager of the Imperial Packing Company, is preparing to erect his own factory on north side of Back Bay near the bridge.  Machinery will be installed before the shrimp season opens in August.(The Daily Herald, June 7, 1917, p. 3)

 

1918

World War I ends in November 1918.

 1926

Mississippi Power Company planned a forty-six mile power line from the Miss.-Ala. state line to Gulfport where a large step-down transforming station will be built.  Power for the line will come from hydro-electric plants on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers in Alabama.  With no difficulties, hydro-electric power should be available on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by January 1, 1927.(The Biloxi News, March 28, 1926, p. 19)

 

1934

Brother Isaiah, nee John Cudney (1847-1934), healer and miracle worker, who lived in the St. Martin area of Jackson County in the early 1920s, passed on at Oroville, California in late July 1934, breaking the pledge to his faithful cult that he would never die!(The Jackson County Times, July 28, 1934, p. 2)

 

1935

On May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was created to help provide economic relief to the citizens of the United States who were suffering through the Great Depression.

 

1941

 In June 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps activated Station No. 8, Aviation Mechanics School, at Biloxi, Mississippi.  By late August 1941, this military installation had been dedicated as Keesler Army Airfield, in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Samuel Reeves Keesler (1896-1918), a native of Greenwood, Mississippi.  Lieutenant Keesler had died in France from wounds received while in aerial combat against Germany during the Great War.  Keesler Army Airfield not only became technical training center, but trained basic recruits.  The first contingent of recruits arrived at Biloxi on August 21, 1941.

Byron Patton 'Pat' Harrison (1881-1941) of Gulfport, former Congressman (1911-1919) and US Senator (1919-1941) died in Washington D.C. on the 22nd.

On December 7th, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands.  America declared war on Japan the next day.  Germany and Italy sign an alliance with Japan and enter the war on December 11th.

 

1927 Back Bay Bridge

[Circa 1926 under construction.  Note 1901 wooden bridge in background.]

 

1927

The Biloxi-North Biloxi [D'Iberville] Bridge was dedicated on January 12th.  Two parades, the largest barbecue ever staged in this area, public speaking, and an amusement show were part of the ceremony.  Mayor William E. Dever (1862-1929) of Chicago was invited to speak.(The Daily Herald, December 30, 1926, p. 1 and January 6, 1927, p. 1)

 

In April 1937, The Daily Herald reported that "The Camp of the Saints" has located on the M.R. Davis place on the Meunier property in North Biloxi. The followers of the late Brother Isaiah (1847-1934), which numbered about twelve and were primarily men, decided that the Biloxi area was an ideal location. They were seeking a large farm to share crop. The disciples of Brother Isaiah believed in making their livelihood from agriculture, not from donations. They did not plan to practice any form of healing like their deceased leader. The religious cult had disbanded in 1936, in northern California.  The 'Saints' had left Biloxi in 1925 for Fort Meyers, Florida before relocating to Raceland, Louisiana circa 1929.  Their journey had ended in Oroville, California.(The Daily Herald, April 20, 1937, p. 10)

 

1941

In June 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps activated Station No. 8, Aviation Mechanics School, at Biloxi, Mississippi.  By late August 1941, this military installation had been dedicated as Keesler Army Airfield, in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Samuel Reeves Keesler (1896-1918), a native of Greenwood, Mississippi.  Lieutenant Keesler had died in France from wounds received while in aerial combat against Germany during the Great War.  Keesler Army Airfield not only became technical training center, but trained basic recruits.  The first contingent of recruits arrived at Biloxi on August 21, 1941.

Byron Patton 'Pat' Harrison (1881-1941) of Gulfport, former Congressman (1911-1919) and US Senator (1919-1941) died in Washington D.C. on the June 22nd.

In November, only eight shrimp boats were blessed by Father Nelious Downing as the weather was inclement.  Father J.P. McAlpine was in New York.(The Daily Herald, November 20, 1941, p. 7)

On December 7th, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands.  America declared war on Japan the next day.  Germany and Italy sign an alliance with Japan and enter the war on December 11th.

 

1947

Bay Aero Seaplane Hangar

[near Fountain Cemetery on Back Bay]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1948

First Mississippi produced tung oil began to flow in late January at the American Tung Oil Mill at the Landon Community, Harrison County, Mississippi situated four miles north of Gulfport and near US Highway No. 49.  The plant processed nuts from groves in George, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Hancock, Harrison, Perry, and Stone Counties in Mississippi and Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Alabama.(The Daily Herald, January 29, 1948, p. 1 and June 2, 1949, Sec. II, p. 1)

 

1949

In February 1949, it was announced that through the efforts of Congressman William Colmer (D)-Mississippi that a rural post office station would open at North Biloxi, referred to as the d'Iberville Community on March 1, 1949.  The North Biloxi postal station was situated in the Quave Brothers Texaco station and was called 'Fletcher's News Stand'.(The Daily Herald, February 19, 1949, p. 2)

 

J.O. Collins was the low base bidder to erect the $289, 395 Sacred Heart Catholic Church in North Biloxi. Father Francis Farrell was pastor and H.F. Fountain Jr. & Associates were architects.(The Daily Herald, April 30, 1969, p. 1)

1973

On 13 June, The North Biloxian, a weekly tabloid newspaper, owned by Charles R. Stein Jr. with John Hubbard, editor, published its first edition.  The paper contained news and advertisements concerning citizens of the advertisements of ther North Bay area and had an intial circulation of about 500 people.(The Daily Herald, June 16, 1973, p. 2)

 

1974

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the 1974 ruling by Harrison County Chancery Court that denied theannexation attempt of North Biloxi by Biloxi.(The Sun Herald, May 25, 1976, p. A1)

 

1975

The U.S. Interstate I-110 Back Bay Bridge between D'Iberville and Biloxi opened on June 22nd.(The Daily Herald, June 26, 1975, p. 1)

 

1988

The City of D'Iberville was incorporated on February 10, 1988.

 

1989

Mayor Jerry Lawrence (b. 1928) and his five councilmen, Thomas J. Moore Jr. (b. 1942), Linda Davis, A.J. Penrow, Les Barnett Jr. (b. 1959), and Oliver Diaz Sr., the first city government of D'Iberville, Mississippi, was sworn into office on July 1, 1989.(The Biloxi-'Iberville Press, July 14, 1989, p. 1)  

 

1990

The population of D'Ibervile was 6566 [5836 white and 499 black].(The Sun Herald, March 9, 2001, p. A10)

 

M. James Stevens (1909-1990) was born July 6, 1909 at Elizabeth, New Jersey.  He settled on the Coast in 1948 and owned the Confederate Inn and Restaurant. at Gulfport.  Mr. Stevens became a great Mississippi Gulf Coast Historian and amassed a large archives of documents pertaining to Mississippi Gulf Coast chronology, which are now known collectively as,'The M. James Stevens Collection'.  He expired at San Antonio, Texas on June 4, 1990.(The Sun Herald, June 12, 1990, p. C1)

 

'Fiddlin' Peter Lepre (1899-1990), long time resident of D'Iberville and well-known musician, expired on October 15th at Biloxi.(The SUn Herald, October 16, 1990, p. C2)

 

1992

On August 1^st, dockside gambling commenced at Biloxi when two riverboat casinos from Iowa, the Diamond Lady and the Emerald Lady, opened for business as The Isle of Capri Casino.(The Biloxi-d’Iberville Press, July 22, 1992, p. 1 and The Sun Herald, July 29, 2007, p. G1)

 

1998

Charles R. "Bob" Stein (1920-1998), native of West Virginia, and founder of The North Biloxian (1973) and Biloxi-D'Iberville Press (1975), expired on January 1st.(The Sun Herald, January 3, 1998, p. B2)

Brother Jerome Lepre  (1927-1998), Gulf Coast genealogist, author and historian, expired at NOLA on September 19, 1998.

                                                                                

 2000

The population of D'Ibervile was 7608 [5950 white and 867 black].(The Sun Herald, March 9, 2001, p. A10)

 

2003

 Walter F. Fountain (1920-2003), journalist, historian, and longtime Chamber of Commerce employee and general manager, expired on December 30th.(The Sun Herald, January 2, 2004, p. A5)

 

2005

Russell ‘Rusty’ Quave elected Mayor of D’Iberville.

 

2007

On October 2^nd, Wayne H. Payne, Saucier resident and former Chief of Police at Gulfport and Long Beach, was appointed Chief of Police of D’Iberville.  Chief Payne has been tasked with developing the city’s first police force.(The Bay Press, October 5, 2007, p. 1)

 

 2008

 D'Iberville High School lost 12 -10 to Noxubee County High School in the Division 4A State Football finals at Jackson on December 6th.

The D'Iberville Police Department began street patrols on October 1, 2008.  Wayne Payne was the first police chief.(The Sun Herald, April 23, 2009, p. A4)

 

2009

The new D'Iberville High School on Lamey Bridge Road opened on February 25th.(The Sun Herald, February 26, 2009, p. A1)

 

The new D'Iberville police station on 3rd Avenue will be dedicated on April 24th.  The renovated structure was formerly a senior citizens building and library.  It will house 20 police officers including Chief Payne and three civilians.(The Sun Herald, April 23, 2009, p. A4)

 

Ray Mabus, former Governor, was formally sworn in as the 75th Secretary of the Navy at the Washington Navy Yard on June 18th.  Mabus was Governor from 1988-1992 and ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-1996.(The Sun Herald, June 19, 2009, p. A7)

 

Ed McMahon (1923-2009), national TV personality and celebrity, expired on June 23rd.

 

Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009), actress, and Michael Jackson (1959-2009), mega-rock star, both died on June 25th.

 

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009), CBS news anchor, died on July 17, 2009.(The Sun Herald, July 18, 2009, p. B1)

 

State Representative Michael Janus resigned his House seat to accept position as D'Iberville city manager.(The Sun Herald, September 26, 2009, p. A1 and p. A11 and September 27, 2009, p. A8)

 

Edward 'Eddie' Bellman (1920-2009), Biloxi entrepreneur who befriended Elvis Presley, while nascent star vacationed at Gulf Hills and Biloxi in the early 1950s, expired on November 6, 2009.(The Sun Herald, November 8, 2009, p. A12 and p. A 13)

 

2010

The CanCan Casino's gaming site in D'Iberville was approved by the Mississippi Gaming Commission on February 25th.(The Sun Herald, February 26, 2010, p. A1)

Mark Mathias Seymour, Sr. (1935-2010), former Ocean Springs City engineer, civil engineering consultant and D'Iberville casino promoter, expired on March 7th.(The Sun Herald, March 8, 2010, p. A4, March 10, 2010, p. 4A, and March 10, 2010, p. A6)    

The Oyster Bay Casino receives site approval in early May.(The Biloxi D'Iberville Press, May 6, 2010, p. 1)

The D'Iberville Town Green was dedicated on December 10th.(The Sun Herald, December 9, 2010, p. A8)

 

2011

    

OCEAN EXPO

The City of D'Iberville planned to acquire 8.5 acres of land on the SW/C of US Interstate 10 and US Interstate I-110 from Ramco Development for $4.5 million.  The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies plans to build the OCEAN EXPO here in the future.(The Sun Herald, June 8, 2011, p. A10)

Health Management Associates [HMA] announced that a $132 million medical center will be built in North Biloxi on a 35-acre site at the termination of Tommy Munro Avenue.  It will be ajacent to the Cedar Lake Medical Plaza and the Santa Maria del Mar senior housing complex.(The Sun Herald, October 5, 2011, p. A1)

Bayou Bridges, a new retail center proposed by the Woodmont Company and situated on the SE/C of Lamey's Bridge Road and US Interstate 10, was announced by the City of D'Iberville.(The Sun Herald, Ocotber 6, 2011, p. A5)

The USS MISSISSIPPI, SSN-782 and a $2 billion, Virginia-Class, fast attack, nuclear submarine, was christened at theGeneral Dynamics Electric Boat yard in Groton, Connecticut on December 3rd.  The vessel will be commissioned at Gulfport, Mississippi in June 2012.(The Sun Herald, December 3, 2011, p. A1)

Phase I of Ocean Expo, D'Iberville's marine mammal institute, broke ground on December 9th.(The Sun Herald, December 10, 2011, p. A2)     

MAYORS of D’IBERVILLE

1989-2014

 

Jerry Lawrence was born at Biloxi, Mississippi, the son of Dewey Lawrence and Antoinette Lawrence.

Russell 'Rusty' Quave was born at Biloxi, Mississippi, the son of Quave and       .

________________________________________________________________________________________________

A HISTORY OF D'IBERVILLE, MISSISSIPPI

 

On February 10, 1998, the citizens of D'Iberville, Mississippi held a party celebrating their 10th anniversary as an incorporated city.  D'Iberville is certainly one of the newest incorporated towns in Mississippi, but it is also one of the oldest areas of continuous habitation in the Magnolia State. 

 

Many of the 19th Century families of Ocean Springs and environs can trace their humble beginnings to the north shore of the Bay of Biloxi.  Among them are: Tiblier, Beaugez, Bellande, Dick, Moran, Ladner, and Quave.  With this brief introduction, I readily give to you my interpretation of the history of this most interesting area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

The City of D'Iberville is located on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi in extreme southeastern Harrison County, Mississippi.  It was incorporated on February 10, 1988.  The city encompasses an area of about 2800 acres or 4.4 square miles.  It is bounded on the north by the Tchoutacabouffa River and a tributary, Cypress Creek.  The east side of the city is formed by the north-south line between Harrison and Jackson County while the Back Bay of Biloxi constitutes the southern border.  Closure of the city limits on the western perimeter is the range line between Sections 7 and 8 and 18 and 17 of T7S-R9W.

           

The 1990 population of D'Iberville was estimated to be approximately 6500 people or about 1500 people per square mile.  It has grown from about 1200 people in 1960, a dramatic increase of 442% in 30 years.  From the turn of the 20th Century until 1960, the population of this area increased only 380%.

           

As the history of the Mississippi Gulf Coast commenced with the French settlement at Fort Maurepas (1699-1702), called Biloxy, within the city limits of present day Ocean Springs, Mississippi in April 1699, this is the appropriate time to begin the History of D'Iberville, one of the newest cities in Mississippi, but certainly one of its oldest continually settled areas.

 

COLONIAL DAYS (1699-1811)

 D'Iberville acquired its name from the first hero of New France, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville et d'Ardillieres (1661-1706).  Iberville was the name of a fief held by the Lemoyne family near Dieppe in Normandy while Ardillieres was property that he acquired near Rochefort in Aunis.  Normandy and Aunis are regions of France located respectively in the northwest and west central areas of that nation.  Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, was born at Ville-Marie (now Montreal) on July 9, 1661.  His father, Charles Le Moyne de Longueil et de Chateauguay (1626-1685), came to French Canada in 1641 from Dieppe.  Here he rose from an indentured servant interpreter, in the service of the Jesuit missionaries, to become one of the most powerful men in the fur trade.  Catherine Thierry, the mother of Iberville, gave birth to fourteen children, twelve sons and two daughters.  Seven of her sons became known as the "Machabees of New France" for their military exploits.

 

After successful military expeditions against English settlements and fur trading posts at James Bay (1686), Corlaer (1690), York Fort (1694), Newfoundland (1696), and Hudson Bay (1697), Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville was selected by Louis XIV, the King of France, to lead an expedition to relocate the mouth of the Mississippi River.  His mission was to defend the French claim to Louisiana established by explorer, Robert Rene Cavalier, Sieur de LaSalle, in 1682.  Iberville planned to erect a fort and prohibit entry into the Great River by other nations, particularly the English, who were a threat from the Carolinas.

 

Arriving on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in February 1699, from France with a stop at Saint-Domingue (Haiti) to strengthen his forces, Iberville's small fleet anchored at Ship Island.  From this base, the French reconnoitered the Mississippi River and surrounding area.  A decision was made to erect Fort Maurepas, on the east side of the Bay of Biloxi, in April 1699.

 

Although the City of D'Iberville was named for the French Canadian admiral and explorer, Iberville, it was his brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville (1680-1768), who was probably the first European to visit the immediate area.  This is corroborated somewhat by an entry in Iberville's journal on April 23, 1699:  I sent my brother (Bienville) and two Canadians 5 leagues (15 miles) from the fort (Maurepas), to the far end of this bay (Back Bay of Biloxi), to inspect it and the land in the vicinity.  He found it perfectly fine for settlement.  I went and examined the back side of the little bay, and with one man, I penetrated 4 leagues (12 miles) inland to examine the country.  I found it very beautiful with pine woods, mixed with tress of other kinds in spots, many prairies, light, sandy soil everywhere; I saw a good many deer.  Deer are killed everywhere in the vicinity of the fort.                         

 

Iberville returned to France in May 1699, leaving a garrison of eighty-one men under the command of Sauvole at Fort Maurepas, called Biloxi.  The French fort at present day Ocean Springs was abandoned in 1702, as the French elected to move the Louisiana Colony to the Mobile region.  Fort Louis de la Louisiane was established by Iberville on the Mobile River in 1704, twenty seven miles from the entrance to Mobile Bay. 

The great French Canadian warrior, Iberville, then led an invasion of the island of Nevis, the Garden of the Caribbean.  Here in 1706, Iberville and his forces pillaged and burned the island capturing over 3,200 slaves.  He became ill of fever after the raid on Nevis and died at Havana, Cuba on July 9, 1706.  Iberville's remains were interred at the Church of San Cristobal.

In 1719, the French returned the capital of Louisiana from Mobile to that area on the Fort Point peninsula at Ocean Springs, formerly occupied by the "Old French Fort", Fort Maurepas.  In 1720, the seat of colonial government was relocated across the Bay of Biloxi from Old Biloxi to New Biloxi (present day Biloxi, Mississippi).  From the French beachhead near the present day Biloxi lighthouse, colonists settled at Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, the Red River, Baton Rouge, the Lower Mississippi, and Arkansas.  Although the colony at New Biloxi was officially abandoned in 1727, some French and Canadian colonists remained in the immediate area as fishermen, stockmen, subsistence farmers, and traders.

After the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with France terminated with the Treaty of Paris, the English took control of this region, which became known as British West Florida.  They did not actively settle the Mississippi coast portion of their newly acquired territory, but did send pioneers to the Natchez District and the Florida Parishes of Louisiana.

 The Spanish under Bernardo Galvez displaced the English in 1783, when they captured Mobile and Pensacola.  A small post was established at Pascagoula, which may have given the name "Spanish Fort" to the de la Pointe-Krebs House.  Anecdotal history relates that the Spanish sent a small detachment of soldiers to the Fort Point peninsula at Ocean Springs.  This garrison was referred to as the "Spanish Camp".  It is further postulated that an outbreak of fever decimated the soldiers and their families who are believed to have settled in the Gulf Hills area north of Ocean Springs.

In 1784, Thomas Hutchins, Surveyor-General of the United States, on a visit to the area observed:  There are still a few inhabitants at Biloxi, some of whom are the offspring of the original settlers.  Their chief employment is raising cattle and stock, and making pitch and tar:  but the natives (Indians) are troublesome to them.

 

BACK BAY (1811-1900)

In the early years of the 19th Century, Back Bay was the name given to the area north of the village of Biloxi.  It comprised a large portion of the present city of D'Iberville.  In the late 19th century, Back Bay became known as Harvey and Quaves (1885) when post offices by these names were established.  Later post offices enacted were known as Lazarus (1901-1907) and Seymour (1907-1911).  For most of the 20th Century, the City of D'Iberville and surrounding area was referred to as Seymour, North Biloxi, and D'Iberville.  It is believed the name D'Iberville came into general use in the 1920s as the school district adopted this nomenclature.

 When Dr. Flood, the representative of Governor Claiborne of the Orleans Territory, was dispatched to the Mississippi coast to hoist the flag of the United States in January 1811, he found the population between the Pearl River and Biloxi to be about four hundred people chiefly French and Creoles.  Dr. Flood in his report to Governor Claiborne wrote:  proceeded to the Bay of Biloxi, where I found Mr. Ladnier (Jacques), and gave him the commission (Justice of the Peace).  He is a man of excellent sense, but can neither read or write, nor can any      inhabitants of the bay of Biloxi that I can hear of. They are, all along this beautiful coast, a primitive people, of mixed origin, retaining the gaiety and politeness of the French, blended with the abstemiousness and indolence of the Indian.  They plant a little rice, and a few roots and vegetables, but depend on subsistence chiefly on game and fish.  I left with all these appointees copies of the laws, ordinances, etc.  But few laws will be wanted here.  The people are universally honest.  There are no crimes.  The father of the family or the oldest inhabitant, settles all disputes......A more innocent and inoffensive people may not be found.  They seem to desire only the simple necessities of life, and to be let alone in their tranquility.  I am greatly impressed with the beauty and value of this coast.  The high sandy lands, heavily timbered with pine, and the lovely bays and rivers, from Pearl River to Mobile will furnish New Orleans with a rich commerce, and with a delightful summer resort.  For a cantonment or military post, in consideration of the health of the troops, this whole coast is admirably fitted.    

 As Dr. Flood predicted, it was outlying villages like Back Bay that would supply New Orleans, the ever growing port on the Mississippi River which controlled trade with interior North America, with essential raw materials.  These products were:  charcoal and wood for fuel, seafood and fresh garden produce, brick and mortar, lumber, naval stores, and ships.

Some of these activities were seen by Benjamin L.C. Wailes who viewed the village of Back Bay from Biloxi on August 27, 1852.  State geologist, Wailes, wrote the following:  Rode in the morning, after a call from Judge Smith, to Back Bay 2 miles, which is the extension of the Bay of Baluxi (sic).  Found a steam ferry running across where it seems to be a mile in width.  The extensive brick yard of Mr. Kendall, where bricks are made on a very extensive scale from dry compressed earth by steam power, was in sight of the opposite side, about two miles distant.  A number of small craft were in the Bay, and several along the shore were undergoing repairs.  Several steam mills, which are very numerous on the Bay, for sawing pine timber, were also in view.

The small population living in the area at the commencement of the 19th Century is believed to have been descendents of the followers of d'Iberville.  The Back Bay area had not yet been penetrated by Americans.  The French language and culture were pervasive.  Early Spanish land grants at Back Bay in T7S-R9W of what would become Hancock County (not Harrison County until 1841) were given to the French speaking descendants of Christian Ladner, a Swiss adventurer, who arrived on the Mississippi coast aboard the French vessel, Le Marie, in 1719.  These recipients of then Spanish territory were:  Joseph Ladner (Section 23), Dominique Ladner (Section 22), and John Baptiste Ladner (Section 16).  The other claim (Section 21) was awarded to Louis A. Caillavet, a native of the Opelousas Post, Louisiana, who settled at Biloxi before 1809.  Other families believed to have descended from the early colonists who came to Back Bay in the early 19th Century were:  Moran (Morin), Quave (Cuevas), Seymour, Fournier, Groue, Gollott (Grelot), Bosarge, and Rousseau.

 In the 1830s, immigrants from France, Spain, Germany, Croatia, and Switzerland began to discover the quite waters of Back Bay.  Why they came here may be never known.  Most of the expatriates came through New Orleans and possibly were seeking political asylum and or the opportunity to make a fortune in a free land.  Among these adventurers and dreamers were:  Manuel Sanchez, Jose Santa Cruz, Francois Fountain, Henry Krohn, Bernard and Nicholas Taltavull, Joseph Abbley, Pierre Hervai (Harvey), Jules Saujon, Louis Boney, Stanislaus Beaugez, Antoine Bellande, Jacob Hosli, and John Baptiste Foretich. 

They found Back Bay conducive for settlement because of the following:  the abundance of seafood in the local fecund waters; the vast amount of tall stands of yellow pine, oak, and cypress to build boats, homes, and extract naval stores; a deep, sheltered channel ran from the entrance of Biloxi Bay to the Back Bay settlement allowing their fishing vessels and trading schooners to moor in relative safety from violent storms and hurricanes, although anecdotal history relates that the September 1860 Hurricane, practically devastated the Back Bay settlement.  Adequate supplies of fresh water were also readily available in the area.

It took entrepreneurs from the eastern seaboard and New Orleans to begin industrial development in the greater Biloxi Bay area.  Families such as, Alsbury, Kendall, McRae, Hand, Taylor, McGuire, Bingham, Henry, Laughter, and Gautier began light industries, i.e. saw mills, shipyards, and brickworks at Buena Vista (Handsboro) on Bayou Bernard, on the Tchoutacabouffa River, and at Back Bay.  The focus of this industrial base was directed toward supplying New Orleans only ninety miles to the west.  New Orleans could be reached from Back Bay by shallow draft schooners in a day or two.

Although some Americans had arrived in the area earlier than the European immigrants, they settled to the west and north along the Tchoutacabouffa River and Cedar Lake area were land was available and the French language and culture were rare.  These people made their livelihood by farming, stock raising, logging, and charcoal burning.  Families such as Wells, Latimer, Cruthirds, Morris, Ramsay, Blackwell, Holley, Scarborough, and Parker were among this group.

In the late 19th Century, several travelers related their observations of Back Bay.  The Biloxi Herald of November 21, 1891 said:  Twenty minutes walk from the depot brings one to one of the prettiest places of the Biloxi side of Back Bay, the Reynoir place, near which the little tug Jennie lands for passengers.  A ten minutes run on this beautiful sheet of water lands you in the picturesque rambling village of Back Bay, which is scattered along the shore for about two miles, giving shelter, to nearly two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and boasting a Roman Catholic church house, a school house, several stores, and a yard for ship building.   The houses are chiefly small cottages nestled in groves of trees on a rise, scarcely to be called a hill or ridge, which in some places ascends directly from the water's edge, resembling the terrace-like slopes of Ocean Springs' front, and in others a narrow stretch of sandy beach or a marsh intervenes between the elevation and the water.  The schoolhouse is very pleasantly located; the waters of the bay, half-veiled by a grove of trees, shimmer in the distance in the front, and the woodland back is a perfect delight with its mingling of deciduous and evergreen trees, forming charming vistas and shady nooks.  The gum, oak, sycamore and maple bear the imprint of autumn's glorious reign in vivid fiery dashes from his heart's very life, while the fall pines wave their plumed tops as they breathe a low weird requiem for beautiful, passionate departed summer.(p. 4).

 In July 1892, Catherine Cole, New Orleans correspondent, who was traveling from Ocean Springs to Back Bay, vividly described a portion of the journey as:  An hour passes by and we have come, still under the feathery pines, to beautiful Back Bay, famous for its oysters, its bathing, it scenery and its drives.  This is the chief suburb of Biloxi, just as Biloxi is the chief town of the lake shore.(The Daily Picayune, July 24, 1892, p. 12)

 

LAZARUS-SEYMOUR-NORTH BILOXI (1900-1945)

 

After nearly a century of isolation, the village of Lazarus, as it was called from 1901 to 1907 from the post office there, became connected to Biloxi with a wooden bridge.  The span was dedicated on August 3, 1901.  This eliminated the steam ferry, which had run intermittently since 1843.  With the bridge complete, commerce between the two cities increased.  Seafood, fresh produce, dairy products, citrus and pecans, wool, and forest products from the countryside flowed smoothly to the railhead at Biloxi.  Woolmarket and Stiglets Landing on the Biloxi River lost their prominence as wool exporting areas due to the network of dirt and shell roads now proliferating from a former wilderness towards the Back Bay of Biloxi. 

 

In August 1911, the rural post offices at Seymour, Vinnie, and Woolmarket were closed.  Postmaster Tyler of Biloxi integrated their services into two rural routes operated from the Biloxi post office.  Mail carriers did not depart for their rural deliveries until after the morning trains from New Orleans had arrived in order that Crescent City morning journals be included in their postings to patrons in rural areas.(The Ocean Springs News, August 26, 1911, p. 1)

 

In 1915, a shell road was completed from Ocean Springs to Seymour in the ruts of an old wagon trail. 

 

After the concrete bridge was opened from Biloxi to D'Iberville on January 12, 1927, North Biloxi and the Mississippi coast became a connected part of the Old Spanish Trail from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida.  The mayor of Chicago, William A. Dever, spoke at the dedication of this $350,000 structure.

 

From the late 19th Century until the 1920s, forests were exploited in the backwoods north of Lazarus-Seymour.  Sawmills and timber rail lines, called trams, were built in these area to cut and reach tall stands of yellow pine which lay some distance from the creeks and streams, areas along which timber had been initially harvested.  The Vinnie and Lickskillet communities near Cedar Lake thrived at this time, when the L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company of Moss Point cut vast stands of timber here.

 

Turpentine pioneers from Georgia, D.J. Gay (1870-1949) and C.B. Elarbee (1861-1917), built stills and made turpentine and rosin from pine gum.  Later Gay joined with Chicago entrepreneur, Robert W. Hamill (1863-1943), to form the Gay-Hamill Company.  They were also active in turpentining at Jackson and George County.

 

In the early years of this century, fruit and pecan orchards were common in the area.  Nurseryman, James A. Brodie (1855-1937), sold grafted pecans, satsuma oranges, grapefruit, kumquats and roses from his nursery on Back Bay.  Local orchard owners of note were J.W. Balthrope, C.I. Simpson, Dr. Bernhart, and J.R. Meunier (1880-1944).  The severe winter freezes of 1917-1918 decimated most of the citrus orchards.

 

         

Ramon J. Quave

 

The descendants of the Pierre Quave family, which had been in the mercantile business at Back Bay-Seymour since the 1840s, continued their dominance of the local commerce.  Ramon J. Quave (1851-1908), called the father of the village of Seymour, and his brother, Peter Quave (1863-1936), were active in every aspect of business.  Madelene Quave (1890-1970), a daughter of Ramon J. Quave, continued the tradition by operating her Farmer's Cash Market from 1919 until her retirement in 1963.  She also built the Star Theater in 1921.  The current mayor of D' Iberville, Russell A. "Rusty" Quave, is also a merchant operating his meat market and convenience store on the same road, now called Central Avenue, of his Quave ancestors who toiled here over one hundred and fifty years ago.

 

Other pre-Depression entrepreneurial families were the Averys, Seymours, Morans, Harveys, Borries, Granthams, Fountains, Balthropes, Fourniers, Terrettas, Giamettas, Lepomas, Latimers, Lepres, Rodrigues, Cannettes, Lauffers, Trochessets, Brashers, Hengens, Fayards, and Mulhollands.

           

World War I saw a surge in the local economy as the Biloxi shipyards of Francis Brander and J.D. Covacevich were busy with government contracts.  The post-War years saw several new canneries open on the north shore.  Arnaud G. Lopez (1880-1948), and the Ocean Springs Packing Company built small factories, which were located on the west end at St. Martin.  They joined the Imperial Packing Company and Quave Canning, which were on the east end of the community.  The latter packing companies had been in existence for at least a decade.

           

Like every American community, the Depression was felt at North Biloxi, as the community was called at this time.  Factory work was limited at the seafood plants along the Back Bay.  People survived by fishing, gardens, and local and federal government jobs through WPA programs.

             

With the building of Keesler Field at Biloxi in 1941, employment opportunities were created for those not engaged at war.  In addition, several shipyards were operating on the south shore of Back Bay at Biloxi, Pascagoula, and New Orleans. 

 

POST WW II (1945-1988)

Post World War II, saw service men returning from the various overseas combat theaters.  With Keesler Field growing and the Ingalls shipbuilding operation at Pascagoula providing steady employment, North Biloxi became a bedroom community.   Traditional occupations such as fishing, oystering, and shrimping continued, albeit on a slow decline.  In February 1949, it was announced that through the efforts of Congressman William Colmer (D)-Mississippi that a rural post office station would open at North Biloxi, referred to as the d'Iberville Community on March 1, 1949.  The North Biloxi postal station was situated in the Quave Brothers Texaco station and was called 'Fletcher's News Stand'.(The Daily Herald, February 19, 1949, p. 2)

 

In the late 1940s, Anthony Doty Fournier (1910-1990) commenced his family run seafood factory, which is still in operation.  Other businesses in town at this time were: the Seymour Beer Parlor; Fournier Tavern; the Bridge Tavern; Laz Quave & Son-a market, grocery, and feed store; Moran's Ice Cream Parlor; Ladner's Dry Cleaners; and the French Market Grocery. 

 

As the population began to increase after WW II, the homogeneity of the North Biloxi community began to erode.  The distinct dialect or brogue of the "hoss from across" began to disappear, as the "old timers" born in the 19th Century of French and Spanish descent passed on to the grave. 

           

 By the 1960s, many of the remaining wooded areas at North Biloxi were removed to make room for small shopping centers and subdivisions.  A local newspaper, The North Biloxian, was commenced by Charles R. Stein Sr. (1920-1998) in June 1973.  This journal evolved into The Biloxi-D'Iberville Press, which was operated by Mr. Stein, until his recent demise on January 1, 1998.  The journal was sold to Lisa and Gary Michelle and the name changed to The Bay Press.  Its market was expanded to Ocean Springs and St. Martin community.

           

In 1974, The Peoples Bank of Biloxi opened a branch in January on Le Moyne Boulevard.  A reflection of good economic activity in the area was seen when the North Biloxi Area Chamber of Commerce, received its charter in July of the same year. 

           

As the growth pattern of D'Iberville was to the north and west, the old town commercial district along present day Central Avenue began to erode.  It received a fatal blow, when by-passed by the I-110 Bridge across the Back Bay, which opened on June 22, 1975.  Fortunately, the Bill Holland shipyard, one of few in America which builds wooden boats, and the C.F. Gollott factory, both traditional industries in the area, remained.

 

D'IBERVILLE (1988-1996)

           

With the swearing in of Mayor Jerry Lawrence and his five councilmen, Thomas J. Moore Jr., Linda Davis, A.J. Penrow, Les Barnett Jr., and Oliver Diaz Sr., on July 1, 1989, the city of D'Iberville has shown rapid growth.  A new city hall, library, and civic center were erected on Auto Mall Parkway between 1992-1995. 

           

Casino gaming taxes, which has filled the coffers of neighbor, Biloxi, to the south, has thus far eluded D' Iberville.  The town has been mired in a conflict with conservationists who have sought to block casino gaming on the north shore of Back Bay in what they consider to be environmentally sensitive areas. 

                

D'Iberville's fate as it moves into the 21st Century will be determined somewhat by outside interests as decisions concerning its economic potential and land area are made.  Future area growth of the community may be limited as it competes with Biloxi for land to the west and north.  Economic potential for the city appears to be linked to its waterfront on Back Bay and the Tchoutacabouffa River.  Strong local government leadership is essential and it must be willing to adhere to strict zoning codes and have a keen awareness of the environment.

 

Royal D’Iberville-Casino hope

 In mid-December 2001, the City of D’Iberville after eight years of intensive labor, secured the interest of Diversified Opportunities Group, an investment and development company, owned by the Jacobs family of Cleveland, Ohio and Palm Beach, Florida, in its Harvey Landing casino site.  They are the majority interest owners of The Lodge Casino, Blackhawk, Colorado, Gold Dust West Casino, Reno, Nevada, and the Colonial Downs Racetrack, Richmond, Virginia.  DVO looking into a $250,000,000 multi-phased, development.  This project never came to fruition.(The Sun Herald, December 15, 2001, p. A-11)

 

Casino arrives?

 

REFERENCES:

J.F.H. Claiborne, Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, (The reprint Company:  Spartanburg, South Carolina-1978), pp. 306-307.

Vincent K. Hubbard, Swords, Ships and Sugar, A History of Nevis to 1900,  (Third Edition), (

Thomas Hutchins, An Historical Narrative and Topographic Description of Louisiana and West Florida (1784), (University of Florida:  Gainesville, Florida-1968), p. 63.

Richebourg Gaillard McWilliams, Iberville's Gulf Journals, (The University of Alabama Press:  University, Alabama-1981), p. 96.

Benjamin L.C. Wailes, Report on the Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi, Embracing a Sketch of the Social and Natural History of the State, (Philadelphia:  1854), p.   .

Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume II (1701-1740), (University of Toronto Press:  Toronto-1969) pp. 390-39.

The D'Iberville Plan, A Summary of D'Iberville's 1993 Comprehensive Plan, (Community Associates and The Gulf Regional Planning Commission-1993), p. 2.

The Biloxi, Mississippi 1990 City Directory, (R.L. Polk Company:  Richmond, Virginia-1990), pp. 21-22.

Journals

The Biloxi Herald, “Back Bay”, November 14, 1891, p. 8.

The Biloxi Daily Herald, "A Bridge Needed", July 23, 1898, p. 1.

The Biloxi Daily Herald, "Necrology-Ramon John Quave", October 3, 1908.

The Biloxi-D'Iberville Press, "Ship Building Boom Hits Coast", May 17, 1989, p. 12.

The Biloxi-D'Iberville Press, "Officials to be Sworn in July 1st", July 14, 1989, p. 1.

The Daily Herald, "Mayor Dever to Speak at Biloxi Bridge Celebration", January 6, 1927, p. 1.

The Daily Herald, "Biloxi-Ocean Springs Road to be Completed This Month", January 6, 1927, p. 1.

The Daily Herald, "North Biloxi Set For Biggest Week in History of Back Bay", January 8, 1927, p. 1.

The North Biloxian, "North Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Receives Inaugural Charter", July 31 1974, p. 1.

The North Biloxi Press, "Farmer's Cash Market Destroyed by Fire", July 3, 1975, p. 1.

The Ocean Springs News, “Three Postoffices Abolished”, August 26, 1911, p. 1.

The Ocean Springs News, "Shell Road From Biloxi to Ocean Springs", January 21, 1915, p. 1.

The Ocean Springs Record, "Peoples Bank to Open D'Iberville-St. Martin Branch", January 3, 1974, p. 8. The The Sun Herald, “Developers, investors plan D’Iberville casino”, December 15, 2001.

The Sun Herald, “Back Bay boomtown”, June 1, 2006, p. A1.

 

Ray L. Bellande

PO BOX 617

Ocean Springs

Mississippi 39566-0617

September 10, 1997

 

WILLIAM GRAY KENDALL (1812-1872): BRICK MAKER

 

Early Entrepreneurs

In the 1830s and 1840s, a group of men from Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania settled in the Biloxi Bay area.  Among them were Joseph R. Plummer [1806-1866]; Warwick Martin [1812-1884]; Berry Wells (1812-1876); Dr. Andrew B. Dodd (1806-1850+), Hanson Alsbury (1801-1857); William Gray Kendall (1812-1872).  These men were all very successful in their entrepreneurial endeavors. Berry Wells settled on the Tchoutacabouffa River north of present day D'Iberville and ran a ferry; Martin was a partner of Dr. William Glover Austin (1814-1894) and erected the Ocean Springs Hotel in 1853; Dodd practiced medicine at Ocean Springs and owned land in the vicinity of the Gulf Oaks Condominiums; Alsbury was a land speculator, brick maker, politician, served in the Mexican War, and probably had a residence on the present day Shearwater Pottery; and the Kendalls were active in real estate, law, politics and brick production.  Of these five men, William Gray Kendall probably left a deeper footprint in the "clay" of our local history.

 

Mississippi

William Gray Kendall (1812-1872) came to Carroll County, in north central Mississippi circa 1835, from Gallatin County, Kentucky where he was born on January 12, 1812.  After a basic frontier education, he matriculated to Transylvania University where he received a law degree in 1834.  At Carroll County, Mississippi, Kendall soon became active in law, politics, and community.  He was elected county attorney and Colonel of the local militia.  In 1835, W.G. Kendall married Mary Philomela Irwin (1817-1878), the daughter of John Lawson Irwin and Martha Mitchell (1793-1831).  Mr. Irwin was at one time Speaker of the House of the Mississippi State legislature.  Mary P. Kendall was born on February 5, 1817 at the Puck-shonubbee Plantation, her father’s home, in Carroll County, Mississippi.  She died at Ocean Springs on January 17, 1878.(The NOLA City Directory 1854)        

 

William Gray Kendall and his wife were the parents of nine children:  John I. Kendall (1841-1898) married Mary E. Smith; Anola Philomela Kendall (1843-1899); William Gray Kendall II (1847-1885); Kate Emma Kendall (1849-1897); Mary Lusk Kendall (1851-1902); Robert David Kendall (1853-1877); Sigur Lusk Kendall (1857-1877); and Benjamin G. Kendall and Catherine Anne Kendall who died in childhood.  Little is known of their lives except that they resided at New Orleans after reaching maturity and never married with the exception of John I. Kendall, who married Mary E. Smith.(The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 2, April 1946, p. 293)  

 

Ocean Springs retreat

In January 1846, he purchased a fifty-acre tract of land in Section 30, T7S-R8W with 800 feet fronting on the Bay of Biloxi from A.H. Donaldson.  On this beautiful, high ground facing Deer Island to the south, he built a residence, icehouse, small cemetery, and school.  In 2006, this property was divided and owned primarily by G. Dickey Arndt, William Mitchell, John E. White [1942-2017], and Donald Scharr.  It is bounded on the north by Shearwater Drive on the west by the Shearwater Pottery, and the south by the Bay of Biloxi and on the east by the Blossman Estate.

            

At Ocean Springs, in order to educate his children and possibly those of his neighbors, W.G. Kendall built a schoolhouse just east of their residence.  According to George E. Arndt Jr. (1909-1994), who resided on the former schoolhouse lot, the octagonal shaped building had a hewn log base with each side about eight feet in length.  The structure was twenty feet across the middle.  In 1938, Arndt added a bedroom and kitchen, and lived in it until he built his present edifice in 1950.  Hurricane Camille destroyed the "schoolhouse" in 1969.(Arndt-1993)

 

Although the original Kendall home was probably destroyed by fire the most conspicuous evidence of their occupation here until Hurricane Camille arrived in August 2005 was the "ice house".  The icehouse was a brick and mortar structure with a front gable roof.  The floor was also brick.  The dimensions of the building were:  width-12 feet, height-14 feet, and length- 17 feet.  The icehouse had a volume of approximately 2350 cubic feet.  It is postulated that natural ice was shipped during the winter and early spring down the Great River from the Great Lakes region to New Orleans, and thence to the Mississippi coast where it was utilized to prevent food spoilage.

 

Additional evidence of Kendall occupation is a small gravesite northeast of the original residence.  Here two indecipherable, marble gravestones (22"x37") are located under a large oak tree.  A clue to the identity of one of the graves is given when W.G. Kendall conveyed his estate to Mrs. Eliza Heerman of New Orleans on June 5, 1866.  An excerpt from this deed follows:

 

.....contain about 50 acres more or less including all dwelling houses, out houses, stables, gardens, lots, orchards, and fixtures of every kind there unto appertaining with the exclusive right-of-way to the road crossing the Bayou aforesaid and known as the "Mill Dam Road" and the growing crops on the premises reserving 10 feet square of ground embracing the grave of Ben Gray Kendall. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 63, pp. 14-15)

 

Another interesting feature of the property is an old water well just north of the ice house.  George E. Arndt relates that it was dug by John A. Sutter, a water well driller, from Pass Christian.  It was his first water well in Ocean Springs.  Other W.G. Kendall's real estate holdings were 160 acres (E/2 of SW/4 and the W/2 of the SE/4) in Section 29, T7S-R8W Jackson County.  He received a patent on this land in 1849.

 

Economic and political woes

The Panic of 1837 resulted in dire economic conditions in America from 1837-1841.  Mississippi was particularly depressed as the federal government cancelled mortgages on its land that had been acquired on credit; cotton prices reached all time lows; and banks ceased to exist until post-Civil War times.  In addition the State of Mississippi, forfeited its payments to bondholders.  After the Planters Bank of Natchez, a State owned business, failed in 1837, Mississippi founded the Union Bank of Mississippi, which was capitalized with bonds held by American and European investors.  It was the failure of this financial institution in 1841, that would have a direct influence on the life of W.G. Kendall and his family.(McKee, 1995, pp. 70-71)

 

In 1840, Mr. Kendall was elected to the Mississippi Legislature attaining the chairmanship of the Judiciary committee.  He resigned this position to concentrate his energies on agriculture and large-scale manufacturing.  In 1843, he aligned himself with and campaigned for that faction of the Democrat Party, which advocated the payment to bondholders of the Union Bank of Mississippi.  In the subsequent elections, the bond-paying proponent, candidates were soundly defeated and their political careers destroyed.  W.G. Kendall running for Congress from Yalobusha County, Mississippi was one of these fallen Democrats.  This calamity led him to seek his fortune in another locale.(NOLA City Directory, 1854)

 

Move to New Orleans

In late 1843, the Kendall family relocated to the Crescent City.  Here in 1844, he was licensed to practice of law, but soon left the legal profession to manufacture brick utilizing a new concept.  Kendall was also involved with planning commissions dealing with public improvement projects and railroads in the State of Louisiana.   He was elected president of the “Pierce Pioneers” and served the Democratic Party with great loyalty and competence.  For his efforts, he was nominated for the Post Master position at New Orleans in May 1853, by President elect, Franklin Pierce (1804-1869).(NOLA City Directory, 1854 and The Yazoo Democrat, May 18, 1853, p. 4) 

 

Kendall Brickyard

W.G. Kendall and his brother, Robert Benjamin Kendall, owned a brickyard in the Joseph Ladner Claim on the north shore of the Bay of Biloxi in present day D'Iberville.  They purchased two former brickyard properties in May and September 1849 from Andrew B. Dodd and Joseph Morin [now Moran] and spouse for $2400.  The deeds describe these parcels as “the Morin brickyard and that portion of the Alsbury brickyard”.[Harrison Co., Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 4, p. 319 and Bk. 4, p. 517]

 

The Kendall Brickyard consisted of a brickyard shed, one-story dwelling house, kitchen, Negro cabins, outhouses, kilns, and stables.  There was a steam engine and steam machinery used for the manufacture of brick.  A pier probably used to load schooners was located on the west edge of the property.  Water depth in the vicinity of the pier was about seven feet as shown on the U.S. Coast Survey Map of 1858.  

 

Biloxi Steam Brick Works

Here, on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi, W.G. Kendall used slave labor to produce clay bricks fired in a steam-powered kiln.  Over 170 slaves labored here, making Kendall the largest slaveholder in Harrison County at this time.  The weekly production from the Kendall brickyard was about 300,000 bricks which were described as, “The Biloxi Bricks break less in hauling and handling, are straighter and stronger, weigh more and absorb less water than bricks made by hand less.”(1850 Harrison Co., Mississippi Slave Schedules M434 and The Daily Picayune, July 26, 1850, p. 3)

 

 

 

 

[from The New Orleans Weekly Bulletin, April 4, 1849]

 

 

The Daily Crescent ran an article titled, “Biloxi Fire Brick” on July 30, 1850.  It stated the following:  Specimens of the above describe BRICKS may be seen in the new Custom House; a block of buildings on Race Street built by Washington Jackson & Co.; the residence of Mr. Wright, of the firm Wright, Williams, & Company on University Place; the residence of Mr. Steven of the firm Fisk & Steven on Dauphine Street; the residence of Mr. Payne, of the firm of Payne & Harrison, in Lafayette; five large three story dwellings of Mr. Peter Conrey Jr., on Apollo Street.  Mr. E. Shiff’s three shops on Camp Street, and one on Poydras Street, and the stores of Holmes & Mile, now going up on Poydras Street.

 

Three of Biloxi’s oldest homes, the Toledano-Tullis House [lost in Katrina], the Rogers House (“The Old Brick House”), and Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, were all built with Kendall brick.  Kendall brick is an excellent time marker due to the relative short term existence of the ceramic facility.  This fact has allowed historians to correctly approximate the ages of these particular Biloxi structures and displace the erroneous age dates long associated with them.

 

Greenwell and Quave in their “Coastlore” column of The Sun Herald wrote that about 1720 [sic], Captain Morin [today Moran], a French Canadian, was dispatched to the Biloxi Bay area to construct and maintain brickyards (briquetiers) to supply the growing city of New Orleans.  It is believed Moran established three brickyards in the following areas:  Front Beach at Ocean Springs; Back Bay near the Old Brick House; and one in North Biloxi near the intersection of Bay Shore Drive and Seventh Avenue. 

            

It is believed that Joseph Moran II (1778-circa 1843), possibly the grandson of Captain Morin, and his wife, Marguerite Panquinette, settled at Back Bay (D'Iberville) about 1820.  On November 11, 1832, he purchased a tract of land in Section 22, T7S-R9W from Dominique Ladner described in Harrison County Deed Book 17, page 307 as:  two acres on the Bay of Biloxi running north forty acres with D. Ladner on the east and west.  It is postulated Joseph Moran II commenced brick making operations here when he occupied the site after 1832.

            

In her research on the Toledano-Tullis House (1976), Julia Cook Guice [1928-2013] reported that the name "Kendall" is pressed into the brick of the Tullis Manor (1854-1855) and the Servant's Quarters at East Beach Boulevard in Biloxi.  Guice also noted that the New Orleans City Directory for 1850 lists William Gray Kendall as the "agency for the Biloxi Steam Brick Works".[Julia C. Guice research files at Biloxi Public Library]

             

Fire

The mail packet from Biloxi returning to the Crescent City on 9 July 1853 brought news that that the Kendall Brickyard had burned. The brick sheds and brick making machinery were a total loss estimated between $30,000 and $40,000 dollars. W.G. Kendall’s net loss after some insurance claims were settled was in the range of $25,000 to $30,000 dollars. Fortunately the North Biloxi ceramic factory had sufficient bricks to maintain its contract for the erection of the Custom House at New Orleans. New machinery was expected at the plant by January 1854.[The Daily Picayune, July 13, 1853, p. 2]

             

The years 1854-1855, saw a complex series of mortgages and land conveyances on the Kendall Brickyard property and lands in Sections 8 and 9, T7S-R9W north of the site occur between Robert B. Kendall, William G. Kendall and New Orleanians, James Robb [1814-1881], William P. Atwood [1819-1865]. The net result of these transactions was foreclosure on the Kendall Brickyard Property. 

             

In May 1858, James Robb sued W.G. Kendall, Perry Younghans [1814-1867] and the unknown heirs of Robert B. Kendall in the Chancery Court of Harrison County.  The Court awarded Robb $19,020 with all accrued interest. L.L. Davis, a Commissioner of the Chancery Court, in September 1858, sold the following mortgaged lands to the highest bidder, James Robb, for $2000 described as two arpents on the east side of the Bay of Biloxi by a depth of twenty five arpents more or less bounded on the east by lands of Joseph Moran, on the west by lands of Anne Alsbury, on the south by the Bay of Biloxi, on the north by public lands, and formerly known as Alsbury's Brickyard and lately as Kendall's Brickyard.(Harrison County, Ms. Land Deed Book 8, p, 388).

 

All production at the Brickyard appears to have ceased after Kendall lost the property to Robb.  Greenwell and Quave in Coastlore state that operations commenced again at the North Biloxi brickyard about 1900.  Older residents of the area remember the brickyard site, and octogenarian, Bob Brodie (1903-1992), recalled an operation there in his early years (circa 1910).  The Sanborn Map of Biloxi (1930) depicts the east-west road (presently Bay Shore Drive), which would have gone to the site from Ramsay Road (now Central Avenue) as Brickyard Road corroborating the later brickyard operation related by Coastlore and early residents of the area.        

 

Defrocked postmaster

As previously mentioned W.G. Kendall became US postmaster at NOLA in the spring of 1853.  In May 1855, he was dismissed as the Crescent City’s Postmaster after being arrested; charged with absconding money from the US mails; indicted; tried in court; and found not guilty.  His bondsmen were left owing the Federal government a large sum of money, which they attempted to recover by appealing to the government.[US Senate Bill 237-April 1858]

 

Mexico

By September 1856, W.G. Kendall was a resident of Mexico.  Here took a contract to build a stage road across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico.  This road connected the Gulf of Mexico on the north with the Pacific seashore to the south, as it is only about one hundred forty miles as the crow flies between the two shorelines.  John I. Kendall was employed by his father to work on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec road and remained here until just prior to the commencement of the Civil War. (The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 4, October 1946, p. 1042)  

 

Civil War

Although W.G. Kendall was beyond military age, he served honorably with the Confederate Mississippi River Navy.  In May 1862, Kendall in charge of a 32 pounder, on the ‘cotton clad’ gunboat, CSN General Van Dorn, fought heroically at the Battle of Island No. 10, on the Kentucky Bend in the Mississippi, River near New Madrid, Missouri, silencing a Union mortar boat. (Scharf-1894, p. 255) 

 

Two of Kendall’s sons, John Irwin Kendall [1841-1898], native of Grenada, Mississippi, and William G. Kendall II served in the Confederate Army.  John I. Kendall expired in October 1898, at Mazatlan, Mexico. He had worked in Mexico for several years as a representative for Mexican railroads and an American oil company.(The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 4, October 1946,  p. 1043)

 

John Smith Kendall [1874-1965], native of Ocean Springs, and the son of John Irwin Kendall and Mary Elizabeth Smith [1841-1880], in 1914 became a Spanish professor at Tulane.  He previously had a career in journalism at The Times-Picayune [NOLA].  Professor Kendall authored The History of New Orleans (1922), and published several essays in The Louisiana Historical Quarterly (1946).[The Times-Picayune, June 8, 1932]

 

Last days

Late in his life, William Gray Kendall was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives.  He served Jackson County in this capacity from 1865-1867.  In Jackson County Chancery Court Cause No. 3740, Theo Bechtel v. John S. Kendall et al (1917), some interesting information about the Kendall Family is revealed:  W.G. Kendall died intestate on April 30, 1872, with the following survivors:  John I. Kendall, Anola P. Kendall, W.G. Kendall II , Kate E. Kendall, Mamie L. Kendall, Robert S. Kendall, and Sigur Kendall.  Mrs. Mary P. Irwin Kendall, his spouse, passed at Ocean Springs on December 17, 1878.

 

When W.G. Kendall and spouse conveyed their residence and a portion of their Ocean Springs estate in June 1866, to Mrs. Eliza Heermann (1800-1870) of New Orleans for $2000, a portion of the warranty deed read as follows:  Made part of this deed the tracts supposed to contain about 50 acres more or less including all dwelling houses, out houses, stables, gardens, lots, orchards, and fixtures of every kind there unto appertaining with the exclusive right-of-way to the road crossing the Bayou aforesaid and known as the “Mill Dam Road” and the growing crops on the premises reserving 10 feet square of ground embracing the tomb of Ben Gray Kendall.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 63, pp. 14-15)

 

 

Epilogue

Now nearly one hundred-seventy five years after William G. Kendall settled at Ocean Springs, evidence of his entrepreneurial exploits and habitation existed until Hurricane Camille and Katrina respectively erased his children’s schoolhouse and the family "icehouse" at the former Hanson-Dickey House on Shearwater Drive.  Another Kendall feature, which had long ago disappeared from the property, is the “Brick Pier”.  It is mentioned as a boundary marker in several 19^th Century warranty deeds.  The Kendall Brick Pier marked the southwest corner of the W.G. Kendall Estate.  This and the grindstone of the former Mill Dam might make interesting targets for future archaeological investigations at Ocean Springs.  

 

REFERENCES:

 

Ray L. Bellande, "Moran-Kendall Brickyard (North Biloxi)", Mississippi Coast Genealogical and Historical Society, Volume ?  No. ? (October 1991).

 

John Hugh McDowell, History of the McDowells, Erwins, Irwins and Connections, (C.B. Johnston & Company-Memphis, Tennessee-1918).

 

John Smith Kendall, History of New Orleans, (The Lewis Publishing Company: Chicago and New York-1922)

 

The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, “Chronicles of a Southern Family”, Vol. 29, No. 2, April 1946.

 

The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, “Recollections of a Confederate Officer”, Vol. 29, No. 4, October 1946.

 

Brother Jerome Lepre, "A Family Portrait", Mississippi Coast Genealogical and Historical Society, Volume 15, No. 2, (October, 1979), p.   .

 

Jesse O. McKee, Mississippi, A Portrait of an American State, (Clairmont Press: Montgomery, Alabama-1995).

 

New Orleans City Directory, (1854)

 

WILLIAM GRAY KENDALL (1812-1872): BRICK MAKER

 

Early Entrepreneurs

In the 1830s and 1840s, a group of men from Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania settled in the Biloxi Bay area.  Among them were Joseph R. Plummer [1806-1866]; Warwick Martin [1812-1884]; Berry Wells (1812-1876); Dr. Andrew B. Dodd (1806-1850+), Hanson Alsbury (1801-1857); William Gray Kendall (1812-1872).  These men were all very successful in their entrepreneurial endeavors. Berry Wells settled on the Tchoutacabouffa River north of present day D'Iberville and ran a ferry; Martin was a partner of Dr. William Glover Austin (1814-1894) and erected the Ocean Springs Hotel in 1853; Dodd practiced medicine at Ocean Springs and owned land in the vicinity of the Gulf Oaks Condominiums; Alsbury was a land speculator, brick maker, politician, served in the Mexican War, and probably had a residence on the present day Shearwater Pottery; and the Kendalls were active in real estate, law, politics and brick production.  Of these five men, William Gray Kendall probably left a deeper footprint in the "clay" of our local history.

 

Mississippi

William Gray Kendall (1812-1872) came to Carroll County, in north central Mississippi circa 1835, from Gallatin County, Kentucky where he was born on January 12, 1812.  After a basic frontier education, he matriculated to Transylvania University where he received a law degree in 1834.  At Carroll County, Mississippi, Kendall soon became active in law, politics, and community.  He was elected county attorney and Colonel of the local militia.  In 1835, W.G. Kendall married Mary Philomela Irwin (1817-1878), the daughter of John Lawson Irwin and Martha Mitchell (1793-1831).  Mr. Irwin was at one time Speaker of the House of the Mississippi State legislature.  Mary P. Kendall was born on February 5, 1817 at the Puck-shonubbee Plantation, her father’s home, in Carroll County, Mississippi.  She died at Ocean Springs on January 17, 1878.(The NOLA City Directory 1854)        

 

William Gray Kendall and his wife were the parents of nine children:  John I. Kendall (1841-1898) married Mary E. Smith; Anola Philomela Kendall (1843-1899); William Gray Kendall II (1847-1885); Kate Emma Kendall (1849-1897); Mary Lusk Kendall (1851-1902); Robert David Kendall (1853-1877); Sigur Lusk Kendall (1857-1877); and Benjamin G. Kendall and Catherine Anne Kendall who died in childhood.  Little is known of their lives except that they resided at New Orleans after reaching maturity and never married with the exception of John I. Kendall, who married Mary E. Smith.(The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 2, April 1946, p. 293)  

 

Ocean Springs retreat

In January 1846, he purchased a fifty-acre tract of land in Section 30, T7S-R8W with 800 feet fronting on the Bay of Biloxi from A.H. Donaldson.  On this beautiful, high ground facing Deer Island to the south, he built a residence, icehouse, small cemetery, and school.  In 2006, this property was divided and owned primarily by G. Dickey Arndt, William Mitchell, John E. White [1942-2017], and Donald Scharr.  It is bounded on the north by Shearwater Drive on the west by the Shearwater Pottery, and the south by the Bay of Biloxi and on the east by the Blossman Estate.

            

At Ocean Springs, in order to educate his children and possibly those of his neighbors, W.G. Kendall built a schoolhouse just east of their residence.  According to George E. Arndt Jr. (1909-1994), who resided on the former schoolhouse lot, the octagonal shaped building had a hewn log base with each side about eight feet in length.  The structure was twenty feet across the middle.  In 1938, Arndt added a bedroom and kitchen, and lived in it until he built his present edifice in 1950.  Hurricane Camille destroyed the "schoolhouse" in 1969.(Arndt-1993)

 

Although the original Kendall home was probably destroyed by fire the most conspicuous evidence of their occupation here until Hurricane Camille arrived in August 2005 was the "ice house".  The icehouse was a brick and mortar structure with a front gable roof.  The floor was also brick.  The dimensions of the building were:  width-12 feet, height-14 feet, and length- 17 feet.  The icehouse had a volume of approximately 2350 cubic feet.  It is postulated that natural ice was shipped during the winter and early spring down the Great River from the Great Lakes region to New Orleans, and thence to the Mississippi coast where it was utilized to prevent food spoilage.

 

Additional evidence of Kendall occupation is a small gravesite northeast of the original residence.  Here two indecipherable, marble gravestones (22"x37") are located under a large oak tree.  A clue to the identity of one of the graves is given when W.G. Kendall conveyed his estate to Mrs. Eliza Heerman of New Orleans on June 5, 1866.  An excerpt from this deed follows:

 

.....contain about 50 acres more or less including all dwelling houses, out houses, stables, gardens, lots, orchards, and fixtures of every kind there unto appertaining with the exclusive right-of-way to the road crossing the Bayou aforesaid and known as the "Mill Dam Road" and the growing crops on the premises reserving 10 feet square of ground embracing the grave of Ben Gray Kendall. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 63, pp. 14-15)

 

Another interesting feature of the property is an old water well just north of the ice house.  George E. Arndt relates that it was dug by John A. Sutter, a water well driller, from Pass Christian.  It was his first water well in Ocean Springs.  Other W.G. Kendall's real estate holdings were 160 acres (E/2 of SW/4 and the W/2 of the SE/4) in Section 29, T7S-R8W Jackson County.  He received a patent on this land in 1849.

 

Economic and political woes

The Panic of 1837 resulted in dire economic conditions in America from 1837-1841.  Mississippi was particularly depressed as the federal government cancelled mortgages on its land that had been acquired on credit; cotton prices reached all time lows; and banks ceased to exist until post-Civil War times.  In addition the State of Mississippi, forfeited its payments to bondholders.  After the Planters Bank of Natchez, a State owned business, failed in 1837, Mississippi founded the Union Bank of Mississippi, which was capitalized with bonds held by American and European investors.  It was the failure of this financial institution in 1841, that would have a direct influence on the life of W.G. Kendall and his family.(McKee, 1995, pp. 70-71)

 

In 1840, Mr. Kendall was elected to the Mississippi Legislature attaining the chairmanship of the Judiciary committee.  He resigned this position to concentrate his energies on agriculture and large-scale manufacturing.  In 1843, he aligned himself with and campaigned for that faction of the Democrat Party, which advocated the payment to bondholders of the Union Bank of Mississippi.  In the subsequent elections, the bond-paying proponent, candidates were soundly defeated and their political careers destroyed.  W.G. Kendall running for Congress from Yalobusha County, Mississippi was one of these fallen Democrats.  This calamity led him to seek his fortune in another locale.(NOLA City Directory, 1854)

 

Move to New Orleans

In late 1843, the Kendall family relocated to the Crescent City.  Here in 1844, he was licensed to practice of law, but soon left the legal profession to manufacture brick utilizing a new concept.  Kendall was also involved with planning commissions dealing with public improvement projects and railroads in the State of Louisiana.   He was elected president of the “Pierce Pioneers” and served the Democratic Party with great loyalty and competence.  For his efforts, he was nominated for the Post Master position at New Orleans in May 1853, by President elect, Franklin Pierce (1804-1869).(NOLA City Directory, 1854 and The Yazoo Democrat, May 18, 1853, p. 4) 

 

Kendall Brickyard

W.G. Kendall and his brother, Robert Benjamin Kendall, owned a brickyard in the Joseph Ladner Claim on the north shore of the Bay of Biloxi in present day D'Iberville.  They purchased two former brickyard properties in May and September 1849 from Andrew B. Dodd and Joseph Morin [now Moran] and spouse for $2400.  The deeds describe these parcels as “the Morin brickyard and that portion of the Alsbury brickyard”.[Harrison Co., Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 4, p. 319 and Bk. 4, p. 517]

 

The Kendall Brickyard consisted of a brickyard shed, one-story dwelling house, kitchen, Negro cabins, outhouses, kilns, and stables.  There was a steam engine and steam machinery used for the manufacture of brick.  A pier probably used to load schooners was located on the west edge of the property.  Water depth in the vicinity of the pier was about seven feet as shown on the U.S. Coast Survey Map of 1858.  

 

Biloxi Steam Brick Works

Here, on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi, W.G. Kendall used slave labor to produce clay bricks fired in a steam-powered kiln.  Over 170 slaves labored here, making Kendall the largest slaveholder in Harrison County at this time.  The weekly production from the Kendall brickyard was about 300,000 bricks which were described as, “The Biloxi Bricks break less in hauling and handling, are straighter and stronger, weigh more and absorb less water than bricks made by hand less.”(1850 Harrison Co., Mississippi Slave Schedules M434 and The Daily Picayune, July 26, 1850, p. 3)

 

 

 

 

[from The New Orleans Weekly Bulletin, April 4, 1849]

 

 

The Daily Crescent ran an article titled, “Biloxi Fire Brick” on July 30, 1850.  It stated the following:  Specimens of the above describe BRICKS may be seen in the new Custom House; a block of buildings on Race Street built by Washington Jackson & Co.; the residence of Mr. Wright, of the firm Wright, Williams, & Company on University Place; the residence of Mr. Steven of the firm Fisk & Steven on Dauphine Street; the residence of Mr. Payne, of the firm of Payne & Harrison, in Lafayette; five large three story dwellings of Mr. Peter Conrey Jr., on Apollo Street.  Mr. E. Shiff’s three shops on Camp Street, and one on Poydras Street, and the stores of Holmes & Mile, now going up on Poydras Street.

 

Three of Biloxi’s oldest homes, the Toledano-Tullis House [lost in Katrina], the Rogers House (“The Old Brick House”), and Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, were all built with Kendall brick.  Kendall brick is an excellent time marker due to the relative short term existence of the ceramic facility.  This fact has allowed historians to correctly approximate the ages of these particular Biloxi structures and displace the erroneous age dates long associated with them.

 

Greenwell and Quave in their “Coastlore” column of The Sun Herald wrote that about 1720 [sic], Captain Morin [today Moran], a French Canadian, was dispatched to the Biloxi Bay area to construct and maintain brickyards (briquetiers) to supply the growing city of New Orleans.  It is believed Moran established three brickyards in the following areas:  Front Beach at Ocean Springs; Back Bay near the Old Brick House; and one in North Biloxi near the intersection of Bay Shore Drive and Seventh Avenue. 

            

It is believed that Joseph Moran II (1778-circa 1843), possibly the grandson of Captain Morin, and his wife, Marguerite Panquinette, settled at Back Bay (D'Iberville) about 1820.  On November 11, 1832, he purchased a tract of land in Section 22, T7S-R9W from Dominique Ladner described in Harrison County Deed Book 17, page 307 as:  two acres on the Bay of Biloxi running north forty acres with D. Ladner on the east and west.  It is postulated Joseph Moran II commenced brick making operations here when he occupied the site after 1832.

            

In her research on the Toledano-Tullis House (1976), Julia Cook Guice [1928-2013] reported that the name "Kendall" is pressed into the brick of the Tullis Manor (1854-1855) and the Servant's Quarters at East Beach Boulevard in Biloxi.  Guice also noted that the New Orleans City Directory for 1850 lists William Gray Kendall as the "agency for the Biloxi Steam Brick Works".[Julia C. Guice research files at Biloxi Public Library]

             

Fire

The mail packet from Biloxi returning to the Crescent City on 9 July 1853 brought news that that the Kendall Brickyard had burned. The brick sheds and brick making machinery were a total loss estimated between $30,000 and $40,000 dollars. W.G. Kendall’s net loss after some insurance claims were settled was in the range of $25,000 to $30,000 dollars. Fortunately the North Biloxi ceramic factory had sufficient bricks to maintain its contract for the erection of the Custom House at New Orleans. New machinery was expected at the plant by January 1854.[The Daily Picayune, July 13, 1853, p. 2]

             

The years 1854-1855, saw a complex series of mortgages and land conveyances on the Kendall Brickyard property and lands in Sections 8 and 9, T7S-R9W north of the site occur between Robert B. Kendall, William G. Kendall and New Orleanians, James Robb [1814-1881], William P. Atwood [1819-1865]. The net result of these transactions was foreclosure on the Kendall Brickyard Property. 

             

In May 1858, James Robb sued W.G. Kendall, Perry Younghans [1814-1867] and the unknown heirs of Robert B. Kendall in the Chancery Court of Harrison County.  The Court awarded Robb $19,020 with all accrued interest. L.L. Davis, a Commissioner of the Chancery Court, in September 1858, sold the following mortgaged lands to the highest bidder, James Robb, for $2000 described as two arpents on the east side of the Bay of Biloxi by a depth of twenty five arpents more or less bounded on the east by lands of Joseph Moran, on the west by lands of Anne Alsbury, on the south by the Bay of Biloxi, on the north by public lands, and formerly known as Alsbury's Brickyard and lately as Kendall's Brickyard.(Harrison County, Ms. Land Deed Book 8, p, 388).

 

All production at the Brickyard appears to have ceased after Kendall lost the property to Robb.  Greenwell and Quave in Coastlore state that operations commenced again at the North Biloxi brickyard about 1900.  Older residents of the area remember the brickyard site, and octogenarian, Bob Brodie (1903-1992), recalled an operation there in his early years (circa 1910).  The Sanborn Map of Biloxi (1930) depicts the east-west road (presently Bay Shore Drive), which would have gone to the site from Ramsay Road (now Central Avenue) as Brickyard Road corroborating the later brickyard operation related by Coastlore and early residents of the area.        

 

Defrocked postmaster

As previously mentioned W.G. Kendall became US postmaster at NOLA in the spring of 1853.  In May 1855, he was dismissed as the Crescent City’s Postmaster after being arrested; charged with absconding money from the US mails; indicted; tried in court; and found not guilty.  His bondsmen were left owing the Federal government a large sum of money, which they attempted to recover by appealing to the government.[US Senate Bill 237-April 1858]

 

Mexico

By September 1856, W.G. Kendall was a resident of Mexico.  Here took a contract to build a stage road across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico.  This road connected the Gulf of Mexico on the north with the Pacific seashore to the south, as it is only about one hundred forty miles as the crow flies between the two shorelines.  John I. Kendall was employed by his father to work on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec road and remained here until just prior to the commencement of the Civil War. (The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 4, October 1946, p. 1042)  

 

Civil War

Although W.G. Kendall was beyond military age, he served honorably with the Confederate Mississippi River Navy.  In May 1862, Kendall in charge of a 32 pounder, on the ‘cotton clad’ gunboat, CSN General Van Dorn, fought heroically at the Battle of Island No. 10, on the Kentucky Bend in the Mississippi, River near New Madrid, Missouri, silencing a Union mortar boat. (Scharf-1894, p. 255) 

 

Two of Kendall’s sons, John Irwin Kendall [1841-1898], native of Grenada, Mississippi, and William G. Kendall II served in the Confederate Army.  John I. Kendall expired in October 1898, at Mazatlan, Mexico. He had worked in Mexico for several years as a representative for Mexican railroads and an American oil company.(The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, No. 4, October 1946,  p. 1043)

 

John Smith Kendall [1874-1965], native of Ocean Springs, and the son of John Irwin Kendall and Mary Elizabeth Smith [1841-1880], in 1914 became a Spanish professor at Tulane.  He previously had a career in journalism at The Times-Picayune [NOLA].  Professor Kendall authored The History of New Orleans (1922), and published several essays in The Louisiana Historical Quarterly (1946).[The Times-Picayune, June 8, 1932]

 

Last days

Late in his life, William Gray Kendall was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives.  He served Jackson County in this capacity from 1865-1867.  In Jackson County Chancery Court Cause No. 3740, Theo Bechtel v. John S. Kendall et al (1917), some interesting information about the Kendall Family is revealed:  W.G. Kendall died intestate on April 30, 1872, with the following survivors:  John I. Kendall, Anola P. Kendall, W.G. Kendall II , Kate E. Kendall, Mamie L. Kendall, Robert S. Kendall, and Sigur Kendall.  Mrs. Mary P. Irwin Kendall, his spouse, passed at Ocean Springs on December 17, 1878.

 

When W.G. Kendall and spouse conveyed their residence and a portion of their Ocean Springs estate in June 1866, to Mrs. Eliza Heermann (1800-1870) of New Orleans for $2000, a portion of the warranty deed read as follows:  Made part of this deed the tracts supposed to contain about 50 acres more or less including all dwelling houses, out houses, stables, gardens, lots, orchards, and fixtures of every kind there unto appertaining with the exclusive right-of-way to the road crossing the Bayou aforesaid and known as the “Mill Dam Road” and the growing crops on the premises reserving 10 feet square of ground embracing the tomb of Ben Gray Kendall.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 63, pp. 14-15)

 

 

Epilogue

Now nearly one hundred-seventy five years after William G. Kendall settled at Ocean Springs, evidence of his entrepreneurial exploits and habitation existed until Hurricane Camille and Katrina respectively erased his children’s schoolhouse and the family "icehouse" at the former Hanson-Dickey House on Shearwater Drive.  Another Kendall feature, which had long ago disappeared from the property, is the “Brick Pier”.  It is mentioned as a boundary marker in several 19^th Century warranty deeds.  The Kendall Brick Pier marked the southwest corner of the W.G. Kendall Estate.  This and the grindstone of the former Mill Dam might make interesting targets for future archaeological investigations at Ocean Springs.  

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

Ray L. Bellande, "Moran-Kendall Brickyard (North Biloxi)", Mississippi Coast Genealogical and Historical Society, Volume ?  No. ? (October 1991).

 

John Hugh McDowell, History of the McDowells, Erwins, Irwins and Connections, (C.B. Johnston & Company-Memphis, Tennessee-1918).

 

John Smith Kendall, History of New Orleans, (The Lewis Publishing Company: Chicago and New York-1922)

 

The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, “Chronicles of a Southern Family”, Vol. 29, No. 2, April 1946.

 

The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, “Recollections of a Confederate Officer”, Vol. 29, No. 4, October 1946.

 

Brother Jerome Lepre, "A Family Portrait", Mississippi Coast Genealogical and Historical Society, Volume 15, No. 2, (October, 1979), p.   .

 

Jesse O. McKee, Mississippi, A Portrait of an American State, (Clairmont Press: Montgomery, Alabama-1995).

 

New Orleans City Directory, (1854)

 

J. Thomas Scharf, History of the Confederate Navy, (Joseph McDonough: Albany, New York-1894).

 

C.E. Schmidt, Ocean Springs French Beachhead, (Lewis Printing Services:  Pascagoula-1972), pp. 20-21.

 

The Daily Crescent, July 30, 1850, p. 3.

 

The Pascagoula-Democrat Star, "Ocean Springs Locals", September 3, 1897.

 

Personal Communication:

 

George E. Arndt-conversation 

 

 

 

HARVEY LANDING: A 19th Century Back Bay Steam Ferry Quay

Did you know when the D'Iberville Riviera casino barge (formerly owned by Treasure Bay at Robinsonville, Tunica County, Mississippi) was removed from its refurbishment moorings at Clay Point in Biloxi, and relocated about three miles northwestward, and then anchored on the silt, sand and mud bottom of the Back Bay of Biloxi, in the early afternoon of October 20, 1997, that its temporary mooring site, about a crap shooters roll west of the I-110 bridge, was once the ferry landing of Casimir J. Harvey and others?  Here, in the middle and late 19th Century on the shore of a village called Back Bay, later Lazarus, Seymour, North Biloxi, and officially D'Iberville in 1989, various men were granted licenses by the Harrison County Board of Police (now Board of Supervisors) to operate a steam ferry from the south shore of the Back Bay at Biloxi to this area.  It was the only form of public transit "across de la baie" until the wooden bridge to Biloxi from "Lazarus" was dedicated on August 3, 1901.

In August 1843, a New Yorker, William C. Seaman (1801-1844), was the first to acquire a Back Bay ferry license from the Harrison County Board of Police.  Before he acquired property at Biloxi, Seaman resided in Jackson County where he was active in County and State politics.  Seaman was president of the Jackson County Board of Police in 1841-1842.  Seaman Road, northeast of Ocean Springs, was apparently named for this family.

The Seaman ferry appears to have operated from Lameuse Road (now Street) at Biloxi and ran northwestwardly about one mile to its terminus at present day Bay Shore Drive and Boney Avenue.  Seaman had acquired this property from Rene Lameuse in October 1841.  He also resided here with his family.  W.C. Seaman sired nine children with two wives: Julia Jane Seaman (b. 1820), William C. Seaman, Jr. (1823-1850), Nancy Ann Seymour (1826-1853), Melinda S. Leinhard (1827-1890), Sherrod Seaman (1831-1904), Henry Seaman, Pliney Seaman (1830-1912), Ben Seaman (1833-1910), and George W. Seaman (1837-1907).

     When Benjamin L.C. Wailes, the State geologist, visited the Mississippi coast in late August 1852, he reported the following concerning Back Bay:  Found a steam ferry running across (Back Bay) where it seems to be a mile in width.  The extensive brick yard of Mr. Kendall, where bricks are made on a very extensive scale from dry compressed earth, by steam power, was in sight on the opposite side (present day  D'Iberville), about two miles distant.  A number of small craft was in the Bay, and several along the shore undergoing repair.  Several steam mills, which are numerous on the Bay, for sawing pine timber, were also in view.

     As Professor Wailes observed, William Gray Kendall (1812-1872), a Kentuckian by birth, was the proprietor of the Biloxi Steam Brick Works, the largest slave labor operation in Harrison County in the 1850s.  It was located on Back Bay just west of Seventh Avenue in present day D'Iberville.  Mr. Kendall resided on Biloxi Bay east of the present day Shearwater Pottery at Ocean Springs where he practiced law and dealt in real estate.  His bricks were utilized in building the Toledano home in East Biloxi as well as many New Orleans homes and public buildings, including the Customs House. 

     The maximum rate of ferriage, which W.C. Seaman could charge was set by the Harrison County Board of Police as follows:

For foot passengers            25 cents

For man and horse             50 cents

                       For one horse cart            75 cents

For a two horse carriage       1 dollar

        For neat cattle               12 1/2 cents each

          For hog or sheep               6 1/4 cents each

            Other 19th Century entrepreneurs who ventured into the Back Bay ferry enterprise were John Steele (1824-1870+), James Fewell (1801-1870+), Ramon Quave (1852-1908), and W.L. Covel (1837-1926).  During Reconstruction, John Steele, an Irish immigrant, was granted a ferry license in February 1866.  Steele, a widower, married Sarah Wells (1832-1880), herself, the widow of James Dowdle.  John Steele's father-in-law, Berry Wells (1812-1876) and family, had migrated circa 1837, to southern Mississippi from his native Kentucky.  The Wells family settled in Section 5, T7S-R9W on the Tchoutacabuffa River.  Wells operated a ferry on that river, and later was a businessman at Back Bay where in 1857, he leased the store of his son-in-law, John Baptiste Foretich (1813-1875).  Foretich was married to Rebecca Wells (1836-1880+).

            In May 1868, John Steele purchased a large tract of land on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi from the State of Mississippi.  It was described as:  The Mill Property consisting of 65 acres in Section 18, T7S-R9W.  The tract had 2 arpents fronting on the Back Bay by 35 arpents more or less in depth between  parallel lines, Joseph Moran to the west, John L. Henley to the north, and Pierre Quave to the east.  (Harrison County, Ms. Land Deed Book 11, p. 95.)

         The parcel was called the Mill Property because Gustave Fournade of New Orleans owned a sawmill here from 1849-1852.  The Fournade mill had vertical and circular saws, boilers, steam engines, a dwelling house, and out buildings.  Fournade acquired the tract from Pierre Quave (1808-1889) in September 1849, for $800.

        Naturally, this site became known as Steele's Landing.  John Steele probably built a store here as his livelihood is listed as a retail grocer in the 1870 US Census.  In August 1871, Henry Peychaud of New Orleans acquired the Steele's Back Bay real estate.  Robert Delauney (1814-1871+) and Jules (Gilles) Saujon (1830-1904) rented the tract from Peychaud with John L. Henley acting as his agent.  Henry Peychaud died circa 1886, and in a force heirship suit, Edward Peychaud, et al v. Blanche Dupre, et al, Sheriff Florian Seal of Harrison County, sold the parcel.  By November 1887, it was in the possession of Casimir J. Harvey.

       Casimir Jacob Harvey (1845-1904) was the son of Pierre Harvey (1810-1893) and Zeline Moran (1811-1883).  Both French appellations have been slightly anglicized-Harvey from Hervai and Moran from Morin.  The 20th Century A.P. Moran (1897-1967) family of Ocean Springs can trace its roots here via Back Bay (D'Iberville) and Biloxi.

       Casmir J. Harvey was reared at Back Bay on "Harvey Hill", an area north of present day Goodman Road.  Several current "historians" obviously do not realize that this was the homestead of sailor, Pierre Harvey, not the Bayshore Drive location of his son, Casimir, which is often given in error. 

       Living at Back Bay in the mid-19th Century, were some of the pioneer shipwrights of the Mississippi coast: Dalmatian, John Baptiste Foretich (1813-1875), Spanish born, Nicholas Voivedich (1822-1896), and Spaniards, Manuel Sanchez (1806-1871), Bernard Taltavull (1829-1870+), and Jose Santa Cruz (1809-1886).  Young Casimir chose marine carpentry as his trade and probably apprenticed himself to Senor Santa Cruz.

       In October 1867, Casimir J. Harvey married Rosina Hosli (1852-1937), an 1856 immigrant from Canton Glarius, Switzerland.  The Casimir J. Harvey home and shipyard were located on the waterfront of Back Bay, just west of the I-110 Bridge.  Here the Harveys reared their family: Casimir J. Harvey, Jr. (1868-1957), Margaret H. Mulholland (1870-1900+), Maria R. Harvey (1873-1876), Caroline H. Saujon (1875-1918), Pauline H. Clifford (1878-1967), Claurine H. Holloway (1881-1940), Peter Harvey (1885-1904+), Emma Agnes Harvey (1889-1968), and Ida H. Santa Cruz (1892-1964).

      Hurricane Camille (1969) destroyed the Harvey home, which was a one-story, wood frame Acadian cottage.  Its three-bay front was capped by a hip roof.  Casimir J.  Harvey's granddaughter, H. Mercedes Holloway Guffey (1910-1998), resides today on the old home site at 3387 Bay Shore Drive, with her daughter, Joan Guffey.  The second "post office" at Back Bay may have been located here as Casimir Harvey succeeded Annie Mallette Quave (1828-1904) as postmaster in April 1886.

      Casimir J. Harvey operated his shipyard a few hundred feet west of his home.  Casimir's skill as a boat builder was boldly exhibited in his "white winged queens", the Biloxi schooner.  He and Casimir J. Harvey, Jr. built many of these sleek fishing vessels for the pioneer seafood operators of Biloxi.  Among their schooners were: Emily Montross (1878), H.T. Howard (1889),Fairy Queen (1890), Emma Harvey (1891), Ida Mae Harvey, Carroll Clifford, Wyandotte, and White Wing (all 1904), Algonquin (1905), Tuscarora (1905), and Sioux (1906).  The Emma Harvey and crew were lost in the July Storm of 1916, at Schooner Harbor in the Chandeleur Islands (see The Ocean Springs Record,  The Emma Harvey:  A Tale of the July Storm, July 7-July 21, 1994)

      For nearly three decades, the Fairy Queen was a familiar sight to residents of coastal West Jackson County as it plied the waters of Fort Bayou and Back Bay.  W.W. Branigar, brother of Harvey W. Branigar (1875-1953), a founder of Gulf Hills in 1926, organized the Fairy Queen Ship Company in 1927.  It served that verdant resort as a pleasure craft to entertain guests.  In March 1890, a reporter for The Biloxi Herald visiting Back Bay, related in that venerable journal:       Casmere Harvey's store is the first place that one strikes (when disembarking the ferry), and it is one that everybody can feel at home at.  He carries a good stock of groceries and general merchandise as well as ship chandlery.  Casmere has a tamed wild goose, and it is a beauty, for its kind.  This web-footed customer follows Cass around like a dog, and when Cass is annoyed too much with its company he says:  "Go home and don't make a goose of yourself".  The goose goes.

            With the shipyard busy and a prosperous retail store in operation, Casimir Harvey appears to have needed a place to relax and celebrate his success with his neighbors and in-laws.  In December 1890, the Harrison County Board of Police granted him a license to retail vinous and spirituous liquors in quantities less than one gallon.  The license was good for twelve months "in his barroom situated at the south end of Wells Road (now Boney Avenue) about where said road intersects the Back Bay of Biloxi".(Harrison County, Ms. Board of Police Minute Book 4, p. 80)

            Casimir J. Harvey and his young brother, Philip Harvey (1851-1918), were involved in local horse racing and trading.  Phil Harvey especially developed a reputation as a knowledgeable horseman at Back Bay and Point St. Martin where he later resided and operated a store. 

            There appears to have been two excellent horseracing tracks in the North Bay area at the turn of the Century.  Present day Race Track Road owes its descriptive appellation to the "Sport of Kings".  Several reports in The Biloxi Herald of March 1890, related the Harvey brothers involvement in this activity:  Casmere Harvey is proud in the possession of one of the fleetest horses on the coast, and Clara P., for symmetry and beauty of proportion in limb and length is hard to beat.     Casmere Harvey has sold his celebrated racer "Cannon Ball".  In horse trading, Mr. Phillip Harvey has no rival.  No equine beauty passes his critical eye without a bid; and he invariably, like the notorious Eli, gets there.    Phil Harvey had a good trip of over thirty-five miles in the country in the early part of the week after a runaway horse.  He got his strayed animal and did some profitable horse trading at the same time.  Nothing slow about Phil.

            One could surmise that the Harvey Landing was certainly an appropriate precursor to a late 20th Century casino gaming site, albeit "temporary".  The old ferry landing was "consecrated" in what some would consider vices.  To the European immigrants and Creole descendants residing at this small 19th Century village, gambling and imbibing in vinous and spirituous liquors (surely there were some bieres-cervezas about the quay) were an integral part of the "joi de vivre".  I sense the spirit of life here was akin to that which can be found today in the rural villages of Acadiana in southwest Louisiana-Mamou, Cankton, Iota, Basile, etc.  The "Americans" would bring some of their puritan attitudes to the area later.

EPILOGUE

            The final years of the Back Bay ferry system are intermittently chronicled in The Biloxi Herald.  The ferryboat, a steam tug, which ran in the early 1890s was called Jennie.  An advertisement in The Biloxi Herald of April 12, 1890, said:

The Steamer "JENNIE"

Captain Goudrau

Leaves daily every hour from 7 o'clock A.M. to 5 o'clock

P.M. from the foot of Reynoir Street to Back Bay.  Fare 5 cents.

            The Jennie was described as a fast little craft with excellent accommodations which made the trip across the bay in excellent time.  Unfortunately, the Cheniere aminada or October Hurricane of 1893 was the terminator of the Jennie.  The Daily Picayune of October 1, 1893, reported that she went adrift and sank during the tempest.

            The Sam, another ferry craft, apparently replaced the Jennie.  It was under the command of Captain Sam Shaw (1861-1904).  Shaw was born at Palmer, Massachusetts, the son of A.J. Shaw (1830-1866) and Angeline Wells (b. 1840).  The Shaws appear to have spent the Civil War years at Palmer.  In 1893, Sam Shaw was a merchant dealing in groceries, feed, hardware, tin ware, and tobacco at his store on Back Bay.  At the time of his demise, Shaw was in the livery business at Biloxi, where he resided. 

            Captain William Young (1849-1911) and James Eckston, engineer, appear to have been the last to operate the Sam across Back Bay before the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company completed the wooden bridge in July 1901.  William Young was the son of James Smith Young (1818-1897) and Virginia Moran (1820-1891).  When Captain James Smith Young expired at Biloxi in July 1897, Sam Shaw, then master and pilot of the steam ferry, Sam, transported his body free of charge across Back Bay to its final resting place in the Moran Cemetery.  After its ferry day was complete, the Sam was converted to an oyster dredge.  It sank in the waters off Pass Christian in February 1901, but was later salvaged.

            William Young's wife, Mary Quave Young (1854-1928), affectionately known as Aunt Sissy, served the people of North Biloxi as a midwife, "country doctor", and postmaster of Lazarus-Seymour (1905-1911).  In addition to operating the ferry, William Young owned the Greenwood Pavilion, the social center of the Seymour community.

            During its fifty-eight years of existence, the Back Bay public ferry system well served the citizens of both sides of Back Bay.  It provided an aqueous travel path for travelers and animals, and also served as an artery for the exchange of ideas and commerce between the two developing communities. 

            Harvey Landing was the last ferry quay on the north shore of Back Bay.  The D'Iberville Riveria Casino barge, which is anchored here today nearly one hundred years later, appears to be commencing its own history.  If it acquires all government permits to operate, it may be the economic panacea to a waterfront site long barren of commercial activity.

Royal D’Iberville-Casino hope

            In mid-December 2001, the City of D’Iberville after eight years of intensive labor, secured the interest of Diversified Opportunities Group, an investment and development company, owned by the Jacobs family of Cleveland, Ohio and Palm Beach, Florida, in its Harvey Landing casino site.  They are the majority interest owners of The Lodge Casino, Blackhawk, Colorado, Gold Dust West Casino, Reno, Nevada, and the Colonial Downs Racetrack, Richmond, Virginia.  DVO looking into a $250,000,000 multi-phased, development.(The Sun Herald, December 15, 2001, p. A-11)

REFERENCES:

 The Sun Herald, “Developers, investors plan D’Iberville casino”, December 15, 2001.

 

 

PIERRE SIMON QUAVE STORE: (1857-1862)

             In the middle of the 19th Century, there existed at Back Bay, an incipient village on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi, a retail store known as the Pierre Quave Store.  The founding date of the store is not precisely known, but a ledger book dating (1857-1862) and other Quave documents were donated to the Archives at the Biloxi Public Library by Mr. Wallace Quave in the 1970s.

            The hardbound Quave Store journal consists of an index of customers and 320 pages of accounts pertaining to the store, shipyard, and ferry.  Portions of the index and some pages of the accounts are missing, but the contents are generally legible and portray an interesting picture of life at this time.  The store appears to be well stocked with general hardware, food, and medicine.

            It is known that Pierre Simon Quave (1828-1862) was the son of Pierre Baptiste Cuevas (1808-1889) and Marie Louise Ladner (1810-1888).  His grandparents were Juan de Cuevas (1774-1849) and Marie Helene Ladner (1775-1853) who resided at Cat Island.  His father, Pierre Baptiste Cuevas, was known as "Parik" Cuevas, and the Cuevas name became Quave in the Back Bay area during his lifetime.  Parik left the Back Bay area about 1849 and moved to Abita Springs, Louisiana were he started another family.  Nap Cassibry in The Ladner Odyssey(1989) gives a detailed account of the life and family of this man.

            Pierre Simon Quave married Anna Mallett (1830-1904) circa 1846.  They had five children: Raymond John Quave (1851-1908), Mary Quave (1854-1928), Emma Quave (1856), Anna Quave (1858), and Peter Quave (1862-1937).

            The Quave Store was located near the north shore of the Bay of Biloxi in the southeast corner of the Dominique Ladner Claim (Section 22 T7S-R9W).  (See Map).  Parik Cuevas purchased the land from Dominique Ladner on October 4, 1834 for One Hundred and Eighty Dollars ($180.00).  The transaction is recorded in Harrison County Deed Book 2, pages 193-194 as follows: "all that certain parcel of land, with its appurtenances, situated in the said County of Hancock, measuring nine arpents (1728') front on the said Bay of Biloxi, by thirty five arpents (6720') deep be the same more or less, bounded on the East by land belonging to Emanuel Sanchez, on the West by land belonging to the Seller, on the North by public lands, on the South, by the said Bay of Biloxi"

            The Quave Store journal records the names of people doing business with Pierre Quave and as such gives an idea of their life-style.  It also corroborates the census and gives one a more realistic picture of the past with this tangible evidence.  An alphabetical listing of the clients and boats shown in the Pierre Quave Journal follows:

 

A

Schooner Adela (Adelia)               Joseph Abley (Abbley)

B

L. Boni(Boney)                  Antoine Barlande (Bellande)

S.M. Bang Sr                           Joseph Bask (Basque)

Jesse Breland                               Schooner Biloxi

Auguste Bertrand                              Ben R. Butler

John Bond                            Arne Barnard (Bernard)

Auguste Breton                                      L. Bang

C

Henry Cruthirde (Cruthirds)                     James Clark

Alexander Craft                       John Cowarde (Cowart)

Joseph Crane               Schooner Calefornia (California)

James Camp                       William Croferd (Crawford)

D

James Davis                                 Robert Delauney

Fear Dupee (Dupree)

E

W.C. Edwards                                     Davide Eny

O.P. Edwards                                       A.D. Ely

F

Francois Fountaine (Fontaine)                 Fewell & Lilly

Lewis Fayarde (Fayard)                     Stephen Fatheree

Sylvestin Fayard                              John Foretich

G

Louis Grue (Groue)                   Jules Garlot (Gollott)

Joseph Garlick

H

John Henley                                    Henry Husley

Jesse Hasty                           Pierre Hervi (Harvey)

Mr. Harenton                               William Hamilton

I

Schooner Isbon of Mobile

J

William M. Jordan

L

E.R. Latimer                              Thomas E. Latimer

Alfrede Laddenier (Ladner)          Emile Laddenier (Ladner)

Simion Laddenier (Ladner)         Gustave Laddnier (Ladner)

Sam C. Lawrence                       Francis Lledo (Llado)

John Little

M

James McDonald                                  John Malley

W.H. Morres (Morris)                          Vinson Malley

James Mulholland                               P.E. McQueen

 

O

General O'Neal                                George O'Neal

James A. O'Neal                                  M.G. O'Neal

 

P

P. (Pedro) Perez

Q

P. Quave Sr                                     Usant Quave

Mother Quave                                  Raymond Quave

R

Joseph Rousseau                                 John Reeves

Andrew Ramsey                                    Rene' Ryan

W.H. Rouse                                      A.H. Ramsey

                             S

L.(Lazrus) Seymore                 Sencer (St. Cyr) Seymore

Benson Seaman                       Manuel Senche (Sanchez)

P. Seymore                                 William Shepherd

Wilson Smith                                 Edward Seymore

Raymond Seymore                           Peter Scarborough

Joseph Santa Cruz                    L. (Lazrus) Seymore Jr

Moyes (Moses) Seymore                       William Seymore

Old Lady Seymore                        S. Seymore and Dupee

T

Nicola Tartarvous (Taltavull)               Green Y. Thomas

Erasmus Thompson                          William B. Tucker

Schooner Titil                                    R. Thomson

W

Berry Wells                                     B.E. Waldon

Franklin Williams                        Edward Whittington

Daniel Walker                 Alan Withington (Whittington)

 

Y

P. Youngham (Younghans)                         Smith Young

 

 

     A list of some of the merchandise with their prices are as follows:

HARDWARE

Rope $.20/lb   Cast net twine $.20   Fish hooks $.03 each

Brace and bits $2.25   Hand saw file $.25   Auger $.50

Nails $.10/lb ($5.25/keg)   Padlock $.25,   Axe helve $.25

Axe and helve $1.25...Plow $1.25   Bridle $1.25   Rein $.60

Girt $.75   Stirrups $1.00   Plow line $.15   Hoe $.50

Square $.75   Lamp oil $ .30 (bottle)   Lamp wick $.30

Paint brush $.50   Paint oil $ 1.40/gal   Red paint $.15/lb

Black paint $.12/lb   Turpentine spirits $.25/bottle

Shot $.13/lb   Powder $.60/lb   White lead .15/lb

Level $.75   Putty $.10/lb   Spade $1.25

FOOD and BEVERAGES

Apples $.20/lb   Dozen eggs $.30   Vermicelli $.20/lb

Rice $.07/lb   Cheese $.20/lb   Butter $.25/lb   Ham $.18/lb

Bacon $.13/lb   Corn $1.10/bushel ($3.35/sack) Tea $.15

Coffee .25/lb   Sweet oil $.60/bottle   Black pepper $.20/lb

Cinnamon bark $.20   Codfish $.08/lb ($1.40/box) Corn meal

$.15/gal   Mustard $.15/box   Flax seed $.20/lb   Molasses

$.50/gal ($13.20/barrel) Potatoes $1.50/bushel   Vinegar

$.10/bottle   Sugar $22.35/barrel   Wine $.25/bottle

Gin $.40/bottle, Whiskey $.50/gal Beer $.15/bottle

Bread $.05   Shoulder of bacon $1.30   Flour $5.75/barrel

Candy $.35/lb   Sugar plums .40/lb   Peas $.50/gal

Onion $.05

KITCHEN ARTICLES

Sifter $.30   Jug $.25   Knife $.35   Tin pan $.30

Dish $.40   Coffee pot $.35   Tea pot $.40   Basket $.45

Tin bucket $.25   Wash board $.25   Plates $.05 each

Spoons $.05 each   Tumbler $.10 each   Candles $.05 each

Six candle sticks $.75   Dozen knives and forks $1.25

Broom $.25

MEDICINE and PERSONAL ARTICLES

Cream of tartar $1.00/lb   Paregoric $.15/vile

Liniment $.15/vile   Castor oil $.45/bottle  Brimstone $.15

Mustang liniment $.25   Bar soap $.25   Comb $.25

Razor $1.25   Razor strap  $.25   Cologne water $.75

Pencil $.15   Paper $.20/lb   Envelope $.05 each   Book $.25

Rule $.50   Slate $.15   Bottle ink $.40   Scissors $.75

Chamber pot $.35   Pain killer $.25

CLOTHING

Hat $1.50   Shoes $1.00/pair   Shirt $1.75

Handkerchief $.75   Buttons $.05/dozen   Socks $.25/pair

Pegged brogans $2.25/pair

CLOTH

Cotton $.10/yd   Calico $.12/yd   Linen $.40/yd

Muslin $.20/yd   Cottonade $.25/yd   Silk thread $ .10

Bed ticking $.20/yd   Thread $.20

     The Quave Store closed on July 24, 1862 because of the Civil War (1861-1865).  Pierre Quave was a volunteer and joined the Live Oak Rifles at Ocean Springs.  He died at Mobile in 1862.  The Quave Store reopened July 2, 1870, and remained an integral part of the community for many generations.

_______________________________________________

D"IBERVILLE CEMETERIES

 

HAMILTON CEMETERY

South Cedar Lake Area

West Biloxi

by

Ray L. Bellande [researched and written in 1992]

HAMILTON CEMETERY

[Polaroid images made in March 1992 of the Mary Hamilton Ager tomb by Ray L. Bellande]

LOCATION:  In the SW/4 of the SE/4 of Section 12, T7S-R10W of Harrison County between D'Iberville and the Sunkist area of West Biloxi.  The site is in cut over pine woods north-west of the Biloxi Par Three Golf Course at 1734 Popp's Ferry Road.

DIRECTIONS:  From the Biloxi Public Library on Lameuse Street in Biloxi go north to its terminus at Bay View Drive.  Turn left (west) on Bay View and go .36 miles to the I-110  Bridge.  Go north across the I-110 Bridge for 2.63 miles to I-10.  Take the New Orleans entrance to the left (west) and go on I-10 for 2.25 miles to the Cedar Lake exit (Exit 44).  Go south (left) on Cedar Lake Road .53 miles to Popp’s Ferry Road.  Turn right (west) at Popp’s Ferry Road and go .38 miles.  Stop and park off the road.  The Hamilton Cemetery is in the wooded area approximately 1/4 mile north of the road.  The cemetery is small and may be difficult to locate because of the undergrowth.

HISTORY:  The Hamilton Cemetery is a small, apparently abandoned, pioneer cemetery located in the South Cedar Lake area of West Biloxi.  The cemetery site is located in cut over pine woods and shrub thickets just north of the Popp’s Ferry Road and west of the Biloxi Par Three Golf Course.  This area of Harrison County was settled in the 1840s and 1850s by Swiss (Hosli-Husley), German (Schmidt and Moffitts), and Irish (Hamilton) Families.  They made their livelihoods from the sea as mariners and the land as farmers.

William Hamilton (1833-1860) and Mary Keenan (1834-1907) were Irish immigrants from Queens County.  Queens County is now called Laois and is located in Leinster Province, a region of farming, dairying, and textiles.  Port Laoise, the county seat, is fifty miles southwest of Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

The Hamiltons bought the S/2 of the SE/4 of Section 12, T7S-R10W from William Overstreet in April 1856 (Harrison County Deed Records Book 73, pp.280-281).  On their 80 acres homestead, the Hamilton reared four children:  Sarah (b. 1857), James (b. 1858), Mary (b. 1859), and Minerva (b. 1860).  The 1860 US Census of Harrison County lists the death of a William Hamilton (born Kentucky) in February of that year.  This is probably the Irishman, William Hamilton, as he does not appear in the future censuses with his family.  Mary Hamilton married Andrew Ager in April 1898.  Two of the Hamilton girls married men in their neighborhood.  Mary Hamilton married Jacob Henry Husley (1868-1948) in November 1883.  This union produced at least three children:  Jacob Henry Husley Jr. (1885-1965) m. Leontine 'Nettie' Holley (1872-1926); Joseph Fabian Husley (1896-1918) m. Elizabeth Kantzell (1896-1976) m. Robert Bechtel (1896-1974);and Mary " Fay" Josephine Husley (1896-1984) m. Warren Phillip Arguelles (1891-1972).

Sarah Hamilton took Peter Baijah Lamey (b. 1847) as her husband in February 1883.  They were childless.

In her will signed only eleven days before her death on November 17, 1907, Mary Hamilton Ager legated her real estate to her daughters, Sarah H. Lamey and Mary L. Husley.(Harrison County Will Book 3, p. 136).  Mrs. Lamey conveyed her interest to her sister, Mary Husley, in June 1915.(Harrison County Deed Bk. 112, p. 155).

When Mary L. Husley sold the SW/4 of Section 12, T7S-R10W to William Schmidt on December 21, 1918, the deed stated:  "less one half acre, lying and being in the SW/4 of the SE/4 of Section 12, T7S-R10W, on which is now located a cemetery and an easement or right of way across said land to said cemetery." (Harrison County Deed Book 122, pp. 548-549)

 

[field notes and sketch by Ray L. Bellande-March 1992]

HAMILTON CEMETERY

Currently, the Hamilton Cemetery is in an abandoned and deteriorating condition.  From the remaining fence post and iron fencing, it appears the dimensions of the Hamilton Cemetery were 24 feet by 16 feet.  Approximately five feet of the southeast perimeter of the cemetery is still fenced.  The original fence was constructed from pine post which are 4 feet above ground and are about 6 inches in diameter.  The rectangular iron fencing is composed of a 5 inch by 7 inch pattern.  The gate is gone, but the entrance appears to have been about 4 feet wide.  A 6 inch strap hinge remains at the

bottom of the north gate post.

The primary structure remaining in the small cemetery is the tomb of Mary Hamilton Ager.  Her tomb was built with red brick and mortar, and covered with a thin veneer of cement.  When wet, the cement appears to have been scored to give the appearance of 11 inch by 17 inch blocks.  Mrs. Ager's resting place is 9 feet long, 4 feet wide, and is 4 feet at its maximum height above ground level.  Her marble marker has dimensions of 23 inches by 30 inches.  The name W.A. Pool is inscribed in the southeast corner of the marker.  Pool was a monument dealer in Biloxi in the early 1900s who operated from 765 Croesus Street.

In addition to the Ager crypt, there are three, weathered cypress headboards.  These wooden structures are approximately 15 inches wide and 4 1/2 feet tall tapering at the top.  No lettering remains to identify the graves that these objects once marked.  Two of the headboards are found atop the Ager tomb to cover an apparent intrusion by vandals into the resting place.

Assuming that graves are 4 feet wide and 9 feet in length,  there is space in the Hamilton Cemetery for four additional graves.  Kenneth Lamey in his research of the cemetery has anecdotal evidence provided by Mrs. Eliza Lamey Rushing that at least two additional persons are buried here.  They are Alexander Lamey (1804-1890) and Darithula Latimer Lamey (1827-1876).  It should be safe to assume that William Hamilton (1833-1860), the first husband of Mary Keenan, is also buried here.

REGISTER

Mary Hamilton Ager             5-19-1834 to 11-17-1907

Postulated Burials

William Hamilton               1833-1860

Alexander Lamey                1804-1890

                                                          Darithula Latimer Lamey      1827-1876                                                                                                     

 

HAMILTON CEMETERY

[images made September 3, 2008 by Ray L. Bellande]

Epilogue:

This essay was researched and written in 1992 and subsequently published in the Mississippi Coast History and Genealogy Journal, Vol. 28, No. 3, October 1992.  In September 2000, the wooded area ‘hiding’ the Hamilton Cemetery and other lands were cleared, platted and developed as the Biloxi Commerce Park Subdivision by the Harrison County Development Commission.  Mitchell Engineering of Gulfport, Mississippi managed the infrastructure of this large real estate project.  C. Baxter Mann, an archaeologist, in their employ was assigned the task of restoring and preserving the Hamilton Cemetery.  It exists today in excellent condition in Lot 19 of Biloxi Commerce Park Subdivision just west of Tommy Munro Drive.  A black, iron fence encloses the perimeter of the Hamilton Cemetery.  Kudos to the Harrison County Development Commission for their interest in historic preservation.(Harrison Co., Mississippi Chancery Court Land Plat Bk. 17, pp. 1-4)

REFERENCES:

Biloxi City Directory-1905, (The Biloxi Daily Herald Printery:  Biloxi, Mississippi-1905), Volume 1, p. 123.

The Biloxi Herald, "Necrology-Mrs. Mary Ager", November 18, 1907, p. 2.

Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, (Merriam-Webster, Inc.: Springfield, Massachusetts-1984), p. 648.

US Census, 1850, 1860, and 1870 - Harrison County, Mississippi

Personal Communication:

Kenneth Lamey-March 6, 1992

Mark J. Lamey-March 6, 1992

Fabian Husley-March 11, 1992

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

HOLLEY-BLACKWELL-SUNKIST CEMETERY

Popp’s Ferry-Sunkist area-Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi

by

Julia Cook Guice and Ray L. Bellande

 

[T-D: image one and two made September 2008, bottom made May 1992 by Ray L. Bellande]

 

 

Holley Cemetery

[images made in January 1995 by Ray L. Bellande]

LOCATION:

    The Holley Cemetery is situated in Claim Section 37, T7S-R10W, Harrison County, Mississippi.  Located in Lot   of the Beau Chene Estates Subdivision at 2330 Beau Chene Drive, Biloxi, Mississippi 39532.  This land subdivision was platted in July 1998 by Dana R. Parsons of Stone Investment Co. Inc.; Jeffrey O'Keefe; John C. Griffith; and Tom C. Harvey.(Harrison Co., Mississippi Chancery Court Land Plat Bk. 15, pp. 50-51)

DIRECTIONS:

      From the Biloxi Public Library History and Genealogy Center on Main Street in Biloxi go north on Main Street to its terminus at Bay View Drive.  Turn left (west) on Bay View and go .37 miles to the I-110  Bridge.  Go north across the I-110 Bridge for 2.63 miles to I-10.  Take the New Orleans exit to the right and go on I-10 for 2.25 miles to the Cedar Lake exit (Exit 44).  Go south (left) on Cedar Lake Road .53 miles to Popp’s Ferry Road.  Turn right (west) at Popp’s Ferry Road and go about 2.65 miles to Sunkist Road.  There is a stop light here.  Turn right (north) on Sunkist County Club Road and go       miles to       the entrance of the Beau Chene Subdivision.  Turn left onto                                    .  The Holley Cemetery is on the west side of the home at 2330 Beau Chene Drive.  Please be courteous and ask the home owner for permission to enter the cemetery.

 

Holley Cemetery

[images made in May 2001 by Ray L. Bellande]

CEMETERY HISTORY           

Charles M. Holley family

        Charles M. Holley (1805-1857) was born in New York.  He was one of the six children of Rebecca Holley that settled at Biloxi, Mississippi in 1820.  His siblings were: George Holley (1800-1883), Benjamin Holley (1802-1860+) m. Burissa Bradford (1808-1881), a native of Montville, New London County, Connecticut; William Holley (1803-1850+), Rebecca H. Norberg (1809-1880+), and Nicholas Holley (1810-1860.

       Charles M. Holley made his livelihood as a sailor.  Circa 1840, he married Ursule Fayard.  Mr. Holley acquired two hundred acres of land in Section 15, T7S-R10 situated at the confluence of the Biloxi and Tchoutacabouffa River and the Back Bay of Biloxi from Donald McBean in October 1850.  Here Charles and Ursule Fayard Holley reared a large family.  In 1850, his real estate in Harrison County was valued at $2000.  Nicholas Holley (1810-1870), his brother, was a neighbor and built wooden boats.  Before the Civil War, Nicholas Holley had a personal estate of $900 and real estate valued at $8000.  He acquired the 160-acre, ‘Stringer tract” for $525 from Joseph I. Stringer in December 1847.  It was situated north of the Charles M. Holley tract in Section 15, T7S-R10W.(1850 and 1860 Harrison Co., Mississippi Federal Census M432_ 372, p. 104, img. 210 and M653_581, img. 454 and Harrison County, Land Deed Bk. 3, p. 487)

Elam R. Blackwell family

       There is some degree of certitude that Elam R. Blackwell (1829-1896) was the son of Morris Blackwell (1798-1860+) and Nancy Blackwell (1793-1860+) who were natives of South Carolina and North Carolina respectively.  Elam’s brothers may have been ? Blackwell (1822-1850+), a woodcutter, and Anderson H. Blackwell (1826-1850+), a wood cutter.  In 1850, the Blackwells were living in Harrison County, Mississippi on the north side of the Back Bay of Biloxi.(1850 Federal Census, Harrison Co., Mississippi M432-372, p. 107, img. 216 and M432_372, p. 88, img. 178)

      In April 1856, Elam R. Blackwell married Burissa T. Holley (1841-1899), the daughter of Charles M. Holley (1805-1857) and Ursule Fayard (1820-1860+), at Harrison County, Mississippi.  Their known children are: Albert G.B. Blackwell (1858-1860+); Elam N. Blackwell (1859-1860); Mary B. ‘Minnie’ Blackwell (1863-1885) m. William T. Norton; Joseph Blackwell (1867-1936); Charles M. Blackwell (1867-1932) m. Missouri Brasher (1862-1951); and Katie Lee Blackwell (1872-1872).

      In January 1859, Elam R. Blackwell for $4500 acquired about one hundred and thirty-six acres in Section 15 and Section 16, T7S-R10W from Robert C. Saffold (1823-1891).  This tract had frontage on the Tchoutacabouffa River and Biloxi River and had been the site of the Toomer & McGuire sawmill between 1849 and 1852.(Harrison Co., Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 5, p. 241, Bk. 7, p. 391 and Bk. 9, p. 113, and Bellande, 1992, pp. 32-34)

John M. Popp-Sunkist Place

      After Charles M. Holley and Ursule Fayard Holley had passed, their heirs: Charles M. Holley and Mary E. Cooper Holley; E.R. Blackwell (1829-1896) and Burissa T. Holley Blackwell (1841-1899); David Saucier and Alice Holley Saucier; George Levy Holley and Malinda Bounds Holley; and Jane Holley Swetman and Quitman [Thomas A.] Swetman sold their 200-acre family homestead for $600 in October 1878, to John F. Popp (1835-1918), a Danish immigrant and affluent lumberman, of New Orleans.  This conveyance included the “one-acre, Holley family cemetery in the southwest corner of Popp’s land was excluded from this conveyance.”(Harrison County, Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 16, p. 389 and Bk. 16, p. 392)

       Here on the high bluff overlooking Big Lake, a large body of water at the head of the Back Bay of Biloxi and at the confluence of Bayou Bernard, the Biloxi River, and the Tchoutacabouffa River; John F. Popp erected a twenty-one room house.  He resided here with                   his spouse and                her spinster sisters.

 

 

Notes on the Holley Cemetery

      In the 1980s, Julia Cook Guice researched the Holley family and their family cemetery.  In her report archived in a vertical file at the Biloxi Public Library History and Genealogy Center, the following is generally taken per se, but some spelling and word phrasing were edited at the author’s discretion.

 

Comments:

       Mrs. Ashton [Virginia] C. Barrett (1904-1997), owner of the adjacent property to the cemetery, commented that she used to regularly see members of the Blackwell family (locally and from New Orleans) come out to the cemetery on Sunday to maintain the area.  She also said that it has been more than a year since anyone has been to the cemetery.  The thick growth in the area confirms this.

       According to Mrs. Barrett, youngsters using a tree overlooking the Biloxi River nearby as a swing are responsible for much of the vandalism in the cemetery.  This includes: perimeter fence and posts broken and uprooted; gravesites used as picnic tables; two headstones broken; attempts to break into gravesites; gravesite perimeter footing broken on several graves; the possibility that one headstone is missing on one grave, and the strong indication that an eight gravesite exists, but unmarked.

Description:

      The Holley Cemetery is located about seventy-five feet from the banks of the Biloxi River [Big Lake].  The view from the cemetery is to the southwest with a panorama that includes the Biloxi River, Back Bay of Biloxi [Big Lake] and the Jack Watts electrical power generating plant.

      The area of the Holley Cemetery is rectangular in shape, with the north-south side measuring fifty-seven feet and the east-west side measuring forty feet.  A four-foot gate (now destroyed) opened into the cemetery and was situated near the southwest corner of the burial plot.

      The area in and around the cemetery is thick with undergrowth.  An azalea bush near the center of the cemetery beautifies the area.  The two broken headstones can be repaired with a steel plate backing, although several pieces will be missing from one of them. 

 

 

Tombstone sketches and observations of Julia Cook Guice

[circa late 1980s]

Observations:

            Charles M. Holley (1805-1857) was the first to be interred in this cemetery in May 1857.  He was fifty-one years old when he died.

            E.R. Blackwell (1829-1896) was the patriarch of the Blackwells buried here.  He was sixty-seven years of age at his demise and the fourth of his clan to be buried in the Holley Cemetery.  E.R. Blackwell was twelve years older than Burissa T. Holley, his spouse, and preceded her in death by nearly 2 ½ years.

            Burissa Holley Blackwell (1841-1899) was the last of Blackwell family interred here.  She passed on January 13, 1899 and was fifty-eight years old at her death.

            Minnie Blackwell Norton (1863-1865), Elam N. Blackwell (1859-1860), and Katie Lee Blackwell (1872-1872) were three of the children of E.R. Blackwell and Burissa T. Blackwell and all were interred in the Holley Cemetery.

            There is a strong possibility that another gravesite exists between the graves of E.R. Blackwell and that of his wife, Burissa Holley Blackwell.  The hump-like surface plus the unusual spacing separating the head of the Blackwell family and his wife, suggests this possibility, as all the other gravesites are closely aligned with one another.

            The unmarked gravesite slab and cement cap suggests that it was completed long after the others.  Virginia Anderson Barrett was not positive of the date, but she believed that someone was interred in the Holley Cemetery within the last two years.

Recent developments

 

REFERENCES:

Ray L. Bellande, Mississippi Coast History and Genealogy Society, “Toomer-McGuire Sawmill-Chattagobeuf”, Volume 28, No. 1, February 1992.

Julia Cook Guice, Harrison County Marriages: Book 1 (July 1841) to Book 12 (November 1899), (City of Biloxi, Mississippi-1978?).

Julia Cook Guice, Mississippi Coast History and Genealogy Society, “Sunkist Place”, Volume 23, No. 1, February 1987, p. 21 and p. 25.

Chancery Court Causes

Harrison County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 244, “The Estate of Nicholas Holley”, August 1870.

Harrison County, Mississippi Chancery Court Cause No. 471, “The Estate of John Holley”, December 1889.

Journals

The Biloxi Herald, "City News", July 25, 1896, p. 8.

The Daily Herald, “M.T. Blackwell Dead”, October 7, 1915, p. 2.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

MORAN CEMETERY

D’Iberville, Harrison County, Mississippi

By

Ray L. Bellande

 

 

MORAN CEMETERY

[images made September 3, 2008 by Ray L. Bellande]

LOCATION: Section 22, T7S-R9W, Harrison County, Mississippi.

DIRECTIONS:  From “Five Points”, the intersection of Central Avenue, Gorenflo Road, and Race Track Road in the city of D’Iberville, Mississippi go south .095 miles on Central Avenue to the intersection of Bay Shore Drive.  Turn right (west) onto Bay Shore Drive and go west for .44 miles until Santa Cruz Street.  Turn right (north) and proceed .19 miles to the Moran Cemetery on Santa Cruz Street.  The Moran Cemetery is on the left (west) side of this street.  The smaller Santa Cruz Cemetery is directly across the road from the Moran Cemetery.

HISTORY

The Moran Family of the Mississippi Coast originated at St. Pierre-du-Sud, Quebec, Canada, where the named was spelled Morin.  Here Joseph Morin (1747-ca 1806), was born of Denis Morin (1694-1768) and Marie-Madeleine Boulet (1693-1765).  He settled at Cat Island and married Louise Ladner, the daughter of Nicolas Ladner and Marie Anne Pacquet, in 1778.  All of their children were born and reared at Cat Island.  Their son, Joseph Moran II (1778-1842+), married Marguerite Panguinet (1788-18??) in 1806.  They lived at Old Chimneys (Long Beach) until about 1820, when they moved to North Biloxi near what later became the Kendall Brickyard on Back Bay. 

On November 11, 1832, Joseph Morin II purchased a tract of land in Section 22, T7S-R9W from Dominique Ladner described as:  two acres on the Bay of Biloxi running north forty acres with D. Ladner on the east and west. (Harrison County Deed Book 17, p. 307). 

The Moran family cemetery is situated on Santa Cruz Street in the southeastern part of the original Joseph Moran II purchase from Ladner.  Joseph Moran II acquired more land at Back Bay in 1836, when he patented Lot No. 4 of Section 17, T7S- R9W from the U.S. Government.  He sold this tract to seafarer, Pierre (Hervai) Harvey (1810-1893), his son-in-law, in 1842 (Harrison County Deed Book 1, p. 197).

The children of Joseph Moran II and Marguerite Panguinet were: Joseph Moran III (b. 1809) married Virginia Fayard, Celeste Zelina Moran (1811-1883) married Pierre (Hervai) Harvey (1810-1893), Claire Marguerite Moran (b. 1813) married Augustin Ladner, Francois Moran (1815-1887) married Catherine Fournier, Victoire Moran (b. 1817), Marie Moran (ca 1815-ca 1854) married Andre Fournier III (1809-1878), and Virginia Moran (1820-1891) married James Smith Young (1818-1897). Many coast families can trace their ancestry to the children of Joseph Morin II and Marguerite Panquinette.( Mississippi Coast History & Genealogical Society, Vol. No. 8, November 1972 and Valinete, 2001, p. 522)        

REGISTER

B

 

Adolph J. Boney                                   9-19-1884 to 2-22-1957

Agnes Boney                                         4-17-1893 to 5-26-1949

Fritz J. Boney                                        11-7-1895 to 5-21-1972

Gladys Rose Boney                                12-22-1875 to 11-28-1967

Joseph Boney                                         1-13-1860 to 9-19-1941

Larry D. Boney                                    5-9-1941 to 12-16-1999

Rosa Boney                                           3-19-1864 to 1-11-1936

 

Richard L. Boney                                  5-1828 to 2-17-1909

Bordeaux, France

 

Richard Samuel “Sam” Boney            4-10-1869 to 12-19-1940

Victoria Moran Boney                          3-31-1835 to 12-15-1885

 

Isom Brasher                                         1-11-1861 to 8-25-1954

Rosalie Moran Brasher                         5-13-1873 to 8-23-1954

 

Ozias John Brasher                               6-17-1897 to 9-19-1965

Mississippi PFC US ARMY

WW II

 

C

 

George McL Couevas                                  6-10-1894 to 9-25-1952  

Mississippi

Sgt. 114 Ammo Tn 39 Div

WW I

 

D

 

Elmerita A. Diaz                                     8-6-1917 to 5-3-2000

Oliver F. Diaz                                         1-9-1916 to 6-9-1958

Virgie L. Dunning                                   2-10-1906 to 3-24-1942

 

 

F

Walter A. Fayard                                  2-6-1884 to 4-20-1934

Percy Edward Fournier                       8-17-1906 to 8-8-1968

Valda Brasher Fournier                       4-25-1909 to 7-18-1990

 

G

 

Helen Mercedes Holloway Guffey           12-11-1910 to 4-4-1998

 

H

 

Casimir Harvey                                                 1845 to 1904

Emma Harvey                                                    1889 to 1968

Rosina Harvey                                                    1852 to 1937

Warren Harvey                                                   11-13-1904 to 7-12-1905

 

Albert E. Holloway                                                6-10-1881 to 6-27-1915

Josephine Newman Holloway                             12-31-1877 to 1-22-1959

 

J

 

Louis Chester Jordy                                1-15-1920 to 9-16-1969

 

L

A. Ladnier

F. Ladnier

Rosa N. Lamey                                          1880-1908

 

M

 

Adolph Moran                                                3-31-1875 to 12-15-1934

Alina Seymour Moran  (no marker)             8-12-1870 to 11-24-1945

Alonzo J. Moran                                             9-15-1904 to 7-3-1963

Edith Colson Moran                                       9-22-1911 to 12-2-1967

 

Harrison Moran                                       3-14-1889 to 7-29-1968

Mississippi

Pvt. Med. Det 114, Ammo. Tn.

WW I

 

Harry M. Moran                                              3-14-1889 to 7-29-1968

Lillie B. Moran                                                6-9-1894 to 12-15-1980

 

Jack Moran                                                      1942 to 8-12-2005

Jadly Ann Moran                                            12-17-1934 to 2-4-1998      

James R. “Rudy” Moran                                2-12-1951 to 10-6-1984

Jeanette Entriken Moran                                8-1-911 to 5-30-1984

Joseph Moran                                                   2-14-1841 to 6-28-1914

Joseph Edward Moran (no marker)              10-13-1896 to 6-14-1953

Joseph J. Moran                                              3-16-1871 to 12-17-1954

Peter J. Moran                                                 8-17-1898 to 9-6-1954

William “Billy” C. Moran                                  10-6-1937 to 5-30-1995

 

Jefferson Davis Mulholland                               7-21-1861 to 6-2-1930

Margaret Celena Harvey Mulholland                1-21-1870 to

 

 

N

 

August W. Newman                                           2-27-1839 to 3-28-1899

Born in Gottenborg, Sweden

 

Delphine Moran Quave Newman                     12-25-1839 to 1-24-1891

Ellena “Lena” Newman                                     1-30-1874 to 12-3-1900

 

P

Minnie Moran Seymour Pickard                          12-18-1878 to 1-17-1957

 

R

Joseph Roussau

Joseph E. Roussau                                            2-18-1841 to 1-1-1904

Theresa Rousseau                                             1845 to 9-19-1910

 

S

 

Bert Albert Santa Cruz                                       1899 to 1-27-1974

Vera Holloway Santa Cruz                                 5-5-1908 to 1-22-1959

 

Cecelia Boney Seymour                                        2-20-1855 to 8-26-1908

Wife of Edward Seymour                                     4-16-1850 to 5-24-1944

 

Edmond Seymour                                                   8-15-1848 to 4-29-1925

Edmond George Seymour (no marker)                2-27-1876 to 12-4-1949

 

Emma V. Seymour, wife of Edmond George Seymour          1882 to 1966

(and infant children)

 

James Edgar Seymour (no marker)                      11-26-1880 to 3-10-1953

John L. Seymour                                                      11-4-1881 to 2-11-1967

Millie A. Seymour                                                     4-3-1894 to 7-17-1982            

Richard E. Seymour, son of Edward Seymour       4-12-1876 to 5-20-1960

Sherrod Elic Seymour                                          2-13-1876 to 12-11-1939

 

Virginia Young Seymour                                        1-6-1852 to 4-19-905

Wife of Edmond Seymour                                       8-15-1848 to 4-29-1925

 

Carroll H. Smith                                                    10-31-1915 to 6-18-1991

Cpl. U.S. Army Air Corp

WW II

 

Carroll Joseph Smith                                            8-18-1945 to 5-27-1950

 

Y

 

James Smith Young                                            3-31-1818 to 7-1-1897

Born in New Jersey

 

Virginia Moran Young                                       9-4-1820 to 1-7-1891

Born in Biloxi

 

REFERENCES:

Nap L. Cassibry II, The Ladner Odyssey, Special Issue No. 6, (Mississippi Coast Nap L. Cassibry II, (Mississippi Coast History and Genealogical Society: Biloxi, Mississippi-January 1988).

Lois S. Valiente and Felino J. Valiente, Early Gulf Coast Settlers Semedel, Saucier, Johnson, Ladner and Related Families, (Valiente: New Orleans, Louisiana-2001)

Mississippi Coast History & Genealogical Society, “Some Moran Records”, Volume No. 7, August 1972.

Mississippi Coast History & Genealogical Society, “Some Moran Records”, Volume No. 8, November 1972.

Mississippi Coast History & Genealogical Society, “Moran Cemetery-North Biloxi”, Volume No. 12, Nos. 3 and 4, February 1977.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

LAMEY CEMETERY

Harrison County, Mississippi

LOCATION:  The Lamey Cemetery is located in the NE/4 of the SW/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W, Harrison County, Mississippi.

DIRECTIONS: From intersection of Le Moyne Boulevard and Lamey’s Bridge Road in the city of D’Iberville, Mississippi go north on Lamey’s Bridge Road for 2.65 miles to Lamey’s Bridge.  Cross the Tchoutacaboufa River and go north for 200 feet and find a dirt road on the east side of Lamey’s Bridge Road.  Turn right and follow this road to a locked gate.  The Lamey Cemetery is situated about 200 feet east and south of the gate.

HISTORY:           

The Lamey family

       

The familial name LAMEY has been noted in archival documents as LAMI, LAME, LAMIE, LAMMY, LAMAIS, LANIE, and LEMME.  The progenitor of this family in America was Jacques Lamy, the son of Jacques Lamy (ca 1740-1770) and Marguerite de Rossiere.  He was born at Meaux, France east of Paris. Jacques Lamy came to North America in French Colonial Louisiana as a soldier.  He married Marie Helene Moreau, the daughter of Joseph Moreau and Marine Jeanne Dauphin.  Sergeant Lamy was discharged in 1763, having served in the company of Captain Trente.  He lost his life in February 1770, when the Pere de Famille sank on a voyage to France.(De Ville, 19      , p.      )

      In 1761, Jacques and Marie Helene Lamy had a son, Jean Batiste Lamy (1761-1804+).  A daughter, Euphrasie Lamy, was born in November 1769.  Jean B. Lamy married Isabel Baudin, the daughter of Louis Baudin and Louisa Lorendine (Laurendine).  Their youngest son, Alexandre Antoine Lamy (1804-1890) was the founder of the Lamey family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Alexandre Antoine Lamy

      In a civil ritual performed in 1827, Alexandre Antoine Lamy (1804-1890) married Marguerite Constance Ladner (1812-ca 1844), the daughter of John-Baptiste Ladner and Marie-Josephe Morin (Moran).  Their union was blessed in the Catholic Church on May 4, 1836.  The issue of this marriage were born on Dauphin Island, Alabama: J. Albert Lamey (1828-1850+),William Lamey (1829-1850+), Lucy Lamey (1831-1850+), Arsene Marie Lamey (b. 1834), and Philip Lamey (1835-1880+).

     After the demise of Marguerite C. Lamey ca 1844, Alexandre A. Lamey married Darthula Latimer (1827-1876), a native of Indiana, and the daughter of Elisha Latimer (1792-1860+) and Mary Jane Ewing (1792-1877).  Their children were: Edward Lamey (b. 1845), Peter Abijah Lamey (1847-1932) married Sarah H. Hamilton (1858-1933) in February 1883; Antoine Lamey (1849-1929) married Louisa Rhodes Wells (1848-1910) in August 1878; James Lamey (1852-1870+), Elizabeth Lamey (1852-1929) married Frederick “Fritz” Hosli (1843-1882) in January 1871 and William J. “Jeff” Rushing (1861-1938) in September 1883; Anna Lamey (1853-1878+) married Peter Cannette (1854-1930) in February 1874; Elise Lamey (1858-1870+), and Mary Lamey (1860-pre 1870)

Philip Lamey

Philip Lamey (1837-pre-1907) married Catherine “Katie” Hudson (1851-pre-1900) on October 17, 1866.  Their children were: Anthony Lamey (1862-1938) married Aline Krohn post 1900; Philip E. “Dink” Lamey (1870-1953) married Annie Hosli (1869-1949) in November 1894; Zeolide Lamey (1873-1931) married W.C. Parks in May 1903; John Lamey (1879-1946) married Elsie Irma Krohn (1892-1928); William Lamey (1880-1945) married Rosa Newman (1880-1908) in February 1899; and Josephine Lamey (1884-1907).(Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 5, p. 69, MRB 6, p. 268, MRB, MRB 10, p. 274 )

Philip E. “Dink” Lamey

            Philip “Dink” Lamey (1870-1953) and Annie Hosli (1869-1949), the daughter of Henry Hosli and Barbara Hosli (1833-1900+), had married in Harrison County, Mississippi in November 1894.  Their children were: John Clifton Lamey (1895-1971), Margaret Edwina L. Riggle (1905-1980), William Jasper “Buck” Lamey (1908-1980) and George A. Lamey(1909-1985).( Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 10, p. 274 )           

Lamey Ferry

            The Lamey Ferry was situated very near the present day Lamey Bridge on the Tchoutacabouffa River.  It was operated by Antoine Lamey (1849-1929), the son of Alexandre A. Lamey and Darthula Latimer Lamey.  Antoine Lamey, called Anthony, married Louisa Rhodes Wells (1848-1910), the second spouse and widow of Berry Wells (1812-1876).  She was a Mississippi native born of a Kentucky father and Missouri mother.  Antoine Lamey and Louisa R. Wells wedded on August 21, 1878.  Their children were: Ella Lamey (1879-1880+), Richard Lamey (1884-1936), and Florian Lamey (1888-1948).(Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 7, p. 24)

Berry Wells hailed from Kentucky and had settled in eastern Hancock County, now Harrison County, circa 1836.

1913 Christmas Eve mishaps

            It could have been a very sad 1913 Christmas for the settlers in the area near the Lamey Ferry

The Hosli family

            The land on which the Lamey Cemetery lies once belonged to the Hosli* family who came to America from Canton Glarius Switzerland in the mid-19^th Century.  Henry Hosli (1832-circa 1870) and Barbara Hosli (1833-1900+)

In July 1870, Joseph Hosli for $375 acquired 400 acres of land in Section 33, T6S-R9W from Ann and Erasmus Thompson.  This land was described as: the NW/4, SW/4, and the W/2 of the NE/4.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 13, p. 167)

In August 1899, Barbara Hosli, the sister and sole surviving heir of Joseph Hosli, gave this land to her daughter, Annie Hosli Lamey (1869-1949), the wife of Philip Edward “Dink” Lamey (1870-1953), the son of Philip Lamey and Catherine “Katie” Hudson. (HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 42, p. 81)

In his Gulf Coast Genealogy, The Santa Cruz Family, Brother Jerome Lepre states that the Abbley Family of the Mississippi Gulf Coast commenced with the emigration to the United States of the Swiss couple, Fritz (Fridolin) Abbley (1799-?) (Abli) and Margaret Husley (Hosli) (1804-1892).  He was the son of Rudolph Abli and Catherine Durst of Ennenda, Switzerland.  Margaret Husley was the daughter of Jost and Salome Oerthli of Ennetbuehls, a town very near Ennenda in Canton Glarus, western Switzerland.

            The Abbleys arrived in America about 1854, and settled at Back Bay (North Biloxi).  They left their native Switzerland because it was difficult to make a living at the time in that nation.  Like every immigrant they felt that their lot would improve by coming to America.

      On October 24, 1867, Casimir J. Harvey (1845-1905) married Rosina Hosli (Husley) (1852-1937) who was born May 2, 1852, at Ennenda, Canton Glarius, Switzerland.  Her parents were Jacob Hosli and Salome Abbli or Abbley (b. 1830) who immigrated to the United States circa 1856.           

Hosli Road

            In October 1911, Annie and Philip Lamey conveyed a strip of land to Harrison County, Mississippi to straighten Hosli Road.  This transaction was described as: beginning on the west side of the Tchoutacabouffa River near the ferry landing and leaving the Hosli Road about fifty feet from the river thence go north for a distance of about three-quarters of a mile where it will intersect said Hosli Road the width of the same from beginning to termination to be thirty feet all being in Section 33, T6S-R9W.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 97, p. 469)

Lamey’s Bridge and road improvement

       Prior to 1913, there were two circuitous routes from Biloxi to Ramsay Springs.  One could either travel the Cedar Lake Road or go through Jackson County to the east.  Neither path was in a direct line to the spa.  In August 1913, the new road, which would become Mississippi Highway No. 15, from North Biloxi to Ramsay Springs, which would erase twelve miles from the present way, was under construction.  F.W. Elmer, County Supervisor, reported that road construction in Harrison County Beat One and Beat Five were progressing well with the utilization of convict labor to grade and surface the road.  Grading from Bate’s Still to Lamey’s Ferry was completed and five miles north had been surfaced.  On the southern route from Lamey’s Ferry to the Johnson Store, the stumps had been cleared and the roadbed surfaced with clay and shell.  A number of older roads were being widened and improved.(The Daily Herald, August 20, 1913, p. 1 and August 27, 1913, p. 8)

            In July 1913, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors let a $6300 contract to the Austin Brothers of Atlanta, Georgia to erect a structure across the Tchoutacabouffa River to replace the Lamey Ferry.  In November 1913, board member, F.W. Elmer Sr., was appointed to oversee construction of the bridge.(HARCO, Ms. Board of Supervisors Minute Bk. 10, p. 274 and p. 391)

            The steel bridge that was being erected across the Tchoutacabouffa River at Lamey’s Ferry was expected to be in operation by the first of December 1913.  Another bridge across Hurricane Creek was planned.(The Daily Herald, August 20, 1913, p. 1)

            In February 1914, Annie and Philip Lamey sold another thirty-foot wide strip of their land to the people of Harrison County for improvements.  This conveyance was described as: beginning at the southwest corner of P. Lamey’s property known as Hosli Road, thence running in a southerly direction to the Tchoutacabouffa River and continuing across said river to the intersection of the aforesaid Hosli Road on the south side of the river in Section 33, T6S-R9W.  The above description is intended to cover what is known as the site of Lamey Bridge and approaches thereto.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 108, p. 47)

            At its April 1914 meeting, the Harrison County Board of Supervisors accepted the completed work and paid the Austin Brothers for the Tchoutacabouffa River bridge.  Philip Lamey was appointed bridge keeper for one year and paid $30 per month for his services.(HARCO, Ms. Board of Supervisors Minute Bk. 11, p. 6 and p. 10)           

1925 Land purchase

In February 1925, Annie H. Lamey acquired an additional forty acres of land, the NW/4 of the SE/4 of Section from J.H. Johnson.  The consideration was $640.  In March 1927, she and Philip Lamey sold to Marjorie Bouvier Rickey that portion of the NW/4 of the SE/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W lying east of the Tchoutacabouffa River.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 156, p. 206 and Bk. 169, p. 370)

In September 1903, J.H. Johnson began acquiring land in Section 33, T6S-R9W, when he paid George Wells, $240 for eighty acres, the S/2 of the SE/4.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 56, p. 568)

            In June 1905, J.H. Johnson bought from Percy J. Wetzel for $800, eighty acres, the N/2 of the SE/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 69, p. 567)

1952 Land donations

            In September 1952, Philip Lamey began land donations to his children.  Those receiving acreage were: “Coot” L. Riggle, Dorothy D. Hebert, and William J. Lamey.         

A description of the Philip Lamey donations follows:

“Coot” L. Riggle

Margaret Edwina L. “Coot” Riggle received thirty acres more or less being that part of the NW/4 of the NW/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W, lying west of Mississippi Highway No. 57.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 359, p. 305)           

Dorothy Hebert

Philip Lamey gave Dorothy Hebert one acre more or less lying south of the Tchoutacabouffa River in the NE/4 of the SW/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W and fifteen acres more or less in the SE/4 of the SW/4 of Section 33, T6S-R9W, lying east of the Tchoutacabouffa River.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 359, p. 306)

William Jasper “Buck” Lamey

            Also in Section 33, T6S-R9W, William J. Lamey (1908-1980), called Buck, was given the NE/4 of the NW/4, SE/4 of the NW/4, W/2 of the NE/4, NE/4 of the SW/4 less one-acre south of the Tchoutacabouffa River and the NW/4 of the SE/4, less nine acres sold to Marjorie Bouvier Rickey.  Although not mentioned in this donation, the Lamey Cemetery was included in the lands of Buck Lamey. (HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 359, p. 307)           

Buck’s will

Before Buck Lamey passed in April 1980, he legated his real property consisting of two hundred thirty-five acres in Section 33, T6S-R9W to Audrey Cleo Cruthirds Lamey (1911-1997), his spouse.  His contingent beneficiary was daughter, Helen Louise Lamey Moore (b. 1942).  The Buck Lamey lands all in Section 33, T6S-R9W were described as: the NW/4 of the NE/4; SW/4 of the NE/4; NE/4 of the SW/4 north of the Tchoutacabouffa River; SE/4 of the NW/4 west of Lamey Bridge Road; and that part of the NW/4 of the NW/4 east of Lamey Bridge Road.(Harrison County, Ms. Chancery Court Case No. 10074-July 1980)           

Corrected warranty deed

     In April 1981, the description of Buck Lamey’s lands all in Section 33, T6S-R9W, which were willed to his wife were corrected as follows:  the NE/4 of the NW/4; SE/4 of the NW/4; W/2 of the NE/4; NE/4 of the SW/4, less one acre south of the Tchoutacabouffa River; NW/4 of the SE/4, less nine acres sold to Rickey east of the Tchoutacabouffa River; and ten acres more or less in the NW/4 of the NW/4 east of Mississippi Highway No. 57.(HARCO, Ms. 1^st JD Land Deed Bk. 109, pp. 607-609)

Helen’s inheritance

     In April 1981, Audrey C. Lamey conveyed to herself and Helen Louise Lamey Moore, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, the following lands in Section 33, T6S-R9W: the NE/4 of the NW/4; SE/4 of the NW/4; W/2 of the NE/4; NE/4 of the SW/4, less one acre south of the Tchoutacabouffa River; NW/4 of the SE/4, less nine acres sold to Rickey east of the Tchoutacabouffa River; and ten acres more or less in the NW/4 of the NW/4 east of Mississippi Highway No. 57.(HARCO, Ms. 1^st JD Land Deed Bk. 109, pp. 349-350)

     Upon Audrey Lamey’s death in July 1997, Helen L. Moore Goff, inherited the family lands in Section 33, T6S-R9W.  The Lamey Cemetery is situated upon this acreage. 

Lamey Cemetery 2002

       In 2002, Helen L. Moore Goff has offered her two hundred plus acres of land for sale.  Developers have been creating subdivisions in this area for years and her land is valuable because of its desirable location on the Tchoutacabouffa River and its propinquity to Biloxi.  In June 2002, she and the family decided to enlarge the Lamey Cemetery from its present area to a larger outline.  Stakes have been set and the land will be surveyed soon.

REGISTER

            The following information on the Lamey Cemetery was provided to the family by Annie Hosli Lamey before her death in October 1949.  In addition to a listing of burials, Mrs. Lamey provided a location plat of graves in the cemetery.  Her original notations are in the possession of Helen L. Goff, her granddaughter.

1st Row (south to north)

John Lamey (1879-1946)

            John Lamey was born April 8, 1879, the son of Philip Lamey and Catherine Hudson.  He expired on May 22, 1946.

Elsie Irma Krohn Lamey (1892-1928)

            Elsie Irma Krohn was born May 4, 1892, the daughter of Frederick F. Krohn (1859-1919) and Mary Doyle Krohn (1860-1944).  She married John Lamey (1878-1946) on              .

 

Mildred Marie Lamey (1920-1928)

         Mildred Marie Lamey was the daughter of John Lamey (1878-1946) and Elsie Irma Krohn Lamey (1892-1928).  She was born on July 31, 1920 and died August 25, 1928.  Young Marie expired from severe burns acquired when her mother’s pear-cooking kettle overturned scalding both.  She was burned from head to toe.(The Daily Herald, August 25, 1928, p. 1)

Zeolide Lamey Parks(1873-1931)

            Zeolide Lamey was born on August 5, 1873.  She was the daughter of Philip Lamey and Catherine Hudson.  Zeolide married William C. Parks on May 14,1903, at her parent’s home on the Tchoutacabuffa River.  Judge James Latimer oficiated.(The Biloxi Herald, May 16, 1903, p. 8)

            W.C. Parks and Zeolide Lamey had two children: Jessie B. Parks (1903-1946) and Nellie Florence Parks (1910-1948).  Mrs. Parks expired on April 27, 1931.

2nd Row (south to north)

Mercede’s baby

Mercedes

Dude

Catherine “Katie” Hudson Lamey (1851 to pre-1900)

Philip Lamey (1837 to pre-1907)

Josephine Lamey (1884-1907)

Ed’s baby

Josephine Lamey (1884-1907)

            Josephine Lamey (1884-1907) was born in March 1884 to Philip Lamey and Kate Hudson.  She was the youngest of six? children.  Josephine expired on February 12, 1907 at a sanatorium.  She had been here for a month and may have been a victim of tuberculosis.  Josephine had never married and lived with her brothers on the Tchoutacabouffa River.  She was survived by four brothers and two sister.(The Biloxi Daily Herald, February 12, 1907, p. 1 and B’OK Bo. 1, p. 126)  

Ed’s baby

            Ed’s baby was the child of Philip Edward Lamey (1900-1981) and Alethia E. “Sis” Yeager Lamey (1911-2001).  He was a twin boy and stillborn on October 24, 1927.  His corporal remains with those of his father was removed from the Lamey Cemetery to the Pete Lamey Cemetery in Jackson County.(Bradford-O’Keefe Burial Bo. 16, p. 126 and Helen Lamey M. Goff, June 4, 2002)

3rd Row (north to south)

Lillie Cannette [Fayard] (1878-1936)

Peter Cannette (1854 –1930)

Annie Lamey Cannette (1853-1878+)

Dora Strayham

Alexander Lamey (1804-1890)

Hudson? Williams

 

Lillie Cannette

            Lillie Cannette (1878-1936) was born to Peter Cannette (1854-1930) and Annie Lamey (1853-1878), the daughter of Alexandre A. Lamey (1804-1890) and Darthula Latimer (1827-1876), on November 6, 1878.  She was baptized Sarah Lilia Cannette on December 28, 1878.  On January 20, 1900, Lillie married Armand Fayard (1870-1953), the son of Julian Fayard (1844-1915) and Julienne Fountain (1839-1924) in the St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Ocean Springs.  Armand Fayard was born July 18, 1870.  Lillie C. Fayard expired on June 19, 1936.  Armand lived until January 8, 1953.  His corporal remains were interred in the Fountain Cemetery in D’Iberville.(Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 6, p. 268 and Lepre, 1991, p. 49 and p. 107, Lepre, 1992, p. 262)

Peter Cannette

            Peter Cannette (1854-1930) was the son of Ramond Cannette (1822-1873+) and Marie-Eulalie Ryan (1834-1873+), the daughter of Pierre Ryan (1790-1878) and Marie-Josephine Ladner (1801-1844+).  He was reared in Jackson County, Mississippi on the land donation from his grandfather, Pierre Ryan, at Bayou Puerto.  In August 1863, an aging Pierre Ryan gave 24-acres in the W/2 of Governmental Lot 4, Section 13, T7S-R9W, which he had patented from the Federal government in 1831, to Ramond Cannette, his son-in-law. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. A, pp. 251-252)

Ramond Cannette was born Ramon Luis Canet on August 22, 1822, in Mahon, Menorca, the son of Ramon L. Canet (1795-1838) and Magdalena Manet (1799-1838+).  He left the Baeleric Islands, a Spanish possession in the Mediterranean Sea, with his parents in 1838, for New Orleans.  His father died in 1838 in New Orleans.  Ramond Cannette came to Biloxi in the early 1850s, probably as a sailor on a trading schooner. (Lepre, 1983, p. 

            At Bayou Puerto, Ramond Cannette made his livelihood from the sea and reared and with his spouse had a large family: Madeline Cannette (1849-1886) m. Louis Fountain (1838-1905); Raymond Cannette Jr. (1850-1908) m. Anne Fountain (1843-1891) and Marie Jeanne Fountain Batia (1846-1920); Pierre Cannette (1854-1930) m. Annie Lamey; Antoine Cannette (1855-1927) m. Cora Seymour (1857-1920); Joseph Cannette (1860-1950) m. Eloise Groue (1866-1952); Armand Cannette (1863-1948) m. Emilie Groue (1871-1963); Edouard Cannette (b. 1866) m. Lilly Bullock; Henry T. Cannette (b. 1870); and Marie Cannette (1873-1942) m. Beauregard Seymour (1873-1938) and Emile J. Pons. (The Ocean Springs Record, July 7, 2000, p. 8 and Lepre, 1983, pp. 61-68).

            In June 1874, Ramond Cannette and his wife sold their Bayou Puerto tract to Joseph Suarez (1842-1912) for $150.  Joseph Suarez (1842-1912), also a Spaniard, lived on the west side of Bayou Puerto.  He is the progenitor of the local Suarez family.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 15, p. 315)  

            Peter Cannette married Annie Lamey, the daughter of Alexandre Lamey (1804-1890) and Darthula Latimer (1827-1876) on February 26, 1874.  Their only child was    Sarah Lilia “Lilly” Cannette born November 6, 1878.  Lilly married Armand Fayard (1870-1953).  She expired on June 19, 1936.(Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 6, p. 268 and Lepre, 1991, p. 48)         

Dora Strayham

Alexander Lamy (1804-1890)

            Alexnader Lamy (1804-1890) was the progenitor of the

 

4^th Row (south to north)

Caroline Hosli

Henry Hosli

“Uncle Fritz”

“Uncle Fritz” was Frederick Hosli (1843-1882) a native of Ennenda, Canton Glarius, Switzerland.  In January 1871, he married Eliza Lamey (1852-1929), the daughter of Alexandre A. Lamey (1804-1890) and Darthula Latimer (1827-1876).  They were the parents of: Frederick “Fritz” Hosli (1873-1956), John Hosli (1875), Joseph M. Hosli (1879), William J. Hosli(1881), and Sarah I. Hosli (1883).

            Fritz Hosli made his livelihood burning charcoal.  After the demise of Fritz Hosli in October 1882, Eliza married William Jefferson Rushing (1861-1938) on September 21, 1883.(MRB 7, p. 443)

They were the parents of: Ruffis Rushing (1885-1900+), Charles J. Rushing (1886-1900+), ? Rushing (1890-1900+), and Robert Jesse Rushing (1893-1953).

 

Henry Hosli and Barbara Hosli

            Children of Henry Hosli and Barbara Hosli (1833-1900+): John B. Hosli (1858-1945) married Alethia Krohn (1861-1942); Joseph Hosli (1862-1946) married Mary V. Krohn(1867-1952); Katherine Hosli Krohn (1866-1946) married Moses Krohn (1864-1932); Annie Hosli (1869-1949) married Philip Lamey (1870-1953).(MRB 6, p. 30, B’OK 37/254)

Jacob Hosli and Salome Abbli

Jacob Hosli and Salome Abbli or Abbley (b. 1830) who immigrated to the United States circa 1856.  Their children: Rosina Hosli (1852-1937) married Casimir J. Harvey (1845-1905) on October 24, 1867; Jacob Hosli (1868-1948) married Mary Hamilton (1865-1936) on November 29, 1883; Margaret Hosli (1868-1938) married Henry Krohn (1861-1900+) on November 26, 1885;             

*(spellings of Hosli=Hoesly, Hosely, Hosley, Hossley, Housely, Husely, and Husley.

 

Rushing babies

 

Infants of Lona S. Lamey and August Lamey

            According to Annie Hosli Lamey, two babies of Lona Scarbrough O’Neal Lamey (1893-1975) and August Lamey were interred in the Lamey Cemetery.  Lona S. Lamey was born April 8, 1893, the daughter of William Scarbrough and Martha Rouse.  She married August Lamey on March 6, 1921.(HARCO, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 33, p. 50)

Lona expired on June 5, 1975.

5^th Row

Grannies baby

6^th Row

Bully babies

7^th Row

Alabama baby

The infants of Ira C. Hosli

            According to Annie Hosli Lamey, several infants of Ira Clifford Hosli (1907-1932) and Ruby Davis Hosli were interred in the Lamey Cemetery.  Ira Hosli was the son of Joseph Hosli (1865-1946) and Mary Virginia Krohn (1867-1952).  He married Ruby Davis of Lumberton, Mississippi in 1927.  They had a son who was born in 1929.  Ira Hosli was murdered on April 5, 1932 by Floyd E. Davis (1913-1996?), his brother-in-law.  Davis was exonerated for this crime because Hosli had been beating his wife with an iron rod, and the grand jury ruled that it was a justifiable homicide.  In November 1930, Ira Hosli had killed Lydia Albert (1925-1932), the daughter of Oscar Albert (1877-1938) and Eva Richard, when his truck hit her while playing on the steps of her house at one of the seafood workers’ camps on Back Bay.  He was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the tragic accident.  Hosli’s corporal remains were interred in the Bellande Cemetery at Ocean Springs.  His parents and a brother, Louis Wilmer Hosli (1905-1941), are also buried here.(The Daily Herald, April 6, 1932, p. 1 and April 8, 1932, p. 2)

Negro

            A Black crewman on a schooner expired and was buried in the Lamey Cemetery.

 

Other unmarked graves

John Wesley Lamey                                                                    

John Wesley Lamey was born on September 24, 1923 to Anthony Lamey (1862-1938) and Aline Krohn.  He expired on June 3, 1925.

Recent Burials

 

Linda Ann Graham Hebert                     

            Linda Graham Hebert (1938-1981) was born at Hattiesburg, Mississippi on June 11, 1938 to           John and                               .  She married Wiley Hebert.  Children: Rebecca H. Saucier, Amanda H. Fresche, Wiley Hebert Jr., and Charles Hebert.  She expired at Biloxi, Mississippi on February 14, 1981.(The Daily Herald, February 16, 1981, p. A-2)

David Ray Lamey                            

            David Ray Lamey (1958-1983) was born January 18, 1958, the son of                Lamey and            .  Expired on March 3, 1983.                        

George Apslin Lamey                       

            George A. Lamey was born on November 4, 1909, the son of Philip Lamey and Annie Hosli.  Died on August 10, 1985.

Fred W. “Pappy” Schlegel                        

Fred W. Schlegel (1915-1987) was born on February 15, 1905.  He lived to September 22, 1987.

Nell Marie McKenzie (1934-1996)                           

            Nell Marie Mauffray McKenzie (1934-1996) was born at Pass Christian, Mississippi on September 12, 1934, the daughter of Owen L. Mauffray (1903-1967) and Louella M. Davis Mauffray.  She married Verlon C. McKenzie (1931-1996) and was the mother of Connie M. Hebert, Tammy M. Mora, Michele M. Hall, and Verlon C. McKenzie Jr.  Nell was a resident of Biloxi and employed at the North Biloxi Moose Lodge.  She was a member of the Catholic Church, North Biloxi V.F.W., and North Biloxi Moose Lodge Ladies Auxilliary.  Mrs. McKenzie expired on July 18, 1996, from cancer.(The Sun Herald, July 21, 1996, p. B-2)

Eddie J. Hebert (1919-1997)

Eddie J. Hebert Sr. (1919-1997) was born on May 26, 1919 to

Died on October 13, 1997.

Ronald Dale Robinson Jr. (1964-1997)

Ronald Dale “Ronnie” Robinson Jr. was born on March 4, 1964 to Ronald Dale Robinson (b. 1941) and Millie Brewer.  He attended D’Iberville High School and worked for the City of Biloxi.  Ronnie married         and was the father of Logan Robinson and Fred Robinson.  His siblings were: Johnneene R. Gibson, Carley Robinson and Melissa Robisnson.  He attended the Cedar Lake Methodist Church.  Robinson expired on January 19, 1997.(The Sun Herald, January 20, 1997, p. C-2)                         

Sidney Laine Rolls                                    

            Sidney L. Rolls was born September 8, 1915.  Expired on March 21, 2000.

Justin William Lynch                        

            Born April 16, 1980.  Expired March 27, 2000.

 

Samuel Edward Moore (1941-2000)

            Samuel Edward “Sam” Moore (1941-2000) was born August 24, 1941, the son of Jesse Webster Moore and Elaine E. Moore Rolls, the widow of Sidney L. Rolls (1915-2000).  He married Helen Lamey (b. 1942), the daughter of William “Buck” Lamey (1908-1980) and Audrey C. Lamey (1911-1997), on May 19, 1961.  They were the parents of: Michelle Moore, William Jesse Moore, and Lisa Moore Waltman. (Harrison County, Ms. Circuit Court MRB 119, p. 100)

            Sam Moore made his livelihood in the auto salvage business.  He was a Jehovah Witness worshipping with the Lyman congregation.  In addition to membership in the Antique Car Club and National Knife Association, Sam Moore was charter member of the Dixieland Old Time Engineer and Agriculture Club.(The Sun Herald, July 7, 2000, p. A-7)

After his divorce from Helen Lamey, Sam Moore married Antoinette             .  They had two children: John Webster Moore, and Elizabeth Robinson.

Sam Moore expired on July 5, 2000.

 

Elnora “Joyce” Schlegel (1927-2006)

            Elnora Templet Schlegel was the daughter of Joseph Templet and Della Norton.  She married Fred Schlegel and they were the parents of: Frederick Todd Schlegel; Donna Marie Harvey; Alice D. Dobbs; and a foster daughter, Pammy Sue Beaugez.  Mrs. Schlegel worked in the seafood industry.  She founded the Latimer community’s Christmas Parade.  Joyce T. Schlegel expired at Ocean Springs, Mississippi on July 3, 2006.(The Sun Herald, July 4, 2006, p. A4)

 

REGISTER

 

C

Annie Lamey Cannette

Lillie Cannette                                           11-6-1878 to

Peter Cannette                                           1854 to 1-13-1930

son of Raymond Cannette and Mary Ryan            

 

H

Dorothy D. Riggle Hebert               8-15-1926 to 9-19-2009

Eddie J. Hebert Sr.                          5-26-1919 to 10-13-1997

PFC US Army

WW II

 

Linda Graham Hebert                      6-11-1938 to 2-14-1981

Wiley Mitchell Hebert Sr.                 1928 to 12-1-2003

 

Caroline Hosli

Frederick “Fritz” Hosli (1873-1956)   37/254

Henry Hosli

 

Frederick “Uncle Fritz” Husley                               12-1843 to 10-1882

 

L

Alexander Lamey (1804-1890)

 

Audrey Cleo Cruthirds Lamey                 2-25-1911 to 7-6-1997

William Jasper “Buck” Lamey                     1-5-1908 to 4-23-1980

 

David Ray Lamey                             1-18-1958 to 3-3-1983

 

George Apslin Lamey                        11-4-1909 to 8-10-1985

 

John Lamey                                       4-8-1878 to 9-5-1946

Elsie Irma (Krohn) Lamey               5-4-1892 to 8-25-1928

Mildred Marie Lamey                      7-31-1920 to 8-25-1928

Zeolide Lamey Parks                         8-5-1873 to 4-27-1931

Wife of               Parks   

 

John Wesley Lamey                            1-5-1925 to 12-23-1989

M SGT US Army

Korea-Vietnam

 

John Wesley Lamey                                                                     9-24-1923 to 6-3-1925

Son of Anthony Lamey (1862-1938) and Aline Krohn

 

Phillip “Dink” Lamey                      2-15-1870 to 6-18-1953

Annie Husley Lamey                         7-27-1869 to 10-28-1949

Baby Girl Lamey

 

Justin William Lynch                         4-16-1980 to 3-27-2000

 

M

Samuel Edward Moore                       8-24-1941 to 7-5-2000                      

 

Mc

Nell Marie McKenzie                             9-12-1934 to 7-18-1996

 

P

Zeolide Lamey Parks                              8-5-1873 to 4-27-1931

 

R

Edwina Lamey “Coot” Riggle                 12-28-1905 to 2-16-1980

Thomas E. Riggle                                      3-23-1925 to 6-12-1989

PVT US Army

WW II

Ronald Dale Robinson Jr. (1964-1997)

            Ronald Dale Robinson was born on March 4, 1964 to Ronald Dale Robinson (b.                 ) and                                 .  He expired on January 19, 1997.

                                       

Sidney Laine Rolls                         9-8-1915 to 3-21-2000

S

Fred W. “Pappy” Schlegel            2-15-1905 to 9-22-1987

Elnora “Joyce” Schlegel                1927 to 7-3-2006

Dora Strayham

 

REFERENCES:

 

Ray L. Bellande, “Wells-Mulholland Cemetery”, (Mississippi Coast Historical and Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume No. 27, No. 1-February 1991).

Nat Cassibry II, Early Mississippi Coast Families, The Ladner Odyssey, (Mississippi Coast Historical and Genealogical Society Quarterly, Special Issue No. 6-January1988).

Winston DeVille, Louisiana Troops 1720-1770, (Press: Ville Platte, Louisiana-197  ).

Jerome Lepre, S.C., Early Mississippi Coast Families, The Cannette-Moore Family, (Mississippi Coast Historical & Genealogical Society: Biloxi, Mississippi-1983).

Jerome Lepre, S.C., Early Mississippi Coast Families, The Krohn Family, (Lepre:  New Orleans-1989), pp. 52, 54, and 55.

Jerome Lepre, S.C., Catholic Church Records Diocese of Biloxi, Volume I, (Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi: Biloxi, Mississippi-1991).

Jerome Lepre, S.C., Gulf Coast Genealogy, The Fountain Family, (Lepre: New Orleans, Louisiana-1992).

Joseph O. Manuel Jr., “Notes on The Lamey Family”, (Mississippi Coast Historical and Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume No. 11, No. 1-February 1975).

Chancery Court Cases

Harrison County, Mississippi Chancery Court Case No. 10074, “The Last Will and Testament of William Jasper Lamey, aka Buck Lamey”, July 1980.

Journals

The Biloxi Daily Herald, “City News”-(Parks-Lamey), May 16, 1903.

The Biloxi Daily Herald, “Deaths”, February 12, 1907.

The Daily Herald, “New Bridges For New Roadway To Ramsay Springs”, August 20, 1913.

The Daily Herald, “Good Progress Made In Road Work”, August 27, 1913.

The Daily Herald, “Ira Hosli Killed by Brother-in-law in North Biloxi”, April 6, 1932.

The Daily Herald, “Ira Hosli’s Funeral”, April 8, 1932.

The Daily Herald, “P.B. Lamey Dies”, December 27, 1932.

The Daily Herald, “Tony Lamey Dies”, July 28, 1938.

The Daily Herald, “Mrs. Annie Lamey Dies”, October 29, 1949.

The Daily Herald, “Mrs. Linda Ann Hebert”, February 16, 1981.

The Ocean Springs Record, “Bayou Puerto: A pre-Gulf Hills Chronology, Part XIII, July 7, 2000.

The Sun Herald, “Fred ‘Pappy’ Schlegel”, September 23, 1987.

The Sun Herald, “Nell Marie McKenzie”, July 21, 1996.

The Sun Herald, “Ronald D. Robinson Jr.”, January 20, 1997.

The Sun Herald, “Eddie John Hebert Sr.”, October 14, 1997.

The Sun Herald, “Samuel Edward Moore”, July 7, 2000.

The Sun Herald, “Elnora ‘Joyce’ Schlegel”, July 4, 2006.

The Sun Herald, "Mrs. Dorothy Hebert", September 21, 2008.

The Sun Herald

Personal Communications:

E.J. Hebert Jr., June 4, 2002.

Helen Lamey Moore Goff, 13296 Lamey Bridge Road, June 4, 2002 (228-392-8402)

William Moore, June 4, 2002.

Charles Simon, June 11, 2002.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________

QUAVE CEMETERY

D’Iberville, Harrison County, Mississippi

QUAVE CEMETERY

[image made August 4, 2006]

LOCATION:  Section 22, T7S-R9W, Harrison County, Mississippi.

DIRECTIONS: From “Five Points”, the intersection of Central Avenue, Gorenflo Road, and Race Track Road in the city of D’Iberville, Mississippi go northwest on that part of Race Track Road, which was formerly Cedar Lake Road for about 500 feet.  The Quave Cemetery is situated off Race Track Road about 200 feet to the southwest.  It is reached from Race Track Road by an unpaved road.

HISTORY: The name Quave is well established on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and very prevalent in the D'Iberville community.  Pierre "Parik" Baptiste Cuevas (1808-1889), the son of Spanish immigrant, Juan de Cuevas (1774-1849) and Marie Helene Ladner (1775-1853), is the forebear of the Quave name as it became known at Back Bay, now D’Iberville, and Biloxi. Pierre Cuevas had lived at Cat Island, and on the Jourdan and Wolf Rivers before moving to Biloxi in 1834.  In sworn depositions in the Harrison County Chancery litigation,“Laroissini vs. Heirs of Carco”, Cuevas stated: "in 1834, I moved to Biloxi and there resided until the year 1847".  At Biloxi, he operated a market on Lameuse Street.(Cassibry II, 1986, p. 24) 

Also in October 1834, Pierre Cuevas acquired a tract of land from Dominique Ladner on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi in the southeast corner of the Dominique Ladner Claim, Section 22 T7S-R9W.  The consideration was One Hundred and Eighty Dollars ($180.00).  This transaction is recorded in Harrison County Land Deed Book 2, pages 193-194 as follows:  "all that certain parcel of land, with its appurtenances, situated in the said County of Hancock, measuring nine arpents (1728') front on the said Bay of Biloxi, by thirty five arpents (6720') deep be the same more or less, bounded on the East by land belonging to Emanuel Sanchez, on the West by land belonging to the Seller, on the North by public lands, on the South, by the said Bay of Biloxi".

       When Cuevas left Biloxi in 1847, it is believed he moved to Jackson County where he had acquired forty acres in the SE/4 of the NE/4 of Section 14, T7S-R9W in 1846.  This parcel is in the western portion of Gulf Hills.  In the 1860s, he moved to St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana and started a new life with Marie Arsene Ladner LaForce who bore him seven.(Cassibry II, 1988, p. 867-872)

Pierre Baptiste Cuevas's first family with Marie Louise Ladner (1810-1888) was quite large: Peter Simon Quave (1828-1862) married Anna Mallett (1828-1904): Christopher L. Quave (1829-1862) married Elizabeth Mallette and Delphine Moran, the widow of Benjamin Seaman; Ursant Quave (1835-1889) married Mamie Sarah Davis (1840-1908); Louise Quave (1838-1916) married Vincent Peter Mallette and Maximilian Garlotte; Josephine (Zoe) Quave (1841-1912) married Jules Guilotte (1836-1910); Francoise Emilie “MiMi” Quave (b. 1843) married Yvon Garec; Caroline Louise Quave (b. 1845) married Sherrod Seymour;  John Warne Quave (1847) married Victoria Garlott and Lorena Lavinghouse; Celestine Quave (1849-1917) married Francois Fournier;  Clementine Quave (b. 1849) married John Noble; and Isabella Quave (1851-1920) married Thomas Garlotte.(Cassibry, 1988, pp. 111-116)

      These Quave children remained in the Back Bay or Fort Bayou area north of Ocean Springs.  Peter Simon Quave (1826-1862) ran a large mercantile store at Back Bay until the Civil War.  He and brother, Christopher L. Quave (1829-1862), who was Sheriff of Harrison County from 1856 to1862, were killed in that conflict.  The descendants of Peter Simon Quave were merchants at Back Bay for almost one hundred years operating stores near the bay front.

      In March 1860, Pierre Quave divided some of his land at Back Bay and sold it to his twelve children. This tract ran west from the land of John Foretich for 1343 feet along the bay front and then north to Section 9, T7S-R9W.  A cemetery for the internment of Quave family members was later reserved within this 185-acre parcel. 

In March 1890, the land for what would become the Quave Cemetery was described in Harrison County, Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 9, pp. 257-258, as: There is a reserve made for a graveyard commencing at a point between the property of Emily (Quave) Garec and the herein surveyed land strikes the road of twenty feet herein reserved, thence running east along said road one-half arpent, thence south one arpent, thence west one-half arpent, thence north to the place of beginning”.

Hurricane Katrina

Katrina did extensive damage to the Quave Cemetery as the storm surge inundated most of the community.  Eight caskets were displace from tombs and dispersed by the late August 2006 tempest.  FEMA and MEMA funded five new tombs to secure a resting place for the storm scattered caskets.  Fortress Personal Mausoleums was awarded the $20,000 contract.  A small ceremony was planned at the Quave Cemetery on the afternoon of June 2, 2006.(The Sun Herald, June 1, 2006, p. A6)

REGISTER

B

Agnes Borries                                 1889 to 9-15-1967

Theodore Oscar Borries                 1-21-1888 to 12-21-1918  f. Theodore Borries   m. Annie Quave

Denise Lynn Bullock                      10-15-1953 to 12-18-1954  f. Harvey Bullock  m. Gloria D. Quave

D

Delmas Diaz                          7-14-1878 to 1-14-1953   f. Joseph Diaz   m. Idell Santa Cruz

Maggie G. Diaz                     8-9-1883 to 5-29-1967

F

Alfred E. Fournier   11-14-1897 to 9-25-1944

Benjamin G. Fournier    5-18-1904 to 7-2-1991

Celestine Cuevas Fournier      1849-1917

Francis Fournier     1804-1896

Lavenia Fournier   1872-1884

Ray F. Fournier      1-5-1917 to 4-26-1975

Velma Moran Fournier 1-6-1909 to 5-28-1982

G

Napoleon Guilotte                 7-26-1875 to 2-7-1949

Zoline Seymour Guilotte      1-1-1881 to 4-8-1923

K

Ada Mae Krohn        2-17-1928 to 5-4-1930

John F. Krohn            9-16-1898 to 4-7-1929

John Preston Krohn     1865-1935

 

Mary Ann Wells Krohn and children     1870-1926

L

Cecile Seymour Lepre        2-1-1869 to 3-11-1929  f. Lazarus Seymour   m. Martha Fayard

M

Helen Moran Mallett         8-8-1928 to 1-24-2001

Minnie Seymour Manuel    7-22-1878 to 12-29-1927

William G. Manuel             5-26-1872 to 2-14-1940  

Mother?     3-17-1849 to 7-1893

Elsie Moran                  10-21-1918 to

Esprance Murray Moran           9-26-1884 to 2-9-1962

Fred Quave Moran            12-29-1918 to 6-15-1981

George Matt Moran       11-19-1932 to 12-13-1968

George M. Moran       4-2-1911 to 6-7-1965

Helen Moran Mallett             8-8-1928 to 1-24-2001

John Roy Moran Sr.         7-20-1929 to 5-24-1977

Marie Trochessett Moran     1-25-1860 to 4-23-1942

Matthew Moran                    5-20-1880 to 6-9-1958                            

Milton W. Moran                   1937 to 12-13-1943

Murry Moran                         12-13-1916 to 9-2-1995

Noll Phillip Moran                  5-7-1907 to 6-12-1965

Ola Mae Robinson Moran    2-4-1911 to 12-6-2005

Olga Founier Moran        6-17-1912 to 12-11-2007

Q

Alena M. Quave                  1889 to 11-15-1968

Carey Francis Quave             9-15-1924 to to 6-11-2006

Darrell George Quave           2-16-1902 to 12-14-1956

Josephine Seymour Quave       4-19-1859 to 8-30-1954

Katie Starks Quave             3-10-1888 to 2-12-1940

Lawrence John Quave            9-22-1880 to 1-29-1961

Lazarus Quave                  5-3-1888 to  2-7-1961

Leonide M. Fayard Quave        6-12-1882 to 2-7-1965

Leslie J. Quave Sr.            4-15-1905 to 8-17-1994

Lillie O. Jouillian Quave      2-12-1902 to 9-15-1973

Luther Gordon Quave         1927 to 3-28-2004 (obit says Quave Cemetery? in Latimer)

Mary G. Quave              4-26-1855 to 4-12-1877

Mary Ruth Wall Bounds Quave   1-18-922 to 12-16-2004   f. William Wall m. Clara Collins

Melvin M. Quave 12-28-1911 to 3-23-1992    f. Lawrence Quave  m. Leonide M. Fayard

Neta Carroll Quave             6-14-1931 to 12-13-1997

Raymond John Quave              10-1851 to 10-2-1908

Randolph Quave                12-2-1888 to 12-3-1902

R

Jeral J. Reaux                            10-12-1932 to 7-17-1991

S

Adolph F. Santa Cruz                 8-22-1878 to 6-17-1972

Emma A. Quave Santa Cruz      1-19-1881 to 8-25-1954   f. Raymond Quave  m. Josephine Seymour

Mildred Margaret Santa Cruz   11-5-1904 to 11-6-1996

Aline T. Seymour                         2-2-1900 to 9-20-1980

Barbara M. Seymour                  10-1-1896 to 12-20-1964

Bernard Seymour                        2-5-1911 to 4-12-1916

Blanche Seymour                        5-27-1884 to  2-4-1970

Carl Omer Seymour                    8-5-1915 to 8-25-1915   f.  Leon Seymour  m.  Blanche ?

Cecil Seymour                             2-1-1869 to 3-11-1929 

Eula May Lawrence Seymour    1-13-1901 to 2-27-1937  f. Christopher Lawrence    m. Laura Diaz

Edgar Peter Seymour                  12-16-1880 to 12-15-1943 (unmarked) f. Calvin Seymour m. Elizabeth Mulholland

Francis Augustus "Gussie" Seymour     10-7-1885 to 1-22-1905

Glen J. Seymour                          4-16-1921 to 1-20-1965  f. Edgar Peter Seymour

Glen Randall"Randy" Seymour  Sr.     1958 to 6-23-2001    f. Francis Seymour  m. Melanie Bass                       

Gussie Seymour                           10-1885 to 1-22-1905 [see The Biloxi Daily Herald, January 22, 1905, p. 5)

Laura Quave Seymour                5-29-1875 to 11-24-1965

Lee M. Seymour                          1-2-1898 to 1-21-1948  f. Moses Seymour  m. Laura Quave

Leon C. Seymour                         5-18-1878 to 4-29-1954   f. Pliny Seymour  m. Malinda Quave

Lindus Joseph Seymour              2-11-1928 to 1-24-1995

Longino L. Seymour                     3-9-1901 to 10-13-1936  f. Moses L. Seymour  m. Laura Quave

Loretta Ann Seymour                   2-28-1954 to 11-18-1954   f. Lee Seymour  m. Lillie R. Martino

Loucille I. Seymour                       5-15-1902 to 8-31-1984

Lyle William Seymour                   9-1-1959 to 7-4-1973

Lyman L. Seymour                       9-10-1907 to 2-19-1954   f. Leon C. Seymour  m. Josephine ?

Mary Agnes Seymour                  4-14-1893 to 7-1-1979

Malinda E. Quave Seymour         1-7-1855 to 1-3-1896

Mildred Elizabeth Seymour          7-7-1904 to 3-13-1910

Moses Lazarus Seymour             1-31-1871 to 5-16-1928    f. Lazarus Seymour  m. Martha Fayard

Nanette Seymour                         12-3-1924 to 12-31-1925  f. Alphonse Seymour  m. Effie Holley

Ola Alphonsine Seymour              8-15-1918 to 12-6-1918 (unmarked)  f. Edgar Peter Seymour   m. Ida R. Quave

Pliney Alexis Seymour                  9-1852 to 2-17-1902 (unmarked)

Rita Joyce Seymour                      2-21-1926 to 12-5-1926  f. Leon C. Seymour  m. Blanche

T 

Edith Fayard Trochesset       12-5-1885 to 7-10-1958

John Trochesset                     7-24-1840 to 8-14-1903

John Victor Trochesset Sr.    12-31-1913 to 8-14-1996

Emma 'Sue' Agnes Trochesset        11-5-1920 to 10-25-2010

Phillip John Trochessett         10-5-1875 to 1-1-1979

Raymond Trochessett             1923-1925

W

Anna C. Wells                             2-22-1887 to 6-7-1907                        

Euclean W. Wells                        7-5-1880 to 5-8-1909

Jane A. Wells                               3-17-1849 to 7-13-1893

Leona M. Wells                          4-9-1900 to 3-3-1927 

Mary Ann Wells                         1870-1926

 

Surveyed and researched by: Ray L. Bellande and Mike Seymour, Rt. 1, Box 231-A, Porterville, Mississippi 39352.

 

REFERENCES:

Nap L. Cassibry II, Early Settlers and Land Grants at Biloxi, Volume II, Special Issue 5, (Mississippi Coast History and Genealogical Society: Biloxi, Mississippi-November 1986).

Nap L. Cassibry II, The Ladner Odyssey, Special Issue No. 6, (Mississippi Coast Nap L. Cassibry II, (Mississippi Coast History and Genealogical Society: Biloxi, Mississippi-January 1988).

Journals

The Biloxi Daily Herald, "City Paragraphs (Gussie Seymour)", January 23, 1905.

The Daily Herald, "Infant Dies (Carl Omer Seymour)", August 27, 1915, p. 2.

The Daily Herald, "Mrs. (Cecile) Lepre Dies", March 18, 1929, p. 2.

The Daily Herald, "Longino Seymour Died This Morning", October 13, 1936, p. 5.

The Daily Herald, "Mrs. [Katie Starks] Quave dies", February 13, 1940, p. 6.

The Daily Herald, "Bullock Child Dies (Denise Lynn Bullock)", December 20, 1954, p. 18.

The Daily Herald, "Mrs. Agnes Borries", September 15, 1967, p. 2.

The Sun Herald, "Melvin M. Quave", March 2?, 1992, p. ?

The Sun Herald, "Helen Moran Mallett", January 26, 2001, p. A-9.   

The Sun Herald, "Glenn R. Seymour Sr.", June 25, 2001, p. A-5.

The Sun Herald, "Luther Gordon Quave", March 28, 2004, p. A-10.

The Sun Herald, "Mary Ruth Wall Bounds Quave", December 19, 2004.

The Sun Herald, "Group works to restore tombs", June 1, 2006, p. A5.

The Sun Herald, "Caskets back in cemetery", June 7, 2006, p. A7.

______________________________________________

WELLS-MULLHOLLAND CEMETERY

by 
Ray L. Bellande

January 1991

Wells-Mullholland Cemetery

[images made December 1990 by Ray L. Bellande]

LOCATION:  Sections 5 and 8, T7S-R9W of Harrison County, Mississippi approximately 4.3 miles NNW of the old Biloxi Public Library on Lameuse Street and Jackson.

DIRECTIONS:  From the I-110 Bridge across the Back Bay of Biloxi going north from Biloxi take the Rodrigues Street exit.  Make a left turn onto Rodrigues Street and go NW .42 miles to 7th Avenue.  Turn right and go N .66 miles to D'Iberville Boulevard.  Turn left onto D'Iberville and proceed NW .90 miles to Gay Road north of I-10.  Turn right on Gay Road and go E .25 miles to Hidden River Road.  At Hidden River Road go left (north and east) approximately .36 miles to its termination at the home of Marvin A. Eunice at 12056 Hidden River Road.  It is recommended that Mr. Eunice be contacted and permission sought before entering the cemetery grounds as it is located in a semi-dense thicket of small pines, oaks, shrubs, and vines immediately southeast of his home.

HISTORY:  The Wells-Mulholland Cemetery is named for Berry Wells (1812-1876) and James Mulholland (1823-1873+).  Berry Wells was born in Kentucky and is believed to have arrived in Mississippi about 1836 with his family.  He received several patents from the US Government on lands (Section 5, T7S-R9W) in eastern Hancock County, now Harrison County.  In the Federal Census of 1850, Wells appears to be a widower and has four children living with him (three Kentucky born).  They were: Sarah Wells (b. 1832), George Wells (b. 1836), Rebecca Wells (b. 1836), and Angeline Wells (b. 1840 in Mississippi).  His wife, a New Yorker, must have died in the 1840s.  From other census data, it could be deduced that he had another Kentucky born child, Johanna (b. 1834), who is not listed with him in the 1850 Census as she is married to Alexander Todd.  His occupation was mariner. 
         From the Land and Deed records and Chancery Court information of Harrison County, Berry Wells settled on the Tchoutacabuffa River on 40 acres described as the SE/4 of the SE/4 of Section 5, T7S-R9W.  Through the years, he acquired land in Section 32, T6S-R9W and Sections 4, 5, 8, and 9 of T7S-R9W, all in Harrison County. 
         It is believed Berry Wells operated a ferry on the Tchoutacabuffa River until 1857 at a location at or near the present day Lamey’s Bridge, which was built in 1913.  In 1857, he entered into a lease agreement with John Baptiste Foretich (1813-1875), his son-in-law.  The term of the lease was three years and consisted of property described as: My old store, house, and other out houses situated on the Back Bay of Biloxi known as Foretich's Store.  In the same transaction, he purchased a skiff called the L. Rebecca with sails for $225 and all of Foretich's groceries and dry goods for  $450.(Harrison County, Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 8, p. 190).

       Berry Wells married Louisa L. Rhodes in Harrison County on January 31, 1864.  This union produced two children: Mary Frances Wells Creel (1872-1935) and Clara Wells (b. 1876).  It is not known how long Wells ran the store at Back Bay, but it can be implied from the following order by the Board of Harrison County Police that he was active in the community:  Berry Wells be and is hereby appointed overseer of the road from the ferry on Back Bay of Biloxi to Tchoutacabuffa River at Wells Old Ferry thence to intersect the Three Notch Road at or near Henry's negro shanty.(Harrison Co., Mississippi Board of Police Minute Book 2, June Term 1866, p. 202).

      An insight into the love and esteem Berry Wells held for his young wife, Louisa, who was thirty-six years younger than himself is demonstrated in his will dated April 12, 1876.  He bequeathed her for and during her natural life his homestead property with some surrounding tracts of land consisting of approximately 240 acres described as follows: W/2 of the SE/4 of Section 5, T7S-R9W, W/2 of the NE/4 of Section 8, T7S-R9W, SE/4 of NE/4 of Section 8, T7S-R9W, and the NE/4 of SE/4 of Section 5, T7S-R9W.  In addition, he willed her all of his stock, household and kitchen furniture, and all other personal property he possessed at his death. (HARCO, Ms. Chancery Court Will Book 1, p. 132) 
      Berry Wells legated to his children with his first wife the remainder of his real estate estimated to be about one thousand acres in Harrison County.  Louisa Wells was also given timber rights on these lands if she needed them to support her children.  She was also named executrix of his will.  Berry Wells died on June 17, 1876.  His widow, Louisa Rhodes Wells, married Antoine Lamey, a ferryman in Harrison County on August 21, 1878.

Tombstone of Sarah Wells Steele (1832-1880)                    Grave caving?

[image made December 1990]                   [image made December 1990]

Wells children

 Sarah Wells (1832-1880), the eldest child of Berry Wells, married James Dowdle in Harrison County on December 27, 1853.  He presumably died before the 1860 Census as she is living with her father at this time.  Between the years 1860-1870, Sarah Wells married an immigrant, Irish farmer, John Steele.  From the Federal Census data, he appeared to be a widower having been married to Rebecca Steele in 1850.  She was also Irish, and they appear to have two sons: James Steele (b. 1852) and John Steele (b. 1855).  During the February Term of 1866, the Harrison County Board of County Police granted John Steele a license to operate a public ferry across the Back Bay of Biloxi.  About 1868, he assigned his ferry rights to Ramon J. Quave (1852-1908), who would become known as "the father of the village of Seymour (D'Iberville)". 
         On May 13, 1868, the Steeles purchased a tract of land on the north shore of Back Bay from the State of Mississippi.  It is described from the Deed Records of Harrison County as:  The Mill Property consisting of 65 acres in Section 18 T7S-R9W.  This tract was two arpents fronting on the Bay of Biloxi by 35 arpents more or less in depth between parallel lines; Joseph Moran to the west, John L. Henley to the north, and Pierre Quave to the east.(Harrison County, Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 11, p. 95).

       This site became known as Steele's Landing and in the 1870 US Census, John Steele is shown to be a retail grocer in the village of Back Bay.  He does not appear in the 1880 US Census.  Wife, Sarah, died in November 1880, and is buried in the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery. 
       

Johanna Wells (b. 1834), the second child of Berry Wells, appears to have been born in Indiana.  She married an older Scottish immigrant mariner, Alexander Todd (b. 1813), in Harrison County on October 24, 1847.  They had a large family which consisted of the following Todd children: Alexander Todd, Jr. (1850-1880+), James (1852-1880+), Mary (b.1857), Susan (b. 1855), Berry Todd (1857-1880+), Rebecca (b. 1859), Sarah (1863-1880+) and George A. Todd (1865-1880+)  In 1880, Alexander Todd, Jr., was married with family and domicled with and near his brothers, James Todd, Berry Todd, and George A. Todd, at Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana.  Here the Todd brothers farmed and made charcoal.  Nothing more is known of the Todds except that Sarah Todd, the youngest daughter, was living with her uncle, George H. Wells, in 1880.  

George H. Wells (1836-1899) married Jane Ann Brown (1850-1890+), a Mississippian born of English parents, on August 3, 1866 in Harrison County.  This union produced the following Wells chi1dren: George Wells, Jr. (1867-1908), a farmer who would marry Harriet Krohn in 1901; John Wells (b. 1869); Mary Ann Wells (b. 1871) who would marry John P. Krohn in 1891; Charles Wells (1872-1950); Sennett Wells (b. 1875); Hugh Wells (b.1876); Sarah Wells  (b. 1878); Eugene Wells (b. 1880); Theresa Wells (b. 1881); Maggie Wells (b. 1884);Samuel Wells (b. 1886); Annie Wells (b. 1888); and Lena or Leona Mable Wells (1890-1927).  George H. Wells Sr. expired at his home on the Tchoutacabouffa River on January 5, 1899.(The Biloxi Daily Herald, January 8, 1899, p. 1 and The Daily Herald, March 28, 1908, p. 8)
     

Rebecca Wells (1836-1874+) married John Baptiste Foretich (1810-1875) on January 6, 1855 in Harrison County.  They reared: Anthony (b. 1856), Vincent, Mary (b. 1858), George (b. 1862), William, Isabella, and Joseph (b. 1874). 
     

Angeline Well, the youngest child of Berry Wells and his first wife, was born in Mississippi in 1840.  She married Andrew J. Shaw (1830-1866), a native of Palmer, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1858.  Their children were: Samuel Shaw (1861-1904), Mary Shaw (b. 1863), John Shaw (b. 1864), and Annie Shaw (1866-1867).  Andrew J. Shaw and his daughter, Annie, are buried in the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery.  Samuel Shaw operated the steam ferry Sam between Biloxi and Back Bay (D'Iberville) in the late 1890s.

Jefferson Davis Mulholland

      Jefferson Davis ‘Jeff’ Mulholland was born at Back Bay on July 21, 1861.  His parents were James Mulholland (1823-1873+) and Margaret Mayers Mulholland (1817-1873+), Irish immigrants.  Little is presently known about his parents, but a tombstone in the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery would seem to indicate that two of his brothers, James Joseph Mulholland (d. June 1, 1858, age 2 years and 10 mos.) and Robert Mulholland (d. July 9, 1858, age 11 mos.), and a sister, Margaret Jane Mulholland (d. July 20, 1858, age 14 years, 11 mos.), probably died of yellow fever in the summer of 1858.  A sister, Kate Mulholland (1857-1931), married Nicolas Voivedich Jr. (1850-1937).  Two additional Mulholland children are known: Elizabeth Mulholland Seymour (1859-1936), the spouse of Calvin Seymour (1850-1922), and Agnes Mulholland Ward (1873-1942). 
        Jeff Mulholland married Margaret Celina Harvey (b. 1870) in 1888.  She was the eldest daughter of Back Bay shipbuilder and merchant, Casimir J. Harvey (1845-1904) and Rosina Hosli (1852-1937).  Jeff and Margaret had one child, Peter Mulholland (1889-1974). 
       In about 1888, Jeff Mulholland and Ramon Quave opened a mercantile store near Back Bay.  After he was bought out by Quave, he organized the Imperial Seafood Company of Seymour, Mississippi at a site on Back Bay purchased from his mother-in-law, Rosina Harvey, in 1911.  Mulholland was also actively engaged in real estate, finance, and construction.             

Cemetery

       In 1926, J.D. Mulholland, John Krohn, Charles Wells, and Arthur Richards purchased from the L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company the following described land:  That certain lot or parcel of land situated in the SE/4 of SE/4 of Section 5, T7S-R9W, Harrison County, Mississippi, which is now being used as a settlement graveyard, and is to be used solely for a burial ground, containing one-half acre.(Harrison County, Mississippi Land Deed Bk. 159, p. 113).

     The relationship between Krohn, Wells, and Richards is as follows: John P. Krohn (b. 1866) was married to Mary Ann Wells (b. 1871).  She was the daughter of George H. Wells (1836-1898) and Jane Brown (1850-1890+).  Charles Wells (b. 1873) was the son of George H. Wells (1836-1898) and the brother-in-law of John Krohn.  Arthur Richards (b. 1877) was the son of Edmond (Edward) Richards and Angeline Wells (b. 1840).  She was the daughter of Berry Wells and sister of George Wells.  Everett Richard (1881-1895) who is buried in the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery is likely the brother of Arthur Richards.             

Prior survey

A survey of the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery was made in 1969, probably prior to Hurricane Camille, by Mrs. Emma Randazzo and Mrs. Minnie W. Atkins.(Mississippi Gulf Coast Historical and Genealogical Society-Volume 6, May 1972, p. 16).  The results of this survey follow:

REGISTER

Rebecca Wells Foretich, 4-18-1836 to ? 
Mary J. Havens, wife of E.D. Havens, d. October 1, 1921 
at Meridian, Mississippi, age 26 
Mary M. and James Mulholland 
James Joseph Mulholland, d. 6-1-1858, age 2 yrs., 10 mos. 
Robert Mulholland, d. 7-9-1858, age 11 mos. 
Margaret Jane Mulholland, d. 7-20-1858, age 14 yrs., 10 mos. 
Everett Richards, 2-21-1881 to 3-17-1895 
Annie Shaw, 10-15-1866 to 5-?-1867 
A.J. Shaw, born in Palmer, Mass. 1-10-1830 to 9-5-1866 
Sarah Wells Steele, 3-27-1832 to 11-?-1880 
Berry Wells, 10-20-1812 to 6-17-1876 
George H. Wells Sr., 4-18-1836 to 1-2-1898 [The Biloxi Daily Herald, January 8, 1899, p. 8 says that George Wells passed on January 5, 1899]
George H. Wells Jr. 1867 to 3-28-1908 [The Daily Herald, March 28, 1908, p. 8 says that George Wells passed on March 28, 1908]
Ida Cruthirds Wells, 7-16-1884 to 5-18-1918 
Lillian Wells, 6-26-1905 to 7-27-1907 
 

         The status of these sacred grounds today is deplorable.  The Wells-Mulholland Cemetery is in a state of gross negligence having suffered through two major hurricanes in recent years as well as having been overtaken by shrub and tree growth.  There are signs of vandalism as well, i.e. displacement of tombstones, probable removal of tombstones, and the possibility that at least one grave has been violated.  A recent survey by Murella Hebert Powell and Ray L. Bellande on December 22, 1990 revealed only four remaining tombstones at the cemetery site of which only that of Sarah Steele appears in situ.  The study of Randazzo-Atkins (1969) would seem to indicate that there might have been thirteen markers in the cemetery. 
            Three interesting observations were made at the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery by Powell-Bellande.

(1)  The tombstones of Sarah Steele, Everett Richard, and probably that of Annie Shaw? were constructed from a dense, very fine grained, gray brown sandstone which has occasional scattered pebbles in the matrix.  The words Kursheedt N.O. are carved in the sandstone.  Colonel Edwin L. Kursheedt (1838-1906) was a partner in the firm of Kursheedt & Bienvenu, a marble works in New Orleans.  The firm was known for its monuments, tombs, and mantels and built the marble stairway at the U.S. Custom House (1883).

(2)  There is a burial area approximately 40 feet x 7 feet covered with sandstones slabs similar to that of the tombstones.  The grave marker for the Mulholland children which appears to be of marble construction was found lying adjacent to this feature.  This mausoleum ? may have been the burial site for several people.

(3)  There are several caved in areas which may represent gravesites.  One gravesite appears to have been entered.

    It would be a wonderful project to restore and preserve what remains of the Wells-Mulholland Cemetery.  The Wells and Mulholland Family and their descendants are certainly an integral part of the history of Back Bay, Seymour, D'Iberville, and Harrison County.  This fact is very evident in the written and oral historical record of the region.

 

Wells-Mullholland Cemetery

[images made February 2010 by Ray L. Bellande]

2010 Wells-Mullholland-In 2008-2009, serious encroachment began on this small historic family cemetery with the construction of the Promenade shopping arena anchored by Target and Best Buy situated on the northwest corner of US Interstate 10 and Mississippi Highway No. 15.  In the 1990s, a motel and gasoline station were erected on the east side of the Wells-Mullholland Cemetery fronting on Mississippi Highway No. 15 and west of the Sangani Boulevard where a large shopping complex anchored by Lowe's and a Super WalMart had been since the late 1980s.  Homes along Hidden River Road were demolished in 2009 as the Promenade continued it s growth north towards Cypress Creek.

REFERENCES:

Encyclopedia of New Orleans Artists 1718-1918, (The Historic New Orleans Collection), p. 218.

Mississippi Coast History & Genealogical Society, 'Wells Cemetery, Tchoutacabouffa River', Volume 6, May 1972.

The Biloxi Daily Herald, "Local and Personal", January 8, 1899.

The Daily Herald, "Necrology-George Wells", March 28, 1908.

The Daily Herald, "New Bridges for New Roadway to Ramsay Springs", August 20, 1913, p. 1. 
The Daily Herald, "Jeff Mulholland Dies", June 3, 1930, p. 2. 
The Jackson County Times, "Local and personal", October 8, 1921. 
U.S. Census 1840-1910.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

NOTES on D’IBERVILLE, MISSISSIPPI

A HISTORY OF D'IBERVILLE

(1699-1992)

 I.   EARLY DAYS (1699-1861)

     A. Discovery (Bienville - 1699)

     B. Settlement (1699-1820)                              

         1.   French, French Canadian, Spanish, and Creoles

             a.   Mrs. Elizabeth Baudrau

             b.   Ladnier

                  1.   Joseph Mathurin (Section 37 T7S-R10W)

                  2.   Joseph Ladnier (Section 23 T7S-R9W)

                  3.   John B. Ladnier (Section 16 T7S-R9W)

                  4.   Dom. Ladnier (Section    T7S-R9W)

             c.   Louis A. Caillavet (Section 21 T7S-R9W)

             d.   Louis Groue

             e.   Joseph Morin II

             f.   Pierre Coeuve (Quave)

             g.   Lazarus Seymour

             h.   Gollott   

             i.   Lamey

             j.   Fournier

     C. European Immigrants (1820-1861)

        1.   France

             a.   Pierre Harvey

             b.   Francois Fontaine

             c.   Vital Tiblier

             d.   Robert Delauney

             e.   Antoine Bellande

             f.   Boney

             g.   Desporte

             h.   Bernard

             i.   Jacques Batia

             j.   Rousseau

             k.   Beaugez

        2.   Spain

             a.   Emmanuel Sanchez

             b.   Jose Santa Cruz

             c.   Nicolas Taltavull

             d.   Jose Basque

             e.   Juan Rodrigues

             f.   Ramon Cannette

             g.   Anglado

             i.   Pedro Perez

        3.   Switzerland

             a.   Hosli

             b.   Joseph and Fritz Abbley

             c.   Peter Lienhard

             d.   Scherer

        4.   Ireland

             a.   James Mulholland

             b.   John Steele

             c.   O'Neal

        5.   Yugoslavia

            

             a.   John Foretich

             b.   Nicolas Voivedich (b. Spain)

             Germany

              a.  John Henry Krohn

             Italy

             Lepre

             USA (Eastern seaboard)

             a.   Bond

             b.   Blackwell

             c.   Cruthirds

             d.   Elder

             e.   Herrington

             f.   Holley

             g.   Henry

             h.   House

             i.   Lattimer

             j.   Malley

             k.   Morris

             l.   McQueen

             m.   McBean

             n.   Parker

             o.   Ryan

             p.   Seaman

             q.   Scarborough

             r.   Sweatman

             s.   Wells

             t.   Young

             u.   Younghans

             v.   Cowart

             w.   Henley

 

   D. Commerce and Industry (1699-1861)

   1.   Brickyard (1821-1861)

             a.   Morin

             b.   Alsbury

             c.   McRae

             d.   Kendall

             e.   Robb

   2.   Sawmills and Naval Store

             a.   Fournade (Mill Tract)

             b.   Toomer-McGuire (Mill Point)

             c.   Guernon

             d.   Charcoal and cordwood

  

3.   Shipyards

             a.   Sanchez

             b.   Foretich

             c.   Taltavull?

             d.   Voivedich

             e.   Quave

             4.   Stores

             a.   Pierre Coeuve (Quave)

             b.   Santa Cruz

             c.   Foretich

             d.   Wells

             e.   Steele

             f.   Lazarus Seymour (butcher)

 

 E. Transportation

   1.   Back Bay Ferry (1842-1901)

   2.   Wagon trail roads

             a.   Ramsey Springs

             b.   Cedar Lake

             c.   Ocean Springs

             d.   St. Martin

             e.   Brickyard

   3.   Schooner

   4.   Cat Boat

 

II. CIVIL WAR YEARS (1861-1865)

    A.  3rd Mississippi CSA

             a.   Live Oak Rifles (Ocean Springs)

             b.   Biloxi Rifles

             c.   Adam's Rifles (Handsboro)

    B.  Union Forces

             a.   Incursions up Back Bay and local rivers

             b.   Antoine Bellande, Union pilot at Mobile

             c.   Desporte on Selma at Mobile Bay (1864)

 

III. POST WAR (1865-1900)

     A.  Commerce and Industry

         1.  Stores

             a.   Raymond Quave & Jeff Mulholland

             b.   Joe Santa Cruz

             c.   Casimir Harvey

         2.  Shipyards

             a.   Quave

             b.   Pedro Perez

             c.   Casimir Harvey

             d.   Henry and Isom Brasher

             e.   Fayard Brothers

             f.   Henry Cannette

 

IV. TWENTIETH CENTURY (1900-1992)

    A.  Public Services

        1.   Electricity

        2.   Water and Sewage

        3.   Fire Department

        4.   Infirmaries/Hospital

             a.   Doctors

    B.  Commercial Business

        1.   Lumber yards

        2.   Hardware

        3.   Banks

        4.   Movies

        5.   Newspapers

             a.   Biloxi Daily Herald

             b.   Handsboro Democrat

             c.   Biloxi-D'Iberville Press (Bay Press)

        6.   Seafood Factories

             a.   Imperial Seafood c. 1915

             b.   Quave Canning-1917

             c.   Fournier c. 1940

             d.   Arnaud Lopez

        7.   Telegraph

        8.   Hotels

             a.   Ramsey Springs

             b.   Point St. Martin?        

        9.   Restaurants

             a.   Rip's Grill

             b.   McDonald's

             c.   Hardees

             d.   Pizza

    C.  Transportation

        1.   Bridges

             a.   Wooden (1901)

             b.   Concrete (dedicated March 9, 1926)

             c.   I-10 (June 22, 1975)

        2.   Roads

             a.   US 90 (LeMoyne)

             b.   I-10

    D.  Schools

        1.   Catholic

             a.   St. Theresa (1927-19??)

        2.   Public

             a.   Back Bay (pre-1879)

             b.   Martin Fountain (1895)

             c.   St. Martin (1926)

             d.   D'Iberville High (1909 ?)

    E.  Churches

        1.   Catholic    

             a.   "Old Iron Cross" - Sanchez Chapel (1860)

             b.   St. Theresa's (1884-1979)

             c.   Sacred Heart (1979-1992)

        2.   Protestant

             a.   Baptist-Big Ridge

             b.   Church of Christ

             c.   Colored

    F.  Social

        1.   Knights of Pythias

        2.   Elks

        3.   American Legion

        4.   Masons

        5.   Knights of Columbus

        6.   Boy and Girl Scouts

    G.  Recreation

        1.   Baseball

             a.   Little League

             b.   Babe Ruth

        2.   Football

             a.   St. Theresa's

             b.   High School

        3.   Basketball

    H.  Cemeteries

        1.   Bosarge

        2.   Martin Ryan

        3.   Groue

        4.   Fountain      

        5.   Quave

        6.   Moran

        7.   Santa Cruz

        8.   Holley

        9.   Cedar Lake

       10.   Coalville

       11.   Wells-Mulholland

       12.   Oaklawn

       13.   D'Iberville Memorial Park

       14.   Hamilton 

       15.   Swetman

 

    I.  Monuments

        1.   DAR d'Iberville 221st Landing

        2.   Lee C. Seymour

    J.  Surrounding areas

        1.   Stonewall

        2.   Woolmarket

        3.   Stiglett's Landing

        4.   Cedar Lake

        5.   Vinnie

        6.   Lickskillet

        7.   Magdalene

        8.   Ramsey Springs (24 miles north)

        9.   Popp's Ferry

       10.   St. Martin

    K.  Special times

        1.   Depression (1929-1937)

             a.   WPA

             b.   CCC

        2.   Spanish American War

        3.   WW I

        4.   WW II

        5.   Korea

        6.   Vietnam

        7.   Desert Storm

    L.  Noted People and Families

        1.   James Brodie

        2.   Fountain

             a.   Martin

             b.   Peter

             c.   Walter

        3.   Casimir Harvey 

        4.   Peter LePre

        5.   Jeff Mulholland

        6.   Quave

             a.   Ramon

             b.   Pierre

             c.   Mary "Aunt Sissy" Young

             d.   Lazarus

             e.   Jerry

             f.   Christopher

             g.   Norman

             h.   Madeline

             i.  

        7.   Seymour

        8.   Berry Wells

        9.   Smith Young

 

THE GRANTHAM DAIRY

            The Grantham Dairy was founded by Holen Hunter Grantham (1892-1964) at North Biloxi in July 1919, when he bought ten acres from John and Anna Wein. Their property was bounded by the following owners: north, B. Tucei; east, R.J. Quave; south, John Wein; and west, Louis Seymour.  The Grantham Dairy was located on present day Central Avenue? (Harrison County, Ms. Land Deed Book 126. p. 350)

            H.H. Grantham was born at Jackson, Mississippi on November 16, 1892, the son of Benjamin F. Grantham and Jeanne McBride.  He married Roberta Schaeffer (1894-1963) of New Orleans circa 1911.  Her parents were Frank A. Schaeffer and Anne Pender.  The Granthams had three children: H.H. Grantham Jr. (1912-1935), Iris Grantham married Woodrow Steele (1917-1935+), and Dorothy Grantham married Albert H. Wetzell (1919-1996+).

H.H. Grantham Jr. married May Fountain.  They had a daughter, Betty Jeanne.  He died on January 30, 1935, with a lung infection.(The Daily Herald, January 30, 1935, p. 2)

Roberta S. Grantham preceded her husband in death.  She passed on August 5, 1963.  Holen Hunter Grantham died on August 22, 1964.  Both are buried at the Biloxi Cemetery.

 

REFERENCES:

 

The Daily Herald, "Holen Grantham Dies", January 30, 1935, p. 2.

 

GROCERY STORES

 

PHILLIP HARVEY

            Built home at Pt. St. Martin in 1892.  Father Blanc blessed in in May 1892.  Talked of building a store in May 1892.  Served as Deputy Constable.  Known as terror to hoodlums and kept the neighborhood quite. 

 

REFERENCES:

 

The Biloxi Herald, "Point St. Martin", May 7, 1892, p. 4, c. 4.

 

PIERRE CANNETTE

     Located on the southwest corner of Race Track Road and Reynoir (Brittany).

 

REFERENCES:

Viola Moore Batia-August 1996.

 

 

ARMAND FAYARD

     Store located on the southeast corner of Racetrack Road and Reynoir (Brittany).  Built after Pierre Cannette expired.

 

REFERENCES:

Viola Moore Batia-August 1996.

 

 

PEARL'S RACE TRACK ROAD GROCERY

     Owned by Pearl Rousseau Chiniche (1914-2002).  Located on Race Track Road and road into Founier factory.  Brothers, Diamond and Golden Rousseau.

 

REFERENCES:

The Sun Herald, “Pearl Chiniche”, October 24, 2002.

Viola Moore Batia-August 1996

 

SEAFOOD FACTORIES

 

IMPERIAL PACKING COMPANY (1911-1934+)

The Imperial Packing Company was commenced by Jeff  D. Mulholland (1861-1930) in August 1911, when he purchased a site with 200-feet on the Back Bay of Biloxi from his mother-in-law, Rosina Hosli Harvey (1852-1937).  Opened with a work force of 100-120 laborers and lots of shrimp to pick by hand.(The Daily Herald, August 28, 1911, p. 4 and HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 98, p. 333)

The 300-foot deed lot was situated in Section 22, T7S-R9W, west of the R.J. Quave property.  Jeff Mulholland, was the son on an Irish immigrant, James Mulholland (1823-1871) and Margaret Mary Mayers (1820-1860+).  The elder Mulholland was a merchant who lived in the Cypress Creek area of west Jackson County, northeast of d'Iberville.  His family consisted of: Margaret Jane Mulholland (1843-1858), James J. Mulholland (1855-1858), Robert Mulholland (1857-1858), Kate M. Voivedich (b. 1858?), Elizabeth M. Seymour (1859-1936), Jeff Davis (1861-1930), Agnes M. Ward (1873-?).

Jeff Mulholland married Margaret Celina Harvey (1870-1930+), the daughter of Casimir Harvey (1845-1904) and Rosina Hosli (1852-1937).  They had a son, Peter Mulholland (1889-1974).

Imperial was taken over by Charles B. Foster (1877-1931) as he was its president when it was sold to E.G. Blackmon and Francis Arbeau Caillavet III (1881-1946), the son of F.A. Caillavet (1856-1909) and Marie Dodart (1858-1942), in October 1925 for $10,000.(2)  C.B. Foster was married to Mary Caillavet (1877-1951).  Arbeau Caillavet and wife, Mary Richardson, sold it to the C.B. Foster Packing Company in May 1934.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 157, p. 559 and Bk. 201, p. 132)

In October 1925, Arthur Seymour sold a thirty-foot strip to Imperial to be used as a road only.  It was south of Beach Road. (HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 146, p. 518).

 

REFERENCES:

The Daily Herald, “Imperial Packing Company Begins Operations”, August 28, 1911.

 

QUAVE SEAFOOD

 Construction commenced in June 1917, by Peter Quave (1863-1936), who had managed the Imperial Packing Company.   Workers were working feverously to have the cannery in operation for the shrimp season which opened in August.  Although not a large plant, the Quave factory was anticipated to have a beneficial affect on the local economy.(The Daily Herald, June 7, 1917, p. 3)

 

REFERENCES:

The Daily Herald, “Packing Plant Being Erected”, June 7, 1917.

 

ARNAUD LOPEZ

Location Section 22, T7S-R9W.  John Fountain sold 325' on Bay to Arnaud Lopez (1880-1948) in January 1920 for $850.(JXBK 47, p. 485).  Lopez sold to Mrs. R.C. Herron in November 1925 for $8000.(JXDTBK 10, pp. 501-522).  Viola Moore Batia remembers factory and that it burned.

Located at present day Avery Point called Lopez Point.   James Le Bache, manager?  probably Cook

 

REFERENCES:

Viola Moore Batia-August 1996

 

OCEAN SPRINGS PACKING COMPANY

In June 1923, the OSPC took a lease from Paul and Adele Fountain on the W/2 of the Francis Fountain homestead (Section 16, T7S-R9W).  96' x 800' on the Bay.  (JXCO BK

53, p. 118.)  Factory did exist.

 

DOTY FOURNIER & SONS

 

A lot on the Back Bay of Biloxi (66 feet x 300 feet) for the seafood factory was purchased from M.H. Hancock on August 3, 1944 by Anthony Doty Fournier (1910-1990).(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 242, p. 536)

Daniel Rodrgiuez formerly owned it.

 

REFERENCES:

Harrison County, Ms. Land Deed Book 156, pp. 268-270.

Harrison County, Ms. Trust Deed Book 105, pp. 372-374.

 

SHIPYARDS

 

MANUEL SANCHEZ

 

JOSEPH SANTA CRUZ

 

JOHN SANTA CRUZ

 

JOHN FORETICH

 

ANTOINE FOUNTAIN

(1848-1916)

 

Ship carpenter in 1900.  Son of Francois Fountain and Julienne Ladner.  Married Willamine Young (1848-1910) in 1870.

 

CASIMIR HARVEY

 Son, Boy Harvey (1868-1957), also a builder in 1900, at Back Bay.

 

PETER QUAVE SHIPYARD

Commenced either by Pierre "Perrique" Quave (1808-1889) or his son, Peter Simon Quave (1826-1862), or Raymond J. Quave (1851-1908).  Perrique Quave left the area for St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana circa 1859.  Peter S. Quave was killed at Mobile circa 1862, during the Civil War.  

Raymond, the father of Seymour.

The Quave Shipyard was located on the northshore of the Back Bay of Biloxi.  Its location is described in the land deeds books of Harrison County, Mississippi in one conveyance as ninety-eight feet on the bay, east by the "old ferry landing", and west by Christopher Quave, deceased.  Another deed states that John Foretich is to the east, John Mally to the west, and the Quave house to the north.  This location present day would probably be between the Gollott factory and Holland's shipyard.

The Quave shipyard was leased by Pierre S. Quave's widow, Anna Mallette Quave (1828-1904), to Jose Aval in September 1867.  It included the shipyard, houses, and all appurtenances situated on the tract.  The lease was for five years at $100 per year rental.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 10, p. 281)

In December 1867, the Quave shipyard was leased to to Pedro Perez (1823-1886), a Spanish immigrant, and ship carpenter.  Peter Perez was married to Josephine Gollott (1841-1897).  Son?, Antonio Perez (1859-1893), lost his life in the 1893 Hurricane with Boy Balius aboard the schooner, Antonio P. Jr.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 10, p. 450 and The Biloxi Herald, October 7, 1893, p. 1)

Quave shipyard bought lumber from Fewell & Lilly in 1870.  Their sawmill was probaly located in Section 18, T7S-R9W.  This is in the Old-Field point area west of Goodman Road.  The Quave shipyard was still in existence by 1890s, as in January 1892, The Biloxi Herald announced that Peter Quave (1863-1936) is putting his shipyard in first-class order.(The Biloxi Herald, January 30, 1892, p. 1)

Peter Quave was the grandson of the Widow Anna Mallette Quave.  He was married to Alphonsine Boney (1863-1900+) and a merchant in 1900.  Peter Quave built a seafood factory here later.  It lasted into the Depression years.

REFERENCES:

The Biloxi Herald, October 7, 1893, p. 1.

The Biloxi Herald, "Back Bay", January 30, 1892, p. 1.

 

MARTIN FOUNTAIN

Martin Fountain and S. Ladnier of Jackson County are building a fine shipyard for their own use, though outsiders also can be accommodated.

 

REFERENCES:

The Biloxi Herald, "Point St. Martin", May 7, 1892, p. 4.

 

 

WILLIE FOUNTAIN (1882-1963)

Died June 25, 1963.  Married Tamelia Fossier (1879-1963).  Located at Harrison County, north of Fountain Cemetery.

 

REFERENCES:

Viola Moore Cannette-August 1996.

 

J. HENRY CANNETTE  (1887-1969)

Built catboats on west side of Avery Point.

                      

HERMAN KELLY (1890-1948)

Built boats on Fountain beach after WW II.

WILLIAM T. HOLLAND (1943-2005+)

Boat yard located on the historic site of Manuel Sanchez and John Foretich at 9362 Central Avenue.  Graduate of Biloxi High School?

REFERENCE:

The Biloxi-D'Iberville Press, "A part of South Mississippi's History", October 4, 1995, p. 13.