A HISTORY OF VANCLEAVE, MISSISSIPPI

Abstract

     Vancleave, located in west-central Jackson County, Mississippi, is a small community which developed in the early to mid-19^th Century, on Bluff Creek, a small tributary of the Pascagoula River, several miles north of the Mexican Gulf. It was known originally as Bluff Creek, until the postmaster in 1870, named it Vancleave in honor of a former merchant, Robert A. Van Cleave (1840-1908).

     The first European settlement in the Vancleave area occurred in 1721, when French colonists settled the short-lived Chaumont Concession. With the creation of the Mississippi Territory in 1798, and the West Florida Rebellion of 1810, the United States rested Spanish West Florida from its Iberian masters. Jackson County was created and united with the Territory of Orleans in 1812, and joined the Union in 1817, with the State of Mississippi.

     Even before Mississippi’s statehood, restless Americans in the Carolinas and Georgia began settling the southwestern frontier, which included the Vancleave region. They were subsistence farmers and hunter-gatherers who brought their Protestant religion to this predominantly Roman Catholic coastal section.

Charcoal wagon en route to the L&N Railroad at Fontainebleau?

     By 1850, the virgin forests, predominantly pine, of the region along the tributaries of the lower Pascagoula River, began to be exploited for timber, charcoal, and naval stores. These activities created a commerce, which resulted in small trading posts being built on John’s Bayou and lower Bluff Creek. Shallow draft schooners loaded with charcoal, agricultural products, and naval stores sailed the "lake" waters of the Mississippi Sound to New Orleans and returned with tools, food staples, and mercantile goods to these riverine outposts.

     Black slaves, primarily from North Carolina, were brought to work the turpentine orchards. After the Civil War, they were emancipated and remained in the region to provide the primary labor force for the naval stores industry. Black families owned the high land northwest of Mounger’s Creek, which became the primary Vancleave settlement, after they sold out to white families and merchants in the late 19^th Century. Black communities developed further north and west at Greenhead Creek.

     Another group of people, locally called "Creoles", but probably indigenous, descendants of Muskogean speaking, Native Americans inhabit the Vancleave region. They made their livelihoods primarily as subsistence farmers and charcoal burners. When public education in the region commenced in the late 19^th Century, Creole and Blacks were educated together, but by 1917, they were segregated and a separate school created, called Live Oak Pond, north of Vancleave. This aberration was unique in that it created three separate schools for White, Black and Creole children. The Creole people have slowly been assimilated into the local community through interracial marriages.

     The early settlers brought sheep to the pine savannas and allowed them to forage on the open range. Soon Vancleave, with Woolmarket in Harrison County, became important exporters of wool. World War I enhanced the demand for wool and prices and production rose dramatically during the conflict.

     At the turn of the 20^th Century, the Dantzler Lumber Company began to exploit virgin timber stands away from the rivers. They utilized tram railways to penetrate deep into the woods to reach virgin timber passed over because of its remoteness from water borne transportation routes. This venture brought a population increase, which encouraged the erection of new schools, churches, a hotel, boarding houses, and dwellings. The timber boom and sheep-wool activities subsided dramatically by the1930s. The virgin timber was depleting rapidly and stock laws, which curtailed open range foraging, and foreign competition had a deleterious effect on commercial wool production.

     Pecan orchards, tung nut trees, and some citrus were grown in the Vancleave vicinity before the Great Depression of the 1930s. Orchard men from the Midwest developed nut crops initially south of Vancleave on the Ocean Springs Road and to the southwest and west along Seaman and Jim Ramsay Roads.

     The Great Depression furthered exacerbated the economic situation at Vancleave. The people of the area responded to this dour situation by erecting a canning plant for fruit and vegetables, a sewing factory, and a shuttle mill. Naval stores and a dying charcoal industry continued weakly, until WW II revived the national economy. Shipbuilding at Pascagoula and Mobile created many wartime employment opportunities. Pulp wood for paper manufacturing became important after the war.

     In the mid-1950s, the Bluff Creek Canning Company was organized. It produced a fish-based cat food and was sold to the John Morrell & Company of Chicago. A short-lived attempt to can yellow fin tuna caught in the Gulf of Mexico was also commenced at a Bluff Creek site south of Vancleave in the 1950s. The continued growth of the chemical and petrochemical industries along Bayou Cassotte near Pascagoula, has provided stable, regional, employment opportunities through several decades. Pulp wood harvesting for the Moss Point paper mill has continued in the area.

     The population and status quo in the Vancleave region remained fairly constant until the late 1980s and early 1990s. At this time, a steady and continuous migration of people from the lower coastal urban areas, seeking cheaper land, relief from high taxes, crime and industrial pollution, began to move into the Vancleave area. The expansion of the US Naval presence, conversion of deep-water oil and gas exploration drilling rigs, and continued shipbuilding at Pascagoula and environs, with the exponential growth of dock side casino gaming in nearby Harrison County, has continued to fuel the migration into Vancleave.

     Currently, new commercial ventures and subdivisions blossom each day. A new elementary school and medical center are now under construction. Are incorporation and local government awaiting Vancleave in the New Millennium??

A Vancleave History

     Vancleave, originally called Bluff Creek, as late as 1869, when Andrew W. Ramsay (1830-1916) was postmaster of this small village, is the geographic name of a community, which has existed in T6S-R7W of Jackson County, Mississippi for well over a century. The name Vancleave comes from the merchant, Robert Adrian Van Cleave (1840-1908), who established a trading post on Paige Bayou in the 1870s. In June 1870, when the US Post Office established a station in the SE/4 of Section 27, T6S-R7W, it was called Vancleave’s. R.A.Van Cleave, a Civil War veteran from Hinds County, later settled at Ocean Springs where he was a successful merchant, post master, and first provisional mayor of that town. (The Mississippi Press, July 18, 1988)

       In June 1880, when a weekly mail route was established between Ocean Springs and Vancleave, Robert Adrian Van Cleave (1840-1908) was postmaster at Ocean Springs who was described as, "clever and good-humored". William Seymour carried the mail to the store of George W. Davis at Vancleave. The post office was named after R.A. Van Cleave. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, June 18, 1880, p. 3)

     Today, Vancleave is the general geographic term used for that region of west central Jackson County within T6S-R7W and T5S-R7W. This is an area of approximately seventy-two square miles. Specifically, Vancleave is a rapidly developing unincorporated village in Sections 9 and 16 of T6S-R7W, flanked by Highway 57. Historically within the "Vancleave area", there have been many smaller settlements around public schools and churches, such as: Mount Pleasant, Greenhead, Ebenezer, Evergreen, Live Oak Pond, Dead Lake, and Fort Bayou.

Colonial Days 1699-1811

The Amerinds

      Assuredly, Native Americans hunted the forests and fished the streams in the Vancleave region, centuries before the first Europeans arrived. Their past presence is indicated on the Pascagoula River by several French cartographic sketches and charts of the period. The closest village to present day Vancleave was that of the Capinians, probably also called Moctobi. Its location appears to be about one mile south of the Wade Bridge. (Carte de la Louisiane by D’Anville-1732)

     Jay Higginbotham, noted French Colonial historian and Archivist for the City of Mobile, relates that he has seen several "curios mounds" north and south of the Wade Bridge. He was unable to determine if they were constructed by the Amerinds. (Higginbotham, 1967, p. 15)

Jean-Baptiste Baudrau-First permanent settler in western Jackson County

      In 1702, Jean-Baptiste Baudreau abandoned Biloxy, the region around Fort Maurepas. With his French cohorts, led by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, de Bienville (1684-1778), Baudrau relocated to Old Mobile. Circa 1718, Baudreau left Dauphin Island to return permanently to what is now Jackson County, Mississippi. He and his family resided on the west side of the Pascagoula River. (Adkinson, et al, 1991, pp. 95-98)

     Initially Graveline managed a farm in the present day Martin’s Bluff section. He raised livestock, primarily horned cattle. Graveline utilized Negro and Indian slave labor to work the plantation and tend livestock. (Conrad, 1970, p. 2 and p. 50)

Baudrau descendants

     The descendant of Jean-Baptise Baudrau are numbered in the tens of thousands. From this French Canadian adventurer, some of the first families of the Mississippi Coast, which still exist today, Ladner, Bosarge, Fayard, Moran, Grelot (Gollott), Fournier, Ryan, Bang, and Seymour, can trace some of their lineage.

     Jean Baptiste Baudrau dit Graveline had married an Indian woman who brought forth two children, Magdeleine Baudrau and Jean-Baptiste Baudrau II (d. 1757). Magdelaine married Pierre Paquet Jr. Circa 1758, their daughter, Marie Anne Pacquet (b. 1742) wedded Nicholas Ladner (b. ca 1736-1799) dit Christian. Of further interest in this line, Marie Angelique Baudreau (1776-1853), the daughter of Jean-Batiste Baudrau III (b. ca 1735) and Marie Louise Fayard (b. 1746), married Nicholas Ladner II (1759-ca 1793), son of Nicholas Ladner dit Christian and Marie Anne Pacquet. She married Jacob Bingle (Bang) after the demise of Nicholas Ladner II. (Cassibry II, 1988, pp. 700-704)

     The brother of Nicholas Ladner II, Pierre Ladner (1764-1809+), settled on the Pascagoula River in 1809, on Claim No. 133, which was one of actual settlers who had no claim from either the French, British, or Spanish Governments.  Pierre Ladner’s homestead was in Section 39, T6S-R6W about 1.5 miles east of the Evergreen community.(The American State Papers, 1994, p. 38)

      Jean-Baptise Baudreau II (d. 1757) married Marie Catherine Vinconnau. Their daughter Catherine Louise Baudreau (1742-1806) married Joseph Bosarge (1733-1794) of Poitiers, France in June 1762. They are the progenitors of the large Bosarge family of coastal Alabama and Mississippi. (Atkinson, 1991, p. 23)

     Another daughter of Baudrau II, Genevieve Baudrau, married Charles Leblanc in 1783. Their son, Joseph, born in 1788, became known as St. Cyr Seymour (1788-1845). His issue with Marie-Joseph Ryan (1786-1876) commenced the large Seymour family of our region. (Lepre, 1995 , pp. 54-61 )

      The Seymour family has its roots on the north shore of Graveline Lake in Section 5, T8S-R7W. Here the children of St. Cyr and Marie-Joseph made their livelihoods as subsistence farmers and stockmen in the same manner as their great great grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Baudrau dit Graveline. They left their family homestead to settle at Biloxi Latimer, Fort Bayou, Ocean Springs, and North Biloxi. (The Ocean Springs Record, January 15, 1998)

The Chaumont Plantation

     With the French beachhead at Fort Maurepas in 1699, and the subsequent founding of military posts at Mobile (1709), Nachitoches (1714), Natchez (1716), New Orleans (1718), and Nouveau Biloxy (1720) colonists of French and German origins began the settlement of French Louisiana. In late 1719, a 16,000-acre concession on the Pascagoula River, located about 40 miles up stream from the Gulf of Mexico, was granted by John Law ‘s Company of the West to a wealthy Parisian, Antoine Chaumont, honorary secretary to King Louis XV, and his wife, Marie-Catherine Barre, Madame de Chaumont.

Chaumont Plantation Locator Map

     In 1721, French settlers with slave labor established the Chaumont Plantation, the first European settlement in the Vancleave region. It was probably located on the west side of the Pascagoula River, about one mile seaward of the Wade Bridge, probably in Section 19, T5S-R6W. Monsieur Revillion, the plantation manager, was able to produce one good wheat crop before departing the Pascagoula River farm for Paris in 1722. He had received no money or supplies from the Chaumonts and went to France to bring litigation against them. By 1732, the Chaumont Plantation had been entirely abandoned. (Higginbotham, 1974, pp. 353-362)

The French Mills and the Lewis Claim

     In 1811, Edwin Lewis (1782-1830), a Virginia born lawyer, married Margaret Baudreau (1791-1865), the great granddaughter of Jean-Baptiste Baudrau dit Graveline. Her parents were J.B. Baudrau III (b. ca 1735) and Marie Louise Fayard (b. 1746). He immediately began to assert the claim that Graveline’s heirs were the rightful owners of the 40,000-acre Chaumont concession granted by the Company of the West. The land commissioner denied his request, but affirmed the Baudrau heirs claim of 1280 acres at Belle Fontaine. In a letter dated October 20, 1829, Edwin Lewis wrote:

     The location of the French mills from the above missive of Edwin Lewis is on the west side of the Pascagoula River in Section 24, T5S-R7W, east of the Magnolia Baptist Church on River Road. It known with a high degree of certitude that Jonathan Sulcer was here in December 1808, and that the original settler of this tract was Alexander Durant. This land is referred to, as Claim No. 170, in the list of actual settlers in the district east of the Pearl River, who have no claims derived from the French, British, or Spanish Governments. (The American State Papers, 1994, p. 38)

      Interestingly and corroborating the above information, the description of French mills tract by Edwin Lewis is west of the indicated position of the 1721 Chaumont Plantation in Section 19, T5S-R6W. It appears that wheat grown on the plantation was ground into flour by the water-powered grist mills. The topographic nature of the high bluff on the west side of the Pascagoula River in Section 24, T5S-R7W is conducive for the construction of mill dams as there are several streams dissecting the bluff creating small but deep canyons here. (USGS Topographic Map, "Vancleave", 1982)

     Alfred E. Lewis (1812-1885), the son of Edwin Lewis, settled on former Baudrau lands situated on the Mississippi Sound west of the Pascagoula River mouth. Here in 1845, he erected Lewis-Sha, a plantation home, which is extant at Gautier today and is known as Oldfields. (The History of Jackson County, Mississippi, 1989, pp. 46-47)

     Enter the Americans 1811-1861

     The early years of the 19^th Century were tumultuous for the old American Southwest, which included the Vancleave area. After the Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, American settlers, chiefly white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, began a steady migration from the Carolinas and Georgia into the new frontier. Soon, these pioneers began crossing south of the 31^st parallel into the longleaf pine belt of coastal Mississippi. As there were still Indian and Spanish claims in this region, these Americans were sensed as trespassers by the Spanish who possessed the area, including what would later become Vancleave, as a part of Spanish West Florida.

     Before 1810, trails and primitive roads were penetrating the primeval forest of the longleaf pine belt in the Bluff Creek region. The pioneers who came here made their livelihoods by herding cattle and swine, hunting-gathering, and subsistence farming. They were independent, freedom loving and had a dislike for the Indians and the Spanish. At this time it was reported that there were eighteen families on the lower Pascagoula River and more upstream.

     The 1810 West Florida Rebellion and the 1811 annexation of the of that portion of Spanish West Florida from the Mississippi River to the Perdido River into the Orleans Territory by Governor William Charles Cole Claiborne (1775-1817), brought the American settlers of this region into the United States. Jackson County of the Mississippi Territory was created in 1812, and it entered the Union with the State of Mississippi on March 1, 1817. (The History of Jackson County, Mississippi, 1989, p. 1)

     On January 13, 1811, Dr. Flood of New Orleans, the representative of Governor W.C.C. Claiborne, landed at Pascagoula and raised the American flag. He appointed Captain George Farragut (1755-1817) as Justice of the Peace for Pascagoula Parish of the Territory of Orleans. Dr. Flood wrote the following to Claiborne on January 25, 1811:

     It is interesting to note that George Farragut, a native of Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, was the father of Union Admiral David Farragut (1801-1870). During the Civil War, Admiral Farragut’s fleet captured New Orleans (1862) and won the Battle of Mobile Bay (1864). He commissioned two local immigrant seaman, Martin Freeman (1814-1894) of Pascagoula and Antoine V. Bellande (1829-1918) of Back Bay, now D’Iberville, Mississippi as acting ensigns and pilots in the Union Navy. At Mobile Bay in August 1864, Freeman piloted the USS Hartford, Farragut’s flagship, while Bellande was aboard the USS Monongahela, which rammed the CSA Tennessee.

Land Offices and the Jackson County Courthouse

     Soon after Spanish West Florida became a part of the United States, two districts to process and ascertain land claims was established. The Vancleave region was placed in the land district East of the Pearl River, which was managed from St. Stephens on the Tombigbee River in present day Alabama. In 1819, a land office for Jackson County was created at "Jackson Courthouse" which was probably at the residence of Surveyor, Thomas Bilbo. In 1822, the Jackson County land office was move to Augusta in Perry County. (Cain, 1983, Vol. I, pp.168-169)

     The first courthouse at Jackson County was located in present day George County, near Benndale. By 1823, the seat of county government had relocated to Brewer’s Bluff, northeast of Vancleave, and then in 1826 to Americus, on the east side of the Pascagoula River, where it would remain until 1871, when what appears to be the permanent government base, was founded at Scranton (Pascagoula). The location of the county seat in the northern portion of Jackson County until 1871, reflects that this was indeed the focus of early American settlement. (The History of Jackson County, Mississippi 1989, pp. 10-12)

     As previously noted, the coastline was the focus of early European settlement. These early colonists brought the French language and Roman Catholic faith. After nearly three hundred years, some cultural differences still exist between the descendants of the early Americans and those of European heritage.

Vancleave Region Pioneers

     A study of the land claims, which existed in the District East of the Pearl River in the early 19^th Century, reveals that the earliest settlers in the Vancleave region, homesteaded northeast and east of the future village. These pioneers chose the high bluff on the west side of the Pascagoula River as their place of settlement. Among the first of these homesteaders and their lands were:

Settler                         Date                                         Settlement                                     Original Settler

John Havens*                1802?                                    Poticaw Bayou area
James Ware                 1803                                     Section 12, T7S-R7W                                J.B. Baudrau
Benjamin Lanier           1807                                     Sec. 41, T5S-R7W and Sec. 22, T5S-R6W
Pierre Ladner               1809                                     Section 39, T6S-R6W                                John Haven
Laird Graham               1809                                     Section 38, T5S-R7W
Joseph Graham             1810                                     Section 37, T5S-R7W
Alexis Nicholas (Ladner) 1810                                  Section 38, T6S-R7W
Jonathan Selser             1810                                     Sec. 24, T5S-R7W                                Alexander Durant
George Farragutt           1811                                     Section 37, T7S-R7W
John Brewer                  1812                                     Section 1, T5S-R7W
John Brewer Jr.             1812?                                   Section 2, T5S-R7W
William Cates                1812                                     Sec. 38, T6S-R6W, Sec. 42, T5S-7W, Sec. 37, T6S-R7W
Joshua Cates                 1812                                     Section 42, T5S-R7W and Section 40, T5S-R6W
John Haven                   1812                                     Section 11, T5S-R7W                                   James Haven
Minor W. Johnson        1812                                      Section 40, T5S-R7W
Perry King                    1813                                      Section 39, T5S-R7W               
 

From: (The American State Papers, 1904, pp. 9-10 and pp. 37-38)

*John Havens-This is probably John Havens III (1775-1855) who was married to Susan Flurry (d. 1826), daughter of William Flurry.(Cain, Vol. II, 1983, p. 198)

   The author can find no land claim for this man in 1802.  C.E. Cain in Four Centuries on The Pascagoula states that John Havens, a Virginian, was the first American to settle in the Vancleave area.  His claim dates from 1802, and settlement was on Poticaw.(Cain, 1983, Vol. 1, p. 78)

   In 1811, William Flurry was residing with a John Haven and cultivating land in Section 42, T3S-R7W on Black Creek.(The American State Papers, 1994, p. 38)

   It appears that John Havens first settlement was indeed in the Vancleave area and prior to 1809.  His homestead was in Section 39, T6S-R6W, which is where Bayou Portico or Poticaw enters the West Pascagoula River.  It can be inferred that John Havens relocated north to T3S-R7W.  In 1809, Pierre Ladner settled the former land claim of John Havens.(The American State Papers, 1994, p. 38)

Early "Vancleave" on the lower Bluff Creek

     It is envisioned that the Vancleave region developed with the longleaf pine timber and naval stores industries. As timber men and loggers cut deeper and deeper into the virgin pine forests they eventually worked their way up the Pascagoula River until they entered its west side branch, Bluff Creek. This probably occurred prior to the Civil War. Small trading posts were established on or near Bluff Creek’s lower tributaries, Sumrall Bayou, John’ Bayou, and Paige Bayou, to provide forest workers and sawmill laborers with food staples and other necessary provisions to exist in this undeveloped wilderness. It is believed that at the height of commercial activity in this area that there were possibly as many as five merchandisers here. Among them appears to have been R.A. Van Cleave (1840-1908), Willis Broadus (1834-1919), and William Martin (1838-1930). (Reddix, 1974, p. 42)

     The terrain at the point where Bluff Creek enters the West Pascagoula River, with the exception of Martin’s Bluff, is for the most part marshland. This inhospitable condition exists for about six miles upstream where higher ground exists just above the point where Little Bluff Creek enters the main channel of Bluff Creek.

     The earliest settler on the lower Bluff Creek was Alexis Nicholas (Ladner) who came to what is now John’s Bayou in 1810. It can be inferred from the historic record that the Holden, Graham, and Broadus families were also early inhabitants of this region. Other pioneers in this immediate area who made an impact and their approximate date of settlement were: George R. Benson (1857), David Sumrall (1856), Thomas L. Sumrall (1842), John "Dutch" Bobinger (1860), and William Page (1859).

     It is known from the unpublished account of the George R. Benson family that Georgia native, George Roads Benson (1820-1891), and his brother-in-law, George Sumrall (1837-1860), built a sawmill at the mouth of Bluff Creek (probably present day Martin’s Bluff) circa 1857. Benson also had a store and corn mill at this site and possessed about fifty slaves. The G.R. Benson family quit Jackson County in 1861, for Crystal Springs, Mississippi and then settled at Texas in 1868. (Benson, 1928, p. 2, p. 4, and p. 12)

     There is a high degree of certitude that David Sumrall (1808-1890) gave his name to Sumrall Bayou. He acquired the land which this small the bayou traverses (Section 40, T6S-R6W) from Harvey P. Holden, a resident of Rankin County, Mississippi, in May 1856. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 5, pp. 635-637)

     His brother, Thomas L. Sumrall (1797-1865), arrived on the west side of the Pascagoula River possibly as early as 1842. (South-Western Farmer, September 16, 1842). Thomas L. Sumrall had married Margaret McRae (1795-1867), the sister of John McRae. In 1855, he was elected the first Worshipful Master of Moss Point Lodge No. 202 F&AM. (Giddens, undated, p. 1)

     In 1851, Thomas Sumrall acquired the old James Ware Claim No. 46 in Section 3, T7S-R6W and Section 12, T7S-R7W. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 38, pp. 131-134) Between 1854 and 1856, he acquired valuable tracts of land by State land patents on the south side of Bluff Creek opposite John’s Bayou in Section 36, T6S-R7W. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 24, pp. 299-302) It appears that Sumrall lived here and had access to the ferry landing on Bluff Creek in Section 36, T6S-R7W.

Probably in the 1820s-1830s, the ferry landing here was known as Holden’s Ferry. It may have later been run by the Moses Broadus (1794-1850+) family. (Broadus letter, 1926). Broadus Lake exists in the area today as well as Ferry Point Road.

     John "Dutch" Bobinger (1815-1880+), a native of Bavaria, gave his name to John’s Bayou. He made his livelihood as a coal burner and farmer. Bobinger also sold iron to his neighbors. (Sumrall, 1855-1859, p. 18 and p. 23) In late 1870s and 1880s, four of Dutch Bobinger’s sons, Samuel Bobinger (1849-1883+), Fred Bobinger (1851-1900+), Alex Bobinger (1853-1889+), and Miguel Bobinger (1854-1886+) received Federal land patents in the NW/4 of T6S-R7W and the SW/4 of T5S-R7W.

     Paige Bayou may have been named for William Page who had an 1859-1860 Federal land patent or Robert H. Page (1853-1900+) with an 1867 Federal land patent. Both land patents were located in Section 26, T6S-R7W. It was on the west side of Paige Bayou in the SE/4 of Section 27, T6S-R7W, that a short lived US Post Office was established by Hector Fairley, a former slave, in 1870. It was designated as Vancleave’s, as Robert A. Van Cleave (1840-1908), had operated a commissary in the vicinity here in the late 1860s. The name "Vancleave" soon attached itself to the entire region which had been formerly called Bluff Creek. (The Mississippi Press, July 18, 1988, p. 2-A)

The Outlaw-James Copeland

     Vancleave, although not the natal home of James Copeland (1823-1857), was in the neighborhood of this mid-19^th Century sociopath. Copeland was born in the piney woods on the eastside of the Pascagoula River, the son of Isham Copeland and Rebecca Wells. He soon made a negative impact on Jackson County and the Southeast for his unlawful behavior. Young Copeland’s first felony was the theft of some swine of a Mr. Helverson, a related neighbor. This crime was soon followed by the circa 1835, burning of the Jackson County courthouse at Americus, to destroy the evidence of his pig pilferage. (Pitts, 1980, pp. 32-34)

     Soon, teenager, James Copeland, joined with Mobile bandits, Gale Wages and Charles "Preacher" Mcgrath. Their nefarious exploits, between1839 and 1848, took "The Unholy Three" and their comrades on a peripatetic crime spree from Mobile to Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Wages-Copeland clans’ criminal activities consisted primarily of the theft of slaves and horses, the looting and burning of houses and stores, counterfeiting, boat larceny, and murder. The violence ended temporarily in 1848, when James A. Harvey, a rival gang leader, killed Wages and McGrath. (Pitts, 1980, p. 114)

     On July 15, 1848, James Copeland and his gang rode to James Harvey’s home on Black Creek in Perry County. They had been offered one-thousand dollars by Wage’s father, to revenge his death. Here the Copeland clan fought a blazing gun battle, which resulted in the death of Harvey and one of Copeland’s men. James Copeland met his Maker on October 30, 1857, when he was hanged in Augusta, Perry County, Mississippi. He had been incarcerated in Alabama and Mississippi penitentiaries from 1848 to 1857 for his crimes. (Pitts, 1980, p. 115 and p.119)

     Before his death on the gallows, James Copeland made a full confession to Sheriff Pitts at Perry County. He detailed how his clan had buried some $30,000 in gold in a swamp near Mobile and later reburied the treasure in the Catahoula Swamp of Hancock County, Mississippi. (Pitts, 1980, p.100 and p.107)

     The James Copeland legend lives today. Treasure hunters as late as the 1960s, had been searching sections of Pascagoula and Gautier for burial sites of the Copeland gangs stolen booty. (Higginbotham, 1967, p. 27)

Slave owners

     Since a plantation economy did not exist in piney woods of the Vancleave region, there were few slaves here as compared to the agricultural areas of Mississippi. Slave labor was utilized in the timber and naval stores industries. A study of the 1850 and 1860 Slave Census of Jackson County reveals that the following persons possessed over eight slaves in the general vicinity of Vancleave:*

1850
     John Davis (11), A.W. Ramsay (9), John Davis (11), John Fairley (30), Godfrey Helveston (10), Archibald Fairley (21), and Pierre Quave (9). (1850 Federal Slave Census, Jackson County, Miss., pp. 6-8)

1860
     Daniel H. Ramsay (9), George R. Benson (31), Thomas L. Sumrall (35), James Pritchett (29), Mary Quave (9), John Davis (20), John Fairley (45), Godfrey Helveston (10), Neil Fairley (13), and Robert Burney (8). (1860 Federal Slave Census, Jackson County, Miss., pp. 481-484)

* (9) denotes total number of male and female slaves

First Black Settlement

     It was also on lower Bluff Creek in the John’s Bayou area that an early Black settlement developed. Shortly after gaining their freedom, emancipated families from the lower Pascagoula River section, the Bilbos, Burneys, Caraways, Chambers, Fairleys, Shaws, and Taylors made their way to the John’s Bayou region. They found work in the naval stores, timber, and charcoal industries. (Reddix, 1974, p. 42)

     As previously noted, Hector Fairley (1855-1900+), an ex-slave, was the first postmaster of "Vancleave", when that station was located on John’s Bayou.

The Civil War (1861-1865)

     Although military actions were not fought in the Vancleave region, nor are there any records of Union occupation here during the Civil War, some of the local families, but the Ramseys in particular, made significant contributions to the Southern cause. "The Live Oak Rifles", Company A, 3^rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment, C.S.A., were sworn into State military service on September 18, 1861, on the Sardin G. Ramsay (1837-1920) homestead and farm, south of Vancleave. 3^rd Sergeant Sardin G. Ramsay was one of the seven member of the Ramsay family of Jackson County to serve in this military unit. (Howell, 1991, p. 59)

Ramsay Oaks

     On September 18, 1861, Company A, "Live Oak Rifles", 3rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment CSA was sworn into State military service on the Sardin G. Ramsay (1837-1920) plantation, which is south of Vancleave in the SE/4 of Section 29, T6S-R7W.

     Captain Abiezar F. Ramsay (1828-1864), who would die at Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, and his brother, 1^st Lt. Enoch N. Ramsay (1832-1916), were local leaders of this unit composed of men from Ocean Springs, Fort Bayou, Vancleave, and Pascagoula.(The Ocean Springs Record, January 5, 1995, p. 14)

     Another brother, Thomas E. Ramsay (1845-1934), served in the Live Oak Rifles as a private. (Howell, 1991, p. 555)

     Other blood-related Ramsay men to fight with the 3^rd Mississippi Regiment were: 3^rd Sgt. Daniel H. Ramsay, (c. 1833-1864); 4^th Corporal James P. Ramsay (1837-1864+); and Private Andrew J. "Jeff" Ramsay (1840-1917). Daniel H. Ramsay would give his life for the Southern cause at Franklin, Tennessee, while James P. Ramsay was wounded there. (The Daily Herald, May 30, 1916, p. 3, c. 4 and Howell, 1991, pp. 385-386).

     Andrew J. "Jeff" Ramsay was captured and incarcerated at Camp Chase, Ohio. He returned to Jackson County a’ pied when released. Jeff Ramsay was elected Sheriff of Harrison County after the Civil War and also served this County as a State legislature and two term Circuit Clerk. (The Daily Herald, August 21, 1917, p. 1, c. 7)

     Other Civil War veterans known to have resided and died in the Vancleave region are: Samuel Devro, Co. E, 3^rd Mississippi Infantry; John Jones (1845-1936), Co A, 3^rd Mississippi Infantry; Sgt. Robert N. Murphy (1843-1914), Co. A , 42^nd Alabama Infantry; Henry Webb, Co A, 3^rd Mississippi Infantry;

Other Vancleave area families who sent sons and fathers to this war were: Byrd, Davis, Cates, Quave, Bang, Ware, Lyons, Sumrall, Rice, Nobles, Gill, Webb, Bond, Herrington, Breeland, Fairley, Entrekin, Carroll, and Rogers.(Howell, 1991, pp. 553-556)   

     During this four-year conflict, living conditions at Vancleave were similar to those of other piney woods regions of the Southeast in that they were not as bad as those areas were military incursions and engagements had occurred.  Slaves for the most part remained loyal.  They helped farm, herded cattle, and performed the common labors necessary to sustain life.   

In these desperate times, salt was obtained from the dirt floors of smokehouses.  Cloth was made from cotton lint picked from the seed by hand, spun into yarn, and woven on home made looms.  Dyes for wool and cotton fabrics were obtained from tree bark, leaves, and flowers.  Shoes were fashioned from cured cowhide, while lye soap, beeswax and tallow candles, continued to be made in traditional ways.(WPA, ((1936-191938), p. 158)

Post-Civil War to 1900

The move north      

         As the timber and naval stores were depleted in the John’s Bayou region, the community in general moved north to where the main county road through western Jackson County crossed Bluff Creek near Mounger’s Creek. This site, at the head of navigation on Bluff Creek, retained the name Vancleave, as it remains today.

     Land patents granted by the Federal and State Governments indicate that the early land owners in the sections in the vicinity of Bluff Creek and Mounger’s Creek in T6S-R7W were:

Section 9

George Sumrall and G.R. Benson (1857)-160 acres in the E/2, of the E/2. Sold to Joe Elie in April 1858. (JXCO Deed Bk 3, pp. 32-33)

John Havens (1860)-160 acres in the W/2, of the W/2.
Henry Galloway (1875)-80 acres in the W/2, SE/4, of the SE/4.
Ben Carraway (1882)-40 acres in the SE/4 of the SW/4.
Kemp Reid (1882)-80 acres in the SE/4 of the NW/4 & the SW/4 of the NE/4.
Thomas C. Ruble (1895)-80 acres in the NE/4 of the NW/4 & the NW/4 of the NE/4.
Jack Greenwood (1914)-40 acres in the NE/4 of the SW/4.
 

Section 16 (School Land)

Pierre Cuevas (Quave) (pre-1872)-leased to Henry C. Havens the NW/4 and SW/4 in 1872.
Thomas Galloway (pre-1868)-leased to A.W. Ramsay the NE/4 and the SE/4 in 1868.
Henry C. Havens (1872)-leased to A.W. Ramsay the NW/4 and the SW/4 in1880.

     It is interesting to note that three of Vancleave’s earlier land owners, Kemp Reid (1831-1880), Benjamin Carraway (1835-1900+), and Henry Galloway (1826-1880+) were former slaves and natives of North Carolina. They probably came here with naval store operators James Prichard and Thomas Galloway.

Merchants and Post Offices

     As the timber men and forest workers moved northward up Bluff Creek prior to and after the War of the Rebellion, tradesman developed commissaries and stories to service their corporal needs. Some of the earlier retailers from the lower Bluff Creek section moved their establishments to the "new Vancleave" settlement, which was developing near the headwaters of Bluff Creek. It was common to have the US Post Office situated at a commercial site.

Thomas Galloway (1826-1874)

     It appears that North Carolinian, Thomas Galloway, was among the earliest settlers and merchants in the Bluff Creek-Mounger’s Creek section. He and his slave concubine, Harriet Ann Galloway, came to Jackson County circa 1862 from South Carolina.

     In October 1865, Thomas Galloway acquired 320 acres from John Havens in Section 8 and Section 9, T6S-R7W. The Galloways had four daughters born in Mississippi: Mary Eliza Galloway (1868-1879+), Joanna Moore Galloway (1869-1879+), Sophia Pauline Galloway (1870-1879+), and Rachel Frances Galloway (1873-1879+). He had a sister, Eliza Swain, who resided at Smithville, North Carolina. Thomas Galloway expired on October 4, 1874, from yellow fever. He legated to his family a homestead, store, and about 800 acres of land in T6S-R7W. They were denied their inheritance because of their skin color. (Jackson County, Miss. Chancery Court Cause No. 53, March 1879)

     Reddix in A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (, states that Thomas Galloway operated a sawmill and turpentine still in the Brewer’s Bluff area about 1850. Later, James Prichard, also a Tar Heel, came to Brewer’s Bluff and became a business partner of Galloway. Both men were slave owners and brought the Galloway and Reddix families with them. After emancipation, both black families owned land and prospered in the Vancleave region. Henry Galloway and Abram Galloway (1830-1900+) erected the first interior sawmill in Mississippi. (Reddix, 1974, pp. 27-29)

Andrew W. Ramsay

     Andrew Washington Ramsay 91830-1916) was one of the pioneer tradesmen at Vancleave. He was the son of Andrew Woodside Ramsay (1806-1861) and Nancy Holder. Returning from military service in the Civil War, Mr. Ramsay married Sarah Hurlburt (1846-1882) in June 1866. They were the parents of Alice R. Ruble (b. 1867), Willie P. Ramsay (1870-1963), Robert L. Ramsay (1871-1917+), John W. Ramsay (1873-1940+), Andrew N. Ramsay (1875-ca 1918), Nancy E. Ramsay (1876-1891), Hubert H. Ramsay (1879-1940+), Sidney C. Ramsay (1881-1903), and an infant Ramsay (1882-1882).

Andrew W. Ramsay (1830-1916) and Mary Bradford Ramsay (1853-1942) (circa 1884)

[Courtesy of Pat Vickery from the Mary Ramsay M. Vickery (1887-1976) family archives]

     In September 1882, Sarah H. Ramsay died in childbirth. A.W. Ramsay wedded Mary L. Bradford (1853-1942), the daughter of Lyman Bradford (1803-1858) and Cynthia Ward (1813-1887), in November 1883. Their children were: Albert E. Ramsay (1884-1886), Mary R. Morthland Vickery (1887-1976), Margaret R. McGinnis (1889-1942+), Clifton W. Ramsay (1892-1892), and Daisy R. Hoskins (1892-1942).

     A.W. Ramsay began acquiring land in the vicinity of Vancleave in the 1860s. At the acme of his land holdings circa 1890, Mr. Ramsay possessed over 1800 acres centered primarily along and west of Bluff Creek, in Sections 16 and 21 of T6S-R7W. The A.W. Ramsay home site was located on a hill overlooking Bluff Creek, east of the Ramsay Cemetery (sometimes called Vancleave No. 2). An early Baptist Church was situated just south of the Ramsay Cemetery.

     The Ramsay store was in the NE/4, NE/4 of Section 16, T6S-R7W. It was a two-story, wood frame structure with several associated warehouses. Since this A.W. Ramsay enterprise was placed near the confluence of Bluff Creek, Moungers Creek, and Woodman Branch, it was subject to flooding in any season. To thwart the deleterious affects of inundation, the Ramsay retail outlet was erected on piers, which elevated the main floor about four feet above ground level.

     The A.W. Ramsay store served as a trading post and social center for the farmers, lumberjacks, raft men, teamsters, box chippers, and charcoal burners, who toiled in the immediate area. This was the period, when an active timber, naval stores, and charcoal industry flourished in the immediate area. In 1869, A.W. Ramsay was postmaster of "Bluff Creek", the only time that a postal station with this appellation existed.

     The telegraph at the A.W. Ramsay store allowed communications for local business houses and with freight shippers whose schooners supplied the Bluff Creek region with staple goods and other supplies. Mr. Ramsay and his sons were honest and their weights and measurements were accepted with confidence by their patrons. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, April 22, 1892, p. 2)

     In March 1896, and now at the age of sixty-six years, A.W. Ramsay sold a fifty-nine year lease on his three-acre store tract to Sidney J. Anderson (1867-1917) of New Orleans. In the warranty deed, it stated that Ramsay was conveying property to Anderson "on which the wharves and store houses formerly occupied by me are situated". (JXCO Land Deed Bk. 30, p. 478)

     Andrew W. Ramsay expired on November 9, 1916. His remains and those of many of his family members are interred in the Ramsay Cemetery at Vancleave. Mrs. Mary L. Ramsay expired at Los Angeles, California on April 21, 1942. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the City of Angels. (The Jackson County Times, May 9, 1942, p. 2, c. 3)

George W. Davis

     George W. Davis was born east of Ocean Springs on Davis Bayou, the eldest son of Samuel Davis II (1804-1879) and Elvira Ward (1821-1901). He married Margaret Bradford (1846-1920), the daughter of Lyman Bradford (1803-1858) and Cynthia Ward (1813-1887, November 1868. Her grandfather, Stephen Bradford (1771-1825+), a native of Connecticut, was one of the early settlers on the Pascagoula River. In 1812, he settled in Section 38, T4S-R6W, just southeast of the county seat of Americus. The George W. Davis family consisted of six daughters: Cynthia D. Maxwell Gottsche (1869-1951), Jasmine Alvirah "Jessie" Davis (1872-1877), Mae D. Griffin (1874-1917), Sadie D.Young (1878-1950), Mamie D. Bland (1882-1965), and Georgia D. Whittle Weaver (1883-1946). (The Gulf Coast Times, November 4, 1949)

     In 1873, George W. Davis commenced a mercantile business at Vancleave. He remained here until 1882. (The Ocean Springs News, May 30, 1914, p. 1) G.W. Davis acquired about 166 acres in Section 9, T6S-R7W from Henry C. Havens for $800. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 31, p. 333)

     His brother, E.S. Davis clerked in the store and James Reid (1865-1880+), a Black man assisted. The US Post Office was located on Federal Land in the SW/4 of Section 10, T6S-R7W. Mr. Davis was postmaster at Vancleave from 1880-     1882, succeeding Hector Fairley. In June 1880, William Seymour carried weekly mail to the Davis store from Ocean springs where R.A. Vancleave was postmaster. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, June 18, 1880, p. 3)

      In 1883, George W. Davis relocated to Ocean Springs where he and his brother, Elias S. Davis (1859-1925) started another commercial venture, The Davis Brothers store, which became a landmark at Ocean Springs. It was originally situated on the eastside of Washington Avenue near County Road (Government Street), but moved in 1890, to the west side of Washington Avenue. The Davis Brothers dealt in dry goods, notions, groceries, hardware, tinware, and animal feed. George W. Davis retired from the mercantile business in October 1910. E.S. Davis, and his sons, Oscar T. Davis (1894-1963) and Chester S. Davis (1900-1973), continued in the business as E.S. Davis & Sons. (The Ocean Springs News, September 10, 1910, p. 1, c. 5)

     In December 1882, before relocating to Ocean Springs, Mr. Davis had sold his 166 acres in Section 9, T6S-R7W to Willis Broadus for $1000. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 33, pp. 47-48).

Willis Broadus (1834-1919)   

     Willis Broadus, the son of Moses Broadus (1794-1850+) and Elizabeth Rogers (1804-1850+), was born in Mississippi, probably near Holden’s Ferry on lower Bluff Creek. During the Civil War, he served with the 15^th Mississippi Infantry Regiment- Company H. Willis Broadus married Catherine Holland (1839-1897), a native of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. From this union three children were born: Mary B. Juan (1862-1946), James P. Broadus (1869-1932), and Joseph A. Broadus (1874-1926+). (Broadus letter, 1926)

     Of the three Broadus children, only Mary Elizabeth Broadus (1862-1946), who in January 1878, married Francisco Juan (1843-1918), an immigrant Spanish schooner master, remained at Vancleave. Their children were: Josephine J. Ellis, Joseph Juan (1893-1918), George Juan (b. 1898), and Alphonse Juan (1900-1943). Juan Lane at Vancleave is named for this family. Mary B. Juan became known as Aunt Mary Juan to later generations at Ocean Springs. She is reputed to have lived like a gypsy and read palms and told stories. In the early evening, Mrs. Juan called her sheep home. (C.M. "Kipp" Dees, December 20, 1998)

     James P. Broadus (1869-1932) married Edith Johnson in 1891. They were residing at Cedar Grove, Louisiana in 1920. He passed on November 7, 1932. His brother, Joseph Anthony Broadus (1874-1926+) married Sarah E. Tujaque (d. 1968) of New Orleans. In 1900, he was a clerk in his father’s store and also served as a representative to the State legislature from Jackson County. Circa 1904, J.A. Broadus relocated to Biloxi and became a real estate broker. He advertised with the motto, "Farm and Country Property a Specialty". In 1920, Mr. Broadus was brokering wheat at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

      As mentioned previously, Willis Broadus acquired the store and lands of George W. Davis, when he quit Vancleave in 1882, and relocated to Ocean Springs. There is possibility that he was a merchant and ferry operator on lower Bluff Creek, before moving to Vancleave.

     Willis Broadus conveyed land for two of Vancleave’s pioneer schools. In November 1902, he sold ¼ acre in the SE/4,NW/4 of Section 9, T6S-R7W to the Trustees of The Vancleave Academy. (JXCO Land Deed Book 32, pp. 563-564) The Trustees of the Vancleave High School acquired one acre from Mr. Broadus in August 1907. This became the site of the oft-recalled "Old Vancleave High School" situated between Bluff and Mounger’s Creek. Its location was in the SE/4,SE/4 of Section 9, T6S-R7W. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 32, p. 564)

      At the time of his demise on September 1, 1919, Willis Broadus possessed approximately 375 acres of land in Jackson County. He and several family members are interred in the Vancleave No. 1 Cemetery on Jim Ramsay Road..

Sherwood Bradford (1838-1922)

     Sherwood Bradford was the son of Lyman Bradford and Cynthia Ward. He was born near Pascagoula. During the Civil War, young Bradford served as a Captain in the cavalry of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA. After this conflict, he married Eleanora Davis (1851-1938), the sister of George W. Davis. They were the parents of: Russell I. Bradford (1872-1956), Lyman Bradford, and Frederick S. Bradford (1878-1951). (The Gulf Coast Times, September 16, 1949)

     In April 1882, Sherwood Bradford acquired 125 acres in NW/4 and SW/4 of Section 8, T6S-R7W from his brother-in-law, George W. Davis, for $150. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 31, p. 331). Before arriving at Vancleave, the Sherwood Bradford family resided east of Ocean Springs, where Mr. Bradford taught school at the Tidewater Spring School in the SW/4 of Section 27, T7S-R8W. The school was adjacent to the Tidewater Baptist Church, which had been organized in September 1832, by Elder George Davis. (The Gulf Coast Times, September 3, 1949)

At Vancleave, Sherwood Bradford served as postmaster from 1882-1888. The US Post Office was located in the SW/4 of Section 8, T6S-R7W. In addition to his governmental duties, Sherwood Bradford farmed and was in the construction business. His son, Frederick S. Bradford recalls that his father built the Vancleave Academy, the Vancleave Methodist Church and Ezell Lodge. In late May 1894, The Biloxi Herald related that "The magnificent new church building and Masonic Lodge is nearing completion. S. Bradford is the proprietor of the building". (The Gulf Coast Times, September 23, 1949 and The Biloxi Herald, May 26, 1894, p. 1)

     Fred Bradford also became an excellent builder at Vancleave and Ocean Springs. Circa 1919, he erected the W.H. Westfall store at Vancleave. Mr. Bradford also built the Ocean Springs Community Center (1950), the New Beach Hotel (1909), the Baptist Church (1909), and many other local structures and edifices. (The Ocean Springs Record, December 14, 1995, p. 24 and December 21, 1995, p. 20)

     Concerning 19^th Century life at Vancleave, brothers, Russell and Fred Bradford, related the following to Captain Ellis Handy (1891-1963) in The Gulf Coast Times of September 23, 1949:

     I (Fred Bradford) went to school first under George Price who was nearly eighty years of age. I was also taught by Miss Florence Morrow (1877-1936) who later taught so many in Ocean Springs. When nearly grown, Miss Susie Vaughn (1869-1962) taught me.

     In order to get to town, we would ride horses or hitch them to a wagon. Sometime we would walk to Fontainebleau and catch a train to Pascagoula, Mobile, Ocean Springs, or Biloxi from the depot there.

     In November 1903, Sherwood Bradford sold his property at Vancleave, to J.E. Porter. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 28, p. 240) He returned to Ocean Springs and resided on Porter Avenue across the street from the O’Keefe property near Jackson Avenue. In mid-February 1922, Sherwood Bradford, who at this time was the Fort Bayou Bridge tender, fell into the icy bayou water while opening the bridge for a passing barge. He was rescued by Karl C. Maxwell (1893-1958), but passed away one week later from complications which resulted from his fall into Fort Bayou. (The Jackson County Times, February 18, 1922, p. 1 and March 4, 1922, p. 1)

Henry C. Havens (1831-1912)   

     Henry Cooper Havens was a prominent citizen and patriarch of Vancleave. In addition to his commercial interests, he was a member of the Board of Supervisors, Justice of the Peace, first Worshipful Master of Ezell Lodge No. 426 F&AM, and sheep farmer. During the Civil War, Corporal H.C. Havens served the Confederacy as a Forage Master in the 15^th Alabama Cavalry. While stationed in Santa Rosa County, Florida, he was granted leave to return to Jackson County to gather much needed wool for the Confederate Army. (Cain, 1995, p. 166)

     Henry C. Havens married Josephine Bowen (1830-1879) and fathered: Arabella H. Breeland (1852-1917), Alfred L. Havens (1854-1919), Cornelia Havens (b. 1855), Hermenia H. Martin (1857-1932), Eunice Havens (b. 1860), Bruno A. Havens (1862-1881), Uncas C. Havens (1862-1947), and Eddie H. Havens (b. 1873). After her demise, he wedded Rebecca Smith Davis (1852-1891) in October 1882. Their family consisted of: Cooper Havens (1883-1889), Celia Havens (b. 1885), Thomas H. Havens (b. 1889), and Inman Havens (1891-1891). Widowed a second time, Judge Havens married Mary F. Cain (1862-1928) in January 1892. She was the daughter of William F. Cain (1818-1862) and Naomi L. Gibson (1826-1908). Their progeny were: Robert M. Havens (1892-1967), Esther Ramsay Holden (1894-1969), and Sallie H. Guillotte (1896-1982).

     Henry C. Havens possessed large tracts of land primarily west of Vancleave along present day Jim Ramsay Road and Seaman Road. Circa 1900, his holdings in the vicinity of Sections 7, 17, and 18, T6S-R7W totaled about 1400 acres. In August 1880, Mr. Havens donated 5 acres in the NE/4,SW/4 of Section 16, T6S-R7W to the Methodist Episcopal Church. (JXCO Land Deed Book 20, pp. 165-166)

     In the spring of 1892, rumors circulating along Bluff Creek suggested that Henry C. Havens and his family were moving their business interests to West Pascagoula (Gautier). Judge Henry C. Havens expired at Gautier, Mississippi on February 7, 1912. A stroke had disabled him. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, April 22, 1892, p. 2 and The Daily Herald, February 9, 1912, p. 1, c. 6)

Uncas Cleburne Havens (1862-1947)

     Uncas C. Havens was known as "Cleave" Havens. He was the son of Henry C. Havens (1831-1912) and Josephine Bowen (1830-1879). Cleave Havens married Isabelle "Belle" Josephine Martin (1869-1952), the daughter of William Martin (1838-1930) and Nancy Sumrall (1847-1888). Their children were: Georgia H. Fluker (1889-1981), William Havens (1892-1986), Laura H. Fontenette (1893-1975), Emma H. Stojcich (1895-1985), Norman Havens (b. 1897), Josephine H. Cratte (1900-ca 1964), Howard Havens (1902-1966), Martin Havens (1904-1976), and Eunice Havens (b. 1909).

     Cleave Havens served the people of Vancleave as postmaster from 1888-1892. He attempted to change the name of the local post office to "Lauraville", but it was rejected. During U.C. Haven’s tenure as postmaster, the bureau was located in the NW/4 of Section 9, T6S-R7W. His post office had private letter boxes and other comforts for postal patrons. (The Mississippi Press, July 18, 1988 and The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, April 22, 1892, p. 2)

Willie P. Ramsay (1870-1963), a son of A.W. Ramsay, succeeded Cleave Havens as Vancleave’s postmaster. Belle Matin Havens was postmistress of Gautier from 1914 to 1919.

     Cleave Havens expired at Gulfport, Mississippi in February 1947. His remains were interred in the Evergreen Cemetery there after services at the Grace Memorial Baptist Church. (The Daily Herald, February 4, 1947)

William Martin (1838-1930)

     William Martin was born in Portsmouth, Portsea Island, Hampshire County, England. He immigrated to America in 1849, with his father, Thomas Martin (1800-ca 1867) and brother, James Martin (1834-1890). A sister, Mary Jane Martin (1829-1920), united with them in 1867. The Martin family may have resided at Pass Christian, Mississippi before settling at Madisonville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana prior to 1860.

     In March 1859, at Madisonville, Louisiana, William Martin wedded Elizabeth Carroll (1841-ca 1863), a native of Pennsylvania. Her parents were Peter Carroll (1822-1850+) and Irish immigrant, Jane Carroll (1825-1850+). William and Elizabeth Martin were the parents of three children: Mary Louisa M. Sumrall (1860-1927), baby Martin (1861-1863), and baby Martin (1862-1863). Martin made his livelihood as an assistant ferryman on Lake Pontchartrain. His father was a ferryman.

     During the Civil War, William Martin was mustered into Company E of Mile’s Louisiana Legion, CSA. He participated in the defense of Port Hudson in 1862. Martin family lore relates that Mrs. Elizabeth Martin and her babies were victims of starvation and disease as a consequence of that conflict, which was especially traumatic on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

     After the War of the Rebellion, William Martin arrived in the Vancleave region in 1868. His brother, James Martin (1834-1890), who married Mary Sumrall, the daughter of David Sumrall (1808-1890) and Elcy Rodgers (1813-ca 1900), had arrived here earlier. Mr. Martin established a mercantile business in the John’s Bayou area. He was well educated and spoke with an accent resembling London Cockney. Martin was reputed to be particular adept with integers and mathematical calculations.

     In April 1868, William Martin married Nancy Sumrall (1847-1888), the daughter of David Sumrall (1808-1890) and Elcy Rodgers (1813-ca 1900). Their children were: Isabella M. Havens (1869-1952), Laura V. Westfall (1870-1955), Charles W. Martin (1872-1922), Joseph J. Martin (1873-1909), Singleton I. Martin (1874-1930+), Frances Ruth Martin (1876-), Malcolm M. Martin (1878-1930+), Frederick Knox Martin (1880-1934), Cora M. Byrd (1882-1915), Walter L. Martin (1884-1967), and Nora M. Powers (1886-1955+), and baby Martin (1887-1888).

     In the 1880s, it appears William Martin left the John’s Bayou section and moved his commercial enterprise north. Circa 1889, William Martin married Hermenia Havens (1857-1932), the daughter of Judge Henry C. Havens (1831-1912) and Josephine Bowen (1830-1879). Their children were: Houston W. Martin (1891-1976), James H. Martin (1892-1959), Mamie M. Martin (1894-1949), Edgar P. Martin (1896-1979?), Oscar H. Martin (1899-1960) and Bruner W. Martin (1903-1957).

1890s William Martin (1838-1930) Store and Post Office (image made August 1998)

Once situated on the southeast corner of Ms. Highway 57 and Ratliff Lane.  Move to Breeland Road.

     In 1891, William Martin acquired 2 ½ acres in the NE/4,SE/4 of Section 9, T6S-R9W from Henry and Charity Galloway for $50. Here on the southeast corner of Highway 57 (then called Mill Street) and Ratliff Lane (then known as Martin Street), Mr. Martin erected a store and house. He became postmaster of Vancleave in 1897 and remained so until 1927.(JXCO Land Deed Bk. 15, p. 295)

     William Martin, like most of the successful merchants at Vancleave, donated or sold land cheaply to Christian churches. In November 1910, he and Hermenia H. Martin conveyed two lots to W.K. Ramsay, T.E. Ramsay, S.G. Ramsay, Caradine Roberts, S.R. Byrd, S.R. Ratliff, M.W. David, G.W. Tootle, and J.H. Havens, Trustees of the Vancleave Charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. These lots appear to be on the same large tract that the Ezell Lodge No. 426 F&AM is situated. (JXCO Land Deed Book 36, p. 255)

John W. Westfall (1846-1928) and W.H. Westfall (1871-1939)

     John W. Westfall was born at Macon, Illinois. His father was from Kentucky and mother, a Virginian. He married Margaret Clark (1836-1921), a Mississippian, and probably the widow of H.C. Ruble at the time of their nuptials. It appears that Mr. Westfall adopted her children who were: George Westfall (1855-1870+), Georgia Westfall (1857-1870+), Thomas Westfall (1859-1870+), and Charles Westfall (b. 1861-1870+).

     John and Margaret Clark Ruble Westfall had a son, William Henry Westfall (1874-1939), who married Laura V. Martin (1870-1955), a daughter of William Martin and Nancy Sumrall. The W.H. Westfalls adopted William S. Byrd (1910-1982), the son of Louis Marvin Byrd and Cora Mae Martin (1882-1915), the sister of Mrs. Laura Westfall. In April 1933, William Byrd Westfall married Mary Kate Moore (b. 1909) of Philadelphia, Mississippi. They resided at Houston, Texas.

     Like William Martin, Mr. Westfall’s initial commercial ventures were on the lower Bluff Creek. He was postmaster of Vancleave from 1895-1897. In July 1899, John W. Westfall purchased 120 acres of land in Section 8 and 9, T6S-R7W for $300, from Thomas C. Ruble (1859-1900+), the son-in-law of A.W. Ramsay. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 20, p. 191)  

Westfall Stores ca. 1919

(l-r), Wallace Ramsay and Keeble Ramsay

     J.W. Westfall and his son, William Henry Westfall were business partners. Circa 1900, they erected a mercantile store and two Queen Anne cottages north of Breeland Road and on present day Highway 57. The Westfall store was on the west side of Highway 57. It is gone, but the cottages are extant.

     In November 1905, the W.H. Westfall schooner, William Martin, sank in Bluff Creek, near Vancleave after striking an object. The vessel was laden with about $3000 worth of commodities for their mercantile store. This riverine accident was investigated by Captain C.T. Irving, who was representing their insurance company. Most of the merchandise was salvaged from the wreck. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, December 1, 1905, p. 3)

      Another tragedy struck the Westfalls in January 1908, when arsonists torched their large, charcoal warehouse. The structure held about nine thousand barrels of coal valued at $3000. The product was insured for $1000. Mr. Westfall employed a Pinkerton detective to investigate the conflagration. (The Biloxi Daily Herald, January 7, 1908, p. 1)

     W.H. Westfall and his wife were very philanthropic with their fellow Vancleaveans. In September 1901, they donated three acres of land to the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal South-Vancleave Circuit, and 4.79 acres to the New Light Baptist Church. The Methodist tract was located in the NW/4,NE/4 of Section 9, T6S-R7W while the Baptist lands were in the NW/4 of Section 9, T6S-R7W. (JXCO Land Deed Bk. 26, p. 359 and pp. 365-366)

Sidney J. Anderson (1867-1917)

     Sidney J. Anderson and his brother, Julius Anderson (1863-1910) were among the last of the 19^th Century entrepreneurs to establish commercial enterprises at Vancleave. They were outsiders from New Orleans and arrived in the community in 1895. In March 1896, the Anderson brothers acquired a fifty-nine year lease and the mercantile store and associated Bluff Creek warehouses of Andrew W. Ramsay (1830-1916). These structures were located on a three-acre parcel in the NE/4,NE/4 of Section 16, T6S-R7W. (JXCO Land Deed Bk. 30, p. 478)

     Since the Anderson operation was in the flood plain of Bluff Creek near the confluence of Mounger’s Creek and Woodman Branch, it was very susceptible to seasonal flooding. The Anderson store served the Vancleave community as a trading post and communications center for the farmers, lumberjacks, box chippers, teamsters and charcoal burners who toiled in the immediate area. This was the time when an active naval stores, timber, and charcoal industry flourished in the immediate area. A coastal schooner trade ferried charcoal, turpentine, rosin, camphene, lumber, and some farm produce to New Orleans. These shallow draft vessels returned up Bluff Creek with food staples, dry goods, hardware, and other essential merchandise to accommodate the sylvan-agrarian based economy, which existed in the region.

Ramsay-Anderson Store and Home (circa 1909)

     Built circa 1870, this mercantile store situated in the flood plain of Bluff Creek, near an area called Schooner Landing, was an important trading center at Vancleave for many decades.  Erected by Andrew Washington Ramsay (1830-1915), the Anderson brothers from New Orleans, Sidney J. Anderson (1867-1917) and Julius Anderson (1863-1910), acquired a long term lease in March 1896, from Mr. Ramsay on three acres in the NE/4 of Section 16, T6S-R7W.  Here they continued in the mercantile business providing the farmers and forest workers of the region with food staples, hardware and dry goods.  Sydney J. Anderson was reared in a seafaring family and owned several trading schooners, which he utilized to ferry naval stores and charcoal from his Bluff Creek operation to New Orleans.  The Anderson home adjacent to the store was built shortly after he acquired the Ramsay lease.  The railroad tracks in the foreground were used by the L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company rolling stock to transport logs from the surrounding forests to Bluff Creek where they were rafted to their Moss Point, Mississippi saw mill for processing into merchantable lumber.  Note the telephone pole and Bell sign on the store (third post left-first floor)., which indicates that the telephone exchange was in place at the time that this image was made, circa 1909.

     Circa 1905, Sydney J. Anderson brought the telephone to the Vancleave region. It operated out of his Bluff Creek store. Cliff Dees (1886-1963) purchased it from the Anderson family after his demise in 1917. Mr. Dees employed, Ray Havens, to climb poles and do electrical work. (Down South, March-April 1956, p. 27)

     From a letterhead acquired from Betty Rodgers, archivist for the Jackson County Archives at Pascagoula, the Andersons advertised their Vancleave venture as follows:

     Sidney J. Anderson was born at New Orleans on April 24, 1867, the son of Charles Frederick Anderson (1822-1892) and Emma Werlein (1847-1907). His father was a sea captain, and young Sidney Anderson learned the ways of the sea from him. Before his twentieth year, he was master of the schooner, Maggie. (The Jackson County Times, October 6, 1917, p. 5, c. 3)

     In 1890, S.J. Anderson married Caroline Gaspard (1873-1950), the daughter of French émigré, Eugene Gaspard, and Barbara Martiau (1852-1931). Miss Gaspard was a New Orleanian. They had two children born in the Crescent City: Malvina A. Bernard Cotter (1891-1971) and Frank S. Anderson (1894-1939). Mrs. Caroline G. Anderson’s sister, Annie Gaspard (1888-1971), married Charles F. Rehage (1890-1977). They resided at Ocean Springs where Mr. Rehage was a dairyman for many years.

     In addition to his commercial ventures at Vancleave, Mr. Anderson was a popular businessman at Ocean Springs. In February 1900, he acquired the Artesian House, a small hostel, which was situated on the southwest corner of Jackson Avenue and Porter. (JXCO Land Bk 21, pp. 150-151) It may be of interest that Alfred E. Lewis II (1862-1933), the original owner of the Artesian House, erected the two-story, wood-framed structure circa 1891.

     The Lewis his family relocated to Sections 23 and 24, T6S-R8W, southwest of Vancleave, about 1895. They called their country estate "Sweet Heart". The H.P. Davis family resides on a portion of the old Lewis estate today. (Bellande, 1994, pp. 75-78)

     Circa 1904, the Andersons changed the name of their Ocean Springs inn to the Oak View Hotel. They advertised in The Ocean Springs News of November 1915 as follows:

     Caroline G. Anderson sold her Ocean Springs hotel to her mother in April 1920. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 48, pp. 87-88) Mrs. Gaspard ran the business until July 1925, when she conveyed the structure to the Crescent Realty Company of New Orleans. (JXCO Land Deed Bk 57, pp. 93-94) They were represented at Ocean Springs by W.J. Hardke (1877-1932) and John Leo Dickey (1880-1938), both natives of Niles, Michigan. Mr. Dickey, a civil engineer, had purchased "Bay View", the Biloxi Bay estate of Christian Hanson (1845-1914), in June 1922. He renamed it "Shadowlawn", and it is now the home and bed and breakfast establishment of his granddaughter, Nancy White Wilson. (Bellande, 1994, pp. 80-81)

     In addition to his hotel-apartment business at Ocean Springs, Mr. Anderson assisted in the 1905 organization of the Ocean Springs State Bank and served on the Board of Directors. Under the leadership of Dr. O.L. Bailey (1870-1938), the bank board and stock holders erected their building on the northeast corner of Washington and Government in 1910. Although the property has had multiple proprietorships through time, it has remained a fiscal institution. Today, it is owned by the Cornerstone Group, a financial planning–brokerage enterprise. (The Ocean Springs Record, June 17, 1993, p. 18)

     Sidney J. Anderson was also president of the Ocean Springs Electric Light and Ice Company, which was organized in 1903. Louis A. Lundy (1876-1941), a partner of Anderson in the ice company, would organize the Ocean Springs Packing Company in 1915, with L.M. McClure (1884-1940) and Joseph Zaehringer (1881-1969). Both plants were located on the Bay of Biloxi, south of the L&N Railroad bridge. (The Ocean Record, February 15, 1996, p. 20)

     At Vancleave, Mr. Anderson ran a small navy. His trading schooners plied the shallow "Lake" waters between New Orleans and Bluff Creek, often mastered by men of foreign origins. Spaniard, Vincent Fererer (1848-1910+) of the Ruby and David Burke (1848-1910+), a New Yorker, of Irish parentage, who commanded the S.J. Dixon, were some of these men. By this time, Francisco Juan (1843-1918), another Spaniard schooner master, had quit the sea and resided at Vancleave, where he was a merchant with his father-in-law, Willis Broadus (1834-1919).

     Through the years, S.J. Anderson is believed to have owned the following schooners: Maggie, George Washington, Seven Brothers, Malvina S. Anderson, Frank S. Anderson, and the Caroline Anderson. Russell E. Barnes, a history professor at MGCJC (Perkinston) and authority on local watercraft, has provided the following information on several of these vessels:

Malvina S. Anderson-built at Handsboro, Mississippi in 1892, most probably by Matteo Martinolich (1861-1948), an 1883 Croatian-Italian immigrant. The forty-three ton schooner was 73.2 feet in length, had a beam of 23.3 feet, and had a hold depth of 4.3 feet. Mr. Anderson’s obituary relates that "he built the Malvina S. Anderson, the largest boat of that time, a charcoal carrier along the coast". (The Jackson County Times, October 6, 1917, p. 5, c. 3)

Seven Brother-built on the Jourdan River in Hancock County, possibly by the Pavolina family. This vessel was twenty-four tons with a length of 54.9 feet, beam of 24.7 feet, and depth of 3.8 feet.

Maggie-built at Scranton (Pascagoula). This small boat was of only eight tons and length of 32.4 feet. I had a beam length of 12.6 feet and hold depth of 3.8 feet.

I

     It interesting to note that Mr. Anderson’s brother and business partner, Julius Anderson, once owned the Josephine

Mestier.  This was another Martinolich schooner constructed at Handsboro, in 1893. Two New Orleans lumber merchants, J. Louis Mestier and his brother-in-law, Peter Judlin (1864-1917), contracted for this and an earlier vessel, the Mabel E. Judlin.  Josephine Judlin Mestier (1862-1914), was the daughter of two European émigrés, J.B. Judlin (1831-1880+) from France, and Alice E. Vatter (1842-1880+) of Germany. The Judlin family resided at New Orleans, where Mr. Judlin was a grocer. (Fenerty et al, 1991, p. 261)

   Josephine’s sister, Emma Judlin (1869-1958), married Eugene W. Illing (1870-1947) of Ocean Springs. Mr. Illing was a successful innkeeper and pecan grower, before entering the motion picture business circa 1904. His Illing Theatre was a landmark on Washington Avenue for many decades. (The Ocean Springs Record, October 5, 1995, p. 20)

      A daughter of Peter Judlin and Henriette Monteverde, Mabel E. Judlin (1890-1953), married Henry Girot (1887-1953), a New Orleans tailor, who came to Ocean Springs circa 1923, where he helped organize the United Poultry Producers Association and develop the Cherokee Glen subdivision on the Fort Point peninsula. (The Gulf Coast Times, January 29, 1953, p. 1, cc. 4-5)

     His only son, Judlin H. Girot (1912-1970), a former Alderman of Ward 4 (1951-1953), resided at Ocean Springs until 1953. (The Daily Herald, January 5, 1953, p. 6)

     Mr. Girot’s daughter, Beryl G. Riviere, has been a long time resident of Cherokee Glen.

     Miss Mabel Judlin was the namesake of another trading schooner, the Mabel E. Judlin. This vessel was constructed at Handsboro by Matteo Martinolich (1861-1934) in 1891, for J.L. Mestier & Company of New Orleans. Mabel E. Judlin, built in 1891. (Barnes, 1998, p. 15)

     The Mabel E. Judlin was 67 feet long, had a beam of 22 feet, and hold depth of 4 feet. Her sails were constructed by A. Gerdes & Brother of New Orleans. (The Biloxi Herald, May 2, 1891, p. 4, c. 2) The Mabel E. Judland (sic) was reputed to be the fastest schooner in the entire Gulf and Caribbean. She hauled charcoal from the banks of Bluff Creek when owned by James E. Lockard (1862-1951) of Vancleave. The fledging United Fruit Company used the Mabel E. Judland (sic) as a model for their shallow draft fruit boats. (Down South, July-August 1960, p. 9)

     In the Hurricane of October 1915, S.J. Anderson had a frightening experience. During the violent tempest, one of his schooners was anchored at the New Basin in New Orleans. With winds roaring at eighty-seven knots per hour, Anderson went to check on his vessel. He boarded the floundering boat and threw out double anchors to secure it. As Mr. Anderson was about to disembark his vessel, the wind hurled the roof of a cotton warehouse upon the wave tossed schooner, felling both masts and narrowly missing the anxious Anderson. The storm also claimed one of his traders in the Rigolets Marsh. (The Ocean Springs News, October 7, 1915, p. 2, c. 7)

     In late September 1917, the Andersons went to Hot Springs, Arkansas, a renown health spa of the era. Mr. Anderson’s health had been failing, and it was believed that this holiday would revive him. Unfortunately, he expired at Hot Springs on October 3, 1917. His remains were sent to New Orleans for internment in the Greenwood Cemetery. The wake was held at the home of H. Moskan at 2713 Bienville Street. Mr. Moskan was the brother-in-law of Sidney Anderson. (The Daily Herald, October 5, 1917, p. 6, c. 4)

     After the demise of her husband, Caroline G. Anderson relocated to New Orleans. She participated with her son, Frank S. Anderson, in a firm called the Orleans Advertisement & Street Guide Company, which was situated at 618 Commercial Place. In 1922, Mrs. Anderson moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, but returned to the Crescent City circa 1925. She passed on February 19, 1950, at El Paso, Texas. Her remains were sent to New Orleans for burial in the Greenwood Cemetery. (The Times Picayune, February 22, 1950, p. 2, c. 6)

     The complete lives of the children of Sidney and Caroline Anderson are currently unknown. Daughter, Malvina A. Anderson (1891-1971), married after 1910, Emile L. Bernard (1889-1950). Mr. Bernard worked for S.J. Anderson as his bookkeeper. They are believed to have reared two daughters: Vivian and Margie Bernard. After the death of Emile Bernard, Malvina wedded a Mr. Cotter. She was a resident of Eddy County, New Mexico in 1954. Carlsbad is the County seat.

     In February 1918, Frank S. Anderson married Katherine Usner of New Orleans, at the Usner home on East Beach in Ocean Springs. Deo F. Bertuccini (1893-1979) of Ocean Springs was his best man. (The Jackson County Times, Febraury 16, 1918, p. 5, c. 2)

     The F.S. Andersons had a daughter, Catherine A. Buendia (1919-1999). After the child’s birth, the Andersons separated and he relocated to Texas. Here F.S. Anderson remarried and sired two children, Doris Jean Lewis and F.S. Anderson Jr. In 1954, these children were residing at Houston, Texas and Napa County, California respectively. (JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk.146, pp. 243-244)

     The final fate of the Anderson store and home are presently unknown to the author. It is believed that they were torn down in the 1920s. Some of the materials may have been utilized in the construction of the C.L. Dees Red Cash Store post-WWI.

     Other commercial enterprises at Vancleave in the 1890-1900 period were: Chris Quave (1858-1900+)-barber; W.J. Taylor-liquor; Dr. E.A. Portis-drugs; and general store proprietors, John M. Breeland, George W. Smith, H.E. Woodman, Thomas Clark, R.H. Page, and Thomas C. Ruble. (The Pascagoula Democrat-Star, November 29, 1889 and The Mississippi Business Directory 1890, p. 15)

     After the Civil War, the virgin, pine forests of southern Mississippi began to be exploited for timber, charcoal, and naval stores. Some of the timber, which was milled primarily on the eastside of the Pascagoula River, was shipped, via the Horn Island anchorage, to foreign ports. The earliest logging operations in the Vancleave region occurred along the rivers, creeks, and streams, since roads and bridges were scarce in the region. Water was the only efficient method for transporting logs to the sawmills. The hand hewn, rough, stock was floated and rafted or towed by steam tugboat to the mill sites, which were generally at Moss Point. In the late 19^th Century, among the Vancleave area log rafters were: Alfred Broome (1854-1900+), Henry Lyman Havens (1874-1924), Dan Holden (1845-1900+), Beauregard Quimbley (1862-1905), William Grov