It’s often the unrelated and unexpected finds made while researching a topic that turn out to be the most interesting. That was the case recently when I stumbled on an article from the Aberdeen Gazette reprinted in the April 14, 1837, Natchez Weekly Courier. It was an article discussing improvements in the town of Aberdeen during the “twelve months, since the first log cabin was erected.”
Aberdeen is located in the Chickasaw Cession of 1832 and its founding is credited to Robert Gordon. By the supplemental articles to the Chickasaw Treaty of Pontitock Creek dated Oct. 22, 1832, Gordon was granted a section of land, to be determined later, in settlement of a debt owed to him.
The treaty provided that the “Chiefs of the nation represent that they in behalf of the nation gave a bond to James Colbert for a debt due to him, of eighteen hundred and eleven dollars, ninety-three and three fourth cents principal, that James Colbert transferred said note to Robert Gordon and that said note, and the interest thereon is yet due and unpaid, and the said Robert Gordon has proposed to take a section of land for said note, and interest up to this date. It is therefore agreed by the nation to grant him a section of land, to be taken any where in the nation, so as not to interfere with any reserve which has been provided as a residence for the Chickasaws, which shall be in full for said note and interest.”
To establish his claim to the section he wanted, which was on the river at present day Aberdeen, Gordon had a cabin built, and he hired a Chickasaw family to live there and assert his occupancy of that section.
Robinson James was also interested in claiming the section of land that became Aberdeen and built a cabin on what is now Matubby Street, but he did not move there or have the cabin occupied. A legal case wound up in court at Athens, which was then the Monroe County seat, as to who could rightfully claim that section of land. Because Gordon’s cabin had an Indian family living there, he prevailed. Gordan first named the new town Dundee but changed the name to Aberdeen, as the incoming settlers mispronounced Dundee.
The town site was cleared of timber, surveyed and platted with the sale of lots to commence on Jan. 15, 1836. The July 8, 1836, Southern Telegraph of Rodney, Mississippi included “Aberdeen, Monroe, 60 (miles) by water above Columbus” in a list of Mississippi post offices but showed no postmaster there.
On July 30, 1836, B.F. Dumas of “Mill Port,” Alabama, advertised that he was selling his dwelling, land and “first rate new Cotton Gin and Press” and moving to Aberdeen. By December 1836, Dumas was advertising lots for sale in both Millport and Aberdeen. The Town of Aberdeen was officially charted in 1837.
The article on the founding of Aberdeen which appeared in the 1837 Natchez Weekly Courier said:
“The Aberdeen Gazette is the name of a newspaper published at Aberdeen, Monroe County in this state, the first number of which was issued on the 25th ult. (March 25, 1837) It is edited by T.J. Forbes Esq., whose political sentiments are of the right stamp. The annexed account of Aberdeen is from the Editorial columns of the Gazette.
‘OUR TOWN – The improvements in this part of our State are so rapid, the conversion of selected portions of the forest into flourishing villages so sudden, that the hunter is often surprised to find himself in the midst of a busy population, to hear the hum of industry and to witness a rising town, where but a few months before no human dwelling, save here and there the solitary hut of the Chickasaw Indian, met his eye, as he passed in pursuit of the bounding deer. Such agreeable changes as there are perhaps nowhere more frequent and sudden that in the northern regions of Mississippi.
‘An instance of the rapid progress so often witnessed in converting a wilderness into towns teeming with a population of a commercial city, we would cite the attention of our readers to the town of Aberdeen.
‘Thirteen months ago (That would have been February 1836), the very spot on which our press now stands was concealed in the deep shade of a native forest. It now supports one of the finest and most spacious edifices in north Mississippi.
‘It is but twelve months (since March 1836), since the first log cabin was erected on the beautiful and well chosen site for a town, which can already number some twelve hundred inhabitants. (This was the land rush boom of the opening of the sale of former Chickasaw Homeland.) It has some dozen stores, several of which are wholesale establishments; and the charter for two banks with large capitals, which are soon to go into operation. It enjoys commercial advantages equal, perhaps, if not superior to any town on the Tombigbee River. It may be considered at the head of safe steamboat navigation — up to this point steamboats can come with as much safety and convenience (the distance excepted) as they can to any point for some hundred miles below; two or three frequently arrive here in a day, and a few days since, we had five at our landing at the same time. It is in the midst of an extensive tract of rich and fertile lands, where, both soil and climate are highly favorable to the growth both of cotton and corn – the staple commodities of the state. As for health, we see no local cause nor anything to prevent it from being one of the healthiest in the State. We would say, then, to those who wish for good land and cheap, a good market with facilities of access, large profits, health, peace and plenty, come and see and we believe you will settle in Aberdeen or its vicinity.'”
Not included in the article promoting Aberdeen was an account that not long after Aberdeen was settled and while Meridian Street was still just a horse-path, a huge “diamond rattlesnake” was seen crossing the street. It was said to look like a small log and was shot and killed. When straightened out it measured 9 feet 11 3/4 inches.
Thanks to Carolyn Kaye for research and transcription assistance.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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