Scott County was organized on December 23, 1833 and was named in honor of the seventh governor of Mississippi Abram M. Scott. Scott took office in 1832 but passed away early in his first term as governor after contracting cholera during the 1833 cholera epidemic of Jackson.
The town of Berryville, which originated from the Gray Plantation, was selected as the first county seat in 1834. Berryville was located approximately four miles southwest of Forest’s current location, just west of Caney Creek. Berryville was abandoned within 12-months of being established and when the town failed in 1836 all official county records were transported to the town of Hillsboro which would serve as the official county seat for the next 30 years.
Hillsboro was founded in 1835 on 20 acres of donated land and was named for its higher elevation on a range of hills. While not high in altitude, the area is well above surrounding areas of the county. Hillsboro is one of the three oldest towns in the county and one of the primary reasons why it was chosen as the new Scott County seat was because of its position along the main stagecoach route being more centrally located. For 25 years, spanning 1835-1860, Hillsboro was the largest and most important town in Scott County. During that time, other than Hillsboro, there were only small villages, hamlets and settlements scattered throughout the county until just before the Civil War.
It took no time for Hillsboro to grow into a nice little town which had an active, thrifty, intelligent population of around 1,500 residents at its peak in 1860. The town was described as being a nice little wooden village, scattered with about 15-20 stores and 20 homes clustered in the center of town along with various public buildings expected in a county seat. In addition to the hustle and bustle of the town square there were numerous homes and several plantations to the south of town. The structures in town were constructed of wood with only the Law Office of A. B. “Dick” Smith (Esq.) being built of brick.
Hillsboro developed into an international town of sorts, comprised of numerous immigrants from Germany, Bavaria, Prussia, Switzerland, England, Ireland and France. During this time of continued growth many business houses in Hillsboro were owned and operated by foreign born residents. In addition to those born on American soil and immigrants there were also Native Americans from the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes who often came to town. Specifically, “Big Fat Sam”, a Choctaw Indian Chief at nearby Piketon, furnished the proprietors of the Union Hotel, Simmons Hotel, Gilmers Tavern and Cain`s Tavern with squirrel, deer, and other types of fresh meat which were hunted and killed by his young warriors.
Some of the foreign owned and operated business houses in Hillsboro were; William Pretsfelder`s General Merchandise Store (Bavaria) Joseph Clinger`s Tailor (Germany). Isaac Rosenbum was an itinerant peddler of general goods, his brother Abraham Roesnbum was a store clerk, both of whom were from Germany. Joseph Ehlbert from Germany was a barber and ran his own shop at the young age of 17 years. Mr. A. Washour from Prussia owned a general merchandise store. N. Black had a butcher`s shop, he and his wife Adal were from France. David Carb and Isaac Layman, both from France, owned and operated their own general merchandise stores and Charles Ehrman from France had the other butcher`s shop in town. Quite a few of the stores in Hillsboro were Jewish owned and operated.
The town had three major North-South thoroughfares; Jackson Street (which today is Old Hillsboro Rd.), Madison Street and Washington Street. There was one major East-West thoroughfare which was Main Street (which today is Old Jackson Rd.) and there were six approaches in and out of town; Clifton to the West via the Canton Rd., Ludlow to the Northwest via Carthage Rd., Harperville to the Northeast via the Philadelphia Rd., Gum Springs to the East via Decatur Rd., Morton to the Southwest via either Jackson St. or Morton Rd. and Forest to the Southeast via either Washington St. or Forest Rd.
The streets in town were all 50 feet wide and built of clay and sand (loam), with several alleys and continuation streets ranging from 10-30 feet wide, with red clay dirt roads leading in and out of town.
Among the first buildings to be built in Hillsboro was the two-story wooden Scott County Courthouse and Jail located at the south-east corner of Main and Jackson streets (Old Jackson Rd. and Old Hillsboro Rd. today). These were the most important institutions in town, if not the whole county. The top floor of the courthouse contained the necessary town and county official offices which included the mayor, coroner, tax assessor, clerk, courtroom and judge`s chambers. The ground floor of the building housed the Center Livery Stable, which was used to feed and care for the horses of those who were there to do county business.
The jail was a single-story wooden structure built adjacent to the courthouse and is where the Scott County Sheriff and his deputy kept their offices. Should the judge sentence a person to death, being duly convicted of committing higher crimes, wooden gallows would be constructed on the grounds of the courthouse square where their sentence would be carried out in the form of public hanging.
The public square and courthouse were often used as a public space and a central gathering locale for the citizens of Hillsboro, as well as the rest of the county. This space was used for open markets, music concerts, political rallies, community gatherings, public announcements, as well as it being a place where politicians made their stump speeches during election cycles. Preachers would speak on the evils of the world while peddlers of every stripe would sell general merchandise, crafts, tonics, snake oils and products to the town’s people. This area was also the gathering place for dances, parades and celebrations to observe holidays and other special occasions. The public square was simply the focus of community life in the small town of Hillsboro, if not the entire county.
The public square which adjoined the courthouse is where numerous notable politicians came and made campaign speeches over the years, some of those being: U. S. Congressman Seargent Smith Prentiss (1838 - 1839), Governor Alexander G. McNutt (1838 - 1842), Governor Henry S. Foote (1852 - 1854), and other great leaders who charmed listening multitudes with their passionate and often heated campaign stump speeches while in Hillsboro. U. S. Senator Jefferson Davis gave his stump speech there in 1851 while campaigning for Governor and 10 years later on Feb 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected the first and only President of the Confederate States of America as the country was pushed to the brink of Civil War.
The Methodist Church in Hillsboro, which was the first church organized in Scott County, was built in 1836 with the only town graveyard located immediately North of its location. Both the church and the cemetery have remained in their original locations and remain there to this very day. The current day church building was built in 1928 after the original building was destroyed, but no longer houses worship services.
The Baptist Church was built in 1845 near where it is today, but during that time there was a vast Oak Grove comprised of hundreds of old growth oak trees in the area where the cemetery is today and beyond. Higher education came to town when the Hillsboro Academy was completed in 1860 and the proprietor brought in Ephram Tripp from Massachusetts to be the headmaster and teacher.
Hillsboro was the home to the first newspaper in Scott County when the Hillsboro Argus was founded in early 1860 by Mr. John Ferris and his partner Mr. James Duke. The newspaper had a short lifespan as it was forced to close the doors in the spring 1861 due to the beginning of the Civil War. J. A. Chambers was the foreman for the paper and Charlie Ferris was the office boy, carrier and sidewalk salesman.
A young Robert H. Henry, who would later become the owner and editor of the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, received his introduction into the printing business at the Hillsboro Argus and would later also work at the Forest Register. Henry said that he first “learned the boxes” from his Uncle J. A. Chambers at the Hillsboro paper which he credited as developing his initial interest in both printing and journalism.
The Union Hotel, Garden and Stables were located across Main Street from the courthouse (where the old Paul Chambers store is today). Cain`s Tavern was located on the corner of Main Street and Washington Street directly across from the public square, where under one roof there was a post office, hotel, theatre, open saloon, hostesses and gambling along with offering a kitchen and dining room where meals could be prepared and eaten by its patrons.
The swinging sign in front of the establishment read, “Accommodations for Man and Beast,” as there was also a livery stable on the property. The main reason this location had so much to offer was that Cain`s Tavern was the designated Adams Express Company stagecoach-stop in Hillsboro. The stagecoach line ran along the Montgomery-Jackson Stage Road from Montgomery, AL to Vicksburg, MS and serviced numerous towns and stops in-between.
When the Adams Express stagecoach was on its western bound trip to Vicksburg its scheduled stop before Hillsboro was at Hunt’s Caretaker Inn in Piketon, and when it was with-in one-mile of entering Hillsboro it would make a brief stop to water the team of four horses at Babbits Pond just East of town. Upon arriving Cain`s Tavern, passengers would disembark and have access to fresh food from the kitchen or a stiff drink from the saloon. For passengers who were at their final destination there was a hotel right there in the premises with rooms to let. As part of their job, the stage driver would deliver the mail-bag to the postmaster during the stop. Once the stage had completed its business and was ready to depart the passengers would load-up and continue their journey West making the next stop at the Buck Horn Tavern in Greenbush.
Some other businesses in town during its peak years were; M. D. Graham & Co., Bunch`s Shoe & Boot shop, James Simmons` Livery Stable, John C. Simmons` Hotel, Gilmer`s Tavern, Hugh`s Gun Shop, Lewis` Blacksmith Shop, Skinners` Wagon Shop, W. H. Lowrey Druggist and Bookseller, Dr. Joshua W. Lack (MD), Dr. J. W. Barber (MD), Edwards` Grocery - Merchantile & Dry Goods, Taylor`s Wagon Shop, Eastland`s General Merchandise Store, Parks Brothers Chair Factory, the Hillsboro Theatrical Company, the Hillsboro Cotton Gin, E. C. Scott`s Grist mill, the Hillsboro Saw Mill & Lumber Co., the Hillsboro Race Course (flat racing), the Ten-Pin Bowling Alley which was one of the first of its kind in Mississippi as well as a fine local bar and several open saloons & gambling establishments in town.
For entertainment the citizens of Hillsboro and Scott County engaged in numerous sports and games of the day, which were quite popular in the 19th century. Some of those being: ring tournaments, horse racing, shooting matches, bowling, chess, log-rollings and corn husking bee`s. Quilting parties were commonly held by women and kite building and flying for the kids.
One of the greatest forms of enjoyment for the residents of Hillsboro, and all of Scott County, were ring tournaments that were held in various parts of the county and attended by hundreds of residents. Regular tournament clubs were organized in the northern part of Scott County, notably at Hillsboro, Harperville and Ludlow.
The tournament was basically a test of general horsemanship, in which the rider with a lance was mounted on his charger and brought to a fast gallop, he then attempted to catch and lift rings suspended over him in the air, hanging from an 8 and one-half foot pole with a horizontal arm extending over the track which had a three-inch ring hanging down from a wire hook, to be caught and taken by the lance and removed from the wire hook holding it. The rider who caught the most rings, without knocking them to the ground from the wire hook or dropping them once caught, was declared the winner of the tournament.
Flat racing was another past time of the day and Hillsboro was the location of the most well known tracks in the county. The race-tracks of the 19th century were great places of resort, many would say that they also offered much wickedness and great immorality because of the rampant gambling and drinking that was usually associated with the spectacle. The race-track was located on a level place in Hillsboro. Two tracks, of about 1,000 yards long, were laid off in a straight line, running parallel with each other being about twenty feet apart and about four feet wide. They were cleared of all timber, roots, stones and any other obstructions, and made smooth being packed hard with loam to form a good and safe place for running. This type of horse racing was known as “flat racing” which covered the distance of a little more than one and one-half furlongs. The rules were fairly simple as the two riders would start side-by-side and the first horse and rider to cross the finish line won.
When a race was arranged between different parties at Hillsboro the news of the approaching race would quickly be known to all. These events were heavily advertised and discussed all over Scott County which created great excitement and always resulted in large crowds assembling to watch and place bets. A few of the more affluent families from Hillsboro such as the Graham`s, Lack`s, Hardy`s, Smith`s, Gatewood`s and Eastlands owned large stables of prized racing horses they enter in many of these races. These races were held often as it was a very popular form of competition and entertainment that resulted in fortunes being made and/or lost in the amount of time it took to complete a race.
To read the rest of this story and the the entire history of Hillsboro log on to www.sctonline.net.
Shooting matches were another form of popular entertainment that was often held in town and throughout the county. These competitions drew large crowds but paled in comparison to the crowds that gathered for the horse races. These events were commonly competitions between the most talented shooters in the county, be it with a rifle, shot-gun, or pistol. Typically, the stake put up to be shot at was a beef cow. A local resident would furnish the animal and a set price would be agreed upon for the animal. Those wishing to shoot for it would pay a stated amount for a chance to shoot. These “chances’’ would be priced at an agreed upon amount and each purchased chance allowed for one shot.
One quarter of the beef would be put up and the chances taken and paid for and the shooting commenced. The nearest shot to the cross of a makeshift target would take the choice piece of meat. The next nearest would get second choice, and in that way the quarter of beef would be divided. After the meat was all won the hide would be “shot-off.”, with the one shooting the most accurate and coming nearest to the center of the cross of the fixed target would be declared the winner and awarded the hide of the animal.
Each man had his own target for the competition, and after the shooting, judges would decide as to which were the best shots and nearest the center of the cross on the target. This sport developed some remarkable marksmanship, and the southern men were some of the best shots in the country as they were familiar with fire-arms from a very young age. Much of their proficiency was credited to the shooting matches, as well as the free use of the gun at home and in hunting game for food to sustain themselves and their families.
Ten-Pin Bowling was a very popular sport in Hillsboro. German immigrants were instrumental in fostering the game’s popularity in America as well as bringing the game with them to Scott County. In Europe, bowling was played with nine-pins but once the game was introduced to America it quickly became a ten-pin game, making it uniquely American. All of the balls and pins were hand carved from wood. The ten-pin indoor alley built in Hillsboro between 1850 - 1860 was one of the very first of its kind in Mississippi. Bowling was enjoyed by many in town and could often lead to disagreements rules and scoring which led to splinter groups forming.
As for the children of Hillsboro, kite building and flying was very popular. One of the best kite builders in town was Charlie Ferris, the son of John Ferris who was the owner, publisher and editor of the Hillsboro Argus Newspaper. The younger Ferris built all sorts of kites, from complex box-kites to simple one-line kites, and every kid in town wanted him to build one for them. On Saturdays during periods of good weather, kids from town would gather at the public square, or at one of the open fields in the less congested areas of town and fly their kites. Often the parents would join them, laying a blanket on the ground and eating a picnic lunch, as their children made a day of kite flying.
Other than the kids competing with each other to see who could keep their kite`s in the air the longest, there was also a competition played amongst them called “kite-fighting”, where the kids would use their kites to attack and bring down their opponents’ kites. If competition was not in their nature there was a lot of fun to be had simply running in the breeze with a home-made kite flying in the blue skies above.
As the second half of the 19th century started the greatest threat that Hillsboro faced in remaining the county seat was the spread of the railroad. The rail lines first arrived in Scott County at Morton in 1858, Forest later that same year, and not far behind was Lake in 1859. This started the discussion, and planning, of the inevitable move of the Scott County seat from Hillsboro to somewhere closer to the railroad. It was obvious to all concerned that the railroad was the future of the county and state, and it was just a matter of time before the county seat would have to be moved. Forest, Morton and Lake were all granted town charters in 1860 and were looking to replace Hillsboro as the county seat.
The Irish immigrant laborers brought in by contractors to lay the tracks through Scott County were living in Hillsboro. All of these men were recorded in the 1860 U. S. census including the contractors E. G. Daniels, Mr. E. R. Grisham and Mr. Clark Warren. The biggest concern with Hillsboro not being on the railroad was its inability efficiently transport commerce from Hillsboro to the market place. Cotton, lumber, corn and other products produced in Scott County had to be transported to the ports of Vicksburg. From there goods were sent by riverboat north to Memphis and south through Natchez to the port of New Orleans to be placed on ships designated for Europe and other international destinations. When the railroad came along goods were able to be transported from Scott County to the port cities in a fraction of the time required to transport by stage road and riverboats.
