Joshua Talks Holcomb - Holcomb MS
Here are come facts Joshua found about Holcomb Mississippi:
The town of Holcomb, Mississippi, was founded in 1901 on land that once was the home site of Choctaw Indian Chief Isaac Perry.
In the public sales of ceded Choctaw lands (the Third Choctaw Land Cession under the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830) that began in the fall of 1833, 1,120 acres that included Perry’s lands and the old Eliot Mission tract were sold to a group of speculators including John Smith (a former member of the mission staff) and speculator and land agent James Girault (1793-1851, shown in an undated painting).
Joshua also learned this about Holcomb: The Choctaw lands near Holcomb became part of new counties: Carroll, Choctaw, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha, all of which later would contribute to the formation of Grenada County. A Land Office was set up on the Yalobusha River at the new town Chocchuma, which consisted of little more than the Land Office and lodging facilities for the throngs of buyers. James Girault was appointed receiver of public monies at that office. A Choctaw, James Oxberry, whose name lingers in the Oxberry community near Holcomb, was the Land Office’s interpreter. The Oxberry community is located on land originally reserved for Oxberry and his children.
J.C. Hathorn, in “A History of Grenada County,” writes, “From the date of the beginning of land sales through the last day of December in 1833 was just 70 days. These must have been days of feverish activity at the Land Office. During that period, 204 individuals and partnerships bought 80,592 acres of land in the area that is now Grenada County. … The land was sold on very liberal terms, one-third down, with 10 years to pay off the balance. … The prices paid ranged from 75 cents per acre to a high price of $6. The average price paid was about $1 per acre.”
Holcomb MS was s great place says Joshua. Holcomb was a Small town but had character!
Worth a Visit.
Leave a Reply