As a transplant from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the town of Ocean Springs, there was a great learning curve to learn about the history of the Delta. Growing up with my family farming the water, I have had to absorb a lot of new information to understand how different it was to farm the land. One thing that remains constant between these two agrarian cultures is that tradition reigns, heritage matters, and beauty is found in the simple, everyday things we experience in life.
The first time I saw the Courthouse in Rosedale, in 2011, my first question was, “ What’s going on with the 3x12’s holding up the North end of the building?”
Well, it’s good to know that the building will be salvaged but is it worth the taxpayer monies it will require to do so? How can I, an outsider, be so brazen to ask such a question? The fact remains there a two Bolivar County seats and the people of Bolivar County continue to desire it be so, regardless of the cost.
Sometimes is seems that names can change with the wind. So it has been with the Bolivar County Mississippi Courthouses and towns in which they inhabit. The Mississippi legislature officially established Bolivar County in 1836 and it was named for the American Liberator, Simon Bolivar. The Courthouses have stood in several locations and the towns where they were erected have changed names, as well. Mr. Simon must have been quite a man for the County to keep the same name since its inception. That has not always been the case with towns in Mississippi. And if you look at an 1891 county map, it is quite different than the county map of today.
The first county seat was in the town of Bolivar. The location changed several times before 1841, when, at a cost of $545, the building eventually found a resting place in Rosedale between 1872-1873. Originally named Floreyville for the carpetbagger official. The name was changed to Rosedale in 1876. Of the 10,471 residents in 1860, the large majority of the pre-civil war populace was slaves. Irrespective of race or societal position, it’s not easy to escape the Delta or the slow paced life that it lends itself to. Regardless, some say the reason there are two county seats is that it took a days travel to get from one end of the county to the other.
J.R. Moehringer made this statement in 2006:
“It’s not easy to escape the Delta. People have been writing for 100 years about how hard it is to escape, especially this part of the Delta, where the crushing poverty and the heart storms and the ghost towns get hold of you and won’t let you go.”
Regardless, the Delta tradition goes on. Hot, lazy summers for the those who may seek shade under a tree, offer no solace for the farmer trying to make sure his crop is watered and getting ready for harvest. Even when the second brick Courthouse stood during the Civil War, there was no shade offered when the Federals decided to burn it to the ground in 1862. The remains were later covered by water seeping from the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Mississippians have a reputation for “rolling their pants legs up” in order to re-build. It doesn’t matter if if’s a hurricane or a flood; they just “get it done” just as they did then and continue to do to this day when catastrophe strikes. Thus, another Courthouse was erected in the wake of man-made circumstances and natural disaster.
J. C. Burrus recorded the following for an article he wrote for the Bolivar County Democrat, February 23, 1923:
"Our first courthouse was at Bolivar Landing, a small room built of lumber brought by contract on flatboats, and there was a question as to whether or not this lumber should be delivered on top of the bank; this was settled by suit in favor of the county. The next courthouse was a single room built near the residence of Judge McGuire, opposite Napoleon, Arkansas. Judge McGuire furnished food and sleeping quarters for those who attended court. I remember being in this miniature courthouse on one occasion. My father, who, I think, was at the time a member of the Board of Police, now called Supervisors, owing to my importunity took me behind him.
The road, such as it was, followed the river around what is known as Indian Point, a distance of eighteen miles. I remember yet how tired my little legs were. The benches in the courthouse were cypress puncheons, or slabs with holes bored and wooden pegs for legs; The next courthouse was erected at a place one half mile north of this on the river I think in 1856) and a thriving village immediately grew up, which was called Prentiss, and here the first regular jail was built. Prentiss was burned during the war and court was held at. Beulah until 1872, when a courthouse was erected at the place it now stands, in the town of Rosedale (first called Floreyville for a carpetbagger official). All county business was transacted there until the establishment of two judicial districts."
This article is not meant to be exhaustive in any way. My goal in writing is to raise awareness of Bolivar County historical information, in this case about the existence of two county seats. I hope this article is factual but rich in both history and the verbal stories passed down through the generations. We have two county seats, one in Rosedale and one in Cleveland. That has been a fact for over a hundred years and it is not going to change anytime soon. Next time you visit either Courthouse, be aware that the people of Bolivar County continue to have a voice in government and that is the American way. We live in a place rich in history, which allows the people to speak.
By:
Sarah Beaugez
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