The Coahoma County Massacre of 1841 - Part 1

​Coahoma County, Mississippi is known today for some of this country’s more prominent musicians such as John Lee Hooker, Son House, Ike Turner and Conway Twitty.  It’s also known as the home of the Delta Blues Museum and the Ground Zero Blues Club. Clarksdale lays claim to the infamous Crossroads where bluesman Robert Johnson purportedly sold his soul to the devil.

Situated along the Mississippi River in the northern Delta, Coahoma has a long and colorful history influenced by its early frontier lawlessness, its plantation culture and the ebb and flow of the river that snakes its western border. The county was formed from Choctaw lands that were ceded in 1830 although the county didn’t become official until 1836. It takes its name from the Choctaw word for “red panther.” With some of the most fertile soil in the world,  it was home to numerous large plantations including Greengrove belonging to Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The first settlements were established along the river for transportational purposes. The villages of Delta, Port Royal and Friar’s Point were all in competition as the county seat in the 1830’s through the early 1850’s. As with many river towns, the very thing that gave them life could also destroy them. The channel of the mighty river shifted often and in a matter of a few short years, Delta and Port Royal disappeared, giving way to farmland, wetlands and levees. Only Friar’s Point remains and only as a shell of a once thriving river port.

Some claim that Hernando DeSoto crossed the Mississippi River near Friar’s Point. It is known that Jesse James once visited the community in the company of a Methodist preacher, Aviator Charles Lindbergh ran out of gas on a flight and safely landed near Friar’s Point and the town was a converging point for Union transport ships prior to the attack on Vicksburg in 1863.

In 1841, Coahoma County was still the wild frontier. Cotton plantations were developing and producing fortunes but there was still land to clear and frequent flooding along the river left vast areas wild and untamable.

The money that cotton brought to the region also brought the outlaw.  Criminals of every disposition found the ease of travel along the river made for quick escapes if necessary and presented the opportunity for new victims along the way.  The islands that peppered the river provided safe havens for those outside of the law.

 These islands formed and disappeared with every shift in the river channel. Most had no names but were identified by number. The islands bordering Coahoma County were generally numbered islands 62- 71. Some were little more than a stone’s throw across a channel from the mainland while others were situated near the Arkansas side of the river.

The river outlaws took many forms – common robbers, horse thieves, kidnappers of slaves and counterfeiters. While none of the outlaws that populated the area around Coahoma County ever reached the notoriety  of John Murrell the land pirate, who had been captured a few years earlier or the Harpe brothers who terrorized the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys at the turn of the century, they were a source of irritation and fear for the more settled planters, farmers and merchants of the area.

Of particular concern, were the counterfeiters. While federal currency had been in circulation since the Revolutionary War, first issued by the Continental Congress, many had little faith in the government’s paper money, thus the phrase “worthless as a continental.”

While states were forbidden to produce their own currency, many private banks and state supported banks, even railroads, issued their own currency in different denominations. These notes might be of face value or less depending upon the perceived strength of the issuing institution. Questionable notes became known as “broken bank notes.”
Because these notes came from so many sources, it was a relatively simple task to produce counterfeit documents. It was almost impossible for a bank in New Orleans to verify the veracity of a note from a bank in Memphis and vice versa.

Travel on the Mississippi presented a unique opportunity for counterfeiters. By moving up and down the river, they could purchase goods and horses from one location and then resell for legitimate funds as they moved from place to place. Residents of Coahoma County were popular victims of such crime. Merchants and planters in and around Delta, Port Royal and Friar’s Point were favorite targets of counterfeiters who used the nearby river islands as bases and hideouts. Local citizens had begun to organize and make plans to rid themselves of these outlaws. As often happens, well laid plans of justice gave way to a vigilantism that produced horrific results.  (Part 2 - tomorrow)


Part 2
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Details of the events of August 1841 are sketchy. There are few documents that exist today that relate the tale and these have conflicting narratives. I will do my best to relate them as accurately and summarily as possible. Other than a few newspaper reports from long ago, the only document of the event was published as a pamphlet by C.F.H. Meason – “A narrative of the horrible massacre of the counterfeiters, gamblers, and robbers, in Coahoma County, Mississippi, which occurred in August, 1841.” The pamphlet is out of print and the only known copy is located in a Wisconsin Historical Society Library.

There is no definitive information as to how the whole affair started but a Pontotoc newspaper “The Sprit of the Times” published some details that may have originated from a Vicksburg paper. This account begins as citizens of Coahoma County pursued a gang of horse thieves to the river. The gang was able to cross the river into Arkansas, possibly onto island 64. The pursuers were able to see the pilfered horses across the river but realized that they were too few in number to confront the encampment of thieves.  It was said that the thieves taunted their pursuers, daring them to come across and take their steeds.

The citizens returned to their homes and discussed their options with others in the communities. A boatman on the river may have become an ally. The boatman had been swindled by the gang when he sold his goods for counterfeit money. When he returned to try to regain his goods, he was threatened with lynching.

A plan was developed, likely with the participation of the county sheriff, a man named Poindexter, whose intent was to arrest any and all involved. A large posse was gathered, some of which were of questionable character in their own right.  A flat boat was offered by a man named Burgess. A few goods were loaded on board and the men of the posse hid themselves in the rear of the boat as they floated down the river to island 64.

On the pretense of selling goods, the boatman was able to entice several members of the gang on board where they were promptly captured and bound. More thieves were captured at island 66 and possibly island 68.  Reports were that nineteen criminals were in custody. Other reports indicated as many as thirty.

The flat boat continued downriver to island 69 where things turned ugly.  A dispute broke out between the more law-abiding members of the posse and those who had a darker intent. Under threat, Sheriff Poindexter and some members of the posse were forced to exit the scene, leaving the prisoners in the hands of what could now only be described as a mob.

After some debate, most of the prisoners were taken to the shore on the Mississippi side of the river, carried to a bridge and horsewhipped before turning them loose. At least eight prisoners remained on the flat boat including a man, John Tully, that most considered to be the leader of the gang.

While the story varied a bit here, the result was the same. Most indicate that the men were bound hand and foot and tossed into the river. Other stories indicate that they were actually enclosed in an iron cage and that the cage was tossed overboard. Some reports support the story that eight men were killed, with names provided, while other reports indicated that eleven bodies were recovered.

There were some, particularly those on the Arkansas side of the river who may have had sympathy with the thieves or believed that some innocent men were victims of the vigilantes. As such, the accuracy of the following may be in question.

It was reported that the mob was soon joined by a band of men who could only be described as outlaws in their own right. Many believed that they were known former associates and accomplices of John Tully. Fueled by bloodlust and liquor, these men began a reign of terror across the countryside. It is unclear if these actions took place on the Arkansas side of the river, in Mississippi or both.

They took revenge upon those that had opposed their actions, driving them from their homes and plundering their property, dividing the spoils among the party. One report indicated that they burned the home of a lone woman and child.

These actions apparently continued for a period of time until the citizens were able to band together for their defense. Upon learning that there were those who sought justice against their actions, the mob leaders wrote letters to prominent citizens and at least one judge in Arkansas threatening to kill them if they pursued any action against them.

Eventually the situation calmed and there is no evidence that those involved were ever prosecuted or brought to justice. The event brought a great deal of negative press to Coahoma County and soured relations between the state of Mississippi and its neighbor, Arkansas.

This is a little-known tale not found in history books and with limited references online. This is likely due to its negative impact on the community and the fact that it occurred in an isolated area of the frontier. No reference to these events can be found in official Coahoma County history.
 
In 1841 at the time of the massacre, Port Royal was the county seat but flooding that year all but destroyed the town and the county seat was moved to Delta in 1842.  In 1848, the river shifted course and left Port Royal high and dry. The old river bed eventually became an oxbow now known as Horseshoe Lake. Without access to the river, Port Royal, once the busiest and largest community in the county, soon ceased to exist.

Delta suffered a similar fate. In 1848, a flood forced many residents to flee to Friars Point. The county seat soon followed in 1850. Before the turn of the century, all traces of the town of Delta were gone.
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Friars Point thrived for a period of time, serving as a major river port and playing an integral role in the Civil War. Over the years, the city of Clarksdale grew significantly and Friars Point declined. By 1930, the county seat was moved to its present-day home in Clarksdale. 

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