Tunica County History
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History of Tunica County

Source: A History of Mississippi from the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French, Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis, by Robert Lowry and William H. McCardle. Jackson, Miss.: R. H. Henry & Co., 1891; pages 588-589.

Material submitted by Hancock County, MS, Coordinator, Denise Wells.


TUNICA COUNTY was established February 9th, 1836. Among the early settlers were S. H. Fletcher, Dr. J. C. Nelson, J. S. McPeak, Ransom H. Byrn, who represented the county in the Legislature; Walter H. Bell was the first representative from the county; E. H Humphreys, Lorenzo A. Besancon, S. May, Thomas M. Fletcher James F. Boren, Richard Abbay, who was the father of Hon. Richard F. Abbay, who represented the county in the Legislature, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1890.

Towns in the county are Tunica, the county site, Austin, Hollywood, Robinsonville and Evansville. Commerce, situated on the Mississippi river, was the first town in the county, and when located it was believed that it would be a place of large commercial importance, but it no longer exists, having long since become a part of the great river.

The streams in the county are Buck Island and Beaver Dam bayous, Walnut and Beaver Dam lakes. The Mississippi river forms the western and Coldwater the eastern boundary of the county.

There are in the county 49,355 acres of cleared land, the value of which, per acre, as rendered by the assessor, is $12.44; total value of cleared lands, including incorporated towns $661,653.

The population of the county as shown by the census of 1890: Whites, 1,218; colored, 10,936; total, 12,154.


. SENATORS REPRESENTATIVES
1837-'38 James D. Hallam W. H. Bell
1839 Felix Walker Walter H. Bell
1840 Alfred Cox Lorenzo A. Besancon
1841 James M. Matlock Lorenzo A. Besancon
1842 Andrew Knox Lorenzo A. Besancon
1843-'44 Andrew Knox Thos. M. Fletcher
1846 Felix Labauve S. May
1848 Felix Labauve R. H. Byrne
1850 James M. Tait R. H. Byrne
1852 James M. Tait .
1854 Simeon Oliver James F. Boren
1856-'57 Simeon Oliver George A. Sykes
1858 Simeon Oliver R. G. Kelsey
1859-'60-'61 Simeon Oliver R. H. Byrne
1861-'62 Simeon Oliver ________ Dale
1865-'66-'67 Dr. W. H. McCargo Francis A. Owen
1870 A. S. Dowd .
1871 A. S. Dowd .
1872-'73 J. G. Holloway, M. Campbell Gilbert Smith
1874-'75 J. G. Holloway, M. Campbell Gilbert Smith
1876-'77 C. G. Callicott, J. B. Morgan George P. A. Brown
1878 C. G. Callicott, J. B. Morgan James B. Perkins
1880 James B. Perkins W. J. Nelson
1882 V. B. Waddell T. C. Ferguson
1884-'86 R. W. Owen T. C. Ferguson
1888-'90 N. A. Taylor R. F. Abbay


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