On Thursday, I attended Mayor Keith Gaskin’s farewell address and reception at city hall. It was a recognition of a job well done, and it made me think of other mayors that Columbus has had. The first mayor I actually remember from my childhood is William Propst. He is the mayor who was instrumental in establishing Propst Park and for whom it was named. But of course, my thoughts drifted back to the founding of Columbus 2006 years ago and who would have been the first mayor.

The first mayor there is a record of was William L. Moore, who was serving as mayor in 1822. With the town of Columbus being established in 1819, that leaves a big gap in the public record. That gap can be partly filled by examining the founding of the town and how it was first governed.

It was in 1817 that the Mississippi Territory divided into Mississippi and Alabama with Mississippi becoming the 20th state. It was also in 1817 that the first house was built at the site that became Columbus. The state line had not been surveyed, and it was believed that the Tombigbee River or the St. Stephens Trace (it roughly followed the route of present Highway 45 South) would be the route the state line would follow.

Based on that misconception, Columbus and the settlement of Cotton Gin Port (on the Tombigbee near present day Amory) were believed to fall within Alabama. It was not until Jan. 3, 1821, that the site of Columbus and the settlement of Cotton Gin Port were officially recognized as in Mississippi and not Alabama. That leaves a gap between 1819 and 1821 in public records. Some of that can be filled through Alabama legislative acts and the first written history of Columbus.

The earliest written account of the founding of Columbus was by Oscar Keeler in 1848. Keeler said the first house was built by Thomas Thomas, who had been run out of the Chickasaw Nation. Later accounts said the name was Thomas Moore or Thomas Sampson. Another possibility is that Thomas Cheadle built the house. He was employed by Chickasaw Agent William Cocke as a carpenter at the agency until Sept. 2, 1817. His leaving the Chickasaw Agency just happens to coincide with the time that the future site of Columbus was selected as the Military Road’s Tombigbee crossing and Cocke learned his position as an agent would end in 1818.

Keeler also told how Spirus Roach “occupied and kept entertainment” in the house built by Thomas Thomas. Because of the “peculiarities” of Roach’s long, pointed nose, local Native Americans who traded at Roach’s establishment called the town, “Opossum Town.”

When the sites of Columbus and Cotton Gin Port were believed to be in Alabama, they were first located in Tuscaloosa County. Then in 1818, the western part of Tuscaloosa County broke off and became Marion County. Cotton Gin Port became the county seat, but until the summer of 1819, what is now Columbus was just a scattering of a few houses.

In 1819 the construction of the Military Road from Nashville to New Orleans was approaching the Tombigbee, where its ferry crossing had been designated in 1817. That was where the bridge to the Island now crosses. The summer of 1819 saw a large number of settlers arriving and forming a settlement in the area that became downtown Columbus. It was at the suggestion of Silas McBee that the settlement was named Columbus.

The growing population of Columbus in 1819 is reflected in that year’s elections in Marion County, Alabama. Three Columbus residents were elected to offices in Marion County. Among those elected as county officials were Columbus residents Silas McBee, representative in the Alabama legislature, Bartlett Sims, county sheriff, and Richard Barry, notary public.

On Dec. 6, 1819, the Alabama legislature passed an act moving the county seat of Marion County to the house of Henry Greer, placing it between Cotton Gin Port and the rapidly growing Town of Columbus. The same Alabama law that moved the county seat to Greer’s established an Alabama election precinct at “some suitable house in the town of Columbus.” Greer’s house was located at the present site of Columbus Air Force Base. A settlement known as Hamilton had arisen just across the Buttahatchie River from Greer’s house.

With a lack of records from Marion County concerning Columbus, much of the city’s story from 1819 to January 1821 may be lost. One exception is postal records which show the Columbus Post Office being established on March 6, 1820.However, nothing seems to have survived as to elected office holders for the town of Columbus during that period. But that also leaves the question of what the governing body of Columbus looked like prior to William Moore being mayor in 1822.

That is answered in the Mississippi legislative act of Feb. 10, 1821. That act chartered the town of Columbus and created Franklin Academy. As Columbus was located on 16th Section land, the original governing body of Columbus were the Trustees of Franklin Academy, whose president was William Cocke.

As for the Mayor of Columbus, William L Moore was serving as mayor in 1822, but there is no known record of when he was elected. On July 2, 1821, he was selected as county surveyor of Monroe County. He may have served as Mayor until 1831.

The second mayor of Columbus is said to have been Robert Haden in 1831. In the Billups Garth Archives at the Columbus Public Library is a ledger book entitled “May 1833 Candidates Book.” The candidates for mayor were J.W. Byrnes, William L. Moore, and a Willingford, whose first name is illegible. In it is a list of bottles of liquor showing the candidates collectively purchased 26 quarts of whiskey, 24 quarts and 19 gallons of cider, 47 quarts of wine, seven quarts of rum, three quarts of Brandy, and one quart of gin for Election Day. However, it does not say who won.

There remains a question as to how Columbus was governed in its early days as City Minute Book No. 1 has survived, but its first entry is not until Sept. 17, 1839, when Eli Abbott was mayor. After 1835, Columbus information becomes much more accessible as many Columbus newspapers from 1836 onward have survived, providing a wealth of information. After 1839, there are city Minute Books.

Thanks to Carolyn Kaye and Gary Lancaster for their input.

Rufus Ward is a local historian.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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