Alphabet File page 99

On October 26, 1856 "J.V. Toulme, Alexander Bookter and

 

J.A. Ulman, Commissioners appointed by the honorable Benjamin Sones, Judge of the Probate Court of Hancock County, to make partition of and divide a certain tract of land situated, lying and being in said county and described as folows: Bounded on the North by Jourdan River, East by the Bay of St. Louis, South by the Dower of Mrs. Elizabeth Cowand, and west by lands claimed by Hopkins and Miller, into ten equal shares or parts, and to allot the same to the ten heirs of Jesse Cowand, deceased (they being joint tenants of said tract of land) according to the provisions of an act concerning the partition of lands had by coparcaners, joint tenants, and tenants in common, having at a previous day caused, as directed by said Act, said tract of land to be surveyed and divided into ten shares and part of two lots each, and a map and Field Book of said survey to be made, specifying the bounds and numbers of each Lot.  And having given notice of the time and place in the manner directed by said Act, they then would on this day meet at the office of V.B. Pierce in the City of Shieldsborough in said County and make an allotment by ballot of the several parts or shares aforesaid of said tract of land to said joint tenants, do now hereby certify that pursuant to said notice, we this day assembled at the place aforesaid appointed when and where we proceeded in a public manner to number on said Map and put the same in a box, also to put the names of said joint tenants written on separate tickets into another box; and that James Johnston appointed for that purpose by the undersigned, proceeded to draw said names and numbers as directed by said Act, and did draw the same as follows, that is to say:

 

To Arthelia Keene was drawn Shares No. 1 Lots  1 front & 10 To Jane Aiken      " "           "           "           2  "       2            "           "  9

 

To Mary E. Leibooke "           "           "           "           3  "       3          "           "  8

 

To Heirs of Lucinda Bryant    "           "           4  "       4          "           "  7

 

To Julia Cowand         "           "           "           "           5  "       5          "           "  6

 

To Alfred Cowand     "           "           "           "           6  "       6          "           "  5

 

To Charles Cowand    "           "           "           "           7  "       7          "           "  4

 

To Cora A. Moore       "           "           "           "           8  "       8          "           "  3

 

To Amanda Ames       "           "           "           "           9  "       9          "           "  2

 

To Jesse Cowand        "           "           "           "  10  "   10      "           "  1

 

  And that said Shares Now. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,,9, and 10 were thereupon declared allotted to said joint tenants according to said balloting.  Certified under our hands and seals this 26th day of December, A. D. 1857."

 

  On the grounds was the family burial ground.  Jesse Cowand, his wife, and descendants are buried there.  Upon a division of the property to the various heirs at the August Term of Chancery Court in 1875 (Deed Book G. pages 3442-3, Hancock County Deed Records) it was specifically stated "Your Commissioners further respectfully report to your Honor that they find a portion of the land to be divided, about half a mile back of the beach and near the line dividing the Estate of Joseph Field, deceased from the lands of Melite Lessassier, a Cemetery, which has been used for many years back as a place of interment for all the different families descended from the late Jesse Cowand. They find that the late Jesse Cowand himself and his deceased widow are buried there besides many others belonging to the family, and a general desire exists among the different heirs that his Cemetery should continue in Joint occupancy and possession of all, so that it can be used hereafter as well as heretofore for the interment of any member of the different families interested in the Estate.  To secure this laudable object, the Commissioners have laid off, surveyed and staked out a lot of land containing one acre, in the shape of a square with sides 208 feet long for a Common Graveyard, as will appear from the map (Exhibit B) and ask your Honorable Court that this action in the premises be approved, and said Cemetery be forever set apart as a Common Grave Yard for the families of all parties interested in the Estate of Jesse Cowand, deceased."   Also a street to the beach front was provided at this time which is presently known as Leopold Street. "Your Commissioners further report to your Honor that they find a street, Called Second Street, running in a direction nearly north and south, through the Estate of Jesse Cowand, deceased and of Joseph Field, deceased, which street gives the only access to the different divisions of the rear land for the respective owners of the same.  They find that this street, as a means of access and communication will not afford the full benefit contemplated unless it be connected with the Front Street or Road running along the beach of the Bay.  And for the purpose of affording access from and to the front, and connecting not only Second Street, but also the Common Cemetery with said Front Street,  Your Commissioners have - by the advice and with the consent of all parties interested - laid off a street or road 21 feet wide running from the beach along the line of the Melite Lassassier Claim past the Cemetery to Second Street; as will more fully appear by reference to the map (Exhibit B)."

 

In April of 1889 Helena Dorhauer Cowand, wife of Charles

 

T. Cowand, and Julia Cowand Herrick, wife of Dr. S.S. Herrick, conveyed to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Bay St. Louis a strip of land to be used as a public street, to-wit: On the part of Helena D. Cowand, wife of Charles T. Cowand, a strip of land on the south side of land known as front lot No. 7 in the division of the Estate of Jesse Cowand, deceased, said strip of land being 16 2/3 feet wide and running between parallel lines from what is known as Front Street to Cowand Avenue; and on the part of Julia Cowand, wife of Dr. S.S. Herrick now residing in San Francisco, Calif. a strip of land on the north side of what is known as front lot No. 6 in the division of the Estate of Jesse Cowand, deceased, said strip of land being 23 1/3 feet wide and running between parallel lines from what is known as Front Street to Cowand Avenue.  These two strips of land to make one street forty feet wide to be known as Julia Street; and said Julia Street being in the corporate limits of the City of Bay St. Louis, County of Hancock, State of Mississippi.  Said Julia Street is bounded on the East by Front Street, on the north by land of Helena Dorhauer, wife of Charles T. Cowand, on the West by Cowand Avenue and on the South by land of Julia Cowand, wife of Dr. S.S. Herick." (Book M, page 512, Hancock County Deed Records)