This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

Sea Song ? the Jackson House or nancocK Louniy - nuncuuK ^uumj hbumiuu ^
* ?6
Hermitage, and to establish a new home. Evidently, Andrew Jr. felt no compunction causing him to apply the cash to the debt, and with money at his disposal, he began to buy in Hancock County, Mississippi.
After much investigation, why he chose this area is still an open question. They had no relatives or other ties that have been established in Hancock County. It was not because of any connection to Sarah Jackson, as she had been from a patrician family in Philadelphia. Perhaps it was to escape responsibility from the accumulated debt. Maybe there is some evidence in Claiborne?s immediate offers of help.
JFH Claiborne was a member of a distinguished family. His uncle, WCC Claiborne was once the governor of Mississippi territory, and then the first governor of Louisiana after the 1803 purchase. His brother, father to JFH, was Major General Ferdinand Claiborne, who had fought the Creek War with General Jackson, and WCC had succeeded to Jackson?s seat in the Congress.
Perhaps Andrew Jr. had been given an introduction.	s\
The Properties -y	<2A?^t
Young Samuel, whe^as evidently running Clifton Plantation on his own, dutifully reported that he had sent a man to GjpneSville, the county seat at the time, to record the two deeds mentioned above. Courthouse recopdsrl5ear him out, at least in the case of the Mitchell deal.
The Mitchell deed was recorded on March 24, 1857, and describes a sale by James Mitchell HI to Andrew ------------- Jackson of 1920 acres (three sections, or three square miles) for a price of $2,760.
It has been established that the Russ Place was almost coextensive with what is now Buccaneer Park. Efforts to find the records of the Russ deed have been unsuccessful.
However, it may be that no title would have passed, as this is primarily ?lieu land,? or16th section, reserved for schools and other purposes. It can only be leased, the period being 99
__________| years. It should be noted, nonetheless, that in later documents transfers of this 16th section
have been listed as deeds.
It was one of Samuel?s early letters that contained a clue to the location of the Russ Place, stating that it was ?just on the coast.? Of the three properties he described, only Russ was so located. It is known that Clifton was three miles from open water, and Mitchell bordered on what is now Lower Bay Road. Moreover, Samuel said that Clifton was eighteen miles distant from the Bay of St. Louis.
The journal of Benjamin Wailes, the state geologist who passed through our area in 1852, is confirmation of the locations. Wailes reported visits with both Judge Daniels and Asa Russ, measuring the distance from Clifton to the home of ?Mr. Asa Russ of the Lakeshore? as fourteen miles. 0 This distance, subtracted from the eighteen miles to the bay, approximates the distance from the Russ Place to the bay.
Interestingly, Wailes, in visiting with Russ, observed the latter?s attempt to drain the nearby marsh. This corresponds with what has become known as the Jackson Marsh on local maps.
On May 22, 1857, Samuel wrote a letter to his sister, Rachel Jackson Lawrence. Several passages offer an insight into the Jackson family life and suggest that their father had not finished his shopping. He mentions that ?Pa? had arrived, but Samuel thought that ?Pa does not like this place as well as he did at first.? He added that his father ?spoke of going to see a place near New Orleans...the price of the place is $30,000.?
Two months later, Samuel wrote to his father, and expressed some concern. That text follows: ?You told me to say to Judge Beasley you would take the 80 acres next to Judge Bass. Judge Beverly told me you had bought when you came down the last time. And wrote to me to know if I had received a check from you he sayed you told him you would send it as soon as you arrived at Nashville. And is very anxious to receive it. And has been expecting it every day since you left.?
These passages have a bearing on subsequent events and proceedings to be discussed later in this text.
Samuel wrote to his sister again in September, expressing that he was looking forward daily to the arrival of their parents. The following month, their mother wrote to Rachel and described in detail the trip through Memphis and New Orleans on their way to ?the bay? and ultimately to Clifton.
The Fire
http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/history/seasong.htm
4/2/2009