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512	Mississippi	Historical	Society.
Columbia was, for a short period, the seat of government of Mississippi. The eastern counties, at that time, held the balance of power, Lawrence and Wayne being the leading counties. But there was an incessant rivalry between the Monticello and Winchester factions, the latter preferring to co-operate with the west than to see the former in the ascendancy. Thus it was, the west and the remote east acting in concert, that the seat of government was for a time placed at Columbia instead of Monticello. With the removal of the seat of government the town began to dwindle, and now the rank weeds grow untrodden on its beautiful square, and its extensive hotels and boarding-houses are deserted. There is, we believe, but one store in the place; that, however, is an extensive establishment, kept by Col. Atkinson, a wealthy and worthy citizen who has often assured us that he has the best and most punctual customers in the world. The people of this county, like most of the eastern counties, are industrious, intelligent and hospitable. Four miles east of Columbia, on the Monticello road, are Stovall?s Mineral Springs, formerly a place of fashionable resort. Mr. Stovall, who was a man of great taste, expended some forty thousand dollars on improvements, and his establishment was extensively patronized for many years by the citizens of this and adjoining counties and by wealthy families from New Orleans. An unfortunate incident, however, which led to two or three affairs of honor, in which several estimable gentlemen perished, dispersed the company in the midst of a profitable season, and the place has never been resorted to since. It is admirably designed for a summer retreat. The house is very spacious, on a gentle eminence overlooking the Pearl and its cultivated valleys. The drive to Columbia, and thence up or down the river for miles, is equal to the finest turnpike, overarched in many places with long-armed trees. The boat and fishing rod invite the angler to his sport; and the magnificent pine forest, unbroken in its silent depths, undisturbed in its solitude save by the crack of the hunter's rifle or the long howl of some trooping wolf at nightfall, is literally alive with game.
We were most kindly entertained at these springs by our old and worthy friend, Martin Lewis, Esq., who has converted the establishment into an extensive farm and is now with a numer-
A Trip Through the Piney Woods.?Claiborne.	513
pus family, realizing the comforts of independence after years of hardship and toil. Mr. Lewis? example is full of encouragement. He commenced life a poor man; for years what he gained by his labor was lost by misfortune; he has always lived in that section of the State, which, as compared with this, is viewed as barren and unproductive; yet by perseverance and .^economy, constantly delving the soil and selling all that he 'could save, he may now be considered a wealthy man, and has ?.the health and constitution to enjoy it. Indeed the country >,is proverbial for its health. Our old friend, Nathaniel M.
- Collins, informed us that he had lived in the county eighteen .years, and during that period there had been but one case of fever in his family. He has a tanning establishment, with its ?stagnant pools, within thirty paces of his door. His wife is the mother of fourteen children, and for seventeen years has never taken a dose of medicine. His negroes are equally healthy, and during this whole period his medical bill has only
amounted to ten dollars.
Passing on in the direction of Williamsburg we stopped at
'Orangeburg, the country store and establishment of S. H. Wilkes, Esq., who welcomed us to dinner. This gentleman keeps an extensive assortment, carries on a profitable business and annually sends to New Orleans some eight hundred bales " of cotton. He is one of the most moneyed men of the east and Sustains a high credit in the northern cities. We saw in his store several pieces of beautiful linseys and cottonades, figured -counterpanes, etc., made in the looms of Marion County; also a specimen of cotton bailing and rope manufactured by one of his neighbors, Mr. Thomas Allen. His crop of the previous year, put in this home-made fabric, Mr. Wilkes sold at ten and one-half cents all around?a pretty fair price. In sight of Orangeburg there is a very large mill-pond. On inquiring of Mr. Wilkes if it did not affect his health he informed us that he had lived there seventeen years?had a large family?never had a case of fever on his premises and had not paid the first dollar to a doctor! We saw half a dozen rosy little children shaking down green peaches, and he said he never restrained them?they eat unripe fruit, cucumbers and melons when they pleased and bathed in the creek three or four times a day. In
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