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by S. Grady Thigpen, county historian
Federal gunboat su
Ullman Koch, born and reared at Logtown, at 84 years old had a great store of memories of Logtown and surrounding area running back to the 1880’s. He remembered well the Logtown of the old days and he recalled with vivid recollection the old stories he heard his parents and grandparents tell. This is one:
“Grandpa Summers was a river pilot on Pearl River. After the Civil War had run on for a time Grandpa was the only competent pilot left along Pearl River. Bad business has caused all the mills along the river to shut down and all other business was at a standstill as Federal gunboats patrolled the Gulf of Mexico and confiscated all shipping belonging to the Confederacy •'and to Southerners. Most of the pilots had gone elsewhere to hunt work or Jiad joined the army.
“When Federal troops took over at Pearlington and Gainsville they wanted to move supplies, equipment and soldiers the easiest way - by boat. They were told that Grandpa Sumrners was the only pilot left In the area. A squadron of soldiers went in search of Grandpa. They met him on the road near his home in the vicinity of Logtown. The officer in charge asked Grandpa, ‘Can you tell us where Captain Summers lives?’ ‘Yes,’ said Grandpa. ‘He lives on <Jown this road right there where you see the house under the big oaks.’
As the soldiers rode away in .the direction of his house Grandpa made for the swamp. The family explained to the soliders that they did not know where Grandpa was or when he would return, as he sometimes stayed away for days at a time hunting and fishing.
. Grandpa stayed hidden in i the swamps ftrtv.„\y..eeks and ‘weeks. His family slipped . food to him when the soldiers were not nearby. Finally the soldiers gave up on finding him and decided to send a gun boat with supplies on up to Gainesville vfrith an inexperienced pilot,
Pearl River was a treacherous stream with many dangers for a pilot who did not know his business. The gunboat Wabash passed on by Logtown with its cargo and on up the river, piloted by the inexperienced pilot. At a short distance above Ltgtown where Wabash Bayou flows into Pearl River, the gunboat struck an obstruction in the river and sank. Since that time this Bayou has been known as Wabash Bayou.
The old gunboat was still there in the river when I was a young man. I used to see it in passing up the river. So far as I know it is still there. It is to one side and when the water was low and clear it could easily be seen.
As the gunboat went up the river Grandpa Summer s was in a tall tree with heavy foliage watching it go by. During his sojourn in the swamp he often climbed tall trees and watched the traffic on the river.
As a result of the sinking of the gunboat and not being able to find a competent pilot the troops hauled their supplies from Pearlington to Gainesville with ox wagons. Grandpa served his country well by hiding out in the swamps.”
/ Mr. Koch was himself in-'volved in a shooting incident while captain of the Weston tug boat. Here’s how he told about it:
We left Logtown towing a barge load of lumber headed for Gulfport. As we went through Pass Marianne we saw a U.S. Revenue Cutter coming at high speed In our direction. The cutter signalled us to stop. We were told that Gulfport was quarantined against Logtown and Pearlington because of the outbreak of yellow fever. This was all news to us as he had heard nothing of yellow fever when we left.
^ “We were told that we could not enter Gulfport or any other 'coast port. We anchored the barge where we were. In the meantime the cutter had moved off a short distance and stood watching us. We started the tug around the barge for better anchorage of it. About
time we got well started, shots were fired across our bow, which meant stop and stop quick! The Captain of the cutter came up and balled me out for trying to run away. I explained to him that we were manuevering to take ad-
vantage of the better anchorage on the other side of the barge. We waited around for sometime before they would let us leave. We finally towed the barge on back to Logtown.”
Yellow fever scares were
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