Worse Than Slavery?

BEFORE PARCHMAN
“Convict-Lease System in the Southern States”

INVESTIGATION OF METHODS OF TREATMENT OF CONVICTS 

LED TO A CHANGE IN HANDLING PRISONERS

By Frank Johnson for the (Jackson, MS) Clarion-Ledger, November 1903

A brief history of the prison system, known as convict leasing, which formerly existed in this State, in common with other Southern States, and exposition of the present Mississippi prison system, may be useful in aiding or promoting the development of a public sentiment that will lead to the abolishment of convict leasing in the State of Georgia.

After the close of the civil war there was established in Mississippi a State prison system by which the convicts were leased to and placed in control of a lessee for hire, with a sub-leasing feature added, and the lessees and the sub-lessees worked the convicts for their own individual profit.

 

This system was established originally in Mississippi by the military government under which the State was placed at the close of the civil war. It was continued by the reconstruction government in 1870, and was retained by the Democratic State government in 1875, and until the year 1890, when it was abolished by the constitutional provision that went into operation on January 1, 1895.

In the year 1884 a batch of convicts was brought to the main prison at Jackson from a sub-lessee's plantation in the Yazoo-Mississippi delta in a deplorable condition, caused by bad treatment of almost every description.

This led to a searching legislative investigation of the treatment of the convicts and of the practical inside workings of the convict system, which brought to light a condition of things in the convict camps, as they were termed, which astonished and shocked the people of the State. At the session of the legislature that year there was some stringent reform legislation on the subject in the expectation of correcting the many evils and abuses that had been exposed by the investigating committee, an anticipation that was never realized.

At that time the convicts who had been previously worked by sub-lessees on their plantations, and a few under railroad contractors in railroad con-struction, were leased to a railroad company then engaged in constructing its road in this State.

Rumors of the bad treatment of the convicts came from time to time from different convict camps on the line of this railroad. This caused a second legislature investigation of the condition and treatment of the convicts in 1888 by a committee of the House, with Hon. J. H. Jones, of Lafayette, Miss., who was afterwards lieutenant governor of the State, as its chairman.

This committee took the testimony of a greater number of witnesses, and through subcommittees inspected the different convict camps.

Nov 23, 1903

The result was a report condemning the whole lease system in every form in which it had been tried. The committees reported that the convicts were not properly housed, that they did not get the proper food and clothing, and that cruelty, overwork, brutal punishments, inhuman treatment of many kinds, a high death rate and a high escape rate were shown to be the characteristics of the convict leasing system. The sick were not properly cared for, and were kept with the well convicts in the structures in which they slept, which were called in the prison vernacular "shacks." These were simply rude stockades roofed over with rough boards and with dirt flooring. Want of ventilation and the want of proper warmth in winter, and a total disregard of the most ordinary principles of sanitation went to make up the sum total of the evils of the system.

It is not surprising, in view of this catalogue of human sufferings and miseries, that the death rate of the convicts one year reached the point of 17 per centum of the entire prison population; another year it went to 15 per centum, and 10 per centum was about the usual death rate.

It is fair to say that the lessee was not personally or directly responsible for the treatment of the convicts, but it was due to the sub-lessees and to the character of the guards and employees who were necessarily a low class of men.

On the heels of these developments the railroad company surrendered the convicts to the State voluntarily, and they were again leased to one lessee, who in turn sub-leased them for work on private cotton plantations in the Yazoo Mississippi delta.

The abuses and evils of the leasing system continued, notwithstanding the severity of the penal statutes that had from time to time been enacted, to secure, if possible, the proper treatment of the convicts. All this reform legislation proved ineffectual for the reason that under this leasing system the convicts were practically at the mercy of the guards.

The convict lease system, with its cruelties and barbarities, was not peculiar to Mississippi. Its abuses were first brought to light in this State, and Mississippi was the first State to abolish the system. Here is what the Mississippi legislative committee of 1888 said of the leasing system in its report to the Legislature:

"We submit that the leasing system, under any form, is wrong in principle and vicious. Experience teaches us that when human labor is farmed out for a consideration, uncontrolled by any interest the contractor may have in the welfare of the laborer, the laborer is very apt to be worked with a view to the highest possible gain to the employer, The system of leasing convicts to individuals or corporations, to be worked by them for profit, simply restores a state of servitude worse than slavery, in this, on that it is without any of the safeguards resulting from the ownership of the slave. If the leasing system is objectionable, that of sub-leasing is doubly so." Appendix to House Journal of 1888.

This report appears also in full, as an appendix to a paper on the subject by ex-Lieut. Gov. J. H. Jones, in Vol. VI. of the publications of the Mississippi Historical Society.

Every effort to abolish the leasing system in the Legislature was defeated by the influences of the lessee lobby, and it was not until the constitutional convention of 1890 that the system was abolished.

In the year 1895 the present convict system was established of working the convicts on State lands, at agricultural pursuits, for the benefit of the State, and under direct and exclusive control. 

The State now owns a large tract of land, all in one body, of first-class alluvial cotton land in the Yazoo-Mississippi delta, known as the Sunflower place, consisting of over 13,00u acres, of which about 6,000 acres are cleared. [The current site at Parchman]

Another first-class cotton plantation, also in the delta, consisting of 1,000 acres, known as "Belmont“; a farm Known as "Oakley," containing 2,000 acres and a farm of 2,000 acres in Rankin county. 

[NOTE: Indeed, both the Belmont plantation and Parchman were the targets of much attention in 1972. Belmont was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1972. After revealing evidence of all the murders, rapes, beatings and other abuses they had suffered in Parchman, the inmates brought a suit against the prison superintendent in federal district court in 1972, alleging their civil rights under the United States Constitution were being violated by the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment.

In the case, Gates v. Collier (1972), the federal judge William C. Keady found that Parchman Farm violated the Constitution and was an affront to "modern standards of decency." Among other reforms, the accommodation was made fit for human habitation, and the trusty system, (where lifers were armed with rifles and set to guard other inmates), was abolished. The state was required to integrate the prison facilities, hire African-American staff members, and construct new prison facilities.]

These lands are worth at least $250,000. The penitentiary also owns personal property, stock, farming utensils and machinery worth at least $150,000. All of this property has been paid for out of the earnings of the convicts, and has not cost the taxpayers a dollar.

The net cash earnings of the convicts amount to at least $50,000 annually, which is paid into the State treasury. This does not include the labor that is directed to the clearing up of the land on the Sunflower place, and the construction of improvements thereon, and*the improvements of the other lands. 

The convicts are well cared for and properly treated in all respects. They are well housed, well fed and well clothed; the sick are treated in hospitals and sanitary rules are properly observed. They are worked in proper moderation: and no sort of cruelties are permitted. 

The death rate of the convicts has been reduced to one-third of the average death rate that characterized the leasing system. 

About 10,000 acres of the "Sunflower place" will soon be put into cultivation, and when all of the contemplated improvements are made and the system perfected, it is expected that the net income to the State will his not be less than $100,000 per annum. 

A few years ago the State of Louisiana sent commissioners here who examined the practical workings of the Mississippi convict system, and upon son their report this system was adopted to by that State, with results that are satisfactory in all respects. Texas has also adopted the Mississippi penitentiary system.

This is the natural and logical solution of the convict problem where the convict population is largely made up of negroes who are not skilled to workmen, but plantation hands and ordinary day laborers.

The population of the Mississippi penitentiary at present is about 1,100, of which about 90 percent are negroes. It is thus seen that the employment of the convicts at agricultural labor on State lands is the obvious and natural solution of the convict problem in the Southern States.

FRANK JOHNSTON, Jackson, Miss. 1903

The Grave of Eddie Cusic

Yellow Dog: 

Southern Crossing Inspires Blues Tunes, Delta Tales

By Steve Alderman for the Greenwood Commonwealth 1987

MOORHEAD — Just mention the town's name to an outsider and you'll get quite a reaction. 

Your likely to get any one of several responses. The most likely being: Where, or what, is Moorhead?"

All Aboard!  Midnight Special

A town with only one traffic light and a population of about 2,300 would seem to have anyone asking such a question. However, this little Delta town is known among very elite circles. It is one of the few places in the world where two separate railroads cross at a 90 degree angle.

The crossing, referred to by locals as "where the Southern crosses the Dog," has been the subject of numerous songs, poems and paintings. It has been mentioned in literary works by such authors as Eudora Welty Delta Wedding i and Roark Bradford John Henry. It is now recognized as a historical site by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

The fabled crossing was created in 1898 when Chester Pond, founder of the town. built a railroad running 20 miles north to Ruleville to serve agricultural lands throughout the north Delta. Called the Yazoo Delta line, its initials were later colloquialized into the more familiar "Yellow Dog."

AS THE railroad became more profitable, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad bought it in 1900 and extended the track northward to Tutwiler and south to Belzoni. It was later purchased by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, which closed the line in 1979. Although the track is now closed to all rail traffic, 150 yards of the track, running north and south, were donated to the town of Moorhead.

The Southern Railroad, which "crosses the 'Dog," was later purchased by the Columbus and Greenville Railroad. The C & G still operates on the line today.

In the early 1900s, Moorhead was a bustling rail center. Every day, ten passenger trains passed through its two stations. Today, the town is known for little more than the location of Mississippi Delta Junior College. Anice Powell, director of the Sunflower County Library and a native of Moorhead. remembers the activity brought by the railroads. Her family lived near the Yazoo-Delta railway trestle just south of town.

"I CAN REMEMBER the hobos used to camp under the [Moorhead Bayou] trestle. They would always come up to the house asking for food, offering to chop food or milk the cow in return," she said. When there wasn't much to do, mama would always feed them anyway." While many published accounts tell the story of the famous crossing, some records were lost in 1902 when a herd of wild goats climbed to the second story of a local store building eating the historical records that were kept there.

Around the turn of the century, many black musicians were finding inspiration for their "blues" music by interpreting the -heart and soul" of the Mississippi Delta. It was then that Clarksdale blues musician W.C. Handy wrote perhaps the most famous song about the crossing.

While waiting for a train one night in 1903, Handy explained how he learned of the story of the -Yellow Dog" crossing. He said "a lean, loose-jointed negro commenced plucking a guitar beside me while I was trying to sleep. His clothes were rags and his toes peeped out of his shoes. As he played `Goin where the Southern cross the 'Dog, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar much like Hawaiians used steel bars on their guitars. The effect was unforgettable. His song struck me instantly."

HANDY DIED in 1958. His version of the "Yellow Dog Blues" sold more than a million records.

Another song written in reference to the Yazoo-Delta (Yellow Dog) line was Johnny Rivers' rendition of "Midnight Special." The song was borne out of a legend held among prisoners at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Every fifth Sunday at Parchman was visiting day. Prisoners' wives and sweethearts from the southern and central parts of the state would gather at Jackson on Saturday night for a special train which left at midnight in order to reach Parchman by dawn.

According to the tale, the first prisoner to be touched by the light of the approaching train, would be next in line for a pardon.

 

In 1965, the crossing was painted by Memphis artist Carroll Cloar. He decided to do the painting, entitled “Where the Southern Cross the Dog,” while perusing a book on “Country Blues.”

ACCORDING TO Cloar, he misunderstood the meaning of the name of the crossing at first until he realized the dialect frequently used "cross" for “crosses." Hence, the name in the song “Where the Southern Cross the Dog” also became the name of Cloar’s painting.

The town of Moorhead now commemorates the immortal crossing with their annual "Yellow Dog Festival." The festival, which at-tracts thousands from all over the Delta, is a paragon of the small town celebration. Arts and Crafts, crawfish boils, catfish fries and bluegrass music combine to create an atmosphere that borders on pandemonium.

Not bad for a town with only one traffic light.

Winery Rushing and Prohib

"Tom Rushen Blues": Winery Rushing and Prohibition in the Delta

Winery Rushing: The Rise and Fall of the Delta’s Own Napa Valley

By Marleen Maher for the DDT

Laid down last night, hoping I would have my peace
But when I woke up, Tom Rushing was shaking me

When you get in trouble, it's no use to screaming and crying
Tom Rushing will take you, back to the prison house flying

                                                           --- Charley Patton "Tom Rushen Blues"

A man and a woman are seated in a restaurant in New York City.

After carefully studying the menu, they order dinner. “And now for the wine—we’ll have flushing White Wine from Merigold, Mississippi.”

Rushing White Wine from Merigold, Mississippi?

That’s the dream of the members of the Rushing family of Greenville, who have begun work on the first commercial winery in Mississippi since Prohibition.

The Winery Rushing is located on 350 acres of Delta land overlooking the Sunflower River just southeast of Merigold. And as 24-year-old Sam Rushing walked last week through the rain-soaked mud toward the vineyard site, his voice became more excited and his actions more animated.

This is more than just a job to Sam Rushing.

"We plan to locate the vineyard on 35 acres," he said while pointing to rows of wooden posts in a peachy field. The "we" Sam referred to are his wife, Diane: and his father, O.W. "Dutch" Rushing, who owns a communications business in Greenville.

The winery is strictly a family affair, owned by Sam, Dutch and Diane. Sam and Diane live In a small but comfortable home on the winery and theirs will be a full-time job.

Diane has been working at Delta State University in Cleveland, but she will leave that job to devote all her efforts to the wine operation.

The vineyard will not produce the grapes needed for wine for about three years. Until then, the Rushing’s will import grapes from North Carolina.

Construction has already begun for the underground storage-fermentation building and an adjoining office and bottling plant. They hope to be crushing grapes this fall.

The first bottle of Rushing White Wine will probably go on sale next summer. Red wine has as longer fermentation period.

The Rushings will be using Muscatine grapes, which are native to the Southeast. But instead of the cheaper "pop" wines usually associated with the Muscatine, the winery produce only a "quality table untie," according to Sam Rushing.

"We will be using the finest, the highest quality Muscatine grape--we want to make a good table wine," he added.

The winery has already received a license from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Atlanta after the Mississippi legislature passed the native wine law, per state wine operations without heavy taxation.

The operation must also get approval from the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Division of the State Tax Commission.

But the paperwork is only one of the problems involved in starling a wine operation. Workers will also be needed in the vineyards, although Delta State students have been employed to make sense of the work.

And the Rushing’s are concerned about getting a market for their $25,000 investment.

"We will aim primarily for restaurants," Dutch Rushing said. "We hope to convince restaurants to use our wine as a 'house wine' and ship it to them in kegs."

The Rushings will be able to distribute from the winery in Merigold without having to go through the state's liquor warehouse in Jackson.

"We can arrange our own distribution, even sell it right here at the winery if we want to," said Sam Rushing.

Article on Tom Rushing and the winery from
The Yazoo Herald, Apr 16, 1978.

The Rushing family has always been interested in wine. Sam and Diane lived in the southern part of West Germany for a year and, as Diane says, "Wine growing was a way of life there."

Dutch Rushing has traveled to France, to California and to New York, pursuing his interest in grapes.

Fortunately, the family has had a lot of advice from wire experts in Mississippi—such as Dr. Doris Stojanavic, who heads the newly created Department of Enology science that deals with wine and wine making) at Mississippi State University at Starkville. MSU has established its own winery and is doing research in hopes that Mississippi will one day become a wine-making state.

The Rushings have also consulted Dr. Alex Mathers of Mathersville, who serves as a consultant to the giant Gallo wine company in California.

And, like other Deltans involved in agricultural operations, the Rushings have received help from the Delta Branch Experiment Station at Stoneville—which just happens to have a grape-producing vineyard. "There's a lot we don't know," says Diane, "but we intend to learn." Although tooth Sam and Diane grew up in Greenville—Diane is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Res Paul—both say they enjoy life in the country.

They graduated from Mississippi State, she with a degree in English and he with a degree in agronomy—with a major in, what else, soils.

Although it will be another year before the Rushings can sell their first bottle of wine, they have already picked out names for their products: Rushing Red, Rustling White and Rushing Rose.

So, in about a year, when you're dining out, don't forget the wine. And make it Rushing White from Merigold, Mississippi.

In the mid-1980s, the Rushings staged the Merigold Wine and Crawfish Festival;
see, Clarion Ledger, June 7, 1984.

In the winter of 1990, however, a former employee vandalized the winery and ruined an estimated $200,000 worth of products.  Sam Rushing had no insurance on the wine, which forced them to close down their operation.