House Resolution 20

A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING COPIAH COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, UPON THE OCCASION OF ITS BICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY, ACKNOWLEDGING 200 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE.

WHEREAS, on January 21, 1823, the Mississippi Legislature created Copiah County, Mississippi, and this year, on January 21, 2023, Copiah County will celebrate its Bicentennial Anniversary, acknowledging 200 years of rich and historical excellence; and

WHEREAS, on October 18, 1820, the area that is now Copiah County was ceded to the United States by the Choctaw tribe in the treaty known as the "Doak's Stand Treaty"; and

WHEREAS, the name "Copiah" comes from the Choctaw language, and is a combination of two words: "Coi", which means "panther", and "Apahyah", which means "to call out", and thus, Copiah means "Calling Panther"; and

WHEREAS, established on January 21, 1823, Copiah County was formed by a division of Hinds and Yazoo counties, and at that time, Copiah included all of its present area, as well as all of Simpson County, about one-third of Lincoln County, and about one thousand acres of Franklin County; and

WHEREAS, presently, the county contains 769 square miles, and is the seventh largest area in the Magnolia State, and some of its early communities were Coor's Springs, which was the first county seat, Gallatin, Crystal Springs, Centerpoint, Conn, Union School, Georgetown, and Hazlehurst, which was established as a railroad stop in 1856, and is the current county seat; and

WHEREAS, a few celebrated Copiah County natives include: blues legend, Robert Johnson, who was born there in 1911; Tommy Johnson and his blues-playing brothers; civil rights activist, A.M.E. Logan, who was born in Myles; artists, Mary T. Smith and Luster Willis; Judge Burnita Shelton Matthews, the first woman appointed to serve on a United States District Court; and Susie Powell, who started several of Mississippi's first canning clubs in 1911; and

WHEREAS, the county is also home to Copiah-Lincoln Junior College, founded in Wesson in 1928, and the county is also well known as the Tomato Capital of the World, and it holds annual festivities to celebrate its agricultural heritage; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to pay tribute to an outstanding county such as Copiah County, which is a place where the quality of life is still important and where its values stand as a role model throughout the great State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby recognize and commend Copiah County, Mississippi, upon the outstanding occasion of its Bicentennial Anniversary, and extend best wishes for great success in all of its future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Copiah County, Mississippi, and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.