A History of Educational Legislation in Mississippi From 1798 to 1860

of liberty, and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall be forever encouraged in this state.1 The first legislature to assemble under this constitution authorized the judges of the county courts to take charge of the land given by the United States government for school purposes in their respective counties, and to provide for the erection of one or more schools, as they "deemed right and useful." They were permitted to lease the school lands for not longer than three years at a time, and to dispose of the proceeds from these leases "according to the terms of the donation." In erecting schoolhouses the judges were required to expend the rents from school sections within the township to which the lands belonged.2 In 1820 the law was amended so as to require the county courts to direct the sheriffs of the several counties to lease the school sections for a period of five years, as soon as the previous leases should expire. The lessees were required to give bond in double the amount of the value of the land they leased that there should be no waste of timber or soil. This amendatory act also provided that the county courts should appoint in each township from three to five "discreet land holders" to put into operation such schools as in their judgment might be "compatible with their funds." These "discreet land holders" were required to apply to the schools they should establish all the rents received from the school lands of their... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.