Editing Jones County, Mississippi (section)

==== Free State of Jones ====
{{redirect|Free State of Jones|the film|Free State of Jones (film){{!}}''Free State of Jones'' (film)}}
On October 13, 1863, a band of deserters from Jones County and adjacent counties organized to protect the area from Confederate authorities and the crippling tax collections.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Sally |last2=Stauffer |first2=John |title=The State of Jones |date=2009 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-385-53032-3 |page=378 }}</ref> The company, led by [[Newton Knight]], formed a separate government, with [[Union (American Civil War)|Unionist]] leanings, known as the "Free State of Jones",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/6-unionist-strongholds-in-the-south-during-the-civil-war |title=6 Southern Unionist Strongholds During the Civil War |date=January 13, 2015 |author= Evan Andrews |website=History Channel |access-date=April 5, 2017}}</ref> and fought a recorded 14 skirmishes with Confederate forces. They also raided [[Paulding, Mississippi|Paulding]], capturing five wagonloads of corn that had been collected for tax from area farms, which they distributed back among the local population.<ref name="Leverett, Rudy H. 1984, page 64">Leverett (1984), ''Legend of the Free State of Jones'', p. 64.</ref> The company harassed Confederate officials. Deaths believed to be at their hands were reported in 1864 among numerous tax collectors, conscript officers, and other officials.<ref name="mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov"/>

The governor was informed by the Jones County court clerk that deserters had made tax collections in the county impossible.<ref>Leverett (1984), ''Legend of the Free State of Jones'', p. 112</ref> By the spring of 1864, the Knight company had taken effective control from the Confederate government in the county.<ref name="mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov"/> The followers of Knight raised an American flag over the courthouse in Ellisville, and sent a letter to Union General [[William T. Sherman]] declaring Jones County's independence from the Confederacy.<ref name="mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov"/> In July 1864, the ''Natchez Courier'' reported that Jones County had seceded from the Confederacy.<ref>Leverett (1984), ''Legend of the Free State of Jones'', pp. 17–29</ref>

Scholars have disputed whether the county truly seceded, with some concluding it did not fully secede. While there have been numerous attempts to study Knight and his followers, the lack of documentation during and after the war has made him an elusive figure. The rebellion in Jones County has been variously characterized as consisting of local skirmishes to being a full-fledged war of independence. It assumed legendary status among some county residents and Civil War historians, culminating in the release of a 2016 feature film, ''[[Free State of Jones (film)|Free State of Jones]]''.<ref>Richard Grant, [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-free-state-jones-180958111/?no-ist The True Story of the ‘Free State of Jones’], ''Smithsonian Magazine,'' March 2016</ref><ref name="HVH">[http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/free-state-of-jones/Free State of Jones (2016)]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''History vs Hollywood'' (retrieved August 26, 2016)</ref><ref>Mick LaSalle, [http://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Movies-to-look-for-maybe-in-2016-6727882.php "Movies to look for (maybe) in 2016"]. ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', December 30, 2015.</ref> The film is credited as "based on the books ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>The Free State of Jones<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' by [[Victoria E. Bynum]] and ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>The State of Jones<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' by [[Sally Jenkins]] and [[John Stauffer (professor)|John Stauffer]]."<ref name="HVH"/>

The county changed its name to '''Davis County''', after Confederate president [[Jefferson Davis]], on November 30, 1865, and kept the name until four years later.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://digital.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/MS_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#JONES | title=MS: Individual County Chronologies }}</ref>