Editing Doddsville, Mississippi

{{Redirect|Doddsville|the community in Illinois|Doddsville, Illinois}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Doddsville, Mississippi
|settlement_type          = [[Town]]
|motto                    =
|image_skyline            = 
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = 
|image_map = Sunflower_County_Mississippi_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Doddsville_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Doddsville, Mississippi
|pushpin_map              = USA
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location in the United States
<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Mississippi]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Mississippi|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Sunflower County, Mississippi|Sunflower]]
<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =
<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_28.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=July 24, 2022}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 1.99
|area_land_km2            = 1.99
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.77
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.77
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 69
|population_density_km2   = 34.75
|population_density_sq_mi = 89.96
<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 125
|coordinates              = {{coord|33|39|36|N|90|31|17|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 38736
|area_code                = [[Area code 662|662]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 28-19420
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2406383<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2406383}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Doddsville''' is a town in [[Sunflower County, Mississippi|Sunflower County]], [[Mississippi]]. The population was 98 at the 2010 census. It was established by Daniel Doddsman Sr. in 1889.

==History==
Daniel Doddsman Sr. and his eldest son, Daniel Jr. were early settlers who hauled logs in the area in 1888, and purchased {{convert|107|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of land where the town now stands in 1891.<ref name="bell">{{cite web | last = Bell | first = Torey | title = The Town of Doddsville | publisher = Rootsweb | url = http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mssunflo/Doddsville.html | accessdate = September 1, 2013}}</ref>  Oliver Eastland, grandfather of U.S. Senator [[James Eastland]], bought a large tract of land near Doddsville in the 1880s, and his son Woods Eastland used black labor to clear the land to create a {{convert|2300|acre|ha|abbr=on}} plantation.<ref name="bell"/><ref name="Mills">{{cite book | last = Mills | first = Kay | title = This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer | publisher = University of Kentucky Press | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-8131-9182-9 | url = https://archive.org/details/thislittlelighto00mill_0| url-access = registration }}</ref>

A landing called "Standing Stump" existed west of Doddsville on the bank of the [[Sunflower River]].  When river levels rose in the spring, boats from [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]] would follow the [[Yazoo River]] and then Sunflower River as far as Standing Stump, where a post office was located.<ref name="bell"/>

When the [[Yazoo Delta Railroad]] was completed in 1897, a depot was located in the town and named "Doddsville", after the Dodds brothers.<ref name="bell"/>  By 1898, Doddsville had five stores, and the Sunflower Lumber Company was founded.<ref name="bell"/>

Doddsville was incorporated in 1920, and by 1922 the population was estimated at between 400 and 500. There was a hotel and rooming house, two drug stores with licensed pharmacists, two Chinese groceries, a Café, a dress shop, a school, two churches, a woman’s club, four doctors, and five passenger trains a day. The city hall was located inside the Doddsville Land and Mercantile Company store.<ref name="bell"/>

A jail was built in 1952, and a town water system installed in 1963.<ref name="bell"/>

==The Holbert lynching incident==

In 1904, [[Luther Holbert]], an African-American, allegedly shot and killed white plantation owner James Eastland (uncle of future senator [[James Eastland]]), after Eastland confronted Holbert in his cabin. Eastland's death gained national attention. Within days, a white mob had captured Holbert and his wife, after which the couple were tortured with oversized corkscrews, had their fingers and ears cut off to distribute to onlookers, and were burned to death while tied to a tree.<ref>{{cite book | last = Waldrep | first = Christopher | title = Racial Violence on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2001 | url = https://archive.org/details/racialviolenceon0000wald| url-access = registration }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sinclair|first=William Albert|title=The Aftermath of Slavery; A Study of the Condition and Environment of the American Negro|year=1905|publisher=[[Small, Maynard & Company]]|location=Boston|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081793485?urlappend=%3Bseq=270|page=250|hdl=2027/nyp.33433081793485?urlappend=%3Bseq=270 |quote=The Nashville (Tennessee) American gives an account of a lynching in Mississippi as follows: "But there was a lynching in that state that for fiendish brutality has not yet been surpassed, even when the victims have been roasted at the stake. It occurred at Doddsville, recently, and these are the circumstances as related by local newspapers: Luther Holbert, a negro, had a quarrel with a white man and, following the usual Mississippi method, they exchanged shots, the negro escaping and the white man being killed. The negro, knowing the penalty for killing a white man in that section, fled, of course, accompanied by his wife, who had had no part in the quarrel. They were captured by the mob and this is what was done to them, according to the statement of an eye-witness in the Vicksburg Herald."'When the two negroes were captured they were tied to trees, and while the funeral pyres were being prepared they were forced to suffer the most fiendish tortures. The blacks were forced to hold out their hands while one finger at a time was chopped off. The fingers were distributed as souvenirs. The ears of the murderers were cut off. Holbert was severely beaten, his skull was fractured, and one of his eyes, knocked out with a stick, hung by a shred from the socket. Neither the man nor the woman begged for mercy, nor made a groan or plea. When the executioners came forward to lop off fingers, Holbert extended his hand without being asked. The most excruciating form of punishment consisted in the use of a large corkscrew in the hands of one of the mob. This instrument was bored into the flesh of the man and the woman, in the arms, legs, and body, and pulled out, the spiral tearing out big pieces of raw, quivering flesh every time it was withdrawn.'""}}</ref>  The Holberts' gruesome murder inspired [[Bo Carter|Bo Carter's]] 1936 blues hit ''All Around Man'', with its references to "the butcher-man", "screwin", "grindin", and "bore your hole till the auger-man comes".<ref>{{cite book | last = Birkeland | first = Peter M. | title = Seems Like Murder Here | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 9780226051918 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P-w3zJOD5A8C&pg=PP1}}</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.8|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1930= 317
|1940= 262
|1950= 201
|1960= 190
|1970= 276
|1980= 232
|1990= 149
|2000= 108
|2010= 98
|2020= 69
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades|publisher=[[US Census Bureau]]|access-date=}}</ref>
}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+'''Doddsville town, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic composition'''<br><small>{{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}}</small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>
!Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Doddsville town, Mississippi |url=https://data.census.gov/table?g=1600000US2819420&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Doddsville town, Mississippi|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=1600000US2819420&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Doddsville town, Mississippi|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=1600000US2819420&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!% 2000
!% 2010
!{{partial|% 2020}}
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] alone (NH)
|35
|9
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7
|32.41%
|9.18%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |10.14%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] alone (NH)
|73
|89
|style='background: #ffffe6; |61
|67.59%
|90.82%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |88.41%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|[[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|Other race]] alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed race or Multiracial]] (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.45%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (any race)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''108'''
|'''98'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''69'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%'''
|}

===2020 census===
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 69 people, 85 households, and 65 families residing in the town.

===2010 census===
As of the [[2010 United States Census]],<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=October 14, 2016|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> there were 98 people living in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 90.8% Black and 9.2% White.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |accessdate=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 108 people, 38 households, and 22 families living in the town. The population density was {{convert|141.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 40 housing units at an average density of {{convert|52.2|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 67.59% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]] and 32.41% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]].

There were 38 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 21.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.87.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $19,000, and the median income for a family was $25,250. Males had a median income of $16,250 versus $15,625 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $6,359. There were 10.5% of families and 30.7% of the population living below the [[poverty line]], including 38.5% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.

==Education==
Doddsville is served by the [[Sunflower County School District]]. [[Thomas E. Edwards, Sr. High School]] (formerly Ruleville Central High School) is the public high school.

[[North Sunflower Academy]] is a private school located in [[Drew, Mississippi|Drew]].<ref name="Workforce">"[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1755958/No-simple-solutions-to-education.html No simple solutions to education, workforce training problems. (Focus Delta & River Cities).]" ''[[Mississippi Business Journal]]''. May 27, 2002. Retrieved on August 10, 2010.</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[James Eastland]], U.S. Senator from Mississippi.<ref name="Mills"/>
* [[C. L. Franklin]], Baptist preacher, civil rights activist, and father of [[Aretha Franklin]]<ref>{{cite book | last = Titon | first = Jeff Todd | title = Reverend C.L. Franklin: Life, History, and Selected Sermons | publisher = University of Illinois | year = 1989 | isbn = 9780252060878 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mb54l9nAMzMC&pg=PP1}}</ref>
* [[Fruteland Jackson]], blues musician.<ref>{{cite book | last = Pearson | first = Barry Lee | title = Jook Right on: Blues Stories and Blues Storytellers | publisher = University of Tennessee Press | year = 2005 | isbn = 9781572334328 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mbULrLJ2334C&pg=PA1}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Mississippi}}
{{Sunflower County, Mississippi}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Sunflower County, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Towns in Mississippi]]