Aberdeen the beautiful a city of note.

When Robert Gordon of Scotland entered Monroe County, purchased land, and began to sell lots, he named his wee settlement Dundee in honor of his beloved motherland's fourth-largest city. The area soon became popular with settlers who for the most part came from east Tennessee and the Carolinas. Some were of Scottish descent, but most were of English and Irish origin, one and two generations removed. Having never been to Scotland, their Americanized pronunciation of Dundee more or less rhymed with "Sunday." To Gordon and every other proud Scot, "Dun-DEE!" pronounced any other way than with two strong syllables sounded almost blasphemous. Seeing that it would be futile to try and educate each and every person, he opted for a wiser solution--he renamed his village. This time, he called it Aberdeen for Scotland's "Granite City," located at the confluence of the Rivers Dee and Don, a city known in ancient times to the Romans as "Devana."

Begun initially as a one-room log trading post on the west bank of the Tombigbee River, Gordon's new settlement grew like a marsh reed and blossomed like a rose. Once the post office was established with Charles W. Walton as postmaster on April 13, 1836, things got busy. Merchants sought out the new town, purchased lots, and erected stores in anticipation of financial gain. They were not disappointed, as the river port became a hub for professional people as well as the working classes. Early in 1849, Aberdeen was named the county seat of government.

   "Show it to those who will lend an ear
   To the tale that this paper can tell,
   Of Liberty born, of patriot's dream--
   Of the storm cradled nation that fell."

Monroe County, the first county to be organized north of Canton, is blessed with fertile prairie land and a fine black sand soil--a veritable Eden for both ranchers and farmers. As a bonus, vast virgin hardwood timber of oak, walnut, elm, poplar, and gum forested much of the land in and around the new county seat site. No gold, silver, or precious gems were to be found here, but opportunities were plentiful.

   "Too poor to possess the precious ores,
   And too much of a stranger to borrow,
   We issued to-day our promise to pay,
   And hope to redeem on the morrow."

Just when prosperity was starting to tip its hat to the young city, the winds of war began to blow. The South united against the threat, and volunteers came from the four corners of the earth to fight. One such resolute believer was Sidney Alroy Jonas who, although he was a native of Kentucky, was working as an engineer in South America at the time cannons first fired on Fort Sumter. Jonas rose to the rank of major on the staff of C.S.A. General William H.C. Whiting, the Biloxi native who held the distinction of attaining the highest grade point average at West Point up to that time. Jonas was there when the South was forced to furl both her flags and her dreams.

   "The days rolled on and weeks
      became years,
   But our coffers were empty still,
   Coin was so rare that the
      Treasury quaked,
   If a dollar should drop in the till."

Following the conflict, Aberdonians came to realize that their city's greatest asset was its people. Bonded by hardship, they became more caring stewards of their community. Consequently, their homes, both large and small, grand and modest, are now architectural treasures upstaged only by the park-like setting of manicured lawns and gardens of vibrant color. This special place, once described by the Chicago Daily News as "the most beautiful town between Chicago and Florida," continues to be knitted together, much as it was in Jonas' day, by its strong Christian faith. So rich, so valuable a treasure is this faith that it is not only felt but may be seen by the eye. Tangible evidence of the citizens' true appreciation is apparent in the First United Methodist Church's three Louis Tiffany stained glass windows, described by artisans as "among the most life-like Biblical scenes ever created."

   "But the faith that was in us was
      strong indeed,
   And our poverty well discerned;
   And these little checks represented
      the pay,
   That our volunteers earned."

When the war ended in 1865, Major Jonas surrendered at High Point, North Carolina. From there he made his way to Aberdeen, where later that year he founded the Aberdeen Examiner newspaper. In the book Editors I Have Known by R.H. Henry, Jonas is described as a distinguished editor, "having few equals among the writers of Mississippi." Apparently his war experiences did not embitter him; in fact, those who knew him said he was always happy just to be alive. Henry wrote of him, "He was a most optimistic man, always seeing brightness, beauty and prosperity ahead. It made no difference how dark the cloud, there was always a silver-lining for Jonas."

   "We know it had hardly value in gold,
   Yet as gold her soldier received it.
   It gazed in our eyes with a
      promise to pay,
   And each patriot soldier believed it."

The war, in a way, never really came to Aberdeen. There were numerous skirmishes in the area, but the Union forces never actually entered the city, likely because there was no railroad there at the time. Nevertheless, some families and individuals were devastated, and to some degree everyone was scarred, but the city and its buildings endured. Even now, Aberdonians are quick to remind us that their city became for three decades (1861-1891) the largest city in Mississippi.

   "But our boys thought, little
      of price or of pay,
   Or of bills that were ever due;
   We knew if it brought us bread to-day.
   'Twas the best our poor country
      could do."

Jonas inspired people to excel with his ever-positive outlook on life, despite the fact that he was a shy, timid person. As proof of his value to his chosen hometown, it may be pointed out that no city has given Mississippi more members of its prestigious Hall of Fame than has Aberdeen, with six.

S.A. Jonas treasured his heritage. He fought for it, and in so doing, he left Aberdeen, his family, and Mississippi with an honored name and a rich legacy. With extraordinary insight during what must have been his darkest hour, Jonas captured the past while looking to the future when he penned his famous "Lines On the Back of a Confederate Note," the stanzas of which are woven within this article.

   "Keep it, for it tells our history o'er.
   From the birth of its dreams
      to the Last,
   Modest and born of the angel Hope,
   Like the hope of success it passed."