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The following is an excerpt from “History of Mississippi” by Robert Lowery and William H. McCardle, copyright 1891.
Madison County was established January 29th, 1828, out of that portion of Yazoo county lying east of Big Black River, and was named in honor of President Madison. Josiah R. Doak, Robert Carson, Sr., John P. Thompson, Wm. Wilson, and Archibald McGehee were appointed commissioners to select a site for the erection of public buildings in said county, and contract for the building of a court-house and jail. On the 26th of January, 1829, an act was passed providing for the election of five commissioners to select a site for the seat of justice for the county. The eighth section of the act provided that the several courts of the county should continue to be held at Beaty’s Bluff until the courthouse directed to be built by the act was finished. The thirteenth section declared that the seat of justice when selected as directed by the commissioners, should be known and called Livingston. Subsequently the county site was changed to what is now Canton, which is the geographical center of the county. When the site was chosen it was a part of the plantation of one C. Walton. The first road through what is now Madison County was cut by the troops of General Jackson, prior to the battle of New Orleans, and long before the organization of the county. In an early day, boats of one kind and another plying Big Black River were the only medium of communication of Madison County with the outer world. Boats came as high as Beaty’s bluff, where the log cabin court-house stood, and where the first court of the county was held, and brought such supplies as were needed by the early inhabitants, and carried off the surplus products of the county. The first towns in the county were Runnelsville, Williamsburg, and Madisonville, all three of which are extinct; then followed Camden, Sharon, Livingston and Vernon, the latter two much dilapidated by time. Sharon at one time supported most excellent schools, but after the destruction of the school buildings, prior to the war, by fire, they were never rebuilt, and as a consequence the place continued to go down. Canton, the county site, is eligibly located, and the public square very attractive. It has always held a prominent place in a commercial point of view, receiving a generous patronage from the surrounding country. The community comprising the town and vicinity is composed of intelligent, cultivated people. Madison Station and Flora are each thrifty and prosperous railroad towns that enjoy a good business. Madison county has 340,681 acres of cleared lands, more than any county in the State except Hinds. The average assessed value per acre of the cleared lands is $5.71. Total value of cleared lands, including incorporated towns, $1,947,616; the uncleared, $3.18 per acre. In addition to corn, cotton and small grain, may be mentioned the extensive cultivation of strawberries, notably at, and in the vicinity of Madison Station, which are shipped to Cincinnati, Chicago and other northern cities. The county is prosperous.
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