Individual Details
Louis Napoleon Rivers
(1863 - 1925)
"I have collected few records of Louis Napoleon Rivers, simply because he is well known. The 1880 Census of Bethlehem, Marshall County, page 20, lists him as a 16-year-old farm hand born in Mississippi, both of whose parents were born in Tennessee (simply wrong). He is listed with the Redfield family, but that means nothing, because the idiot census taker alphabetized the whole list, and Rivers simply came after Redfield. The records of Marshall County show that Louis Rivers married Emma Greer on January 3, 1884. She was the daughter of Aquilla Greer and Eliza Wright.
"1910 Marshall County census: Lewis Napoleon RIVERS, 49, contractor, MS, MS, MS; Emma Lee RIVERS, 42, MS, GA, MS; Clyde Everette RIVERS, 23, manager of pool hall, MS, MS, MS; Guy RIVERS, 19, jobs, MS, MS, MS; Joel Lewis RIVERS, 17, MS, MS, MS; Lewis Napoleon RIVERS, 16, MS, MS, MS; Aquilla Greer RIVERS, 13, MS, MS, MS; Jennie May RIVERS, 12, MS, MS, MS; Clara Lee RIVERS, 9, MS, MS, MS.
"The oldest son of this couple, Bertram Dair Rivers, had married Mildred Marie West in 1908. Dunbar Rowland listed Louis Napoleon Rivers in his Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, etc., 1907, Volume III, pages 724-725. "Rivers, L. N., sheriff of Marshall County, is a native of Holly Springs, where he now resides. His father was Capt. Joel Lewis Rivers, who entered the service of the Confederacy during the Civil War as a private and was mustered out a captain. He was for many years probate clerk of a Mississippi County. The mother was Mary Ford, a daughter of William Ford, who for many years was a prominent and influential figure in Marshall County. After completing a scholastic course in the Blue Mountain, Miss., schools Mr. Rivers embarked in the Bridge business and has been successfully engaged in it ever since. Many of the best steel and wooden bridges over the state and county are evidences of his handiwork. In 1899 he was elected to the office of assessor and four years later was made sheriff of his county, which office he still holds. Fraternally he is widely and favorably known, being prominently identified with the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Rivers's wife was formerly Miss Emily Greer of Marshall County. To Mr. and Mrs. Rivers have been born nine children. Bertram Dare, the first born, is now a student in a college at Natchez, and Mabel Clare, the third in order of birth, died at the age of six years. The others, Clyde Everett, Guy, Joseph, Lewis, Aquila, Jennie May and Clara Lee, are all at home. Mr. Rivers has filled the office of public trust to which he has been elected with eminent satisfaction to all concerned." William Walter West gave a somewhat different account. "Louis was born at Cornersville, now called Potts Camp, Mississippi, while his father was in the war. He was educated in the public schools and an academy at Blue Mountain, Mississippi. He inherited the dash and brilliancy of his father and was noted for his handsome appearance in his younger days....He was a bridge contractor and served Marshall County as sheriff for two terms, after which he retired with his family to a large plantation at Marks, Mississippi, where he died." Dorothy Rivers Penny is too young to remember her grandfather, but she knows from family stories a bit about Louis Napoleon's history, and she wrote me a long letter. "When Louis Nap was 12 years old, Mother told me, he went away from home. In those days many boys did. Apparently he didn't get along well with (his mother's) new husband and didn't want to cause any trouble---I don't know. Mother told me of the talk with his mother on a stump way out in the pasture the day he was leaving. He went to Holly Springs, Mississippi, and other places, making his living in various ways, mostly at that time as a shoe-shine boy in a hotel. He was smart and had a good, colorful personality. In later years he became sheriff of Holly Springs, and his picture in a gold oval frame still hangs in the court house there today. He built bridges all over Mississippi. The one on 4th street in Clarksdale still stands. He built the Harrihan Bridge in Memphis. He came to the Peabody Hotel and met prominent leaders, some of whom were his kin. Mama said he dug wells, various things, but provided a good living for many. "Louis Nap's wife Emma had kin in Memphis, too. She was a descendant of John Overton, one of the founders of Memphis. Overton Park was named for him. She was a beautiful, white-haired lady with culture and grace and extremely good common sense. She was 62 when she died, never a burden to the family, for everyone was thrilled when she came. I loved to listen to her stories. She dearly loved Louis Napoleon." Aunt Clara says Emma Lee Greer and Louis Napoleon Rivers were childhood sweethearts. (Note: The Overtons were her sister's family, not hers. Considering the age difference, the two are very unlikely to have been childhood sweethearts.)
"Mr. D. Wright Greer of Potts Camp. MS, in a letter to Margaret Mitchell of January 15, 1985, wrote about Emma Lee Greer. "Aunt Emma was a lovely, kind, gracious and affectionate person, most generous. I remember the first piece of gold jewelry I ever had, she sent to me on graduation---gold cuff links; I had never had any, and something cheaper would have made me happy. She bought good clothes, furs, etc., and Auntie Overton would say, "Emma you buy too much and so high." "Oh, 'Sissy', I wanted it,"---and she got it. She and Uncle Louis used to spend weeks at a time at the Franciolo Hotel (now Peabody) in Memphis. In his later years he was able to provide for her in a generous way. She was a lover of cut glass and sure lost lots when her home burned."
"I don't know when the Rivers home burned. The "large plantation at Marks" was a small farm at Hinchcliff, Mississippi, some miles north of Marks. "Emily" Greer was of course Emma Lee Greer. She was related to some of the Overtons of Memphis through her sister, who married John Overton. Aunt Clara says the school at Natchez was the Natchez Military Academy. The children of Bertram Dare Rivers referred to their Rivers grandparents as Mammy and Pappy. Louis Napoleon Rivers died in Marks at the home of his son Bert. His simple will, leaving everything to his wife, is on file in Marks." (Walter V. Turner, email: turner@mail.urz.uni-wuppertal.de>, 1999.) (Information about the family and descendants of Emma (Greer) and Louis Napoleon Rivers was sent by Walter V. Turner, email: turner@mailgate.urz.uni-wuppertal.de>, 1999.)
"1910 Marshall County census: Lewis Napoleon RIVERS, 49, contractor, MS, MS, MS; Emma Lee RIVERS, 42, MS, GA, MS; Clyde Everette RIVERS, 23, manager of pool hall, MS, MS, MS; Guy RIVERS, 19, jobs, MS, MS, MS; Joel Lewis RIVERS, 17, MS, MS, MS; Lewis Napoleon RIVERS, 16, MS, MS, MS; Aquilla Greer RIVERS, 13, MS, MS, MS; Jennie May RIVERS, 12, MS, MS, MS; Clara Lee RIVERS, 9, MS, MS, MS.
"The oldest son of this couple, Bertram Dair Rivers, had married Mildred Marie West in 1908. Dunbar Rowland listed Louis Napoleon Rivers in his Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons, etc., 1907, Volume III, pages 724-725. "Rivers, L. N., sheriff of Marshall County, is a native of Holly Springs, where he now resides. His father was Capt. Joel Lewis Rivers, who entered the service of the Confederacy during the Civil War as a private and was mustered out a captain. He was for many years probate clerk of a Mississippi County. The mother was Mary Ford, a daughter of William Ford, who for many years was a prominent and influential figure in Marshall County. After completing a scholastic course in the Blue Mountain, Miss., schools Mr. Rivers embarked in the Bridge business and has been successfully engaged in it ever since. Many of the best steel and wooden bridges over the state and county are evidences of his handiwork. In 1899 he was elected to the office of assessor and four years later was made sheriff of his county, which office he still holds. Fraternally he is widely and favorably known, being prominently identified with the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Rivers's wife was formerly Miss Emily Greer of Marshall County. To Mr. and Mrs. Rivers have been born nine children. Bertram Dare, the first born, is now a student in a college at Natchez, and Mabel Clare, the third in order of birth, died at the age of six years. The others, Clyde Everett, Guy, Joseph, Lewis, Aquila, Jennie May and Clara Lee, are all at home. Mr. Rivers has filled the office of public trust to which he has been elected with eminent satisfaction to all concerned." William Walter West gave a somewhat different account. "Louis was born at Cornersville, now called Potts Camp, Mississippi, while his father was in the war. He was educated in the public schools and an academy at Blue Mountain, Mississippi. He inherited the dash and brilliancy of his father and was noted for his handsome appearance in his younger days....He was a bridge contractor and served Marshall County as sheriff for two terms, after which he retired with his family to a large plantation at Marks, Mississippi, where he died." Dorothy Rivers Penny is too young to remember her grandfather, but she knows from family stories a bit about Louis Napoleon's history, and she wrote me a long letter. "When Louis Nap was 12 years old, Mother told me, he went away from home. In those days many boys did. Apparently he didn't get along well with (his mother's) new husband and didn't want to cause any trouble---I don't know. Mother told me of the talk with his mother on a stump way out in the pasture the day he was leaving. He went to Holly Springs, Mississippi, and other places, making his living in various ways, mostly at that time as a shoe-shine boy in a hotel. He was smart and had a good, colorful personality. In later years he became sheriff of Holly Springs, and his picture in a gold oval frame still hangs in the court house there today. He built bridges all over Mississippi. The one on 4th street in Clarksdale still stands. He built the Harrihan Bridge in Memphis. He came to the Peabody Hotel and met prominent leaders, some of whom were his kin. Mama said he dug wells, various things, but provided a good living for many. "Louis Nap's wife Emma had kin in Memphis, too. She was a descendant of John Overton, one of the founders of Memphis. Overton Park was named for him. She was a beautiful, white-haired lady with culture and grace and extremely good common sense. She was 62 when she died, never a burden to the family, for everyone was thrilled when she came. I loved to listen to her stories. She dearly loved Louis Napoleon." Aunt Clara says Emma Lee Greer and Louis Napoleon Rivers were childhood sweethearts. (Note: The Overtons were her sister's family, not hers. Considering the age difference, the two are very unlikely to have been childhood sweethearts.)
"Mr. D. Wright Greer of Potts Camp. MS, in a letter to Margaret Mitchell of January 15, 1985, wrote about Emma Lee Greer. "Aunt Emma was a lovely, kind, gracious and affectionate person, most generous. I remember the first piece of gold jewelry I ever had, she sent to me on graduation---gold cuff links; I had never had any, and something cheaper would have made me happy. She bought good clothes, furs, etc., and Auntie Overton would say, "Emma you buy too much and so high." "Oh, 'Sissy', I wanted it,"---and she got it. She and Uncle Louis used to spend weeks at a time at the Franciolo Hotel (now Peabody) in Memphis. In his later years he was able to provide for her in a generous way. She was a lover of cut glass and sure lost lots when her home burned."
"I don't know when the Rivers home burned. The "large plantation at Marks" was a small farm at Hinchcliff, Mississippi, some miles north of Marks. "Emily" Greer was of course Emma Lee Greer. She was related to some of the Overtons of Memphis through her sister, who married John Overton. Aunt Clara says the school at Natchez was the Natchez Military Academy. The children of Bertram Dare Rivers referred to their Rivers grandparents as Mammy and Pappy. Louis Napoleon Rivers died in Marks at the home of his son Bert. His simple will, leaving everything to his wife, is on file in Marks." (Walter V. Turner, email: turner@mail.urz.uni-wuppertal.de>, 1999.) (Information about the family and descendants of Emma (Greer) and Louis Napoleon Rivers was sent by Walter V. Turner, email: turner@mailgate.urz.uni-wuppertal.de>, 1999.)
Events
| Birth | 1863 | Marshall County, Mississippi | |||
| Marriage | January 3, 1884 | Marshall County, Mississippi - Emma Lee Greer | |||
| Death | 1925 | probably Quitman County, Mississippi | |||
| Marriage | Emma Lee Greer |
Families
| Spouse | Emma Lee Greer (1866 - 1935) |
| Child | Clyde Everette Rivers (1886 - 1931) |
| Child | Mabel Claire Rivers (1888 - ) |
| Child | Guy Rivers (1891 - 1940) |
| Child | Joel Louis Rivers (1893 - 1912) |
| Child | Louis Napoleon Rivers (1895 - 1974) |
| Child | Aquilla Greer Rivers (1896 - 1978) |
| Child | Janie Mae Rivers (1898 - 1917) |
| Child | Clara Lee Rivers (1900 - 1999) |
| Child | Bertran Dair (or Dare) Rivers (1884 - 1926) |
| Father | Joel Lewis Rivers (1834 - 1870) |
| Mother | Mary Elizabeth "Puss" Ford (1844 - 1905) |
| Sibling | Mary Elizabeth Ann Rivers (1861 - 1946) |