Here are a few things you may want to consider when sorting-out all these sometimes difficult-to-understand-points.
You write:
“The fact that Forest was indeed made the county seat in 1860 was because the railroad from Jackson to Meridian was built through Forest, and not Hillsboro, the county seat at that time .”
Forest was first voted to be the county seat in 1866 (not 1860) and it was years after 1866 when Forest started functioning as the county seat.
You write:
“All I have ever seen regarding the 1860 grant was spelled FOREST.”
It was not a grant but you are correct it was spelled with one ‘r’ from the very beginning with the one exception explained following.
You write:
“Some may think it was Forrest because of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a big time Confederate war hero. However in 1860 Forrest was just a local planter and slave dealer in Northwest Miss, below Memphis. But even with his post war celebrity in 1865 It is most highly improbable the reconstruction carpet bag State Senate would have allowed Forrest such an honor, but the Governor at that time, Benjamin J. Humphreys, was a Union General serving as Military Governor over the Mississippi occupational district. He had no love for Forrest so it is, again, highly improbable Humphreys would have given the honor of a city named after him.”
Keep in mind that the 1st Reconstruction Act after the War was enacted March 2, 1867, almost 2 years after the War ended, so the State of Mississippi politicians did, for the most part, whatever they wanted for two years until the Reconstructed Act geared-up and was started to be enforced by a military governor (Adelbert Ames) after June 15, 1868. Benjamin G. Humphreys, Mississippi Governor from Oct. 16, 1865 to Jun 15, 1868, was NOT a union General and he was NOT a Military Governor. Humphreys was an elected Democrat governor and not only that, Humphreys was a high ranking Confederate soldier who fought along side Nathan B. Forrest for four years in the Confederate Army. So, for sure when Gov. Humphreys signed the second City of ‘Forrest’ (2 ‘r’ s) charter in 1866 (not 1866), I think it would be accurate to assume that his war buddy, Nathan B. Forrest was still upmost in his mind and Humphreys may have wanted to honor his war hero by officially naming the City of ‘Forrest’ after his Confederate General. However, the two ‘r’s never ‘stuck’ and was never used by anyone (other than in the 1866 charter) mainly because the one ‘r’ spelling of Forest had already been well established since it was named “Forest Depot” in 1858.
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