Bay Springs in Jasper County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

Assassination of F.M.B. "Marsh" Cook

Photographed By Robert M. Cook, Jr., June 6, 2012

1. Assassination of F.M.B. "Marsh" Cook Marker

Inscription. On July 23, 1890, Marsh Cook of Jasper County was gunned down by six men after warning citizens that the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention would likely limit voting rights and disfranchise black voters. Cook was a white Republican candidate for delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He had urged black voters to organize against disfranchisement. No one was ever arrested or tried for his murder.

Erected 2012 by Descendants of Marsh Cook with cooperation from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Government & Politics. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi State Historical Marker Program series list. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1946.

Location. 32° 0.786′ N, 89° 17.272′ W. Marker is in Bay Springs, Mississippi, in Jasper County. Marker is at the intersection of State Highway 15 and Commerce Drive, on the right when traveling north on State Highway 15. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bay Springs MS 39422, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 5 other markers are within 16 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Three Chopped Way (within shouting distance of this marker); Montrose Presbyterian Church

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(approx. 8.2 miles away); Center Ridge School (approx. 11.9 miles away); John Crowe Ransom (approx. 15 miles away); Watkins Museum (approx. 15.2 miles away).

More about this marker. The marker was erected on Memorial Day 2012 after a Cook Family Reunion in Laurel, Mississippi.

Regarding Assassination of F.M.B. "Marsh" Cook. The assassination site is located in Historic Hamlet, Mississippi, now Bay Springs. It is due East, across the Railroad tracks where the Hamlet log school house was once located. The six murderers had removed a board from the house and were hiding inside.