John A. McLeod Department StoreThe John A. McLeod Department Store operated as a general mercantile establishment in downtown
Hattiesburg, Mississippi from approximately 1899 to 1932. Situated at 600 Main Street (corner of Main and Pine), the company was incorporated in August 1899 by John Angus McLeod and George M.
Kennedy, as the McLeod and In 1904 the partnership between John McLeod and George Kennedy was dissolved, and the company was reorganized as the John A. McLeod Company, with Mr. McLeod as president and treasurer and his wife, Mrs. Lida McLeod, as vice president and secretary. The business apparently flourished until approximately 1932, but ceased operation sometime between 1932 and 1935. Though the exact date and reason for the store's demise are not known, several events that occurred in 1932 and 1933 probably served as catalysts. First, J. Angus McLeod Jr., who had been groomed to follow his father as head of the company, died of a heart attack on July 2, 1932. Secondly, Mr. Mcleod's wife, Lida, died on June 19, 1933. And finally, Mr. McLeod was partially blinded by cataracts at that point in time. Of his three surviving sons, one was a physician, and the other two were in the insurance business. His son-in-law, H.A. Gilliam, was in the insurance business as well. So in all probability, the company expired because there was no one available to continue it. At any rate, by 1935 the former McLeod Department Store was occupied by the Davidson and Mullinix Department Store. John Angus McLeod was a pioneer businessman and one of Hattiesburg's leading citizens. He was born on November 12, 1857 in Santee, Mississippi, a small town in Jefferson Davis County (then Covington County). The McLeod family emigrated from Scotland, and were among the early settlers of Santee, which was founded in 1820. Mr. McLeod's early ambition was to become a planter, but he became disenchanted after visiting operations in the Mississippi delta. He decided to try his luck as a merchant instead, and in 1883 he moved to Purvis, Mississippi, where he established a general mercantile business. At the same time, he engaged in the area's lucrative lumber business. In 1887, Miss Lida Rebecca Calhoun of Mobile, Alabama, arrived in Purvis to visit her brother who was in the area to oversee the Calhoun family's extensive Mississippi land holdings. Mr. McLeod had occasion to meet Miss Calhoun during her stay, and it was love at first sight for both. The two were married on December 29, 1887, and five children were born of the union -- Annie Rose, John Angus, Jr., Hugh Carroll, William Calhoun, and James Daniel. In search of a more fertile field for the mercantile business, Mr. McLeod moved to Hattiesburg in 1896 and purchased an interest in the J.S. Turner Company which was located at the corner of Main and Front Streets. McLeod terminated his association with the Turner Company in 1899, and shortly thereafter, he and George Kennedy organized the McLeod and Kennedy Company. In addition to his interests in lumbering and the mercantile business, Mr. McLeod served as president of Citizens Bank (now Trustmark Bank) from its founding in 1902 until 1924. Other professional endeavors included a 1000 acre farm on Old Highway 49, south of Hattiesburg, on which tenant farmers produced commercial crops such as pecans, peaches, watermelons, cotton, and forestry products. Mr. McLeod was a member of Main Street Methodist Church, where he served on the Board of Stewards. He was considered an authority on the history of Methodism, and was frequently asked to speak, as a layman, at protracted Methodist meetings. He also served on the Methodist Hospital Board of Directors. Credited with a phenomenal memory, Mr. McLeod was of invaluable assistance to the compilers of the Works Progress Administration's history of Forrest County during the 1930s. He was a spectator at the bare knuckle heavyweight championship fight between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain on July 8, 1889 in Richburg, Mississippi, and it is said that he particularly enjoyed relating that story. John Angus McLeod died on October 21, 1937 at Methodist Hospital. He is interred in the family plot at Oaklawn Cemetery in Hattiesburg. His wife, four of their children, his son-in-law, and a grandson (killed in World War II) rest nearby. |
Kennedy Company. In addition to the sale of general
merchandise, the business was authorized by its charter to engage in the logging and timber
business; to purchase, manufacture, and sell turpentine and rosin; to operate saw and planing
mills; and to own and operate branch offices in other areas of Mississippi. Merchandise offered by
the store included groceries, hardware, piece goods, clothing, and farm supplies.
No biographical sketch of Mr. McLeod would be complete without a brief reference to the McLeod
home at 802 Main Street. Built in 1896 and 1897, the three-story Queen Anne mansion is one of the most
distinctive homes in the city, and is a favorite subject of area artists. Members of the McLeod
family lived in the home until the 1980s when it was sold to John M. Deakle, attorney at law. At
this writing, it houses Mr. Deakle's law offices.