Teoc is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Carroll County, Mississippi
Carroll County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,998. Its county seats are Carrollton and Vaiden. The county is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of th ...
and is part of the
Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area
The Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area is a micropolitan area in the northwestern Delta region of Mississippi that covers two counties - Leflore and Carroll. As of the 2000 census, the USA had a population of 48,716 (though a July 1, 2009 ...
approximately northeast of
Greenwood on Teoc Road along Teoc Creek.
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]
History
Located about eight miles northwest of North Carrollton, Teoc is probably the oldest settlement in Carroll County. The community takes its name from Teoc Creek.
A post office operated under the name Teoc from 1860 to 1907.
William Alexander McCain, great-great grandfather
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic ...
of Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
former senator John McCain, purchased Teoc Plantation in 1851 and owned at least 52 slaves there. He died in 1863, fighting for the Confederacy during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. Bill McCain, a descendant and cousin of Senator McCain, still owns 1500 of the plantation's former . Since 2003, black and white descendants of the community at Teoc have attended family reunions organized by the black McCains, descended from two of the plantation's slaves, Isom and Lettie, and Henderson McCain. After the Civil War, the blacks remained closely entwined with Teoc, remaining as tenants of William Alexander's son, John Sidney McCain, and adopting the McCain surname.
Black people surnamed McCain in Teoc, organizers of schooling for African-American children in the 1880s, were local leaders in the Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
of the 1960s.
Notable people
* William Hemingway, mayor of Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...
from 1901 to 1905 and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1920.Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He w ...
was born in Teoc.[Lawrence Cohen 1996, interview with John Hurt, liner notes, ''Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings,'' Columbia/Legacy]
* George Redditt, member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1916 to 1920
References
Unincorporated communities in Mississippi
Unincorporated communities in Carroll County, Mississippi
Greenwood, Mississippi micropolitan area
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