Shortly after he moved to Mississippi from his native Virginia, George W. Harper established the Hinds County Gazette in 1844 at Raymond. Major Harper, who had few equals as a writer among the Mississippi press, edited the Gazette for 40 years. He was succeeded in 1884 by his son, Samuel Harper.
Before the Civil War, Harper was a Whig and opposed secession but he affiliated with the conservative wing of the Democratic Party during Reconstruction.
In 1874 he was elected president of the Mississippi Press Association. Major Harper served in the state legislature in 1852-1854 and 1876-1877 and was mayor of Raymond for many years both before and after the Civil War.
Harper, who was sometimes referred to as the “Chevalier Bayard” of the Mississippi press, died in 1894 and is interred in the Raymond cemetery.
