Felix LaBauve was an early pioneer in the Mississippi newspaper business. Born in 1809 in France, the frightened and lonely boy arrived in America to live with relatives when he was only eight. His widowed mother knew he would have more opportunity for success here where his father had helped the colonists fight the British during the American Revolution.
LaBauve arrived in DeSoto County just as the new county was being organized in 1836. He worked hard and developed a successful business trading calicoes, beads and blankets with the Indians. Because of his political aspirations, he moved his business to Hernando and in 1839 founded the newspaper that is the ancestor of the DeSoto Times Today.
On June 14, 1839, he started the first newspaper in DeSoto County, The Hernando Free Press and States Rights Democrat, proclaiming that it would be “decidedly democratic in its tone and temper.” In 1859, facing financial difficulties, LaBauve discontinued publication. However, in 1841 he launched another county newspaper, the Phenix. He was still publishing in 1859 when he changed the name of the publication to the People’s Press.
LaBauve was a colorful character whose exploits ranged from Bowie knife-fighting on the courthouse square to single-handedly capturing four Union soldiers during the Civil War. After the war LaBauve turned his attention to his political and legal career in the late 1860’s (the records are unclear). However, by that time the paper was established as DeSoto County’s news source and continues weekly publication today as the DeSoto Times-Tribune.
An astute politician and dedicated civic leader, he served in the state Senate and House of Representatives and as a circuit court clerk. LaBauve’s greatest legacy came in the support of higher education to DeSoto Countians. Known as the “father of Scholarships in Mississippi”, he was the first person in the state to leave his fortune to a university or college for scholarships. LaBauve, the lonely fatherless boy who had no chance at higher education, wanted to make sure the orphaned descendants of DeSoto Countians, his adopted family, had a chance to expand their minds. In 1879, his gift of $21,411 was enormous. In today’s terms, that would be a gift of about $700,000. Over the years more than 200 orphans benefited from LaBauve’s gift, many of whom returned to make DeSoto County a better place.
