Editing Forty acres and a mule (section)

===Davis Bend===

Thomas denied their request and accused Montgomery of having promoted the petition to further his own profits.<ref>{{harvnb|Hermann|1981|pp=70–71}}</ref> Montgomery appealed to Joseph Davis, who had returned to Mississippi in October 1865 and was staying in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]].

Samuel Thomas was eventually removed from his post. Joseph Davis regained control of his plantation in 1867 and promptly sold it to Benjamin Montgomery for $300,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=300000|start_year=1867}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Hermann|1981|p=104}}</ref> This price, $75 per acre, was comparatively low.<ref>{{harvnb|Hermann|1981|pp=109–110}}</ref> The transaction itself was illegal because the Mississippi Black Codes outlawed sale of property to blacks; Davis and Montgomery therefore conducted the deal in secret.<ref>{{harvnb|Hermann|1981|p=110}}</ref>

Montgomery invited free blacks to settle the land and work there. In 1887, led by Benjamin's son [[Isaiah Montgomery]], the group founded a new settlement at [[Mound Bayou, Mississippi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Oubre|1978|pp=168–169}}</ref> Mound Bayou remains an autonomous and virtually all-Black community.<ref>{{cite web|author=Angela Hua|url=http://practice.sph.umich.edu/practice/files/Life%20in%20Md_Bayou_MS2010.pdf|title=Life in Mound Bayou, Mississippi: Findings from a Community Survey|publisher=University of Michigan School of Public Health report|year=2010|access-date=1 October 2016|archive-date=3 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003092734/http://practice.sph.umich.edu/practice/files/Life%20in%20Md_Bayou_MS2010.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>