Kossuth, Mississippi

Kossuth, located about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Corinth, was founded in the 1840s as "New Hope". In 1852, the town changed its name to Kossuth in honor of Lajos Kossuth,[4] a Hungarian revolutionary hero who led the democratic, anti-Habsburg Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Despite initial success, the democratic state was crushed by Russian troops descended to attack Hungary and restore the rule of the Habsburg dynasty. The thirteen leading generals of Hungary were executed in the town of Arad, but Regent-President Kossuth went into exile.

Kossuth visited the U.S. in 1851. He was greeted enthusiastically and would gain acclaim as one of the greatest orators of all time. Learning English and many other languages while he was imprisoned by the Austrian government in 1837–40, he would later coin the phrase, "All for the people and all by the people. Nothing about the people without the people. That is Democracy, and that is the ruling tendency of the spirit of our age," spoken before the Ohio State Legislature on February 16, 1852, more than a decade before Lincoln's famed "for the people, by the people" speech at Gettysburg in 1863. Ralph Waldo Emerson said in greeting Kossuth on his arrival at Concord, Massachusetts, on May 11, 1852:

[W]e have been hungry to see the man whose extraordinary eloquence is seconded by the splendor and the solidity of his actions.

Kossuth was only the second foreign leader (second to Gen. Lafayette) to address a joint session of Congress. The American Hungarian Federation dedicated a bust that now sits proudly in the US Capitol – it reads, "Louis Kossuth, Father of Hungarian Democracy".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all land. The village is concentrated around the intersection of Mississippi Highway 2 (Kossuth Road) and County Road 604 southwest of Corinth. MS 2 connects Kossuth with U.S. Route 72 on the outskirts of Corinth. Wheeler Grove Road connects the village with U.S. Route 45 near Rienzi to the southeast.

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 170 people, 14 households, and 5 families residing in the village. The population density was 177.2 people per square mile (68.4/km²). There were 77 housing units at an average density of 80.3 per square mile (31.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.82% White, 0.59% Native American, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.53% of the population.

There were 73 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.0% were married couples living together, 1.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.67.

In the village, the population was spread out with 18.2% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 34.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $38,750, and the median income for a family was $40,714. Males had a median income of $29,875 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,131. About 2.9% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 9.1% of those sixty five or over.

The village of Kossuth is served by the Alcorn School District.

• Mississippi Highway 2

• Bill G. Lowrey, politician
• Mark Perrin Lowrey, Confederate general
• Rubel Phillips, politician
• Thomas Hal Phillips, writer

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kossuth, Mississippi.

• Brieger, James. Hometown, Mississippi. (1997); ISBN 1-886017-27-1