The founding of Bude as a thriving little community was foreordained when a group of wealthy lumber men, headed by Fenwick L. Peck of Scranton, Pennsylvania and S. E. Moreton of Brookhaven, Mississippi acquired over 100,000 acres of timber land in the area.  They selected Bude as the site to build one of the largest and most modern lumber mills in the world at that time, which was located on the Mississippi Central Railroad that had been constructed from Hattiesburg to Natchez, Mississippi prior to 1908.

   Fenwick L. Peck was a descendant of Joseph Peck, who came to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1638, from Hingham, England, with three sons, a daughter, two men servants and three maid servants.  Fenwick L. Peck was engaged in the lumber business with his father, Jonathan Wilson Peck, in Lackawana County, Pennsylvania for many years prior to 1896.  After the timber on the Peck family's vast land holdings in Pennsylvania had been depleted, Fenwick L. Peck, together with his brother, Edson S. Peck, and other business associates, traveled to Mississippi in 1896 where they acquired a major interest in the J. J. Newman Lumber Company that owned a large quantity of longleaf timber lands and operated a lumber mill in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

   In 1897, the J. J. Newman Lumber Company built a logging railroad from Hattiesburg to Sumrall, Mississippi, which railroad was incorporated as the Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad Co.  Two additional sawmills were constructed in the newly incorporated Town of Sumrall.  The railroad was later extended from Hattiesburg to Brookhaven and in 1905 the name of the railroad was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad.  The following year, 1906, saw a charter issued to the Natchez & Eastern Railway, which constructed a railroad from Natchez to Brookhave.  In 1909, Mississippi Central Railroad Company absorbed the Natchez & Eastern Railway, thereby providing through railway service between Hattiesburg and Natchez.

   After acquiring large timber land holdings in Franklin and Amite Counties, the Homochitto Lumber Co. was organized in 1911, at which time S. E. Moreton of Brookhaven, Mississippi became associated with the company. Mr. Moreton had spent practically his entire life in the manufacture of southern pine lumber, having been associated with his father in the Moreton & Helms Co. at Brookhaven, one of the pioneer operations in Mississippi and later with the Pearl River Lumber Company.  Mr. Moreton established Central Lumber Company at Quentin Mississippi, where he constructed a modern sawmill that he owned individually and successfully operated for many years.  Fenwick L. Peck was President of the Homochitto Lumber Company and Mississippi Central Railroad Company.  S. E. Moreton was General Manager of the Homochitto Lumber Company at Bude from the date it first began its operations in 1913 and was later named General Manager of the entire operations of both the Newman and Homochitto companies.

   Prior to 1912, J. M. Ford was the owner of a large tract of land in the area where Bude is now located.  In the early part of 1912, the Homochitto Lumber Company acquired most of the land from J. M. Ford on which the Town of Bude was located and its lumber mill constructed.  The remainder of the land included in the original corporate limits of the Town of Bude was owned by Mrs. W. L. (Della) Wentworth.  One of Mrs. Wentworth's children, Mrs. R. G. (Lorena) Dean, still lives in Bude today and served for a number of years as Circuit Clerk of Franklin County until her retirement.

   Within less than a year after the Homochitto Lumber Co. , commenced construction of its lumber mill at Bude and before the town was even on the map, the town had a population of over 1200 people.  Twelve new modern stores had been constructed and opened for business, 200 new residences built, a public school constructed and commenced operation, a modern hotel, train station (depot), cit hall and jail constructed.  Almost over night, Bude became the largest community in the county, larger than its sister Town of Meadville, the county seat of government, and Monroe, both of which had been incorporated long prior to 1912.

   The Homochitto Lumber Co. plant was finished and commenced its operations in 1913, with over 800 employees on its payroll.  New business enterprises continued to locate in the Town, including two drug stores, a theatre, automobile dealerships, restaurants, furniture store, cotton gins and bowling alley.  Professional men located offices in the town,  including physicians, dentists and attorneys.  Bude was a community made up of happy and industrious citizens, with great community pride, where people from throughout the county gathered on weekends to trade with the merchants, to enjoy the entertainment and festive occasions that were available during that period.

   Bude was named after the beautiful and historic coastal Town of Bude, England in Cornwall.  Bude, England is situated on the North Cornish coast overlooking Wiedmouth Bay and is famous for its rugged cliff beauty which stretches as far as the eye can see.  Tintagel Castle is located nearby Bude, which is described as one of the most thrilling scenic spots in England, with a view of the Cornish coast from Hartland Point to Trevose Head.  This badly ruined thirteenth century castle is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur.  A railed path leads seaward to the remains of a small thirteenth century chapel on the site of, and perhaps incorporating portions of a fifth century Celtic Christian monastery or hermitage.

      H. B. Mayes McGehee   --  June 30, 1989