Lexington, Holmes county seat / DSC_0081 10/7/2004 It turns out that even Lexington, Holmes county, MS, has some history. Mississippi was the first state to receive federal money from the U. S. Department of Agriculture to support boys’ corn clubs and girls’ tomato-canning clubs. In 1907, USDA paid school superintendent W. H. Smith $1 to sponsor clubs in Holmes County. Smith later became famous nationally as “Corn Club” Smith after organizing clubs for boys who exhibited corn at local fairs. I think the idea of the clubs was to encourage careful thinking and technology to agriculture.