Who was Dot Mabry?

The picture here is another "mystery photo" from my grandmother's picture album from long ago. A name appears on the back of the picture, written in childlike penmanship - that of "Dot Mabry."

The surname "Mabry" was a very well-known and well-respected name in Virginia during the 1700's. Sometime during the early 1800's, members of the Mabry family migrated to other colonies, and some of the family ended up settling in Attala County.

In Virginia, the patriarch of the Mabry family, Hinchia Mabry (often spelled "Mabury") already had ties to the descendants of Christopher Branch. So it does not seem unusual that I have discovered Branch family members living near Mabry family members on U. S. Census records dated during the 1800's in Attala County.

Although I have not discovered a direct relationship between my Branch ancestors and the Mabry family in Attala County, it is almost certain that intermarriages occurred between these two pioneer families during the 19th and 20th centuries. My grandmother apparently knew the people in the picture, or it would not have been included in her photo album. It is likely the children pictured attended either the Midway School or the school at Shrock, Mississippi. But all I have to go on is the name on the back of this picture.

Who exactly was Dot Mabry? Is she one of the young girls pictured in the photo, or was she the mother of the seven children pictured there? What was the connection, if any, of this family to the Branch family in Attala County? I am puzzled by the picture, and I would like to know how this family was connected to my grandmother. Why it was in her album, appearing next to known relatives.

Maybe a reader of this post, possibly a descendant of the Mabry family in Attala County, will help me solve the mystery.