Copyright © Janice Tracy, Mississippi Memories

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Burell Family in Attala County, Mississippi

In the last two posts, I wrote about the Burel family in America, beginning with the emigrant, Jean Baptiste Elzeard Burel, his wife, Patience Hannah Bird Burel, and their six children. At the end of my second post, I had detailed the movements of Dr. Jean Burel from his homeland of France to Germantown, Pennsylvania, and his subsequent migration with his wife and six children to Union County, South Carolina.

Although Dr. Burel and his wife remained in Union County, South Carolina the remainder of their lives, several of their children, including their oldest son, Louis, and his wife Sara Margaret Jenkins, moved farther south to Gwinnett County, Georgia, near Hog Mountain. The U. S. Census taken in 1850 for Hogmountain, Gwinnett County, Georgia, shows that Lewis Burel, a 64-year old farmer whose real estate was valued at $80, headed a household that included his wife, Margaret, 56, Martha, 33, Randle, 23, Samuel I, 21, and Margaret, age 16.
According to the census record, all four of the younger Burel family members had been born in South Carolina.
Louis ("Lewis") and Margaret Burel continued to live in the Hog Mountain area until their deaths, and the graves of their numerous descendants can be found in Duncan Creek Cemetery and in the cemetery at Hog Mountain Baptist Church. Today, many living descendants still call the state of Georgia "home."
Although the exact date that James Burel and his wife, Nancy Elizabeth Darby, arrived in Mississippi is unknown, the U. S. Census of 1850 shows they were already living in Attala County. According to the census, nineteen Burel (then "Burell") family members, enumerated in three separate households, were found to be living in the Newport area of Attala County.

The oldest of the heads of households listed was James, whose wife was Nancy. A farmer who owned real estate valued at $100, James and Nancy were 60 years old. Also living with James and Nancy was James, age 18, born in South Carolina, Lucinda, age 20, born in Mississippi, James, 5, and Elizabeth, 1 1/2 years. The birthplace of each of the two young children was shown to be "
Mississippi." Based on the information available on the 1850 census record, the relationships of James, Lucinda, and the two young children, to each other, and to James and Nancy, cannot be determined. Without a doubt, however, James and Nancy Burell were the same couple who lived in Gwinnett County, Georgia and known there as James P. and Nancy Elizabeth Darby Burel.

A second Burell household was headed by William, 33, and it included his wife Anna, age 34, and their six children, Elizabeth, 12, Honor, 7, Dasilla, 5, William, 4, John, 3, and Nancy M., shown on the census to be "0."

John, age 31, headed a third Burell household. Enumerated in his household was Polly, his 28-year old wife, John, age 5, and twin boys, Jenkins and Samuel Burell, age 2.

William and John were both shown on the census as farmers, each owning real estate valued at $250. Although the relationships of John and William to each other and to James and Nancy Burell are unknown, it is likely these two young men were brothers and the sons of the elder Burells. Interestingly, two of the names of John Burell's children indicate a familial connection to the Jenkins family. Even more interesting is that Samuel Jenkins, 64 years old and born in South Carolina, lived "
next door" to John Burell and his family.
Although many of the Burell families' neighbors had been born in other states, a fairly large number of them, according to the census, had been born in South Carolina. The names of a few individuals born in South Carolina were Roger and Patsey Barfield, William and Debby Burden, Oliver Greely, John Hearst, Jefferson and Sarah Jenkins, John and Isabella Jenkins, Samuel Jenkins, Robert and Vina Lepard, and Samuel Porter and Mary (Middleton) Porter (my great-great-great-grandparents.


Tomorrow: The Burel Migration to Mississippi Continues

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