Descriptive Register of Men in Attala County - Post Civil War

Several years ago, while going through some microfilmed records at the LDS Family History Center, I located a copy of a transcription of the "Descriptive Register" of men living in Attala County during the period 1864-65. I was lucky enough to find James M. Porter, my paternal great-great-grandfather, on that list. The list contained each man's name, age, height, color of his hair, eyes, his skin color, birthplace, and his occupation in the county. Skin colors appearing on the list included "fair," "sallow," "tan," "red," and "dark."

According to the "Descriptive Register, " James M. Porter's height was 6 feet, and he was shown to have black hair and hazel eyes. He was born in Mississippi, his occupation was "farmer," and his skin color was shown as "dark." My first thought was this physical description of James M. Porter might very well have been that of one of my great-uncles, my brothers, or even one of my sons.

Interesting little document! But who prepared this list? What was its purpose? How did it become a "historical" document? Common sense told me the list was prepared during the time period directly following the end of the Civil War. Did the register have anything to do with the end of the war? Or was someone attempting to record racial differences in that particular place and at that particular time?

I began searching for online information about "descriptive registers" and immediately found the document contained on the microfilm at the LDS Family History Center included on a number of widely-used (and very helpful, I might add) Attala County, Mississippi genealogy websites.

What I did not find was information that explained the purpose of the list or its intended use. I found it fascinating, to say the least, that someone in 1864 and 1865 was interested in developing a list that included a person's "skin color." It was not until the U.S. Census of 1870 was taken that an individual's "race" was included on a federal census record. The available categories on the census were "Black", "White", "Mulatto", "Indian" or "Chinese" and the designation on the 1870 U. S. Census may have been decided by the census taker based on physical characteristics rather than having been provided by the individual or a relative. I was both puzzled and intrigued by this "descriptive register", so I kept on searching for an explanation.

But I have never found a valid reason to explain the list. The best explanation to date, is actually second-hand information. By that, I mean that other people have offered explanations to me or I have read explanations of others about what they think was the purpose of the "descriptive register."

I have read for myself that amnesty agreement terms, signed by both sides at the end of the Civil War, included a requirement that each military unit that fought for the South prepare a list of its members. These lists or "descriptive registers" would provide the Federal government with records of those who fought for the South and against the Federal Union. This requirement sounds like a "military" record to me. The "descriptive register" I viewed on microfilm, and which I copied for my own records, contains nothing about military unit name or number or the rank or length of service of the men included on the list.

The Attala County "descriptive register" appears to be a list of civilians. In fact, the list contains no military affiliation or reference to the military at all. I cannot imagine this list would be a comprehensive list of men from Attala County who served in the Civil War. I have researched my family's history in other counties in the State of Mississippi and in several other southern states, but I have never encountered a list similar to the "descriptive register" containing these names of Attala County men in 1864-65.

Will I ever find the answers to my questions about the "descriptive register?" At this point, I don't know.

Announcing My New Book Project: "Tillman Branch, King of the Mississippi Bootleggers"

I am happy and proud to announce that I recently learned The History Press, an independent publisher located in Charleston, South Carolina, has accepted my book proposal, with plans to publish "Tillman Branch, King of the Mississippi Bootleggers," in April 2014.  I am especially delighted to be associated with The History Press, which publishes books in 50 states and was named by Publishers Weekly as a "2012 Fastest-Growing INDIE PUBLISHER."

I wrote about Tillman on this blog several years ago.  Well-known as a bootlegger in Attala and Holmes Counties, Tillman was shot and killed in 1960's Mississippi.  Not only did Tillman make and sell liquor that was illegal during the time in which he lived and in the state where he grew up, he also ran nightclubs where the liquor was sold. Locally known during that time as "juke joints," Tillman's clubs offered entertainment to patrons that featured blues music and moonshine, a combination that often resulted in a little mayhem to boot.  Some of the bluesmen who performed in Tillman's clubs, including David "Honeyboy" Edwards, would later leave Mississippi and become well-known throughout the country.

I have a personal interest in the life of Tillman Branch, since my paternal great-great-grandfather and Tillman's father were brothers. Although I never met Tillman, I was often fascinated by the many stories about him that I heard as a child.  Surprisingly, others knew Tillman as a person who was quite different from the one who lived and worked on the other side of the law. In this book, I hope to present both sides of Tillman's life and the significance of the history and culture of the place where he lived. 

Watch here for updates on the book's progress.

Where in the Heck is Possumneck?

Based on some comments on this blog by those who watched today's airing of The Price is Right (a long-running game show currently hosted by Drew Carey), Possumneck, Mississippi, may now be a household word!  It seems someone on the show was a resident of Possumneck, a small community in Attala County, Mississippi. For more about Possumneck, check out this link to a post I wrote about the area four years ago on this blog:

http://mymississippimemories.blogspot.com/2009/02/dark-corner-of-possumneck.html?showComment=1369937884026#c1273541278791028495

It really is a small world, isn't it? And thanks to the visitor on The Price is Right, it's existence is now known about throughout the world!  One reader wanted to know where she could get a T-Shirt?  I aim to please my readers, so do you think I should have some made?

The Southern Jewish Experience

A couple of years ago, I became aware of two museums in Mississippi that deal with the state's history. Unlike many of Mississippi's older, more established museums, these are fairly new, having been around only since the mid-1980's. They are not, however, Civil War museums, museums that showcase Native American history and culture, or museums that chronicle the history of the music phenomenon known as The Delta Blues. They are museums that have a mission "to document and preserve the rich history of the Southern Jewish experience." If you are among those who may be searching for information about Southern Jewish ancestors, their lives, and their customs, the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, or "ISJL," may just be the place to visit. Two locations now exist, the original location in Utica, Mississippi, near Jackson, and a newer site in historic Natchez, Mississippi. The ISJL's website describes the original museum facility as sitting on "a beautiful rural setting on the 300-acre site of the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi.....with exhibit galleries and a central sanctuary that is actively used for programs and services." The Natchez museum is located at 213 South Commerce Street at Washington Street, and houses an exhibit that documents the history and everyday life of Natchez's Jewish families, beginning with the arrival of the first Sephardic Jewish families in the late 1700s. Of interest here, is the fact that the oldest Jewish congregation in Mississippi was housed at the temple in Natchez. Behind the stained glass windows and historic walls of Temple B'nai Israel are a century-old organ and an ark made out of marble.

For readers who live outside the State of Mississippi, it may be a surprise to hear that the Magnolia state would have enough Jewish population to warrant these two museums. But the fact is that Jews have lived in the South since the 18th century. A large portion of that population likely resulted from the mass emigration of Jews from the Alsace-Lorraine region in Europe to the United States during that time period. And many of these families migrated further south. This theory is supported by information on the museum's website that states "as early as 1820, more Jews lived in Charleston, South Carolina than in New York City." If you haven't visited Mississippi's wonderful museums, I encourage you to do so. And don't forget to include the ISJL. These museums will certainly be worth the "southern experience."

Mississippi Memories Named to "Top 40 Genealogy Blogs" List by Family Tree Magazine

Earlier this week, I learned that Mississippi Memories was named by Family Tree Magazine to the list of "Top 40 Genealogy Blogs."  This blog appears under a category entitled "Good Advice."
What an amazing surprise! Thank you, Family Tree Magazine, for this special honor. The list of blogs, along with a brief write-up about each, appears in the March/April issue of the magazine.   I feel so honored and truly blessed to have been included on a list of such talented writers, many of whom have maintained blogs for much longer than I have. 

An excerpt from the magazine article, summarizing why this blog was included on the list, appears here: 

" ........Mississippi Memories takes a relatively narrow slice of genealogical geography and uses it to explore universal research techniques. Posts in recent months have tackled “Genealogy and Adoption,” “Crossing the Color Line” and “If Only The Walls Could Talk ...” (house history), as well as blogger Janice Tracy’s own family stories and finds."

The posts cited in the write-up above are three of my personal favorites, ones that I especially enjoyed writing and sharing with my readers.  In case you missed these articles, I am providing links to them from this post. 

Genealogy and Adoption
Crossing the Color Line
If Only The Walls Could Talk....

Thank you, Family Tree Magazine, and thank you to all who continue to read my blog!

Symbols on Gravestones - What Do They Mean?

Gravestones in old and historic cemeteries, especially the very large ones, may be monuments that symbolized the deceased person’s wealth or standing in the community in which they lived and died. Examples of some of these old  markers can be seen in thousands of cemeteries throughout the South and the rest of the world.  Many of these monuments are truly works of art, but the intricate designs and ornamentation that make them both interesting and unique are not just “art for art’s sake,” they were symbolic in nature.  Although literally thousands of tombstone designs and symbols have been used by stone artisans throughout the years, some of them  are more prevalent than others.  

The majority of symbols on old gravestones reflect the spiritual life of the deceased or close family members responsible for a funeral and burial, so it should be no surprise that an open Bible appears on many grave markers of all sizes. The open Bible symbolizes the deceased was a Christian and lived his or her life according to the scriptures contained in the Bible.  In  some instances, a favorite Bible verse or its reference is engraved on the open pages or in close proximity to them.  The presence of an engraved Star of David means the deceased was of Jewish ancestry. Interestingly, Star of David symbols have been found on tombstones of religious Jews in Europe since the 18th century, about the same time the six-pointed star became symbolic of the Jewish community. Another common religious symbol is the angel. Angels can be found on grave markers throughout the world, where they appear on tombstones of both children and adults. But the presence of an angel universally symbolizes  divine love, rebirth, protection, wisdom, and mercy. One of the most photographed of all angels in cemeteries in the United States is a figure known as the “Weeping Angel,” or the “Angel of Grief,” a statue depicting an angel covering her face with her hands.

Emblems that symbolize membership of the deceased in various types of fraternal organizations often were inscribed on tombstones. Some of the more common of these symbols appearing on twentieth century gravestones depict membership in a Masonic Lodge, the Order of the Eastern Star, Woodmen of the World (W.O.W.), and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF.) The organization known as Woodmen of the World  was responsible for one of the most unique grave markers erected in cemeteries during the early part of the last century. These masonry markers, formed in the shape of a felled tree, or a tree trunk, were provided as a death benefit to Woodmen of the World members. Started in Omaha, Nebraska in 1890, the organization offered financial security, for a fee, that included insurance, to “pioneer woodsmen.” The practice of providing tombstones became too costly for the organization, and by most accounts, was discontinued about 1920.  Such a monument marks the gravesite of my own paternal great-grandfather who died in 1915.

Other symbols appearing on old grave monuments include birds, flowers, ivy, and a tree. The bird of choice is often a dove, which means eternal life, representing spirituality and the winged soul.  The presence of ivy engraved on a monument or grave stone denotes fidelity, attachment, and undying affection. Poppies represent eternal sleep, while a rose is a symbol of victory, pride, and undying love.  Frequently,  the rose was the symbol of choice for a child’s grave marker, where it symbolized purity in death. The presence of a single tree on a gravestone represented life and knowledge, but a “leaning tree” meant the life of the deceased was short or interrupted. The leaning tree  became a universal symbol of grief, as well.

Inanimate objects appear on old grave markers, too. One such object or symbol is a chain with three links, which represents faith or one’s belief in the Trinity. In addition, this symbol was used to denote membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  If an anchor is present on a monument or grave stone, it may mean the deceased was a sailor or seaman, but its presence more likely signified “hope.”  A large number of twenty-first century marble or granite gravestones have urns attached to them, simply for the family’s convenience of leaving flowers.  But the presence of an urn atop an old grave monument, sometimes draped in its marble or masonry cloth, is historically symbolic in nature. The urn is the classic symbol of immortality and represents the death of a body and its return to ashes. The presence of a wreath on a skull, although somewhat less common than other symbols mentioned here, simply means “victory over death.”  

Animals or reptiles were less often used as symbols on gravestones. One that does appear fairly frequently, however, is the frog. As most gardeners know, the presence of frogs is a sign of a healthy environment. But the presence of a frog on a gravestone of long ago was not so good - it symbolized worldly pleasure or sin. Although I absolutely love (decorative) frogs and have received many as gifts from family and friends over the years, I do not want one on my headstone...... I would much prefer an angel, some ivy, a dove, or a rose.     

The Diary of Mary Ann Shrock Burns

Note: As part of Women's History Month, this blog post honors Mary Ann Shrock Burns as one of America's many women settlers who lived in adverse conditions and during difficult times that included dangerous cross country moves, illness, death, and war. 

As many family history researchers will attest, any document created by an ancestor and preserved over time, is a valuable find.  This fact is especially true when the document is a handwritten diary that contains very personal family history that spans over fifty years. The subject of this blog post today, the “Religious Diary of Mrs. Mary Ann (Shrock) Burns,” is all that and more.  For at least two Attala and Madison County families, Burns and Shrock, it is indeed, a priceless family treasure. 

I first became aware of the diary when a Burns family descendant, searching online for  family information in Attala County, Mississippi, stumbled upon this blog and contacted me.  After we had exchanged several emails and various bits of family history information, my contact, an Oklahoma resident, told me about the diary and offered to send me a copy of its transcription.  Based on conversations with my contact, the original diary was found among Mary Ann's possessions. Later, the diary was transcribed and was donated by one of Mary Ann's granddaughters to a museum near where her grandmother died. Although I am not related to the Shrock family or to the Burns family, at least as far as I know, some of my own ancestors lived for decades in Attala County, Mississippi, in close proximity to members of the Schrock family. And it was for that reason, as well as the fact that I write about Mississippi genealogy, that I was pleased when my contact offered to mail a copy of the transcription to me. Our agreement was that I would read the diary, write a blog post about its contents, and donate it to the Attala County Library in Kosciusko, Mississippi. My contact asked only that I honor the museum's request that the transcription itself would not be scanned and made available on the internet. The copy in my temporary possession is a reproduction of the diary’s transcription, part of the Hildegard & Richard Wheeler Collection, contained within the holdings of the E. A. Arnim Archives & Museum in Flatonia, Texas. It was there, in Fayette County, Texas, that Mary Ann Shrock Burns, her husband, William Dennis Burns, and other family members would later settle, where they died, and where they are also buried.

Since I am one of "those people" who often look first through the index of a book, and on occasion, read a few pages near the end, I thumbed through the transcription of the diary to see what I could find. And in this case, I was pleased to find vital information about the Shrock family recorded at the end of the diary. Dates and places of births, as well as dates of marriages and dates and locations of deaths, helped me to better understand names and events contained within the diary's contents. I found that Mary Ann Schrock was born on December 28, 1812, the daughter of Henry and Mary Shrock, and the third oldest of seven daughters and one son born to that couple. Her oldest sister, Elizabeth, was born on March 3, 1809, and Catherine Houseman Shrock, the next oldest of her sisters, was born on March 13, 1811. Grace Shrock, almost two years younger than Mary Ann, was born on November 26, 1814. Two younger sisters, Sarah Shrock, born on May 6, 1817, and Nancy Shrock, who was born on August 17, 1819, completed the list of Shrock daughters.  Mary Ann's only brother was Joseph Kilpatrick Shrock, born about 1821.

When Mary Ann Shrock began to keep her diary on March 22, 1837, she did so with the intention that she had that day “covenanted afresh to the Lord’s” and desired to “be more devoted to his service.”  According to information recorded at the back of the diary, by early 1837, Miss Mary Ann Shrock was an unmarried 25 year old woman who had already experienced enough grief for several lifetimes. On July 4, 1824, she had lost her mother to "bilious fever," and shortly after her mother's death, her sister, Martha Jane Shrock, died in October of 1827.  Tragedy soon struck the Shrock family three more times, when her sister Gracie died, also from bilious fever, when she was only 17 years old, Catherine H. Shrock died at age 18, and her youngest sister, Sarah, died at age 19. Mary Ann's diary states her father remained a widower for eight years before he married for a second time.  According to details included in a diary entry dated November 4, 1852, Henry Shrock "sold out" in South Carolina and in the spring of 1834, moved to an area of Madison County, Mississippi, known as Camden. Other former residents of Camden, South Carolina would call Camden, Mississippi "home," including an early Mississippi Governor, William McWillie, and Chapman Levy, the latter of whom would later serve in Mississippi's legislature. 

In an early diary entry dated August 18, 1838, Mary Ann Shrock's words convey homesickness and sadness as she wrote of being “deprived of some precious friends by death, being removed several hundred miles from the place of my nativity......cast among strangers where there appears to be but little religious.” Almost a year later, in an entry written from Mount Olive and dated July 12, 1839, she seemed joyful in spirit when she wrote that she had “entered into a matrimonial conversion..,” and was now filling “the important station of wife and mother, my dear companion having five children before our marriage.” She added that her step-children “appear fond of me and I love them dearly, and am well pleased with my new home, (and) think I have one of the best of husbands.”  According to information that appears on the last pages of the transcription, Mary Ann Shrock married William Dennis Burns on May 15, 1839. At the time of their marriage, Mary would have been 26 years old and Dennis, 45.

Although Mary Ann's entries were somewhat infrequent after her marriage, at least for the first several years, she continued to write about her family and her strong faith in God. That faith would be severely tested shortly after her marriage, when, on December 2, 1839, Mary Ann's oldest step-son “killed himself accidentally with a gun.....in the 21st year of his age."  Mary’s quiet observation in the diary entry was “Mysterious are the ways of providence," and the impact of the incident apparently caused her to write of her concern to “to live every day as if it were her last.” According to her diary entry dated July 31, 1842, Mary Ann had given birth to two sons since her marriage in 1839 to Dennis Burns, and according to the account, their youngest son was just twelve months old.  In the same entry, Mary Ann notes that she and Dennis have four older daughters who also live at home.

Over the next forty-plus years, Mary Ann Shrock Burns made time to include details in her diary that would chronicle the birth of more children, tell about the death of a baby girl, describe family illnesses, including information about her own “various trials and afflictions,” and would tell about several family moves. In an entry dated November 30, 1856, Mary Ann describes the loss of her baby daughter, sadly writing "Gave birth to an infant, a daughter, that never opened its eyes to behold the sad earth made its early escape to the paradise of God." Various diary entries provided brief insights into the family's moves from Madison County to Forest Hill, to two separate places in Mount Olive, and to Steam Mill, in Attala County, Mississippi, the latter in early 1855. During the time she lived near Steam Mill, Mary Ann expressed feelings of concern when she wrote in her diary of being "shut out from society" and "deprived of church privileges." She wrote of her longing to "see the work of God received in this neighborhood," and the wish that "the time (would) soon come when we shall see the wilderness rejoice and the desert blossom as a rose." In an entry dated April 20, 1858, Mary prays for strength as she writes that her "dear father (Henry Shrock) has closed his eyes in death. He passed away the 11th, .......after suffering for some months, both bodily and mentally."

The next year, on November 2, 1859, Mary Ann writes that she has "left my home in Attala County, Mississippi, Oct. 25th. Have been on the road eight days, am now on the west bank of the great Miss. river, have had a pleasant time, excepting the dust. Passed Oakland College this morning.  visited the burying ground before sun rise saw the tombs of some who had come from the far east to seek their fortunes in the south.  We go to the far west."  Mary Ann's next diary entry is dated May 11, 1861, when she writes "We have again changed our home, are now living in Fayette Co. (TX)."

Over the next several years, according to her diary entries, Mary Ann would see three sons go off to fight in the Civil War. On August 8, 1863, she writes that one of the sons, Billie "....reached home two days ago in tottering health, after being shut up in Vicksburg 48 days living on half rations and then walking one hundred miles home.  Nothing short of the power and goodness of God could have brought him safe through."  A subsequent entry on November 8, 1863, states "My dear Billie, after remaining with us two months has again been called out in defense of his country, to be again exposed to the evils of camp life." The entry includes a prayer that he will be preserved from harm. On May 8, 1864, Mary Ann states she is "now called to give up my Joseph to go in defense of our country, which is a hard trial as he is feeble in health." And she again prays for the well-being of yet another son gone off to war. Mary Ann's prayers would be answered, according to a diary entry on May 28, 1865, when she fervently wrote "My three sons have returned home in safety....."

Although three of Mary Ann's sons lived through the Civil War, another son died on June 4, 1862. According to a diary entry made on June 4, 1878, Mary Ann lamented the sixteenth anniversary of the death of her son, Henry, who "was buried in a distant land, in a soldier's burying ground.....O, who will take care of mother now."

Almost three years later, on May 6, 1868, Mary Ann writes "Oh, what scenes of sorrow and affliction have I passed through since my last entry. My dear husband after twelve days of great suffering closed his eyes in death on.....3rd of May.....O, how dreary does the world appear to me now." On January 3, 1869, Mary would write "He (Dennis) was a good man, and a kind husband and father." And during the next decade, she would continue to mourn the loss of her beloved husband in diary entries written on anniversaries of his birth and of his death. According to information contained in one of those entries, William Dennis Burns had been born in 1794.

Mary Ann Shrock Burns, a woman of intense courage, great faith, and a sincere belief in an eternal future, continued to live in Fayette County, Texas, near living loved ones, until her death on September 10, 1887.  She is buried near her husband in Pine Springs Cemetery, near Flatonia, Texas.