Piecing Together the Porter Family Puzzle

A reader contacted me last week seeking information about his great-great-great-grandparents, A. A. Porter and Mildred Porter, who lived and died in Holmes County, Mississippi.  According to my contact, A. A. Porter (he believes his first name was "Allen") was born on February 20, 1816, in South Carolina and died on March 17, 1886 in Lexington, the county seat of Holmes County, Mississippi.  Mildred M. Porter was born on January 1, 1823 and died on April 11, 1902.  Both individuals are buried in Oregon Cemetery in rural Holmes County. My contact has found information that his great-great-great-grandfather was a Civil War veteran, serving in Co. B, Independent Cavalry, of the 1st Battalion MS Reserve Corp and/or Rebel Troop.  A. A. Porter had at least two sons, John William Porter, born June 23, 1845, who died August 31, 1943, and Robert Porter, who served in Co. B (Red Rebels), 1st MS Sharpshooter Battalion. According to information provided by my contact, Robert was killed during the Civil War in the Battle of Peachtree.  John William Porter was my contact's great-great-grandfather.

Researching my own Porter ancestry has been extremely difficult, primarily because male family members have been named and renamed John, James, William, and Robert since the late 1700s.  Also, many of the individuals that I need more details about lived before 1850, the first year the U. S. Census enumerated all household members by name. Actually, I already knew about A. A. Porter, my contact's ancestor, since I had discovered his grave several years ago during a period of research in Holmes County.  But I have never been able to connect this individual to my Porter line.  Ironically, there was another A. A. Porter (Archibald) who lived in Attala County, adjacent to Holmes County, who possibly was a brother of my great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Porter.  According to family stories, after the death of Archibald Porter's first wife, Susanna Morrison, he traveled to Alabama, where he still had relatives, to seek a new wife.  There he met and married Anne Trawick, daughter of Isabella and Burwell Trawick, and he and his new bride returned to Attala County where he owned land. Later, Anne and Archibald Porter became the parents of Susanna Porter, named for Archibald's late wife, and Isabella and Burwell Porter, named for Ann's parents.  Less than ten years later, Anne Trawick Porter became a very young widow when Archibald died.  Ann would soon remarry, to Boley J. Conner, and they became the parents of thirteen children that included three sets of twins.  Many members of this large Attala County family are buried in the historic Conner Cemetery.


It seems that anyone named Porter who lived in Attala, Carroll, Chickasaw, Holmes, or Madison Counties should be related.  But it doesn't seem to be an easy matter to go a generation beyond my great-great-grandfather, Samuel Porter.  So I know just how my reader must feel:  this Porter family puzzle is a difficult one.

The Restoration of a Cemetery: Conner Cemetery in Attala County, Mississippi

Thanks to Jane Swanson, a Conner descendant who lives in Texas, it is possible for me to write this post about the restoration and dedication of Conner Cemetery, one of Attala County's historic cemeteries. During the past few weeks, I have written posts here and on Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek, that included photos provided by Jane of Conner family members, along with information about the Conner family cemetery located north of Kosciusko. But what I did not know until a few days ago was the vital role that Jane played in the restoration of her ancestors' cemetery. Below is an excerpt of how the cemetery's restoration came about a number of years ago, as Jane related it to me:

"Along about the year 2000 I became very interested in genealogy. Stopping by Kosciusko, Ms on a return trip from Atlanta to Houston, I tried to find where the Conner (my ancestors) property use to be, since I had heard that there was a family cemetery. I located a book, on local cemeteries, at the library in Kosciusko, and met an older gentleman who actually gave us directions. I had to laugh. He told us to go down through the “hollow”. I had no idea what a hollow was!

I was very disappointed in the condition of the cemetery. Most of the tombstones were blackened, broken, falling over and trees down everywhere. After returning (home) I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Upon further investigation I found several relatives on internet genealogy sites. There was one posting from a Sonny Cade (descended from Boley’s daughter Lucy) calling all descendants of Boley Conner. He was disturbed at the condition of the family cemetery, following yet another storm; and was asking for help. So, over the next few months, several of us banded together: Ramona Winer (descended from Boley’s son William) Sarah Childress (descended from son Thomas) Nancy Bradford, Suzanne Dougherty and myself Jane Swanson (sisters, and descendants from daughter Julia)

To make a long story shorter. We appealed to all descendants of Boley and Ann Conner to make donations to restore the cemetery. We also wanted to have the cemetery declared a historical site. The historical marker was fairly expensive, and it became apparent we were barely collecting enough money to pay for it. Romona contacted the Sons of the Confederacy, since there were Civil War veterans buried in the Conner cemetery. They took on the cost of most of the restorations as their club project. The monies we collected, paying for the marker.

On Nov. 2^nd 2002 we had a re-dedication ceremony at the cemetery. It started with a lunch at the Kosciusko library. There were about twenty five Conner descendants in attendance, along with members of the sons of the Confederacy and their families all in full civil war regalia. We later all trekked to the cemetery where a musket salute was done, a toast and a poem that was written and read by Dr. Patrick McGraw (descendant of daughter Julia). Romona Winer placing a stone bench beside Williams’s twin’s grave (he is buried elsewhere) it was a beautiful day and we felt such pride at what together we had accomplished."

Jane wanted me to be certain to give credit to others for the restoration of the Conner Cemetery. In an email to me, she stated, "...it was truly an effort of distant cousins (and my sisters).....Romona Winer doing much to the research we needed for the marker, and of course distant relatives who trusted us enough to send a donation."

(Photo courtesy of Jane Swanson)

A few days ago, Jane emailed me this photo of an item made for her by Sonny Cade, a Conner descendant mentioned in her story above. Made of wood in the shape of the State of Mississippi, Cade presented the keepsake gift to Jane and other Conner cousins as a reminder of the successful completion of the cemetery's restoration. An explanation of the keepsake, in Jane's words, appears below:

"Even though I only met Sonny Cade for a few mins. the day of the cemetery dedication. Sonny was the one who got the ball rolling with his plea for help. He brought a gift for me,as a thank you, and I believe the other cousins who worked so hard to get the cemetery restored. In one of those pictures I sent you, it showed our gg-grandfathers tombstone (Boley Conner) toppled by a huge tree. Sonny cut that tree up and made little paper weights in the shape of the state of Mississippi. He etched into each one a map of how to get to the Conner Cemetery. I am not sure what kind of wood came from that tree. But he polished it up and it is such a nice keepsake. I can't help thinking that that tree was once small and maybe was planted near (actually too close) to his grave when he was buried in 1898. Amazing that a piece of that tree now sits on my desk in Texas....."

Although the restoration of Conner Cemetery is no longer "new" news in Attala County, it was the first time I had heard the story. Thank you, Jane, for sharing this amazing story with me and for allowing me to post about it here on this blog.

Note: Watch for other posts about the Conner family including more photos, here on this blog.

Copyright © by Janice Tracy