Just Released - New Book of Historical Photographs of Kosciusko and Attala County, Mississippi

If you have roots in or connections to Kosciusko, Mississippi, or Attala County, you may want to know about a new book of historical photographs, compiled and just released by Thomas Craft, a local photographer, and the Kosciusko/Attala Historical Society. The books are $20 each, if picked up, and $23 if they are purchased through the mail. Also, the books can be ordered directly from the Historical Society and from the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce (KADC), or they may be purchased through the Attala County Library in Kosciusko. For those who prefer to order over the phone, please contact the KADC at 662.289.2981, or the Attala County Library at 662.289.5141. Proceeds from book sales will go to the Attala Historical Society. I'm sure you will want to purchase your copy soon. As we all know, a picture is worth 1,000 words, something that is especially true with historical photographs!

The Lady in Red, A Poem

A few years ago, I wrote a post on my other blog, Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek, about The Lady in Red, the body of a young woman unearthed in 1969 at Egypt Plantation near the town of Cruger, in Holmes County, Mississippi. Identification of the woman, dressed in red and encased for burial in a glass-sealed, cast iron coffin, was attempted, but was never made. Included below is a partial account of the event as it appeared in Jackson's Clarion-Ledger on August 2, 1969:

"The method of preservation used for The Lady in Red was common prior to the Civil War, when custom-made caskets, shaped to the body, were ordered as one would order a dress. The glass that sealed the coffin was placed over the body, and alcohol was poured inside until it was level full, and then sealed with a cast iron tip. When the back hoe machine hit the coffin, alcohol spilled from the casket and spots of the liquid were seen on the folds of the woman's dress."

No one knows how or why The Lady in Red was buried underneath the deep Delta silt and heavy dirt that make up Egypt Plantation's rich fields.Rumors have been rampant for years that her body may have fallen off a wagon on its way to be buried, that it had been lost in a flood, or that it had washed ashore after a steamboat that was transporting her body for burial was grounded after an accident.  Later, the young woman's remains were placed in a grave in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Lexington, Mississippi, where they were marked with a small headstone that identifies the mystery woman simply as "The Lady in Red." In more recent years, a few people have claimed publicly and privately to either know or to be related to The Lady in Red. Certainly she must be someone's long lost ancestor, but her true identify remains a mystery still.

Recently, a distant cousin of mine, Arthur Pickett, who grew up in that area of Holmes County, told me he had written a poem in tribute to the unknown, but not forgotten, Lady in Red. I asked to read it, and I subsequently obtained permission from Arthur to reprint his work here today. So, with Arthur's permission, it is with pleasure that I introduce his beautiful and poignant poem. 

The Lady in Red, A Poem

One day workmen came to rake the earth

With backhoe; it was then they found her berth

As she patiently waited rebirth;

But not one knew her life's worth.

No marker was found to name her face;

None to tell when she went to grace.

Was a eulogy before God to make her case?

Was there a new star to mark her place?

From that time-worn home taken she was

By a coroner, an undertaker, and his entourage

Taken by them with a limosine'd barge

East to the Lexington hills in a wooden cooperage

Mourn no more for her oh ye mortal

For now she has a new heavenly portal

Amongst pauper graves with no body corporal

Given name by poets knowledgeable.

She is now known as The Lady in Red

No more is she unknown and dead

Perhaps someone, somewhere will be led

To give her an ancestral name, instead.

Rest in Peace, My Lady, you will never leave us

For yes, we have seen that new star in Cygnus.

Arthur Pickett

Copyright 2009

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 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.  

Wordless Wednesday - Old Branch House, Holmes County, Mississippi

Photo From Private Collection

Old Branch House
Holmes County, Mississippi

"The Diary of a Southern Lady," by Katharine M. Jones

Recently, I agreed to publish a copy of a press release for one of my readers, Katharine M. Jones, announcing the publication of her new book, "The Diary of a Southern Lady." In her book, Ms. Jones, the great, great granddaughter of Georgina Barrett Devlin,  reveals the contents of a previously unpublished diary of a young immigrant mother who lived in the towns of Winona and Yazoo City, Mississippi. Interestingly, the diary covers a sixty-year period of time that includes the Civil War and documents the many changes in transportation during the mid-1800s and the early 1900s.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Previously Unpublished 1852-1912 Diary Now Available

Yazoo City, MS, November 4, 2011 -- In 1852, Georgina Barrett Devlin was a young immigrant from London with small children, living in Yazoo City, Mississippi. She began keeping a journal, at first sporadically but then consistently, almost every day for the rest of her longlife. Now this diary, titled The Diary of a Southern Lady, set in Yazoo City and Winona  and transcribed and edited by her great, great granddaughter, Katharine Jones, has been published by Create Space and is available on Amazon. Early in this period of sixty years she recounts her experiences during the Civil War, when Yankee forces came to her house and she took the children to hide in the woods. After her husband's Yazoo City store burned, the family moved to Winona, Mississippi, where they lived for several years, and then moved back to Yazoo City. In the course of her life story, the reader will read of traveling by stage, then by railroad, by trolley, and by 

automobile. The education of her children and grandchildren is a constant theme. They were at first taught at home or in small neighborhood schools, but were later sent away to boarding schools and colleges as far afield as Tennessee, Virginia, and even Canada. She was interested in the religious and social movements of the day, including Christian Science and Swendenborgian philosophy. And in her later years, her aches and pains and the treatments of the day became more and more important to her. Well footnoted, this diary will be of interest to historians and students of Southern history, theC ivil War and the development of rural and small town life, as well as to the general public.

The Diary of a Southern Lady is available at Createspace.com/3546438, on ww.Amazon.com, or by contacting the author at wjones146@comcast.net.

###

Contact Information for the author is:
Katharine M. Jones
Telephone: 540-686-7285
Email: wjones146@comcast.net
Mailing address: 146 Stuart Drive
Winchester, VA 22602

Wordless Wednesday - St. Mary Catholic Church, Yazoo City, Mississippi

Photo by Father Lincoln Dall, Parish Priest
St. Mary Catholic Church
Yazoo City, Mississippi

Photo by Father Lincoln
St. Mary Catholic Church
Yazoo City, Mississippi

Wordless Wednesday

Digital Photo Collection (2009 - 2011)
Privately Owned by J. Tracy

Benevolent Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E.)
Historic Building on the Square
Canton (Madison County) Mississippi

"The Invisible Line: Three American Families and the Secret Journey from Black to White," by Daniel J. Sharfstein

As many of my readers already know, John P. Gibson, my South Carolina-born great-great-great-grandfather, has become my proverbial brick wall, and during the past ten years, I have read anything and everything that I could find about the Gibson family of South Carolina.  It seems that John P. Gibson was one of many Gibson family members, including Stephen, Tobias, and Gideon, who migrated to Mississippi during the early 1800s. In fact, Port Gibson, Mississippi, formerly known as "Gibson's Landing," and the town dubbed by General Sherman as the town "too beautiful to burn," was named for members of this Gibson family.  Several times in the past, I have posted here on this blog about my unsuccessful research attempts to connect my John P. Gibson to these other Gibson family members or to discover the name of John's parents in South Carolina. 

So yesterday, when I was about to put away the Gibson family file for yet another time, I received an email from a reporter with a Kentucky newspaper who wanted to interview me about my connections to the Gibson family of South Carolina.  It seems that she had seen links to blog posts that I had written about the Gibson family, including my post entitled, "Ghosts of Our Ancestors." When we spoke by phone earlier today, the reporter explained to me that she is writing an article centered around the subject matter of a recent book that traces three families of African-American heritage, including the Gibson family of South Carolina, as they transitioned from black to white during the past two centuries. The book is entitled "The Invisible Line:  Three American Families and the Secret Journey from Black to White," and is written by Daniel J. Sharfstein, an associate professor of law at Vanderbilt University, who teaches courses on property, legal history, and race and the law. In his well-researched book that has already received some fantastic reviews from well-known publications, Sharfstein also chronicles the Spencer Family of Kentucky and the Walls Family that settled in Washington, D.C.  Needless to say, I am anxious to read my contact's article that may include references to my interview today and to read Sharfstein's new book. In fact, I just ordered the book and will be writing a review on this blog in the very near future.  

Christine Fairchild - Daughter of Carlotta Nelson and Louis Fairchild

This is the fifth in a series of posts about Carlotta Nelson Fairchild and her family.  Today's post is about her daughter, Christine.


Christine Fairchild, born in New Orleans on October 30, 1911, was likely named for her maternal grandmother, Christiane Frederikkson Nelson.  She was the first child born to Carlotta and the eleventh child fathered by Louis Fairchild.  Although her father's first marriage to Mary Winnemore Fairchild had produced a total of ten children, only six had lived to adulthood, five daughters and a son. With Christine's birth, Louis now had seven living children. At the time of her birth, Christine's father, as a member of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and the New York Cotton Exchange, was able to provide his family security and many of life's comforts.  And it is almost certain that Christine, as her mother's only natural child and her father's youngest, received more than her share of her parents' attention.  

Archives of the social pages of the Times-Picayune, the New Orleans newspaper, offer extensive insight into Christine Fairchild's young life.  At least one trip to Goodman, Mississippi, to visit Carlotta's relatives who still lived in that area, was reported in those pages. Although their mode of travel was not mentioned, it seems likely that Christine and her family would have ridden the Panama Limited, a "premier all-pullman train" whose northbound route made stops in Mississippi between New Orleans and its destination of Chicago.  Since Christine's maternal grandmother lived until 1917, it seems certain the young girl would have become acquainted during these trips with the woman for whom she was named.  Also living in Holmes County, Mississippi during this time were Florena ("Rena") Nelson, Christine's unmarried aunt, and her uncle, William J. Nelson, and his family.  Back in New Orleans, Christine and her extended family of half-sisters, a half-brother, and their respective families, often enjoyed summers spent at "The Myrtles," the Fairchild's beach cottage in Waveland, Mississippi, sometimes spending as much as two months at one time.

But in 1918, tragedy struck the Fairchild family when Louis Fairchild, then a 69 year old father of seven, died after an extended illness. Married to her husband for slightly less than ten years, Carlotta Nelson Fairchild became a widow with a seven year old daughter. 

Next:  "Life Without a Father"


Sources:
Times-Picayune, Archived newspaper artiles, 1900 - 1920, accessed online Jan. 11, 2011


New York Times, Archived copies of newspaper articles, 1910 - 1918, accessed online Jan. 11, 2011

A New Fenner Cousin

Although my Fenner family research is still in the very early stages, I have already found a new cousin! Actually, this isn't entirely correct - - my new cousin found me!  When I opened my inbox today, I discovered an email from another Fenner researcher I had discovered online and had contacted via email several days ago. The Fenner family member included a phone number, so I called him and we talked earlier today. While my family line descends from Rachel Fenner, my new cousin's line descends from Rachel's brother, William.

According to my contact, William Fenner, the elder, died around about 1777 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Later, William's son, also named William, along with other members of the Fenner family, used the river system to migrate from Georgia, where they had settled after the Revolutionary War, to the Mississippi Territory. Allegedly, the group arrived in the Mississippi Territory about 1790, settling in what is now Wilkinson County, Mississippi.

Family history indicates that William Fenner and his wife, Mercy Ogden, migrated further west to Louisiana, where they settled in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana and raised a family of twelve children. In Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, the Fenner name became a prominent one, with Fenner Road named for family members who surveyed the area, and Fenner's Landing named for members of this family who operated a ferry across the Ouachita River.

My contact recalled family information that says William died in Avoyelles Parish, en route from St. Landry Parish to his home near Monroe, while Mercy's death occurred several years later in Ouachita Parish.

Around 1850, many of William Fenner's descendants migrated to Lavaca County, Texas, where my new cousin's family has deep roots. He and I plan to talk again tomorrow to continue sharing more of our families' histories, so stay tuned for more Fenner posts.

Like most stories, this one has a moral:  The power of the Internet has never been stronger, the world is constantly growing smaller, and genealogy research has never been better! 

Ragland Relatives - The Search Continues

This is yet another installment about my search for Ragland ancestors, and unfortunately, I still have not determined the names of Winiford Ragland's parents.

Since I have been unable to locate Arthur C. Ragland on a census record in Mississippi between 1820 and 1880, I can only assume that he was counted under another name that I would not recognize, possibly one that began with his middle initial of "C." Another possibility, of course, is that he died sometime after 1841, the date he was issued patents for land in Attala County.

Yesterday, I decided to review again Edward Branch's War of 1812 records that I obtained from the National Archives. Although I had some information about Edward Branch to begin with, photocopies of the documents in his war and pension file have given me data and insight into his life that, otherwise, I would not have.

Included in the pension file was a copy of the Application for Widow's Pension filed by Winiford Ragland Branch after Edward's death on October 28, 1874. It appears from the documents, that when the pension office in Washington, D.C. requested proof of her marriage to Edward, Winiford was unable to provide a copy of the document. Apparently, the record of her marriage to Edward was either lost or destroyed during the Civil War, and all that remained at the Hinds County Courthouse in Raymond, Mississippi, was a copy of a marriage bond that was posted.

Edward's file documents show that Bryan Tyson, Esq., representing the pension office in Washington, wrote to Winiford's attorneys in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Butts & Scarborough, requesting a signed affidavit from two individuals who could attest to the fact that the marriage had actually occurred. A copy of the affidavit submitted, signed by Robert W. Ragland and Sarah Haxall, who stated they were each present and saw the couple married, is among the pension file documents. Now I have another Ragland name to include in my search. In addition, other members of the community who had known the couple for many years submitted separate affidavits attesting to the public's knowledge of the existence of the Ragland-Branch marriage. Two such individuals were Charles R. McNeal and Thomas W Evans.

Here is a look at the affidavit, signed by Robert W. Ragland and Sarah Haxall, that bears the seal of an Attala County Justice of the Peace, R. N. Ousley:




So now it's back to census searching, this time for Robert W. Ragland. Apart from the affidavit, one othe item of interest I found yesterday was that a member of the Ragland family in Hanover County, Virginia, Evan Ragland, alledgedly married Susannah Pettus. If you have been following this blog, you may recall that my maternal line includes the Pettus family, who lived in Kent County, Virginia before migrating south. Possibly, a connection between these two families existed in Mississippi, as well, since I have now found a Pettus family and a Ragland family living in 1860 near Paris, a community in Lafayette County, Mississippi. I am anxious to see where this research leads me.

Maple Terrace Bed & Breakfast - Kosciusko, MS

On two occasions during the past year and a half, we have stayed overnight at the Maple Terrace Bed & Breakfast located at 300 N. Huntington Street in Kosciusko, Mississippi. The owners of the house are Kosciusko residents, Roxanne and Larry Routt. Its location near the square and so close to the wonderful research room at the Mid-Mississippi Library made it a perfect location for our visits. After our visit to Kosciusko and the surrounding area was complete, we were just a short distance from the entrance to the Natchez Trace Parkway that would take us down to Madison County. According to the Maple Terrace website, the house was built in 1912 and is on the Historic Register. The house itself is a blend of Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, and Prairie designs. Inside, the beautiful wood floors, period furniture and appointments, along with some lovely and unique stained glass made us feel as if we had been transported to another time and place. The grounds are manicured and well-kept. On our last visit, we were pleased to find information in the house that told its history, how it was built by a postmaster who served the town of Kosciusko around the turn of the twentieth century. There were even old architectural drawings included in the material. What a beautiful structure this house is, and if the walls could talk, I can only imagine the history they could tell.

The Depression Years in Attala County, Mississippi

Lelia Porter Branch and Clark C. Branch
Newport Community, Attala County, Mississippi, circa 1922

The picture here is the earliest picture I have of my paternal grandparents, Lelia Porter Branch and Clark Commander Branch. Lelia and Clark were married on December 9, 1922 in rural Attala County, and they began their life together in the Newport community located in Attala County, Mississippi near both families. Her family, the Porter family, lived near Sallis, and the rest of my grandfather's Branch relatives also lived near them in Newport or around McAdams. Their only child, my father, was born the next December, and his life, like the lives of my grandparents, was to change because of this Great Depression.

As you can see in the picture, my grandparents lived in a very simple house in a rural area of Attala County, on land they farmed. Their life must have been very hard, with no conveniences. They used kerosene or "coal oil" lamps, they had well water, and they heated their home with wood burned in an iron stove. There was no refrigeration, no electricity, and cooking was done on a wood stove. Living conditions such as this are almost impossible for most people my age to even imagine.

I thought it seemed "right" to write about the depression years at this particular time, since for several weeks now, our world has been filled with information about the troubled economic conditions that prevail now in our country. There is talk about a probable economic recession, and even talk that another Depression may be around the corner. My plan is to write a series of posts dealing with rural life in Mississippi, as it was experienced by my ancestors during the depression. Today is the first article in that series.

The post today is actually about something good that came out of that other period of dire financial circumstances, one that left genealogists like me with a wealth of information about how their relatives lived during those years. One of the parts of the New Deal program was a project designed to put unemployed individuals to work during the Depression. The name of this program was the U. S. Work Progress Administration or "WPA." Within the program was a project developed to put unemployed intellectuals to work, and it was known as the Federal Writer's Project. Materials written by those who worked in the Federal Writers' Project are housed in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, and it is part of a larger collection titled The U.S. Work Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and Historical Records Survey.

This collection covers the years 1889-1942 and includes many topics about varied subjects. Approximately 300,000 items are contained in the collection, including correspondence, reports, essays, and oral histories. Included are life histories of men and women describing their feelings while coping with life during the Depression; studies of the social customs of ethnic groups living in the United States; records of interviews with ex-slaves describing life during the period of slavery; and drafts of publications produced.

The unemployed writer who may have participated in this project could have been a lawyer, a teacher, a librarian, or someone else who had experience writing when they were employed. Many felt during this time that the Roosevelt Administration could find more jobs for those who had an academic background than for those who worked in "blue collar" jobs. The project was not popular within the U. S. Congress and was referred to as the federal government's attempt to "democratize American culture," especially after it was approved for federal monies in June 1935.

The project continued into the late 1930's, but Congress remained critical and some opponents were intent on shutting down the project. Funding for the project ceased in late 1939, primarily because the Roosevelt Administration needed funding for an increased defense budget. After that, the project continued in a less active roll, funded on money given to the states, and it closed about a year after the U. S. entered World War II.

The result of this collection is that it contains genealogy records that allow us to have a snapshot of life as it actually was during these troubled years, told by real people who lived it.

The Netherland Family Reunion

Pictured here is the family of William Bailey Netherland. He is seated near the center of the picture, with his wife Mary Elizabeth Garrard Netherland. His son, my grandfather, Ralph Ernest Netherland, is pictured standing in the back row, also wearing a bow tie. The picture is dated circa 1925, and is said to have been taken in Coxburg, Mississippi at the Netherland family home. Earlier this month, I wrote a post about the Netherland Family Reunion, stating that my mother didn't think she would be attending this year. Well, I was wrong. She felt well enough to attend, and she and my father drove to Coxburg today. She looks forward to this event and to seeing her brother and his family and many of their cousins and their extended families. Yesterday, when I talked to my mother, she had already made her delicious pina colada cake, and it was in the refrigerator, ready to take to the reunion's lunch today at the Community Center in Coxburg, Mississippi. I am so glad that she felt well enough to go. This family reunion is an annual event, usually on the last Sunday in August, when the Netherland family and its connections get together in Holmes County, Mississippi. According to my mother, the reunion is actually known now as the "Netherland-Spencer" reunion. Spencer was the married name of one of the Netherland daughters.

According to my mother, several Netherland family members who have attended the reunion in the past, have purchased copies of the book written by Gena Ayres Walls about her husband's connections to the Neatherlin and Leatherlin families. (These are earlier versions of the Netherland family name.) Some family members often bring the books with them to the reunion, hoping to fill in some of the missing branches on a few family trees. I hope this year's reunion was successful, with a lot of food and good fun, and I know that my mother's cake dish was likely empty when she took it back home.