Davis-Loyd Family of Bull Mountain

Newly found "old" pictures are like Christmas presents, and lucky for me, I get to enjoy Christmas year around!   Cousin Jim Shotts shared this photograph with me earlier this year, along with some others that I will post later.  The photo is especially neat because it connects both my maternal Davis and paternal Loyd lines -- the only known connection between my mother's and my father's families. 

Jesse Abner Davis, seated to the left, was the son of Samuel McGee Davis and Emily Jane Lacey, named for Samuel's father, Jesse, although he went by the name of Abner .  Abner and my maternal great-grandfather, James Kelly Davis, were first cousins.  Samuel McGee Davis lived along the Mississippi-Alabama state line, earlier in Itawamba County and later over in Marion County, Alabama which is where Abner was born.  By contrast, Samuel's brother, James William Anderson Davis, my great-great grandfather, moved to Fulton, raised a family, and is buried in Fulton Cemetery.

Abner was a U.S. Deputy Marshall, serving northwestern Alabama.

Louella Clemontine Loyd, known as Ella to family and friends (her nickname was Love), was the daughter of Isham James Loyd and Rachel Caroline Young.  My paternal grandmother, Ella Pearl Cofield Robinson, was named for her Aunt Ella.   Ella and Abner married in 1893, and they had one child, a daughter Myrtle, pictured above in her father's lap.  Myrtle married Oscar Lochridge, and the 1920 and 1930 censuses find them living in Itawamba County - in 1920 in Wiginton Precinct, and in 1930 on the road to Vina, Alabama.  

Standing behind Abner and Ella are two women:  Mary Marenda "Dollie" Loyd (left) and Ora Avery (right).     Dollie was my great-grandmother, the youngest child of Isham and Rachel Loyd who was nearly six years younger than her sister Ella.   I don't know who Ora Avery is, and neither does Jim who owns the original photograph.  Is Avery a last name, or a middle name, for Ora?  There are some Avery families that lived in the Bull Mountain vicinity so perhaps Ora belongs to one of them... would love to hear from somebody who recognizes the name.

Dollie married John Richard Cofield, and they had five children before their untimely deaths in 1910 (Richard) and 1912 (Dollie).  Dollie was said by her daughter, Ruby, to have died of a broken heart.

Below are some newspaper items about Abner and Ella.

Hamilton News Press

November 29, 1893 

Married - At the residence of the bride's father, at Bull Mountain, on the 22nd instant, MR. J. A. Davis and Miss Ella Loyd. The Free Press wishes the young couple a long life of uninterrupted bliss.

Hamilton News Press
December 13, 1893
Mr. J. A. Davis who recently married the estimable daughter of our esteemed friend, Mr. I. J. Loyd, of Marion County, located to Russellville on the 30th ult.  Mr. Davis is an energetic young man of good business qualifications.  His good lady is one of Marion’s fairest daughters.  We wish them a pleasant and profitable journey through life. - Hustler

Hamilton News Press

April 18, 1895

Miss Dollie Loyd, a charming young lady of Bull Mountain, is visiting her sister, Mrs. J. A. Davis, at this place.

Hamilton News Press
June 6, 1895
Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Loyd, of Bull Mountain, are visiting their daughter, Mrs. Ella Davis, who is sick at this place.

Hamilton News Press
January 24, 1896

Deputy Marshal J. A. Davis, of Bull Mountain was here this week.

A BIG HAUL

Deputy Collector. W. L. Cole and Deputy Marshals Jas A. O’Rear and J. A. Davis made a raid five miles west of Hamilton on last Wednesday, capturing two hundred and fifty gallons of illicit whisky.  The whisky was found concealed in a ditch about forty yards from the residence of H. W. Palmer.  The officers hired a wagon and team from Mrs. Palmer, and brought the whisky to Hamilton, where it was stored in the office of Commissioner D. N. Cooper.  A thorough search on the premises was made to find the still but no copper was found.  Palmer says the whisky was made from chemicals and not from a distillery.  He was given a trial yesterday before Commissioner Cooper and held to bail in the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, which he promptly gave.

Itawamba County News
March 5, 1908
Rara Avis news
Mr. Abner Davis of Haleyville, Ala., is moving into our dear old county of Itawamba. 

Itawamba County News

May 24, 1910
Rara Avis news

Mrs. Ella Davis and daughter Miss Myrtle of Bexar were among friends Saturday and Sunday.  Miss Myrtle  spending a week with her grandmother.

Many old newspaper abstracts from Marion County newspapers, painstakingly transcribed by Veneta McKinney, can be found at this link: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=411.   Old newspapers can provide wonderful Christmas presents too!