Stories of William Ephraim Wiygul, part four (conclusion)

(Note:  If you've wandered onto this web page by benefit of a web browser, please be aware that this is the fourth of a series of web posts.  Go back to the beginning.)

The following is the last of four serial posts.  The July 2, 1986 edition of the Itawamba County Times contained a collection of stories that were written in November 1925 to his grandchildren by William Ephraim Wiygul, one of the earliest settlers in Itawamba County.  Wiygul's written recollections were transcribed by his great-granddaughter, Joana Y. Swanson, exactly as written by Wiygul. 

(as continued)

I am now going to tell you a Bare Story that is about my Grate Granfather Mayfield, which was Gramma Wiygull's father.  He was an old man thin and was a criple.  He come up to visit Granpa and Gramma, so they wanted to Shoe him a good time.  So Granpa got Judge Boland and they went a bare Hunting.  Boguefalaw Bottom was full of Cane and Large Cane at that.  So they put Granpa Mayfield just a cross the Creak East of Bro. Ikes.  Granpa has shoed me the Place lots of times whin Him and I would be fishing.  It was in the Fall of the year and they Put him in an old Pon that had dried up, where they felt like the old Bare would Run.  Granpa Mayfield was not a stout Man and was a Criple but he Killed Bare and Killed him with a Small Pocket Knife.  Stop Now and guess how he Killed him with a small pocket Knife -- and it was a verry large Bare....

Judge Boland twok the Dogs and went up to the Bottom to Make the Drive.  Granpa went out about two Hundred yards East of Granpa Mayfield.  So Judge Boland Did not go Moore than one half mile till the dogs Jumped a Big Bare.  So here came the Bare right Down the Creek and passaed Boland and He Shot at him and wounded him Pritty Bad.  But the Bare kept Going Down the Bottom.  So he run into the Dried Up Pond where Granpa Mayfield was Standing.  So he Shot at him and Hit him.  The Bare fell but swone got up and went right on Down the Slue.  So Granpa just as Soone went to Loading his Gun.  He Put his Powder in his Gun and Paper Wad -- there was the Bare right there -- So he did not have time to put his Shot in.  So he run his hand in his Pocket and got his Knife and Droped it in the Gun.  The Old Bare had got Close enough till he Rared up on his hind feet to Grab Granpa so he through his gun against the old Bares Brest and shot his Knife Clear through the old Bare and Killed him Dead.

These things I am Telling you I remember Just as well as if Granpa was a live and had told me last week.  Whin Granpa told me these storeies I was about eight and ten years old and he Shoad Me where they Happened.  It was about one mile above where we lived.  Granpa, Judge Boland and three other Men -- I have forgot there names -- They all made there arrangements to meet at a Certin Plac eon a Certin day (Granpa has shoad me the Place ) about Day (break).  So by Daylight they were all There.  They Made them up a fire.  They used Flint Rocks to start there fire, as they had no matches then.  So they got there fire started to fix there Brecfasta.  So three of them Desided they would walk around a little.  So they walked off East and got about Two Hundred yards to the edge of the Hills.  They came to a washed out Ditch, but struck a log that had fell across it.  So they Crossed over it and on they went.  But they Did not go fare till they saw a big old Indian Man coming Down hollow walking Pritty fast.  So they startid back as they had nothing to fite the Indian with and they new he had his Tomahawk (what we call a hatchet) and a Buaknife.  The old Indian begain to Run.  So did they.  They Run till they got to the Ditch but Missed there Log.  The one in frunt Jumped the Ditch allright.  The next man Jumped but was not as good a jumper as the first.  He jumped as far as he could but he was luckey - he grabed some weads and Grass and pulled out.  The third man was a man gitting a little old, Granpa said.  So he fell back in the Ditch.  By that time the Indian was right at the Ditch.  So the older man startid running Down the Ditch looking for a place he could Get out.  The Big old Indian running right along by him on the bank of the Ditch after him.  There had binn a Big old Hollow tree standing on  the bank of the Ditch But it had fell Down.  Granpa said it was a verry large tree and there was room for the old Indian to run between the Mouth of the old tree and the stump -- (now here it comes) -- Just as he went to run between the Stump and the Mouth of the old Hollow tree out Jumped a verry large Momma Bare out of the old hollow log.  The man that was running from the old Indian heard an awful racket and he looked back and saw the Indian and the old Bare fighting.  The old Bare was standing on his hind feet and had his fore legs Raped around the old Indian and was Biting him all he could.   The Indian as Fighting the old Bare with his Tomahawk and Buey Knife.  But the Man in the Ditch Did Just Like You or I would have done -- he kept running, but he did no but a little till he found a place that he could get out of the Ditch.  So out he got.  Whin he got out he could see the camp fire so he never stopt to see how the Bare and Indian come out.  Whin he got to camp he told his crowd about it.  So they all got there gunes and started with the Man leading them to the Place.  So whin they got there They found the old bare and the Indian both Dead.  The old Indian had killed the old Bare with his hatchet and knife and the old Bare had tore the old Indian up with both mouth and forePaws and they was both Dead.  So they crossed the ditch and looked in the Hollow of that old tree and there they found Two little Bares.  The man the old Bare had saved by killing the Indian got the Two little Bares and carried them home with him and raised them till they was about groin and he thin turned them Loose in the Bottom and Granpa said that man would never kill another Bare after that.  They left the old Indian and Bare there on the Bank of the Ditch for the Buzzards.

I forgot to Write a Bare story that happened after he moved up to where Alfert Now lives.  Alfret sayes he can remember Granpa telling about the same bare story.  Granpa always seamed to Injoy Telling it better than any of the others.  My Father thin was about 7 years old.  It was Summer and they slept with the Frunt dore opin.  So they went to bed one night.  Father slept in the Middle - a little Boy.  After nine o'clock Gramma heard something turn the water barrel over that she had settling under the Drip of the home to ketch water to work with.  She called Granpa and waiked him up and said, "Alfert, Something has turned my water Barrel over!  Get up and go see about it."   He said, "It is an old Bare and I dont want to go out there."  So they laid on the frunt barander and in a minuet it come in the dore of there roome.  Granpa said in a whisper, "Nancy, dont Say a word, nor dont Move."  The Moone was shining Bright.  They see and here him walking around in the roome.  After a little he Laid Down int he roome and lay there a few minets and got up and walked out.  Just as soone as he got out Granpa got to the dore and shut it and locked it and never opined it any moore until daylight Next Morning.  "I would have done the Same thing, wouldin you?"

[Conclusion]


Part One - click here
Part Two - click here
Part Three - click here

Stories of William Ephraim Wiygul, part three

(Note:  If you've wandered onto this web page by benefit of a web browser, please be aware that this is the third of a series of web posts.  Go back to the beginning.)

The following is the third of several serial posts.  The July 2, 1986 edition of the Itawamba County Times contained a collection of stories that were written in November 1925 to his grandchildren by William Ephraim Wiygul, one of the earliest settlers in Itawamba County.  Wiygul's written recollections were transcribed by his great-granddaughter, Joana Y. Swanson, exactly as written by Wiygul. 

(as continued)

 Uncle Wiley Burdine that settled there Close to New Chappil -- we own the Place now or Part of it -- his wife Stud in there frunt Porch and Countid Sixty four Dear Pass her home one Sundy Eve going South.  That will convince you there was a few Dear here whin this Country was first settled.  Uncle Wiley Burdine Come here in about 1855 or 6.  He was a Methodist Preacher.  I herd him Preach Lots of times whin I was a boy.

Judge Boland and Granpa went a Dear Hunting one day and they would Never be verry far apart but what they could here each other if he Shot.  They Never Would Shoot on a hunt like that unless it was big Game.  So if One shot the other would go to him.  So Judge Boland Come up on a verry Large Dear with a verry heavy head of horns and shot him and the old Dear fell appearantley Dead.  Judge Boland said he done something theat he never did before in his life whin he was hunting big game.  Those old hunters never Moved whin they Shot till they Lodid there Gun.  Judge said that time, and he did not no why, but he went up to the Dear without Loading his Gun.  Whin he got to the Dear, he was Batting his Eyes.  So he new if he tryed to Load his gun the Dear would Git him.  So he Grabed the Dear by the hind legs and the Dear Jumped up.  So he got his hatchet out of his Satchel But he could not use it and hold the Dear.  So the Dear kicked the Hatchet out of his hand.  He said he went to work thin to get his Buyey Knife out of its Seabert and Drectley he got it out but Could not use it enaught to hert the Dear Bad.  So the Dear kicked it out of his hand and he never did find it.  He said he new if he turned him Loose he would wherle on him and kill him and Just before Judge Boland give out Granpa run up and Put his Gun to the side of the dear and shot him.  So Judge Boland the Dear fell over -- the Dear was dead and Judge Boland almost.  Granpa said it was a Cold Freezing Morning But he said the Judge was Just as wet with sweat as if he had jumped in the Creek.  Granpa said whin he Shot the Dear the Ball just Grazed the Back of his head but he did not go Deaper than the skin.

Judge Boland and Granpa Bare Hunted to Geather Lots.  Whin they went Bare Hunting they usuley carried there Bare Dogs with them and would go Down or up at the Bottom about two or three Hundred yards apart.  They were hunting one Morning and got after a Bare and run a short Distence and tread him.  Granpa shoed me the tree lots of times.  It was a large hickery about 4 feet through and about one Hundred feet to the first limbs.  Three big limbs Groad out from the same place so it made Three forks - so whin they got to the tree there was a verry large Bare Laying in the fork of the tree.  Judge Boland Shot at him with his rifel but the Bare did not Move.  Granpa then shot and he stile did not Move.  They shot him fore or five times but he never moved.  So Judge Boland said to Granpa Alfert, "I am going to Clime that tree -- that bear dont Move, he must be dead."  So he went and Cut him a Stick about Two foot long and Pulled off his coat and Shoes.  He could not reach around the tree, but he used his stick and Clom that tree to the bare and found the bare dead.  So he pushed him out and they found that Judge Boland Shot him through the hard (heart) the first shot.  Mr. Boland was a verry Stout Man -- I remember him well.  Do you recon we have got a young man in our Country Now that could do what Judge Boland did?  I doubt it very much.

Not long after they took the above hunt they went again and Got after a bare about a Mile above where Bro. Ike Wiygul now lives.  They had three Dogs.  One of them was a Small Dog but both of them Love the Small Dog verry much.  He was a verry fine Bare dog.  So they took Down the Bottom after the Bare.  So Granpa and Judge Bolalnd twok Down the Bottom ater them about three Hundred yards a part as they Did not know which way the Bare would go whin he would turn to go back up to the Bottom.  So right Close to where they Killed the other Bar in the tree, The Dogs Baid the Bare.  (Granpa has shoed Me the Spot where it was.)  Boland went up to where they had the Bare Baid and Shot him and wounded him.  He was (a verry large bare).  So the Dogs closed up on him whin the Judge Shot him.  There little faverite little Bare dog got a little two Close to the bare and the old Bare caught him and had his fore legs Raped around him and was Biting him.  The Judge said he new that the Bar would Kill there little dog before he Could load him Gun.  So he run up and grabed the Bare by his hinds legs.  Granpa was about 2 or 3 Hundred Yards west of him, but Just as Soone as the Gun fired Granpa Broke and Run to where Judge Boland was.  He soone got to where he Could see Boland and the Bare.  He said that was one time he did the Best.  He run up and Put him Gun against the Side of the Bare and Fired.  The old Bare fell over Dead and Judge Boland fell over Perfectly Exhausted.

[End of Part Three, go to Part Four]

Part One - click here
Part Two - click here

Stories of William Ephraim Wiygul, part two

(Note:  If you've wandered onto this web page by benefit of a web browser, please be aware that this is the second of a series of web posts.)

The following is the second of several serial posts.  The July 2, 1986 edition of the Itawamba County Times contained a collection of stories that were written in November 1925 to his grandchildren by William Ephraim Wiygul, one of the earliest settlers in Itawamba County.  Wiygul's written recollections were transcribed by his great-granddaughter, Joana Y. Swanson, exactly as written by Wiygul. 

(as continued)

I am now going to tell you some Bare Stories that my Granfather and Father told me whin I was just a boy.  For the woods was full of Bares, Wolves, Dear, wildcats, but not verry many Panthers.  

As Granpa was Moving his Family from Cotton Gin to where he lived and died, he was coming through Flat Woods Just North of Bigby.   There was no small Timber nor no bushis but there were lots of it covered with Sage Grass and Gramma Sean the Sage Grass shaking.  She said to Granpa Alfert, "What is that shaking that Sage Grass?"  Granpa said to her, "Now Nancy you watch and I will sho you."   So Granpa Hollowed and there were Four Big Bares rared up on there hind feet and the Fartherest one wasent one hundred yards from them.

It wasn't verry long after Granpa settled in his Little Hut till he bought him a hog from the Indians, and She found some little pigs about 150 yds from the house in an old Hollow Tree that had fell Down.  One Night About Good Dark, he heard the old Sow Making an awful racket.  So he got him a pine torch and went off Down there.  Whin he got there he saw that the Old Sow was having an awfull Fight with a Grate Big Wolf.  The wolf was trying to ketch him a pig.   But Granpa ran him off and went back to the house and got him a Basket and told Gramma what he was going to do.  So he went back down there and Got the Pigs and put them in the Basket - there was about five - and got the Old Sow to follow him.  Whin he got to the house with them he Made a good bed for them right in the Chimney Corner.    A good warm bed under the edge of the house.  So the old Sow and little Pigs went to bed all right.   Next morning, Just before day, Gramma woke him up and told him that Something was after the Pigs so he Jumped up and got out of there.  The old wolf grabed one of the Pigs and ran off with it.   He run back into the house and Put on his cloths and went to an Indian Neighbor and borried his dog and the old Indian went with him.  The old dog struck the trail.  Just as soone as he got to the house.  The old wolf tun right up the Bottom about a Mile still Holding to his Pig.  He turned and come back Down the Creek but held to his Pig untill he got back in about Three Hundrid yards of where Granpa killed him, right close to where the Old Log was where he first found the pigs.

In a little while after that, Judge Boland Moved into Itawambe.  What give him the name Judge was in 1836 Whin Itawambe was made a County and he was elected one of the Bord of Supervisors and he was then elected President of the Bord.  He and Granpa was the only white People in that Part of the Country for quite a Little while.  So they Did quite a lot of hunting together.

Granpa and Judge Boland went a Dear Hunting one day and Desided to run and race and See which one Could kill the Most Dear.  Granpa killed five.   Judge Boland killed Six.  Whin they would kill a Dear they would stop and skin his Hames and cut them off and hang them up on a lim of a tree.  Whin they quit that eavning they went back and got all there Dear hames and carried them home.

I have heard my Father tell what I am going to write.  He had been sick in Bed for several days.  Granpa Desided to go down in Boguefalaw Bottom a Dear Hunting and he carried his old dog - Something he did not do oftin - and he told Paw if he would go down and Stand close to the Spring He might get a Shot.  Paw then quite a young man and was weak from being sick.  But he wint and took his stand.  So in a little while Granpa and old Dog Jumped a Big Dear.  Granpa shot at him and wounded him but he could still run, so he run up to where Paw was standing.  Pa shot at him but Slightley wounded him.  Paw said the old dear Truned his hare all the wrong way and Bowed up and Made for him.  He said he was standing right at a Gum sapling - about six inches through, about 15 feet to the first lim.  I have heard Pa say lots of times, as weak as he was he did not believe he could have clom that saplin at all if it had been for the stimulating effect that Dear had on him.  That Dear Staid around there for a little bit, So Granpa Come up and Killed him.   He was a fine Large Dear.

[End of Part Two, to be continued]

MY NOTES:  Although Wiygul's written stories are filled with misspelled words and other obvious grammatical errors, it is important to understand that in those early days on the frontier most people wrote phonetically and not much attention was paid to punctuation.  For his day, and having grown up in a very rural environment, Mr. Wiygul was apparently very well educated and his writing should not be judged against present-day standards nor should it be a reflection of intelligence.    Indeed, a large number of people could not read or write at all, as indicated by the early census records.   

Part One - click here
Part Three - click here
Part Four (conclusion) - click here

Stories by William Ephraim Wiygul, as told in 1925

The following is the first of several upcoming serial posts.  The July 2, 1986 edition of the Itawamba County Times contained a collection of stories that were written in 1925 by William Ephraim Wiygul, one of the earliest settlers in Itawamba County, to his grandchildren.  Wiygul's written recollections were transcribed by his great-granddaughter, Joana Y. Swanson, exactly as written by Wiygul.  

Since I found the information written by Wiygul to be very interesting, I'm sharing it with you in hopes that you do too.  I believe that the collection of stories was also printed in an issue of Tombigbee Country magazine a few years ago.


November 11, 1925     Page 1 at High Noone

I am 67 years old today.  I am going to write some things that I have hird my Granfather and Father tell about the first settling of this Country and What they had to contend with.  My Grate Granfather was born in Germany and the onley Child that was borne to his Parents.  Whin he was about 18 years old he run away from his parents and come to America.  He got here about Two years before the Revolutionary ware and Fought under Washington through the ware.  After the ware he come to Tinace (Tennessee) and Married.

I have herd Granpa Say what his Mothers name was I can't remember it.  Granpas Fathers name was Hinry Wiygul.   He settled in Murry (Maury) County and Intered and bought quite a lot of land.  Murry County is now considered of the richest, if not the richest county in the State.  

They had four children born to them.  Three Boys and one Girl - Elbert Wiygul, Alfert Wiygul, and Rubin Wiygul - I don't remember there Sisters name.  He Married and Settled in Murry County about the year 1785 and raised his family.  My Granfather was born in the year 1797 and lived there until 1824.  He left there and came South and settled in old Cotton Gin Fort in Monroe County.  He was a blacksmith by trade and a Gun Maker.  In 1826 he married Miss Nancy Mayfield - a sister to Uncle Ike Mayfield.  I dont remember her Fathers Name.  My Father was born in old Cotton Gin in 1827.

In 1832 Granpa Wiygul Desided he would Move up into the wild woods where Itawamba County Now is.  He got him an ox and a sack of something to eat and started on an ox to Blaising out his road wright up the ridge untill he he to where Alfert Wiygul now lives.   It is now a Public Road with verry few changes.  He went back and got his Familey.   Pa was then five years old.   He had a yoke of stears and a Waggon.  He hitched them to his wagon and Put his household Stuff on it.  He was living in Monroe County.  It was a County thin.  In the early fall of 1832 he started.  There was not any Briges thin.  He soone got out of Monroe County into the wilderness where no one lived but Indians.  He got to the end of his road and settled about three Hundred Yards east of where my Father lived and died.  Bro. Ike Wiygul lives there now.   He lived there in an Indian hut about two yeares.  He thin built him a house out of logs where Alfert Wiygul Now lives.  

In a few years after Granpa settled in Itawamba Uncle Ruben Wiygul Moved and Settled where Fulton now is.  Judge Boland, in a short while after Granpa settled in Itawambe, settled about Three miles east of Granpa.   Granpa was the first white Man that settled in Itawambe.  Whin Granpa settled there was no one lived in the County but Indians.  Itawamba was the name of an Indian Chief.  This County was Created Feb. 9th, 1836.  Fulton was Made the County Seat.  Granpa Bought some lands from the Indians and he had to go to Pontatoc to fix his dead and have it put on the record.

[End of Part One - to be continued]

MY NOTES:  Tennessee was not organized as a state until 1790 when North Carolina ceded its western territory, and Maury County was not formally organized until 1807 when it was created out of lands previously belonging to Williamson and Davidson counties.   However, there were white settlers in these areas well before official organization took place.  A marriage record, dated September 9, 1796, for Henry "Wegle" and Rutha Logue exists in early record books of Davidson County, Tennessee.    Although Henry and Rutha both died in Tennessee - Henry between 1820 and 1840, Rutha in September 1860 - their sons "Alfert" and "Rubin" moved south into Mississippi.  Elbert lived most of his life in Benton County, Tennessee.

William Ephraim Wiygul, the author of the above history, was the grandson of Joseph Alfred Wiygul, or "Alfert" as he is called.  Alfred married Nancy A. Mayfield, daughter of Austin Benjamin Mayfield and Susannah Henderson, and it is this couple that moved from Cotton Gin Port in Monroe County to the area that became known as the Carolina community of Itawamba County.  Alfred's brother, Reuben, moved from Cotton Gin Port to the emerging town of Fulton.

William Ephraim Wiygul's father was Ephraim Henderson Wiiygul, who married Elizabeth "Betsy" Conwill on July 3, 1851 in Itawamba County.  

Judge Boland referenced by Wiygul was William G. Boland who in 1841 established one of the earliest post offices in the county, called Boland's, in today's Carolina community near the Conwill-Goodwin Cemetery.  Around 1900, the post office was kept in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Wiygul near Wiygul's Cemetery. 

Alfred and Reuben both had large families, and in turn their sons and daughters had large families --  many Itawambians today are descended from these men.  By now, you've probably figured out that Wiygul's Cemetery in the Carolina community was named for this early family of settlers.  

Part Two - click here
Part Three - click here
Part Four (conclusion) - click here

Cousin Bettye

Family and Friends:  It is with a heavy heart and full tears that I ask you to please pray for Cousin Bettye Stone Woodhull who is dealing with both kidney and heart failure.   Doctors have indicated that her heart cannot handle the strain of additional kidney dialysis, and the prognosis is grim.  Please pray that Bettye will stabilize long enough to be able to visit with her family this coming weekend.   

Bettye is very proud of her deep Itawamba roots (Stone, Dyer, Robinson, and Evans families among others), and I am very proud to call her both Cousin and Friend.  Many of you will remember Bettye's many comments on this blog over the past few years as well as comments on other blogs and in discussion groups; some of you may have been lucky enough to meet her in person.  She will be sorely missed.   -Mona

Minnesota's story

What happened to Minnesota, daughter of Jemima Robinson and David M. Purnell?  Before the contact by Dean Howell Page, the last known record was of Minnesota living with her grandparents, Henry J. and Catherine Robinson, during the 1900 census.

According to Dean, her husband's aunts, with whom she spoke, recalled her as Minsy.   Her full name was Easter Catherine Elizabeth Minnesota Purnell.  She was apparently named for her grandmother, Linia Catherine Emerson Robinson, and her great-grandmothers, Easter Robinson Emerson and Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) Robinson.  Easter is a family name that goes back to South Carolina, and probably to Scotland.  Easter (namesake of Easter Robinson Emerson) is believed to be the wife of Matthew Robinson, the father of many of the Robinson men found in early Marion County, Alabama and Itawamba County, Mississippi.  She was the daughter of James Liddell and Easter Porter, both thought to be Scots-Irish who came to Maryland or Delaware from Scotland and migrated down into Virginia and then Abbeville District, South Carolina.  Easter was the Scottish pronunciation of the name Esther, thus you will often find it both ways.

In the 1910 census, Minnesota was 32 years old and single, living with the family of her aunt, Sarah E. Purnell Robinson.  Minnesota's father, David M. Purnell, was Sarah's brother. Sarah was married to John E. Robinson, son of David Matthew Robinson and nephew to Minnesota's grandfather, Henry J. Robinson. (Note:  This is a different John E. Robinson from the one married to Rachael Reed Emerson.)   In the 1910 census household, Minnesota was listed, or transcribed, as Misnus Powell.

In the 1920 census, I never would have found her although she was right under my nose!  Minnesota married around 1913 to Harrison Brown, and their only child, Viola, was born a year later.  Harrison and "Easter M." (her name in the census record) were living next to my great-great grandfather, Samuel L. Cofield, between the Shottsville and Bexar communities.   Further, Harrison Brown's World War I draft registration card indicates that he was employed as a farm worker by Sam Cofield!  (The Cofields were my grandmother Pearl's family while my grandfather Luke was a Robinson -- two unrelated families.)

A bit more digging turned up Minnesota's obituary, as extracted and posted on the Itawamba County genforum website.  Minsy died in 1957 and was buried in the cemetery at Shottsville.  Her daughter, Viola, married Dewey Gullick and lived most of her life near Tremont.  Viola and Dewey were members of Asbury Methodist Church, and they are buried in the church cemetery.

And that, my friends, is the rest of Minnesota's story.  As I've often said, genealogy is like picking at the loose threads of a quilt.  Sooner or later, if you pull at enough threads, the quilt will unravel to show what's underneath. 

Jemima's story

Sometimes the person you've been looking for has been right there under your feet all along.

A few years ago I put together the marriage of Jemima C. Robinson and David M. Purnell, using census records and the Purnell-Clouse family Bible.   Jemima, who went by the nickname Mima, was the daughter of Henry J. Robinson and Linia Catherine Emerson.  With her marriage to David M. Purnell, there was sort of a trifecta of families.  The Robinson, Emerson and Purnell families were all closely associated in the early 1800s in Marion County, Alabama and earlier back in Abbeville District, South Carolina.  All three are direct lines of mine although Jemima, David, Henry and Linia are not my direct descendants.

David M. Purnell was the nephew of my great-great-great grandfather Samuel Morris Purnell.  Henry J. Robinson was the supposed brother of my great-great-great grandfather John E. Robinson, while his wife Linia Catherine Emerson was the daughter of John E. Robinson's sister, Easter.  Easter's husband was George Emerson, and I believe - but have no proof - that George was the father of John's wife, Rachael Reed Emerson, from a marriage before Easter.

The Purnell and Robinsons intermarried a few times.  My great-great grandfather, George Emerson Robinson, son of John  E. and Rachael, married Charlotte Purnell, the daughter of Samuel Morris Purnell and Sarah E. King.  Samuel's sister, Martha Ann "Patsey" Purnell, married James L. Robinson, very probably a brother to John E. Robinson and Henry J. Robinson.

Back to Jemima C(atherine?) Robinson - as I said, I figured out that she married David M. Purnell.  The Purnell-Clouse Bible indicates that David married on December 16, 1873 but doesn't list his wife's name.  The Bible does indicate that David had a son born September 11, 1874, named Henry Johnson Purnell, and that David died on August 18, 1875.    The 1880 census shows Jemima Purnell widowed and living with her parents, along with a five year old son, Henry J., and three year old daughter, Minnesota.

1880 Census
Marion County, Alabama    Beat 3
Henry Robinson 60 SC blank blank   farmer  (born 1820)
Catherine 58 AL SC SC
Jemima Purnell 24 AL  daughter, widowed
Easter A. 16 AL  "paralysis"

Henry J. 5 AL  grandson
Minnesota 3 AL  granddaughter

In the 1900 census, Henry and Catherine have only Minnesota in their household, and there's no sign of Jemima or Henry J. Purnell.  I assumed they had died.  After all, why would Minnesota be living with her grandparents if her mother were still living.  Plus, Catherine indicated that she had had two children born with none living in 1900.  Case closed.

Until.... a few days ago when I was contacted by a Keith family researcher about a Mima C. Keith, wondering if perhaps she was the same as Jemima Purnell Robinson.    It turns out that Jemima remarried, to James M. Keith, shortly after 1880, and they had five children together before Jemima died around 1896, probably from giving birth to her last child.   James M. Keith married again very shortly after Jemima's death because his wife in the 1900 census indicates she had been married for two years.   This would also explain why Minnesota Purnell was living with her grandparents in 1900 - her mother was dead, and her stepfather had remarried.

Thanks to Dean Howell Page, and her curiosity about her husband's family, a new connection has been made.  I've learned that Jemima is buried in the cemetery at Shottsville Methodist Church in Marion County -- her gravestone is pictured above.  Without Dean's help, her e-mails to me, and her phone calls to her husband's elderly aunts, we might never have made the connection.  It's nice to have Jemima's story completed.   After all, we are distant cousins from three different families.

Who is this?

Unknown Couple

This photo was brought to the Itawamba County Times in the 1960s, for copying, by Mrs. Curtis Graham, whose given and maiden name was Clifford "Sis" Hughes.  She was the daughter of Joseph Leonard Hughes and Ophelia Rebecca Webb.  Her husband, Curtis, was the son of John W. Graham and Mary Ann Roebuck.  I'm thinking that this couple is either her parents or his.   There is something familiar-looking about this photo, as if I've seen it before.  Does anyone recognize the couple?

Hello, again!

Many thanks to those of you who wrote to inquire about the lack of blog posts the past year (cannot believe it has been a year!).  It is heartwarming to know that there are people other than my immediate family who actually read this blog.   Last fall was a busy time - actually the whole year was busy - and it was time to take a break from the blog.  I can only point my finger at Michael Luke Mills, our precious grandson.   Luke has been an absolute joy to get to know over the past eighteen months since his birth, and it is his fault that the blog has suffered from a lack of posts!

Luke can't take the full blame, however, as there has been a book in the works.   A photographic history book of Itawamba County is set to be released by Arcadia Publishing during the early part of January.  I started on the book last spring and sent it off to the publisher just a couple of weeks ago.  

Now, if I can just remember all of those things that crossed my path over the past year, when I thought "that would make a cool blog post."  ;)

Here's one of those moments - a trip this summer to the Wolfe-Mills Cemetery, nestled in the beautiful, yet isolated, Clinch Mountains of Hancock County, Tennessee.   Three generations of Millses, descendants of John Mills and Alley Coffey, stood on ground that once was part of the Mills family.   John and Alley's grandson, William Orville Mills, left Tennessee as a young boy, traveling with his family to Posey County, Indiana.  Orville, who later joined the McKay family as they made their way from Indiana back to Itawamba County, married Samuel McKay's daughter Telitha and created a new generation of Millses who would call Itawamba home.

The small cemetery near Treadway contains the marked graves of two of Orville's uncles, Hiram and John, and it is believed that John and Alley are buried here in unmarked graves. 

And so, on a warm day in June, homage was paid to the place of Orville's birth, where his journey began and the connection to Itawamba County was started.  

Sloan Family Reunion

Jack & Melissa Sloan

Sloan Family Reunion

Saturday

October 1st

Peaceful Valley

Itawamba County, Mississippi

Bring a covered dish, we eat at noon.

Music and Fellowship!

Come join us!

William Sloan - Kershaw County

William Sloan, died 1906 in Itawamba County

It seems pretty certain that my Sloan family of ancestors came from the area of what is now Kershaw County, South Carolina.  Kershaw County was formed out of Kershaw District, and in earlier times this area also known as Craven County, St. Mark's Parish or Camden District.  During a visit to Columbia, South Carolina last week, I was able to make a quick afternoon run over to the town of Camden, the county seat of Kershaw County.    The Camden Archives is a wonderful facility and has a great collection of books and reference materials for the genealogist.  My mother and I were here just a couple of years ago, and I knew it would be worth a trip over from Columbia.

Two years ago, Momma and I were in a grab and run session at the courthouse in Kershaw County.  We grabbed the index books, found deed books with the surnames we were looking for - Sloan, Irvin and Lowery, and started copying records.  It wasn't until we got to our hotel room, several hours away and later that night, that we settled in and started going through our mountain of copies. Lo and behold, my mother found a deed from Samuel and Mary Sloan where they were conveying land that had been previously deeded to Mary, as daughter of Peter Rush.  Voila.... we just learned Mary's maiden name and her father's name!  Unfortunately, we were across the state and couldn't go back to research the Rush family.

This time, I didn't have enough time to go to both the archives and the courthouse.  At the archives, I revisited some of the same files and information as I did before and also looked at new sources.  One of the things I found was an abstracted record dated 1752 in which William Sloan - probably the namesake of the William Sloan pictured above - petitioned the the colonial government of South Carolina for land.   The petition indicated that William "came lately from Virginia" with his "wife and five children."    Wonderful information - now I just need to figure out where in Virginia that William lived before moving to South Carolina.  I've got a few leads though.

Back to Mary Rush Sloan's father, Peter.  I've discovered that Peter Rush moved from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina shortly after his marriage to Catherine Plains.   Peter was said to have been loyal to the Crown during the Revolutionary War.  A 1799 record shows that he bought 150 acres of land on a branch of the Wateree River in Kershaw County.  The deed indicated that Peter was a ropemaker.  In 1803, Peter received a grant of 200 acres on the same branch, and in 1805 Peter deeded 50 acres of his land to his daughter, Mary Rush.   It was this tract that Mary and her husband, Samuel Sloan, sold in 1819.

Peter was of German ancestry.  The Rush surname was likely Anglicized from Rausch, Rusch, Risch or some other variation.  So far, there's been no identification of his parents.

Coffee Cousins

 

    Cousin Don Dulaney shared a book with me recently:  Tennessee Cousins, A History of Tennessee People.   As I was thumbing through it late one night when I couldn't sleep, the name Coffee caught my eye.  Mike's GGGGgrandmother was Allie Coffey; she married John Mills in 1804 in Wilkes County, North Carolina and later moved with their family to the North side of Clinch Mountain in Hawkins County, Tennessee (later Hancock County).   Allie and John's grandson, William Orville Mills, came to Itawamba County about 1877.

Allie Coffey's (you'll find the surname spelled Coffee and Coffey) father was Ambrose, son of James Coffee and Elizabeth Cleveland.  In the Tennessee Cousins book, on page 560, there is a transcribed letter written by Ambrose Coffee's brother, Rice, to Jefferson Coffee, son of Ambrose.   Rice Coffee wrote the letter to his nephew in response to Jefferson's request for information about his ancestral history.  In the letter, Rice related that his parents were James Coffee and Elizabeth Cleveland, and that his grandparents were John Coffee and Jane Graves.   Rice stated that Jefferson's father, Ambrose, was born in 1762 in Albemarle County, Virginia, and in addition to Rice and Ambrose, there were brothers John, Archelaus, James, Reuben, Eli, Joel and Lewis.    Rice also remembered Jefferson's maternal grandfather, Jesse Moore, the grandfather of Allie Coffey Mills, who served in the Revolutionary War.

Curious about the Jefferson Coffee, Alley's brother, who wrote to his Uncle Rice, I did a little research.  It seems that Alley had at least four brothers who moved to Hinds County, Mississippi, and the surrounding area, in the beginning years of Mississippi's statehood.  

 

Thomas Jefferson Coffee moved to Mississippi where, in 1831, he served as representative for Rankin County.  By 1837, Jefferson had become a senator in the Mississippi legislature.  In addition to his political career, Coffee was a lawyer and planter, owning large plantations near Brandon and in the Mississippi Delta in Bolivar County.  Supposedly, Thomas Jefferson Coffee ran against Henry S. Foote for the Whig party's nomination for Governor, but lost by one vote.   After a duel in which he wounded his opponent, Thomas and his family moved to Texas and died there in 1858.

Another brother of Alley was George Washington Coffee, also a notable fellow.  He served in the Mexican War while a resident of Brandon, Miss., apparently earning him the title of Major.  Newspaper reports indicate that Major George Coffee was killed "justifiably" by his brother-in-law in 1840.  Although George lived at Grenada, in what was then still Yalobusha County, the town of Coffeeville was not named after him.

Hiram Coffee attained a great deal of wealth after his arrival in Mississippi.  At his death in 1836, he left his widow a legacy of $20,000 and left his half-brother $15,000.  A lawsuit involving the mismanagement of his estate wound up in the Supreme Court, and records indicate that Hiram's estate was possibly defrauded of  $65,000.  That's quite a sum of money for those days. 

The fourth brother of Alley Coffey Mills who moved to Mississippi was James Madison Coffee who supposedly died in 1873 in Mississippi, although I've not been able to find much about him.     Another brother, Holland Coffee, was quite well-known as an Indian trader on the Red River in the Texas frontier.  Holland served as the first representative from Fannin County to the Congress of the Republic of Texas.  He died in a duel/fight with his niece's husband.

Alley died in Hawkins (now Hancock) County, Tennessee between 1852 and 1860. 

I wonder if Orville knew about his great-uncles and their connection to Mississippi, the state that Orville adopted along with his new bride's family in the 1870's?  Did he know that his own uncles, Hiram and Thomas Jefferson and Holland, were named after his mother's brothers?

Sloan Reunion - 2011

Jackson Samuel Sloan and Malissa Caroline (Potts) Sloan

Make plans to attend the 2011 Sloan Family Reunion this Saturday, October 1st, in Peaceful Valley, Itawamba County.   Descendants of William Sloan will gather on for a day of food and fellowship at the Blake Greenhouses on land formerly owned by William's son, Jackson Samuel Sloan.   Bring some covered dishes and your old photographs and lots of family stories, and join us! 

Sunday Dinner Guests

Home of John Gainey Sloan, built 1935, burned 1952

Itawamba County Times

March 21, 1946

New Bethel News

Sunday dinner guests in the J. G. Sloan home were: Mr. and Mrs. Woodford Grace and son, Tomasette of Memphis, Mr. and Mrs. Coy Bean and sons, Joel and Charles and Mrs. Nancy Bean of Cardsville. Others visiting were: Miss Clara Nell Pennington, Mr. and Mrs. Luther Sloan, daughters, Ruth and Maecile, Mr. and Mrs. William Newton and children, Mrs. Boyd Allen and son of Aberdeen, Mrs. Elva Burdine, Miss Audie Neal, Mr. J. E. Newton, Mrs. Lawrence Cox, Miss Jessie Ellen Sloan, Mrs. Shellie Lindsey, Mrs. Ogal Sloan and Mr. Aqulis Sloan.