So one year I strayed off the beaten path of census records, birth, death, and marriage records and found a maternal great grandmother and her siblings in a different type of record -- the Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957. This collection is available for free at FamilySearch, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) websites.
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Catalog Record: Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children Film / Digital Note: Children lists, series 105, box 2652, 1878 |
Series 105 (1850-1894) contains lists prepared by counties and filed by the Secretary of State. This series lists the name of the child, age, gender, race, and election district or ward.
For my family and research purposes, this record verifies the sibling relationships of Mary, Elizie, Anthony, and Nelson; their ages, and that they lived in Simpson County, Mississippi.
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| "Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch : 18 September 2015, Simpson > 1878 > image 65 of 83; Government Records, Jackson. |
My maternal great-grandmother
Name: Mary Stamps
Age: 13
Sex: Female
Race: Black
Election District or Ward: Palestine
Event Type: School enrollment
Event Date: 1878
Event Place: , Simpson, Mississippi, United States
Birth Year (estimate): 1865
Parent Name: Stamps
Her sister (from same record)
Name: Eliza J Stamps
Age: 5
Sex: Female
Race: Black
Election District or Ward: Palestine
Event Type: School enrollment
Event Date: 1878
Event Place: , Simpson, Mississippi, United States
Birth Year (estimate): 1873
Parent Name: Stamps
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"Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch : 18 September 2015, Simpson > 1878 > image 64 of 83; Government Records, Jackson. |
Her brother (from same record, different page)
Name: Anthony Stamps
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Election District or Ward: Palestine
Event Type: School enrollment
Event Date: 1878
Event Place: , Simpson, Mississippi, United States
Birth Year (estimate): 1871
Parent Name: Stamps
Her brother (from same record, different page)
Name: Nelson Stamps
Age: 5
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Election District or Ward: Palestine
Event Type: School enrollment
Event Date: 1878
Event Place: , Simpson, Mississippi, United States
Birth Year (estimate): 1873
Parent Name: Stamps
In 1878, there were six children in the household of Simon Stamps -- Mary, born 1865; Anthony, born 1869; Nelson, born 1872; Elizie, born 1873; William, born 1876; and Henry, born 1878 -- four of the siblings were of age to be in school.
In the 1880 U.S. census of Simpson County, Mississippi, 16-year-old Mary is listed as house laborer and there are marks indicating that she could not read or write. The only child marked as attending school is Anthony.
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Year: 1880; Census Place: Simpson, Mississippi |
