Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957

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.

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. 

"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

"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

Oath of Tax Assessor of Simpson County, Mississippi that all information is "true and correct"

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.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Simpson, Mississippi

Copyright © 2021 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

My #12 -- Samuel BROWN

Number 12 on my ancestor chart is Samuel Brown, a great-grandfather, the father of my mother's father.  For awhile now, I have been on a mission of sorts to find his death information. Unfortunately, he's from Mississippi which did not begin recording death records until 1912.

So what do I know about him?  I know his son, Noah Brown, of Simpson County Mississippi is the father of my mother, Evelyn O. Brown.  The only record I have  found of Noah with his father is from the 1900 U.S. census. Although Noah is listed as "Infant" I know that is him because of everyone else in the household.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi; Roll: T623_827; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 97.

Also according to this census Samuel Brown was born April 1864 in Mississippi, had been married 15 years to Mary, they had eight children, and he owned his farm. I was able to find information on his and Mary's marriage on the FamilySearch site.

"Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V28X-W4S : 10 February 2018), Sam Brown and Mary Stamps, 10 Apr 1885; citing Simpson,Mississippi; FHL microfilm 886,975.

In the 1910 census Mary Brown is listed as a widow, the mother of nine children, and owner of the farm. The additional child (born after the 1900 census), is five year old Elizabeth. I knew Auntie Lizzie well and her birth date was March 5, 1905.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .

One document that had me "over the moon" was the Homestead Certificate, issued 7 Jun 1897 to Samuel Brown.

U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907

So in summary, what I know about Samuel Brown:

• 1864 - Born, Mississippi (U.S. 1900 census)
  

• 1885 - Married Mary Stamps, in Simpson County, Mississippi (Mississippi Marriage Index 1800-1900)
• 1897 (June 7) - Homestead Certificate for Simpson County (US Land Office Record)

• 1905 (March 5) - Birth of last child, Elizabeth
  

• 1910 – Wife, Mary, widow (U.S. census), Simpson County, Mississippi
  

Conclusion: Samuel BROWN died after June 1904 (nine months before last child was born) and before 13 May 1910 (census date).  While I keep looking to close that span, I also hope to find more on him before that 1900 census and 1885 marriage information.






Copyright © 2019 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

One-Mississippi

Mississippi has the reputation of being one of the most racist, backward states in the United States.  I can't help but wonder if my Brown family had their spirit broken by Mississippi.  Did they endure one last straw?  Both of my mother's paternal grandparents were born in Mississippi; as were both of their parents.

My mother's paternal grandfather, Samuel Brown, was born about April 1864 in Simpson County, Mississippi.  His birth date is listed on the 1900 federal census from Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi.  He is the head of his family that includes his wife Mary (Stamps) Brown and their children:  Luella, Ida, Fannie, Whit, Simon, Willie, Sam, and an Infant son.  

Year: 1900; Census Place: Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi; Roll: T623_827; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 97.

It's also recorded on the 1900 census that Samuel Brown is a farmer and the owner of his farm. 

According to the U.S. Land Office Records, 1796-1907, he was granted a parcel of land through the Homestead Act.  The issue date was June 7, 1897.

U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907

The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed by Abraham Lincoln to open up land ownership and settlement in the West.  It was the expanded Southern Homestead Act of 1866 signed on June 21st by President Andrew Johnson that granted the opportunity for African Americans to purchase land in five southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/1134

The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was an effort to curb the cycle of sharecropping and poverty among southern farmers, both Black and white.  While land was sold at lower prices, many still could not afford land purchases.

My great grandfather was one of about 1,000 freed Blacks who received a property certificate; there were approximately 6,500 claims.  
Gates, Paul Wallace. “Federal Land Policy in the South 1866-1888.” The Journal of Southern History, vol. 6, no. 3, 1940, pp. 303–330. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2192139.

In the 1910 federal census (Beat 3, Simpson County, Mississippi (Pinola and Stonewall Rd) my great-grandmother, Mary Stamps Brown was a widow, listed as owner of the farm that she and her children lived on (Ida, Whittie, Simon, Will, Sam, Noah, Elizabeth).  My great-grandmother had given birth to ten children of which nine were alive -- the infant from the 1900 census was the one who had died.  The two additional children in the 1910 census are my grandfather, Noah, who was born in 1902 and my great-aunt Elizabeth who was born in 1905.  

Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi; Roll: ; Page: ; Enumeration District: ; Image: .(Sheet 22B)

By the 1920 federal census my great-grandmother had moved to Cuyahoga County, Ohio with four of her children in her household:  William, 23;  Samuel, 21;  Noah, 19;  and Elizabeth, 14.  At age 42, she is a servant for a private family.

At various times, Mary Stamps Brown and her children had moved to Ohio.  Why?  Did all the children moved to Ohio?  What happened to the patriarch, Samuel Brown?  What happened to the farm?

Daughter Fannie married Horace McCall on August 21, 1919 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Cuyahoga County Archive; Cleveland, Ohio; Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1810-1973; Volume: Vol 112-113; Page: 281; Year Range: 1919 Apr - 1919 Sep

Daughter Luella was married to Ezra Berry in 1910; they were married for five years at that time and they lived near her mother on Pinola and Stonewall Rd,,  Beat 3, Simpson County, Mississippi.  (Sheet 24A)
Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 3, Simpson, Mississippi; Roll: T624_758; Page: 24A; Enumeration District: 0125; FHL microfilm: 1374771  
At some point she moved to Ohio where she died on  August 17, 1928 and is buried.  Ohio Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2002

I know my Aunt Ida died (1964) and is buried in Buffalo NY.  I remember her passing and that I wasn't allowed to go to her funeral because I was "too young" -- I was nine years old.  Where did Aunt Ida live when her other siblings and their mother lived in Ohio?  Rumor has it that she never married, is that true?

Simon Brown worked in Erie PA (when?); died  (1968) and is buried in Indianapolis IN according to a death notice I found in my grandmother's Bible.

I'm inclined to believe that this is Whit (Whittie).  According to this document Whittie was born in Westville MS -- Whit's brother, William was born in Westville MS (U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942).  In this document Whittie was born April 23, 1893 -- Whit was born April 1892 (1900 census record).

And so my search continues to flesh out my Brown family from Mississippi.

Here's to the State of Mississippi

Here's to the state of Mississippi,
For Underheath her borders, the devil draws no lines,
If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find.
whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes,
the calender is lyin' when it reads the present time.
Whoa here's to the land you've torn out the heart of,
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of!

Songwriters: Phil Ochs

Here's to the State of Mississippi lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

The Mississippi BROWN tree

Mississippi Counties

In a previous post about my Granny, Lucy Washington Brown, I refer to her husband (my grandfather) as Mr. Brown.  That's how I think of him.  He wasn't in my life nor his children's lives and I've heard some not too nice things about him.  But never, never from Granny.  I think that is why I put aside  looking into the Brown family side of my ancestry.  Well, the Brown ancestors have reached out and touched me.

So I've gone back over what I have on Noah Brown's parents and siblings.  My great grandparents: Sam Brown and Mary Stamps Brown.  Also their nine children: Luella born 1886; Ida, born 1888; Fannie, born 1890; Whit, born 1892; Simon, born 1894; Willie, born 1895; Sam, born 1898; Noah, born 1902; and Elizabeth, born 1905.  My great grandparents and all their children were born in Mississippi.

Samuel Brown of Simpson County, Mississippi and Mary Stamps of Rankin County, Mississippi were married on April 10, 1885 in Simpson Mississippi.  I have found my great grandparents in the 1900 federal census living in Simpson County Mississippi with seven of their nine oldest children.  In the 1910 federal census, Mary Brown is listed as a widow with her seven youngest children, still in Simpson County Mississippi.

By the 1920 federal census my great grandmother, Mary Brown, and four of her children: William, Samuel, Noah, and Elizabeth are living together in Cuyahoga County Ohio.  They were clearly part of the "Great Migration" of African Americans who moved from the rural south to the industrial north.

Looking into the Brown family opens up more questions, more surnames and, of course, more cousins, cousins, cousins.   I embrace this challenge as I look for more branches of my family tree.