Dennis Bearden lived with his family in Pike County, Mississippi, after 1880. His wife, Charity, who appeared with him in the 1880 census, seems to have passed away sometime after that year. Mississippi did not record death certificates until 1912. The exact date of her demise is unknown. He married Delsie (Dilsie, Duclie) Holmes on January 25, 1883.
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| Dennis Bearden marriage certificate January 25, 1883 Pike County, Mississippi File # 0041663 Book "A" page 131 |
The Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children Data Base 1850-1892 and 1908-1957 has been instrumental in identifying families between the years of the United States federal census. The data in the records designate the sex, age and race of the children. In 1885 Dennis and Dilsie Bearden's children are enumerated in the Pike County school census.
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"Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6W-546H : Sat Mar 09 17:56:38 UTC 2024), Entry for Dewitt and Dennis Beardon, 1885. Transcribed 1885 Pike County, Mississippi School census of Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden.  |
Dennis Bearden and his family were enumerated in the 1900 Federal census.
| "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9XT-J3W : Thu Apr 11 20:23:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Dennis Bearden and Dulcia Bearden, 1900. |
Transcribed 1900 Pike County, Mississippi Federal census of Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden.
Dennis and Delsie were married for 17 years, not 40. According to the 1900 census record, Delsie was the mother of nine children and six are living. Six children have been identified from records, and three are unknown or erroneously recorded. Dennis was the father of twelve children with his wife Charity and six children with his wife Delsie. Josephus and Joseph S. Bearden are probably the same individual. I have found a marriage record for Josephus Bearden to Annie Lee Brister
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| 28 Apr 1912 Pike County, Mississippi File 0038084 Book "Q" page 275 |
According to the Mississippi Death Certificate Index, Josephus Bearden died in 1922 in Pike County. The exact date is unlisted and race is listed as other. I have not found any information for a black man named Joseph S. Bearden in Mississippi who might have been a child of Dennis and Delsie.
More information to come.
The Tree Gardener
