It is sometimes difficult to find individuals within a
family and their friends. The clues that have been helpful to me have been time
period, location and family member names.
Freedmen may have the first name of a parent, grandparent a person they
admire or of the former slaveholder. Most freedmen could not read or write and the spelling of their
names may have not been consistent.
The time period I began
the research started in 1817 which is the year the Mississippi became a state
in the United States. The locations I
focused on were Pike County, Mississippi and Washington Parish, Louisiana which
where the Caucasian Brumfield family and descendants settled from South
Carolina recorded in Brumfield Histories by Albert R. Brumfield and Alma Dell Clawson. Family
member names were identified from family stories, vital records, census, and
school records. It is not always clear
from records the race of the individuals. The first ancestor I began my initial
research was Irvin (Ervine) Brumfield. There are however more than one Irvin.
Irvin Brumfield Sr.
born abt. August, 1846 and died abt 1900 in Mississippi. He married Louisa
McEwen (possibly Ellzey) born abt. 1849 died July 20, 1935
They had the following children:
Martha Ann 14 December 1872 - 2 February 1954
Sherman 24 February 1873 - unknown
Irvin May 1874 -unknown
William 02 January 1875 -22 Feb
1959
Louis 28 May 1878 - 1965
Isom 27 December 1880 -3 September
1963
George January 1882-21 February 1959
Mamie 23 August 1885-15 April 1972
Daisy 1889- December 1964
Mattie 06 Sep 1894- 30 January
1959
