Six degrees of Separation: Caston & Brumfield Families Part 10

Parent Guardian	Name of Children	Age	Male	Female
Bob Brumfield	Harriett Brumfield	16		x
	Sena	14		x
	James	12	x
	John	9	x
	Jesse K.	7	x
Thomas Brumfield	Mary Brumfield	13		x

The year 1890 is important to anyone interested in genealogy research,  This is the year that the majority of the United States federal census  was destroyed in a fire. The school records provided some of  information that would have been available in the census enumeration. Thomas Brumfield  and his daughter Mary 13 years old are listed in the 1890 Pike County, Mississippi school records at the bottom of the image. Thomas whose birth year of 1853 derived from the 1870 census would have been 37 years old. I have included the children  of Bob (Robert) Brumfield who will be in future blog posts.


The Tree Gardener

Six degrees of Separation: Caston & Brumfield Families Part 9

 Thomas Brumfield Family

School records have been a good source for genealogy information for me.  The records I have found are actually enrollment records. The act of racial segregation has also separated the records  into colored and negro from white students.  In  most enrollment records , the race, name, age and sex of the child along with the name of the parent or guardian are given. These records have filled in the 10 year gaps in the federal census enumerations. The information in the school records are sometimes more accurate because it was recorded by someone who actually knew the student and parent.   

 With Thomas Brumfield, I have been able to identify his daughter Mary who is 8 years old in the 1885 Pike County school record. Thomas whose birth year of 1853 derived from the 1870 census would have been 32 years old. I have included  Irvine Brumfield children in the school record which I will refer to in a latter blog post.

"Mississippi, Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-14208-41161-22?cc=1856425&wc=M6NC-7P8:167436801,167437202 : accessed 21 December 2014), Pike > 1885 > image 7 of 178; Government Records, 

Jackson.

Name of Child	Age	Sex	Color	Parent Guardian
Brumfield Martha A.	13	F	Col	Irvine Brumfield
“        Irvine R. H. W.	11	M	“	“
“        Sherman S.	10	M	“	“
“       William W.	8	M	“	“
“         Louis M.	5	M	“	“
“          Mary	8	F	“	Tom Brumfield

Going to School

It was through school records that I looked for genealogy information.  In previous posts, I made some connections in the Brumfield tree. In the segregated post-Civil War south, racial designations of colored and white are present in many records. School records were not an exception. The geographic locality of many families can often be found by race in the school records. I have started my research with Pike County, Mississippi school reports.

This division of races has helped me find information. The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandon Lands established from March, 1865 to April, 1872   was established to help impecunious survivors of the Civil War.  The Freedman’s Bureau helped launch early schools. Pre-Civil War laws precluded slave education which increased dependency on the slaveholder.  Literacy allows autonomy that is beyond the physical ties of slavery. 

1870 CENSUS

County	COLORED POPULATION		COLORED MALES 10-14 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 10-14 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED MALES 15-20 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 15-20 WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED MALES 21 AND OVER WHO CANNOT WRITE	COLORED FEMALES 21 AND OVER WHO CANNOT WRITE
PIKE	5,312	363		340	292	336	872	945

 Many families including their children had signed labor contracts and initially did not attend school.  The necessities of life food, clothing, and shelter were the priorities at that time. I, however, was able to find family trees and branches in later school records.    

1870 CENSUS

County	COLORED POPULATION	COLORED MALES ATTENDING SCHOOL	COLORED FEMALES ATTENDING SCHOOL
Pike	5,312	33	45