Jack Gatlin Homesteader Part 1

Jack Gatlin was a farmer in Pike County, Mississippi.   He obtained his land through the homestead application  #10323 which was initially filed in June 26, 1880. He was 21 years old at that time. On the application, it states "that I prevented from attendance at the land office in person by reason of distance and want of means." It is not clear who actually submitted the application. 

The filing fee of seven dollars was received by the receiver's office July 1, 1880. Seven dollars in 1880 would be equivalent to $158.97  now in 2017. 

 The homestead process to obtain land consisted of filing an application, improving the land and filing a deed of title.  The homesteader had to live on the land for 5 years, improve the land by planting crops and build a dwelling 12 feet by 14 feet size. Proof of residency also had to be established before the deed was issued. To prove residency on the land. witnesses had to testify the homesteader had been on the land.

Jack Gatlin witnesses where Jerry Conerly, Robert Brumfield, Henry Brumfield and Robert Collins. In the Bureau of Land Management records, the testimony of the claimant Jack Gatlin and two of his witnesses Jerry Conerly and Robert Brumfield are written.  I will share the testimonies in following posts. 

Jack Gatlin Family

 I have featured on several blog posts Eddie Brumfield Sr.  paternal line his father Willis C. Brumfield. These are the decendants of Liddie who was married to first Louis Brumfield and then Calvin Caston. I am still searching for more information. There are other branches that are connected to Liddie Brumfield Caston descendants.

Two branches from Eddie Brumfield Sr. maternal line are Gatlin and Conerly. In two previous blogs, I have already discussed Willis C. Brumfield and Neathie Gatlin Brumfield and their children which the family is listed in the 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 Pike County, Mississippi Federal Census.  The links are at the bottom of this blog post. 

Jack Gatlin was born September, 1851 and died October 24, 1924

 Neathie Gatlin was born September 23, 1882 in Pike County to Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly.

Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly Gatlin  date unknown

 Neathie is listed in the 1900 Pike County, Mississippi Federal Census  with her parents and some of her siblings. Edmond Gatlin her older brother was married to Elnora Magee in January, 1899 and living in a separate household listed below his parents and siblings on the census enumeration. On the census record Jack and Neathie were married for 25 years.

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9XT-14J : accessed 21 May 2017), Jack Gatlin, Beat 1 (part of), Pike, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 105, sheet 5A, family 65, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,825.

Enlargement of 1900 census

  

HOUSEHOLD	ROLE	SEX	AGE
Jack Gatlin	head	M	49
Alice	wife	F	44
William	son	M	20
Neathey	daughter	F	18
Lumendy	daughter	F	16
Rose	daughter	F	14
Kathy	daughter	F	13
Zella (Zellar)	daughter	F	11
Julier	daughter	F	8
Jethro	son	M	6
Mary	daughter	F	2
Edmond	Head	M	23
Norah (Elnora)	wife	F	18

Jack and Alice Gatlin  with children are also enumerated in the 1880 census.  Jack Gatlin occupation is listed as farming.   I find it interesting that Alice is recorded as "helps in field". Most of the wives in the 1880 census  are listed as "keeps house". 

Year: 1880; Census Place: , Pike, Mississippi; Roll: 662; Family History Film: 1254662; Page: 347D; Enumeration District: 37; Image: .

Gatlin Jack	B	M	27		Farming
Alice	B	F	21	wife	Helps in field
Harriet	B	F	4	daughter	At home
Edmon J	B	M	3	son	At home
William	B	M	4/12	son	At home

More information to come  for Jack Gatlin and family

----The Tree Gardener

http://brumfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/willis-brumfield-and-neathie-gatlin.html
http://brumfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/10/willis-brumfield-and-neathie-gatlin.html

Liddie and Calvin Caston son Isham Caston

Isham Caston

Isham Caston is thought to be a son of Liddie and Calvin Caston.  He is listed with his parents in the 1870 Pike County,  At the time of the enumeration, he was 12 years old with a calculated year of birth of 1858.   The 1870 Federal census does not identify familial relationships.

Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 2 Range 9 East, Pike, Mississippi; Roll: M593_745; Page: 128B; Image: 262; Family History Library Film: 552244

Caston Calvin 38

                   Lydia 43

             Thomas 17

             Elvira 15

             Rosann 14

             Isham 12

             Green 10

             Silas 7

             Jesse 4
             Adeline 3

His name appears again in the Pike County School census in 1878 as 19 years old.  In the school records, the location and a child’s name is listed but not the parent or guardian.  Isham name is recorded with other children who have been identified to be children of Liddie and Calvin.  

 "Mississippi, Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-14208-33487-64?cc=1856425&wc=10918067 : accessed 22 Feb 2014), Pike > 1878 > image 111 of 200.

His name does not appear with the family in the 1880 census. He would have been 21 years old and possible living on his own.  I have not been able to locate him in the federal census or any other records.  I have not performed an exhaustive search and I do not know if he had any descendants but the search continues.  Possibly  a family member will know what happen to him.

-----The Tree Gardener

To Tell The Truth

Don't Always Follow The Crowd

In the process of my genealogy research, I have tried to perform a reasonable search of information that is available. That being said, I do not know all the information that is available about a family member or family.  My research is also a search. I am constantly looking for information. I try to record the source origin, correlate it with known facts and look for details. The internet is loaded with genealogy sites free and paid such as  Ancestry.com, Family Search, Newspaper.com, FindaGrave,  Genealogybank, Fold3 and  Heritage Quest to name only a few. These sites often has transcription errors of names, sex and possibly race.   

Some of the sites employ elements of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is a technique in which an organization or individuals use many people or a crowd for pay or free to give information to solve a problem. Wikipedia is a prime example.  Anyone can edit and contribute to Wikipedia.  Ancestry.com family trees also uses crowdsourcing.   Is all the information true?    

The majority of people in my trees have been dead decades ago and I have met very few of their descendants. I am on a mission. I feel that my African family with disseminated trees with roots in America have a story that is worth telling. That is why I have this blog.   Through the years I have tried to educate myself by attending genealogy conferences and reading books.  I have visited the National Archives, Mississippi Archives, Tennessee Archives, Allen County Library, Family History Library and various other libraries. I am a member of the National Genealogy Society but not a certified genealogist.

  
 I also have attended family reunions and communicated with previously unknown cousins. I will be forever grateful for meeting my cousin the late Roger Dale Wilson.  He showed me the Caston and Brumfield connection through Liddie Brumfield Caston.    I would like to acknowledge my cousins who helped me along my mission Lexie Mae Bullock Johnson, Lexie Pearl Smith Elmore, Daisy Smith, Gerald Hollins, Manual Graves, Carletta Graves, Eddie Brumfield Jr., Kerry Shelton, Belinda Howard Cox and the late Eddie J. Brumfield Sr.  

Ancestry.com has used crowdsourcing on the family trees they have listed.  I have looked on Ancestry.com at other family trees listed and there are errors in the information.  There are also errors in the information that I have on my trees on Ancestry.com.  When I find the true information, I try to make corrections.

Most recently on my tree, I listed Annie Gatlin who married Thomas J. Brumfield as a child of Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly. When I reviewed my sources, Annie Gatlin was never listed as a child of Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly. I really don’t know where I got that information.  I did not record my source which is a newbie mistake. The information I recorded was wrong and three other people put the wrong information on their Ancestry.com trees.

My lesson is to check and record the source.  Don't always follow the crowd because the crowd could be wrong.

------The TreeGardener