A Brick in the Wall Has Fallen Part 7 Henry Sims Brumfield Sr.

 

Henry Sims Brumfield Sr.

This is part 7 of a series identifying the individuals in the above photograph. Henry Sims Brumfield Sr. is identified in the above picture as the seated Caucasian man on the left. He has been identified as the former slave owner of Richard Brumfield in a newspaper article dated February 22, 1935. The ancestors and family of Henry Sims Brumfield Sr. have been chronicled by many of his descendants in detail which dates include the 1700s in the states of Virginia, North and South Carolina. They later also migrated to the future states of Mississippi and Louisiana. 

The Mississippi Territory was a land area that included present-day states of Mississippi and Louisiana. Spain had previously abandoned its' previous claim to this land in 1795. The state of Georgia also relinquished its claim after a major land scandal ( the Yazoo land scandal) perpetrated by the governor of Georgia in 1802.  The Territory of Mississippi was occupied at that time by the Natchez, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Chocchuma, Tunica, Yazoo and other indigenous groups.  On April 7,1798,  the United States Congress organized the Territory of Mississippi and it was opened for settlement.      

With the patent of the cotton gin in 1794 and fertile farmland in the Mississippi Territory, there was a great migration to this area.  This migration pattern is now known as The Great Mississippi Migration of 1798 to 1819.  This land area offered better agricultural and economic opportunities for those who lived in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia.

The ancestors of Henry S. Brumfield were part of this migration. They resided in South Carolina in the late 1700s.  "On November 11, 1811 a passport was issued by the governor of Georgia to John Brumfield (Henry S. grandfather) with his wife 11 children and 3 Negroes from York District South Carolina to travel through to the Indian Nation to the Western Country. " *The John Brumfield family and adult children established settlements in Saint Tammany (later Washington) Parish, Louisiana and Pike County, Mississippi. 

Louisiana became a state on April 30, 1812. The western area of the Mississippi Territory on December 10, 1817 became the state of Mississippi.  The family of Henry Sims Brumfield Sr. was well established in Pike County, Mississippi and Washington Parish, Louisiana.

Ancestors of Henry Sims Brumfield Sr. history are intertwined with some of my former black enslaved ancestors.  The ancestral photograph with my black ancestors Richard Brumfield, Eli Brumfield, Liddie Brumfield Caston and Calvin Caston is the only known photograph of them. Our family is forever grateful to Laura Brumfield the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Sims Brumfield Sr. for making this photograph available. I have asked Laura Brumfield to be my guest blogger.  More to come.

References

*Brumfield Histories by Albert R. Brumfield and Alma Dell Clawson 

Fields of Broom John Brumfield and Margaret Kelly, Their Ancestors & Descendants: with Added Reference Correspondence and Notes Concerning Other Groups.

Source Records From Pike County, Mississippi 1703-1910 by Luke Ward Conerly 

Ancestry.com and Find A Grave 

-------The Tree Gardener

Tombstone Tuesday Bertha Collins Gatlin and Jethro Leander Gatlin

PINK HILL CHURCH CEMETERY

Pink Hill Church cemetery is located 1154 Jewell Dr. McComb, Mississippi 39648  across the street from the church.

Bertha Collins Gatlin and Jethro Leander Gatlin

Bertha Collins Gatlin and Jethro Leander Gatlin attended the Pink Hill church and are buried in this cemetery. They were  married for over fifty years and died on the same day.  Jethro Gatlin was the son of Jack Gatlin.

 

Precious are our memories ...

---The Tree Gardener

A Brick In The Wall has Fallen Part 6 Eli Brumfield

 

Eli Brumfield

This is Part 6 of a series identifying the individuals in the above photograph. Eli Brumfield is identified in the above picture as the black man standing on the right side in the picture. Eli has been identified to have lived his entire adult life in Pike County, Mississippi. He and his family are enumerated in the 1920 and 1930 Pike County, Mississippi Federal Census. In the 1920 census, states Eli and Sally were able to read and write.  He continued to work on the farmland that he owned at age 66. They are enumerated with Eli's female cousin and children with the last name Thomas. Their given names written are probable transcription errors. I have been unable to identify them at this time. 

Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Leggett, Pike, Mississippi; Roll: T625_891; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 100

Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Leggett, Pike, Mississippi; Roll: T625_891; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 100 transcribed Eli Brumfield 

In the 1930 census, Eli owned his farm but didn't own a radio. In this census Eli, Sallie and Dudley could not read or write.   

"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9MQ-P8X : accessed 8 February 2021), Eli Brunfield, Beat 1, Pike, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1, sheet 4B, line 55, family 84, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1162; FHL microfilm 2,340,897. 

 

"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9MQ-P8X : accessed 8 February 2021), Eli Brunfield, Beat 1, Pike, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1, sheet 4B, line 55, family 84, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1162; FHL microfilm 2,340,897. Transcribed Eli Brumfield family

Eli Brumfield died June 2, 1933 in Pike County, Mississippi. A list of births and deaths was reported in the local newspaper under "Colored" deaths. His name is listed near the end of the notice.

Semi-Weekly Journal (McComb, Mississippi) · 27 Jul 1933, Thu · Page 3

 

On Eli Brumfield's death certificate, Sally Brumfield was the informant. They were married for over 50 years.  His parent's names were Isom and Charlotte Brumfield and the etiology of his death was heart disease and "old age".  The interment of his remains is in the Pink Hill Cemetery. 
 

Sallie Brumfield 80 years old was enumerated in the 1940 Pike County census with her son Dudley. I have not located her date of death.  

------ The Tree Gardener

A Brick In The Wall Has Fallen Part 5 Eli Brumfield

Eli Brumfield

This is Part 5 of a series identifying the individuals in the above photograph. Eli Brumfield is identified in the above picture as the black man standing on the right side in the picture. In the 1900 Pike County, Mississippi Federal census, the enumerator recorded that none of Eli Brumfield's children could read or write. In 1900, 44.5 % of Black and other non-whites were literate or unable to read or write in any language.*    His children however did attend school. The Pike County, Mississippi school census was divided into colored and white. I was able to identify Eli's children.  In the 1885 Pike County school census, Kizzie Brumfield 6 years old is listed with her father Eli Brumfield. Their names are at the bottom of the page.

Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-PV9F-WD?cc=1856425&wc=M6NC-7P8%3A167436801%2C167437202 : 18 September 2015), Pike > 1885 > image 6 of 178; Government Records, Jackson.

Kizzie (Kizza) 11  and Lotty 6 years old are listed with Ely (Eli) Brumfield in the 1890 Pike County school census. 

Allen County Library Fort Wayne, Indiana  Pike County, Mississippi Records and Correspondence Black families1890 author Serena Abbess Haymon collation 

Lottie 10, Charles 8 and Maude 5  years old are listed with Eli Brumfield in the 1896 Pike County school census.

  

Allen County Library Fort Wayne, Indiana  Pike County, Mississippi Records and Correspondence Black families1896 author Serena Abbess Haymon collation 

Dudley 14 years old is listed with Eli Brumfield in the 1908 Pike County school census. 

The Allen County Library Fort Wayne, Indiana  Pike County, Mississippi Records and Correspondence Black families1908 author Serena Abbess Haymon collation 

The number of days that the children actually attended school a year is unknown. As the children became older, they were probably helping on the farm with their parents.  The quality of education in the segregated school at that time has been well documented in United States history. 

*SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970; and Current Population Reports, Series P-23, Ancestry and Language in the United States: November 1979. (This table was prepared in September 1992.)

------ The Tree Gardener