VETERANS DAY 2022

 

On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day on the 11^th month in 1918 an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations during the Great War known as World War I was established. This day was known as Armistice Day. This day has transformed to an official holiday to honor all members of the United States Armed forces now called Veterans Day. 

This year I had the opportunity to visit the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum located at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Camp Shelby was established in 1917.  Through the years Camp Shelby has served as a military training facility, convalescent hospital and a German prisoner of war camp. Many of the men in Mississippi were trained for the military at Camp Shelby.

 Today I would like to honor my living relatives and ancestors on my genealogy trees who were in the armed forces. My research has not allowed me to identify all the veterans past or present. I have included veterans from all the trees I have researched which includes extended families. I will continue to search. They however are not forgotten.  Grateful for their service. God bless them all. Let’s support our living veterans. Thank you for family  who provided pictures. Hover cursor  over lower pictures to see each individual name.

 

Name	State of Residence	Enlistment Date		Branch of Service	Rank
Lester Kent			1997-present	US Army
Gerald R. Hollins			16 Sep 1969-1 Sep 1993	US Air Force	Master Sergeant (E-7)
Linda Hollins				US Air Force	Sergeant
Roy Jefferson-Lampton			1990-2000	US Army	Sergeant
Eddie Brumfield Jr.			19 Mar 1969	US Air Force	Airman
James Anderson			1983-2004	US Marine	Gunnery Sergeant (E-7
Bertha Bearden	Mississippi		17 Feb 1943	US Women’s Army Corp (WAC)	Sergeant WWII
Charles David McEwen			09 Dec 1941	US Army	Private WWII
Chris Seay	Mississippi		03 Dec 1943	US Army Air Force	Sergeant WWII
Timothy Turner				US Air Force	Lieutenant Colonel
Wiley Caston	Mississippi		23 Jan 1943	US Army
Harbert Lee Caston Sr.	Mississippi			US Army	WWI
Harbert Lee Caston Jr.				US Marine
Layfayette Caston			1953-1957	US Air Force
James Conerly				US Army	Private
Steven RaVey Brumfield	Indiana		2004-2005   2003-2010	US Army	National Guard 12B Combat Engineer Operation Iraqi Freedom National Guard  E-4 Specialist/ Corporal
Herbert Lee Caston Sr.	Mississippi		9/1917-12/1918	US Army	WWI
Nero  Cowart	Mississippi		1o July 1918-30 June 1919	US Army	WWI
Herbert Caston Jr.			1/1955-12/1957 2/1958-8/1975 1972-1973	US Army US Air Force	Technical Sergeant Viet Nam
Russell Caston				US Army
Keith Caston			1980-1983	US Air Force	A1C (E-3) Lebanon Multi-national peacekeeping force
Eric B. Caston			5/1984-3/1988	US Army	Sergeant Lebanon Multi-national peacekeeping force
Cheryl Taylor Whitehead			1986-2016	US Army
James Lackings				US Army
Terry Lackings			1994-2006	US Army
Wallace Caston	Mississippi			US Army
Cicero Caston	Mississippi		10 Dec 1942	US Army	Private WWII
Claude Sibley			25 Sep 1942	US Army	Private WWII
Charles E. Sibley			1987-1992	US Army
Marcus D. Sibley			1990-2010	US Navy
Earche Raymond Banks	Louisiana		19 Feb 1946	US Army	Private
Eddie Dunlap			28 Jan 1953	US Army
Eddie Lee Osby	Mississippi		14 Apr 1943	US Army	Private WWII
Edward Lee Elam	Illinois		14 Sep 1966	US Army	Private Viet Nam
Elijah Brumfield	Mississippi		28 July 1918	US  Army	WWI
Woodrow Brumfield	Mississippi			US Navy	WWII
Jethro Gatlin	Mississippi		28 July 1918	US  Army	WWI
Elmer Gatlin				US Army	WWII
Ernest B. Strickland Sr	Tennessee		23 Mar 1941	US  Army	Sergeant WWII
Frank M. Strickland				US Army	WWI
Thomas Claude Strickland			29 June 1949	US Army	Corporal Korea
Florziel Jefferson	Mississippi		20  Aug 1942	US Army	Private WWII
Freddie Donnell	Texas		31 Mar 1916	US Army	Private  WWI
Howard Lee Graves	Louisiana			US Navy	WWII
Willie Graves	Louisiana		22 Feb 1943	US Navy	WWII
Luchis Jefferson Graves	Arkansas		26 Oct 1950- 7 July 1952	US Army	Sergeant Korea
Jasper Graves	Mississippi		5  Mar 1918	US Army	WWI
Sylvester Hill	Ohio		2 Jun 1942	US Army	WWII
Iddo Brent Jr	Mississippi		17  Aug 1942	US Army	Private WWII
Isom Brumfield Jr	Mississippi		20 July 1943	US Army	Private WWII
James Edwards Sr	Mississippi		03 Aug 1942	US  Army	Private WWII
Jessie Caston Jr.	Mississippi		13  Dec 1945	US  Army	Private first class
Martin William Watkins	Texas		14 Sep 1951	US Army	Corporal Korea
Mattie Donnell Hicks			10 Mar 1946	US Army	Major WWII KOREA VIET NAM
Rudolph Knight			3 Oct 1943	US Army	WWII
Rudolph Knight Jr.	Louisiana		10 June 1960
Leamon Jefferson	Louisiana		27 July 1944	US Navy
Thomas Cornelius Brumfield	Louisiana		19 Feb  1943	US Army
Thad Brumfield	Mississippi		20 July 1943	US Army	WWII
Thad Brumfield Jr.				US Air Force	Lieutenant Coronal
Owen Brumfield	Mississippi		16 Oct 1942	US Army	WWII
Virgil Downs	Mississippi		1 Mar 1951	US Army
Mack Quinn			23 Feb 1943	US Army
Clifton Louis Brumfield			30 Jun 1959	US Army

 

Samuel Conerly		Dec 17, 1942		WWII
Purvis Conerly
Ado Brumfield Jr	Louisiana		US Marine
Roosevelt Conerly	Mississippi	Oct 24, 1941	US Army	WWII
Abraham Brumfield Jr		3 Oct 1967-  2 Sep 1969	US Army
Walter Brumfield		July 24, 1945	US Army	WWII
Iddo Smith		March 31, 1918	US Army	WWI
Murdock Smith			US Army
Artie Bullock				WWI
Louis Johnson		March 27, 1944	US Army	WWII
Lattimore Zackery			US Army	WWII
Johnnie Rayborn		Oct 14, 1945	US Army	WWII
Lavergne Rayborn	Pennsylvania		US Army	Staff Sergeant WWII
Robert Brumfield
Larry D.Brumfield
Mark A.Brumfield
James Weldon Brumfield	Mississippi	2 Dec 1942	US Army	WWII
Herbert Brumfield		1973-1974	US Army
Stevie Brumfield
Nathaniel Wilson Martin Sr.			US army	WWII
David T. Brumfield	Mississippi	10 Sep 1942	US Army	WWII
Elijah Brumfield	Mississippi	10 Oct 1942	US Army	WWII
Otis Brumfield	Mississippi	16 Oct 1942	US Army	WWII
James Bearden	Mississippi	3 Oct 1942	US Army	WWII
James Jackson Jr.	Mississippi	31 Apr 1948	US Air Force
Alexander E. Martin	Mississippi		US Army
Bernard Caston Sr			US Army
Will Robinson			US Army	WWII
Paul McEwen	Mississippi	23 Oct 1941	US Army	WWII
Silas McEwen	Mississippi		US Navy	WWII and Viet Nam
Johnnie B. Govan Sr.	Mississippi	11 Mar 1941	US Army	WWII
Melvin Walker			US Army	Private
Percy Ray Carson			US Army	Private
Russell Caston			US Army
James Jackson		31 May 1948	US Air Force
Walter Moore Downs	Mississippi	1 June 1942	US Air Force	WWII Lieutenant Colonel Tuskegee Airman
David Thomas	Louisiana	20 June 1918		WWI
Owen Brumfield	Mississippi	15 Oct 1942	US Army	WWII
Robert C Graves
Samuel Brumfield Sr.		1975-1975	US Army
Rufus Brumfield Sr.		19 Apr 1971-18 Apr 1974 4 Feb 1977-31 Jan 1983	US Army	Viet Nam two tours
Rufus Brumfield Jr.			US Army
Quardrick Brumfield		1994-2018	US Air Force
Lemmie Chapman III		1990-1993	US Army
Patrick Brock		03/1993-03/2013	US Navy	Hospital Corpsman 1st Class
Yomika Brock		04/1994-10/2005	US Navy	Petty Officer 2nd Class
Edgar O. Battiste		1987-1991	US Navy
Albert Battiste III		1994-1999	US Navy
Corey BAttiste			US Navy
Alton Leo Cook		1969-1971 1975-1977	US Navy
Walter Lee Cook		1970-1972 1972-1976	US Army
Charles E. Cook		1972-1976	US Army
Ruben Cook Jr.		1975-1983	US Army Reserve
Bernard Cook		1977-1981	US Army
Oliver M. Cook Sr.		1980-1991	US Army
Mary Lean Cook-Cage		1983-2004	US Army
Ollie Preshet Cook		1995-2002 2006-present	US Army
Oliver M. Cook Jr.		1999-2020	US Air Force
Oris Coleman		1999-present	US Air Force
Lemmie Chapman III		1990-1993	US Army
Johnny Saunders			US Army
Catina Saunders Williams		1990-1998	US Army
Kortney Williams		1991-1995	US Air Force
Joseph Merrit		1976	US Army
Lolita Holloway			US Army
Lester Kent		1997-present	US Army

 

Mary Johnson Enslaved part 3

 Walter L. Campbell Slave Trader

Walter L. Campbell  Sale  of Mary Johnson to  Delia E. Stovall  of Pike County, Mississippi December 6, 1852

Transcribed Bill of Sale

Federal law required ships carrying enslaved people to a shipping port to have a manifest. The manifest required a date, destination, captain's name, slave owner and or shipper's name, slave's age and height and date of certification of the customs collector. The New Orleans, Louisiana, U S., Slave Manifests 1807 to 1860 is an incomplete collection of slave ships that entered the port of New Orleans. I searched this collection and found that B. M. and W. L. Campbell along with other slave owners and or shippers had over 50 slaves with the name Mary Johnson or a variation of the name from 1821 to 1852 in the collection. I think this did not occur by chance. I believe that the actual names of these enslaved women were changed to Mary Johnson. With a different name, it would be very difficult or impossible for the enslaved woman's family or anyone to locate them. I have not found a definitive source to support my assumption.  

Mary Johnson was transported by ship from Baltimore, Maryland to New Orleans, Louisiana. I  believe I have found the slave manifest which has the ancestor Mary Johnson. 

Source Citation The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860; Microfilm Serial: M1895; Microfilm Roll: 13

The manifest states: MANIFEST OF NEGROES, MULATTOS, and PERSONS OF COLOR, taken on board the Jane Henderson where of  G W Collins(?) is Master 137 tons, to be transported to the port of New Orleans in the district of Louisiana for the purpose of being sold or disposed of as slaves, or to be held in the service of labor. 

 In the upper right-hand corner,  the names B M and W L Campbell Baltimore are written. The shipper is identified as B M Campbell. The custom collector certified the above-named slaves to be correct and dated November 26, 1852 The manifest continues: the slaves described have not been imported into the United State since the first day in January, one thousand eight hundred and eight and under the Laws of the State of Maryland are held to service or labor as Slaves and are not entitled to freedom under these laws, at a certain time and after a period of service.--SO HELP US GOD.

On the document listed number 12 is Mary Johnson female age 17, five feet five inches and color black. She arrived on a ship from Baltimore to New Orleans on November 26, 1852, and  B M and W L Campbell are identified on the manifest.  She was sold by Walter L. Campbell a known slave trader. Her age on the Bill of Sale states about 18 years old.  Mary Johnson was sold 10 days after arriving in New Orleans to Delia Stowell from Pike County, Mississippi. 

On September 18, 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress.  This act had three major components 1) the federal government was responsible for finding escaped slaves 2) slaves be returned to their owner if in a free state and 3) anyone who aided a runaway slave was subject to six months in prison and a $1000 fine the equivalent of $38,052,31 in 2022. Baltimore, Maryland is over a thousand miles from New Orleans, Louisiana. Mary Johnson would be enslaved for life.

More information to come.

--- The Tree Gardener

Mary Johnson Enslaved part 2

 Walter L. Campbell Slave Trader

Walter L. Campbell  Sale  of Mary Johnson to  Delia E. Stovall  of Pike County, Mississippi December 6, 1852

Transcribed Bill of Sale

The domestic slave trade became very active after 1808. The leading cash crop in Maryland and Virginia was tobacco dating back to the early American colonies. Without harvest mechanization, tobacco production on plantations required hard physical labor. First indentured servants, free African Americans and later slave labor.   Tobacco plants could deplete soil nutrients and sales to foreign markets decreased.   As tobacco production decreased, cotton production aided by the invention of the Cotton Gin increased in southern territories and states. The need for slave labor increased in different geographic areas.

 Baltimore County, Maryland had a significant population of free people of color and enslaved black people. There were incidents in which free black people aided the enslaved to escape from slavery.  There were also situations of married couples of free and enslaved people.  This mixture gave hope that the manumission of the enslaved person might one day happen.  

 Baltimore City was involved in the Southern slave trade. Walter L. Campbell is the slave trader who’s noted on the bill of sale from Mary Johnson. His occupation at 27 years old was slave dealer born in 1823 in Georgia from the 1850 Orleans Parish Louisiana Federal census. He is known to have a possible brother Bernard M. Campbell who aided him in the slave trade. His name is enumerated on the first line. 

 

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJ8-VXV : 22 December 2020), Walter L Campbell, New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

The city of Baltimore now has a Slave Trade Historic Marker located between the Inner Harbor and Fells Point identifying the area were "slave pens" were located. These pens housed the enslaved people by slave traders prior to being shipped to southern areas in the county. New Orleans was one of the ports. There was another slave trader Hope Hull Slater who preceded Campbell and had a designated area in Baltimore, Maryland and New Orleans, Louisiana that  slave pens and slave auctions took place. 

Walter L. Campbell purchased the site on Pratt Street in Baltimore and the corner of Moreau and Esplanade streets in New Orleans and published in advertisements. This was known as 'Slater's old stand".

The Baltimore Sun Newspaper Baltimore Maryland October 17, 1848 page 4

Times Picayune New Orleans Louisiana November 22, 1850

 Walter L. Campbell had a very lucrative business selling enslaved people. He not only advertised in newspapers but was in the 1861 New Orleans business directory listed among other slave dealers.

It is probably from these publications that Delia E. Stovall read which resulted in the purchase and enslavement of Mary Johnson on December 6, 1852.   Below is the New Orleans Times Picayune advertisement published weeks before Mary Johnson was sold and later taken to Pike County, Mississippi. Transported to the deep south made it unlikely that freedom would occur.

Times Picayune New Orleans Louisiana November 4, 1852.

More information to come.

----The Tree Gardener

Mary Johnson Enslaved Part 1

 

The port city of New Orleans, Louisiana was a vibrant slave destination since the early 1700s. Slavery in Louisiana was first established by the French, followed by the Spanish and English.  The development of the Cotton Gin in 1793 and the Louisiana Purchase by the United States in 1803 stimulated the agricultural slave economy. The distance between Pike County, Mississippi to the city of New Orleans is slightly over a hundred miles.  Because of the close geographic proximity, my assumption was most of my enslaved ancestors from Africa arrived in New Orleans and then were transported to Mississippi. The assumption may only be partially true. 

The Act of Prohibiting Importation of Slaves a United States federal law and Abolition of The Slave Trade Act passed by the British Parliament banned the import of slaves in the British Empire in 1807. This stimulated the domestic slave trade. The enslaved were also illegally imported into the United States from geographic areas that were not part of the United States after 1807. 

 The ship Amistad is a famous example of the illegal slave trade. The Portuguese ship Amistad in 1839 which held 53 African enslaved people initial route was Havana, Cuba. The Africans seized the ship and killed the captain and cook and tried to return to Africa. The ship was seized in New York and all on board were taken to Connecticut. The plantation owners were freed and the Africans were charged with murder. The murder charges were later dismissed. The plantation owners, the Spanish government and the captain of the ship Washington claimed the African people as property. The case was eventually adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court in 1841 with the Africans represented by former President John Q. Adams. The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Africans and they were released. Thirty-four Africans survived and with the financial help of abolitionists, they returned to Africa. 

It is from this historical background, that I have continued to look for my enslaved ancestors from the early transport before 1807 and the domestic slave trade. From the domestic slave trade, I have received from a cousin the documentation of the enslavement of Mary Johnson.

Walter L. Campbell  Sale  of Mary Johnson to  Delia E. Stovall  of Pike County, Mississippi December 6, 1852

Transcribed Bill of Sale

Walter L. Campbell a well-established slave trader in New Orleans, Louisiana sold Mary Johnson age estimated 18 years old on December 6,1852 to Delia E. Stovall of Pike County, Mississippi for $925.00 the equivalent of $35,655.51 in 2022.

More information to come.

---The Tree Gardener