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

 

Dennis Bearden Part 3

Dennis Bearden had two wives and children with each wife. 

I have tried identifying Dennis Bearden's occupation from the federal census records.   Information was enumerated on the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census for Dennis Bearden, didn't own but rented the land he lived on.   He may have been a tenant farmer or sharecropper. After the Civil War, the government agency  Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandon Lands  (Freedman's Bureau) established in 1865 supervised many of the former enslaved to sign labor contracts. The former enslaved (Freedmen) became an employee of a landowner who agreed to work in exchange for pay, clothing and medical care.  This was the precursor for the tenant farmer and sharecropper agriculture system, 

Tenant farmers and sharecroppers both farmed the land owned by another person.  A tenant farmer could contribute capital, own tools, and supplies, rent the land, and housing. The tenant farmer could sell the harvested crop and pay rent to the landlord. Sharecroppers didn't own or contribute anything except their labor.   They had to pay rent for tools, supplies, housing, animals, and seeds. The landlord sold the sharecropper's harvested crop and applied it to the sharecropper's rental account. Tenant farmers and sharecroppers hoped to make enough money from a harvest to pay their debts and earn a profit. If the crop yield or prices were low they remained in debt. Unfortunately, this system historically created a cycle of poverty that was true for Caucasians and Black people. The 1900  in a previous blog post and the 1910 census identify who lived in Dennis' household.  

The 1910 census

"United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPDF-XY1 : Sat Mar 09 08:29:24 UTC 2024), Entry for Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden, 1910.

Transcribed 1910 Pike County, Mississippi Federal census of Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden.

Dennis and his wife Delsie (Dilsie, Delsy) could not read or write. On April 17, 1891, they signed a labor agreement making them sharecroppers. The document is located at the Pike County Courthouse in Magnolia, Mississippi. The title of the record is Conveyance Record Book 11, 1893-1895 page 159(Family Search microfilm #008634974). 

The record as it appears below. Transcriptions and summary of portions of the record are given some words of the document could not be deciphered.

This deed of trust made this 17th day of April 1891. Witnesses that Dennis Bearden and Delsy Bearden, his wife of the first part are indebted to PL Barnes and the in the sum of $70 and forty-two cents. Having interest from said no date was given assign 17th. 1891. Where is said party of the first part from expect said PL Barnes to advance him money and sell supplies and merchandise during the year of 1891 and such finance as may be agreed upon at the time of delivery or-- at the usual and customary credit prices in the county of Pike and state of Mississippi, whereas said party of the first part has agreed to secure the payment of said indebtedness as also any further that may be advanced as for said….

The Party of the first part in consideration of the promises as well as for the for $10 to him paid by Jno Walker. 

The following described property situated in Pike County, Mississippi___ Any and all crops of cotton, corn and other agricultural products to be planted and raised by them in my hands they may employ during the year of 1891 on land belonging to him now…. or any other land that they may rent and cultivate during said year.

In trust, however, that if said party of the first part should on or before the 1st day of January 1892 pay what may be due said PL Barns for money advancement and supplies and merchandise sold all costs incurred on account after said and all cost incurred on account of said deed of trust thru this deed of trust will be void as to the indebtedness, _____ at that time; but in default of said payments or any part thereof or subsequent indebtedness under this contract the trustee will take possession of same property without notice of any kind. And having given ten day notice of the place and time of the sale by posting written notices at____ public place as in said county, sell said property or a sufficiency of said things to make said payment for cash at public auction at PL Barnes store or any place he designates PL Barns and his legal representatives can at any time they may decide_____Trustee in place of  Jno B Walker or any succeeding Trustee.

Dennis and Delsie signed up to work on a designated area of rented land. The land description given was in Pike County in the north half of the northwest quarter section 12, township number 4, range number 9 E 80 acres more or less. This land was owned by Jno (John) B Walker. They bought $70.42 of supplies and equipment from P L Barnes, a store owner, and received a loan of $10 from Jno B Walker. The sum of $70.42 is equivalent to  $2,436.04 and $10.00 is worth $345.93 inflation calculated for 2024. Jno (John) B Walker was responsible for the collection of crops. If Dennis and his wife did not produce enough crops to pay their debts, the property they obtained could be removed without notice and sold. I don't know the amount of profit Dennis ever made for his labor.  He was tied to the land as a sharecropper and, at best, a tenant farmer.  Sharecropping was a different form of enslavement.

--- The Tree Gardener

Dennis Bearden Part 2

 Dennis Bearden lived with his family in Pike County, Mississippi, after 1880. His wife, Charity, who appeared with him in the 1880 census, seems to have passed away sometime after that year. Mississippi did not record death certificates until 1912. The exact date of her demise is unknown. He married Delsie (Dilsie, Duclie) Holmes on January 25, 1883.

Dennis Bearden marriage certificate January 25, 1883
Pike County, Mississippi File # 0041663 Book "A" page 131

The Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children Data Base 1850-1892 and 1908-1957 has been instrumental in identifying families between the years of the United States federal census. The data in the records designate the sex, age and race of the children. In 1885 Dennis and Dilsie Bearden's children are enumerated in the Pike County school census.

"Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6W-546H : Sat Mar 09 17:56:38 UTC 2024), Entry for Dewitt and Dennis Beardon, 1885.

Transcribed 1885 Pike County, Mississippi School census of  Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden.

Dennis Bearden and his family were enumerated in the 1900 Federal census.

"United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9XT-J3W : Thu Apr 11 20:23:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Dennis Bearden and Dulcia Bearden, 1900.

Transcribed 1900 Pike County, Mississippi Federal census of Dennis Bearden and Dilsie Bearden.

 

Dennis and Delsie were married for 17 years, not 40. According to the 1900 census record, Delsie was the mother of nine children and six are living.  Six children have been identified from records, and three are unknown or erroneously recorded. Dennis was the father of twelve children with his wife Charity and six children with his wife Delsie. Josephus and Joseph S. Bearden are probably the same individual. I have found a marriage record for Josephus Bearden to Annie Lee Brister

 28 Apr 1912 Pike County, Mississippi File 0038084 Book "Q" page 275

According to the Mississippi Death Certificate Index, Josephus Bearden died in 1922 in Pike County. The exact date is unlisted and race is listed as other. I have not found any information for a black man named Joseph S. Bearden in Mississippi who might have been a child of Dennis and Delsie.

More information to come.

The Tree Gardener

Dennis Bearden Part 1

 Dennis Bearden a Black man was born in 1840 in Mississippi or Tennessee according to the Lincoln and Pike County Mississippi federal census of  1870 and 1880 respectively. His father was born in Tennessee, and his mother’s birthplace is unknown. Because of the time and location, it is thought to be enslaved. He was a farm laborer enumerated with his presumptive wife and children in the 1870 Lincoln County, Mississippi Federal Census. 

"United States Census, 1870", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFSX-TKD : Tue Mar 05 09:46:15 UTC 2024), Entry for Dennis Bearden and Charity Bearden, 1870.

Transcribed 1870 Pike County, Mississippi Federal Census

In the 1878 Pike County school census the parents and familial relationships are not identified. From the record eight of Dennis and Charity's children Nelson 19, Emma 13, Charles 12, Lizzie 12, John 11, Jim 8, Dewitt 6 and Willie 2.

"Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-PV9H-VN?cc=1856425&wc=M6NC-9NT%3A167436801%2C167437302 : 18 September 2015), Pike > 1878 > image 146 of 200; Government Records, Jackson.

I have not been able to find Emma Bearden in other records.

In 1880 Pike County, Mississippi Dennis is enumerated with his identified family. The quality of the census record is poor.

"United States Census, 1880", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4G1-5BS : Sat Mar 09 22:47:26 UTC 2024), Entry for Dennis Bearden and Charity L. Bearden, 1880.

         Transcribed 1880 Pike County, Mississippi Federal Census

Dennis Bearden paid personal property tax in the Carter Creek election precinct in 1881.  Transcription summarized (poor quality) at that time he owned property valued at 4 cattle at $50, 1 horse at $70, and  1 carriage at $30  for a total of $150 ($3,718.06 in 2024). I have not found any records in which Dennis homesteaded land or land deeds at this time 

More information to come.

Updated September 24, 2024

---- The TreeGardener