Gail (Gayle) Brumfield

 

I  first identified Gale Brumfield with his children  in the 1885 Pike County, School census. He is listed with  Edmund Downs, Frank Brumfield, Eli Brumfield, Robert Brumfield, Irvine (Irvin) Brumfield, Tom Brumfield and Calvin Caston. It is from this school record I am convinced he knew these men and their families. I decided to search for more information about Gale Brumfield.  

I was able to locate Gail (Gayle) Brumfield in the 1870 Federal Census in  Washington Parish, Louisiana. It is important to note that everyone was born in Mississippi except William 2 years old born in Louisiana. It is inferred that  Theonise Brumfield is his wife. She however was not his wife from other information to follow. The children's names which are enumerated with Gayle Brumfield correspond to the names in the 1885 Pike County, Mississippi school census. 

Year: 1870; Census Place: Ward 2, Washington, Louisiana; Roll: M593_535; Page: 224A; Family History Library Film: 552034

Household Members	Age
Gayle Brumfield	45
Theonise Brumfield	28
George Brumfield	14
Louisa Brumfield	12
Sylvia Brumfield	10
Rosellia Brumfield	8
Martha Brumfield	6
Jeannette Brumfield	4
William Brumfield	2

Gale Brumfield is enumerated in the 1880 Federal census in Edward Dykes, Washington Parish, Louisiana. In this census record his wife is identified as Harriet. Also, Willie 10 and Sylvia 21 are identified as Gale Brumfield's nephew and niece. Theonise Brumfield who is no longer enumerated was possibly Gale Brumfield's sister.

Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: Edward Dykes, Washington, Louisiana; Roll: 473; Page: 167D; Enumeration District: 194

Household Members	Age	Relationship
Gale Brumfield	60	Self (Head)
Harriet Brumfield	48	Wife
George W. Brumfield	25	Son
Sylvia Brumfield	21	Daughter
Rosellia Brumfield	19	Daughter
Martha A. Brumfield	17	Daughter
Jennetta Brumfield	14	Daughter
Grant Brumfield	11	Son
Wesley Brumfield	9	Son
Oliver Brumfield	7	Son
Oscar Brumfield	5	Son
Joseph Brumfield	1	Son
Willie Brumfield	15	Nephew
Sylvia Brumfield	21	Niece

From labor contracts from Washington Parish, Louisiana (seen in previous blog), I was able to identify the wife Sarah (Sally) and two children Keziah (Kizzie) and Charlotte (Lottie) of Eli Brumfield. Eli Brumfield was enumerated with them in the Federal Census of Pike County, Mississippi.  Gale Brumfield’s wife Harriet was identified in the labor contract and the 1880 Federal census for Washington Parish, Louisiana.  I do not know at this time if Gale and Harriet Brumfield are related to Eli, Isham, or Charlotte. Their lives and children however are intertwined with each other.    

----- The Tree Gardener

Washington Parish, Louisiana Labor Contracts

From caucasian Brumfield genealogy, it is known that Brumfield families travelled from the Carolinas and established homes in Pike County, Mississippi as well as Washington Parish, Louisiana  which was formed from a portion of St Tammany Parish in 1819. 

Following the American Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands also known as the Freedman's Bureau was created in 1865. The former enslaved people without money and  few personal possessions  signed labor agreements.  Labor contracts were established with former enslaved people in order to provide food, clothing and housing.   In a prior post "Climbing the Brick Wall",  records of the Bureau of Refugees   Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, Louisiana 1865-1872 I found the following the following labor contract. The people in this labor contract in agreement with Wiley G. Collins was signed in Washington Parish, Louisiana in September 18, 1865 .  Wiley G. Collins signed other labor contracts.  Some of the individuals listed  are relatives of Eli Brumfield from the census and records presented in previous blog posts.  The labor contract does not mention the surname Brumfield. There are two records of the labor contract agreement. The first is the actual contract which was on a previous blog post. It is listed again because of additional information. 

 

Charlotte 48 years old (infirm) was the probable wife of Isham Brumfield. Charlotte's grandchildren are identified as Keziah (Kizzie) 4, Charlotte (Lottie) 8 and Wade 10 years old.  She is not enumerated in the 1870 census with Isham Brumfield and children because being infirm or sick probably died. 

 Sarah (Sally) 23 years old is named on the labor contract. Sarah (Sally) has been identified as the wife of Eli Brumfield. Sally and Eli had two daughters Charlotte (Lottie) 8 and Keziah (Kizzie) 4 which are enumerated in federal census records  as their children and are the grandchildren of Charlotte from this labor contact.  Harriet 28 years old was the probable wife of Gale(Gayle) Brumfield. I have not given information concerning Gale Brumfield's family at this time but will be featured in future blogs. The most valuable piece of information is the notation at the bottom of the page "the whole of the above are one family". There are major discrepancies in the documentation information  with other records correlated with these families. The ages of the individuals doesn't correspond with subsequent information in later federal census enumerations and school records.  There is also a book ledger Records of the field offices of the state of Louisiana,  Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,  1863-1872. 

In the ledger, there are additional pieces of information not present on the labor contract. There are individuals who might be related to a black Brumfield families namely Hester 25, Thomas 25 and Irvin 14. There are children described as orphans Mary 8, Ophelia 4 and Sam 2.  Specific information about Minerva Arg?? 30 portion of  corn agreement with husband $3 pr month to stay as before rations + clothes + came on place Aug 15 having been away for 2 years.
There are other also people I have not identified them with the Brumfield surname. I have included other labor contracts that are associated with names entered in the ledger.  More to come.

-----The Tree Gardener

FOOTNOTES

1 "Louisiana Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99G2-6SXW?cc=2333781&wc=STRY-SPF%3A1458447902%2C1444396285 : 20 January 2015), Amite City (assistant superintendent and assistant sub assistant commissioner) > Roll 58, Register of contracts, Jun 1865-Oct 1866 > image 4 of 44; citing NARA microfilm publications M1905 and M1483 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

2 "Louisiana Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99G2-6SXW?cc=2333781&wc=STRY-SPF%3A1458447902%2C1444396285 : 20 January 2015), Amite City (assistant superintendent and assistant sub assistant commissioner) > Roll 58, Register of contracts, Jun 1865-Oct 1866 > image 4 of 44; citing NARA microfilm publications M1905 and M1483 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

A Brick in the Wall Has Fallen Part 8 Henry Sims Brumfield Sr.

Henry Sims Brumfield Sr.

 

I have asked Laura Brumfield the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Sims  Brumfield Sr. to be my guest blogger. Laura Brumfield is a nurse midwife and retired in 2019 after 40 years of working in public health. She grew up all over the western United States as an Air Force brat. She has been exploring her family’s ancestors for 5 years, mostly her mother's Mexican heritage, until the last couple of years when receiving Brumfield family documents following her father's death in 2017. 

In her own words....

 

Enlargement

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