Heard Four Shots

Hystercine Gray Rankin was ten years old when she heard four gunshots while retrieving water from the pond. She thought it was hunters in the woods but the shots heard had killed her father. Denver Gray had been murdered by the owner of the land where he was a tenant farmer. Gray laid in the road until the log truck came to pick him up.

Quilting was taught to Hystercine by her maternal grandmother. Hystercine was recognized for her quilts by the National Heritage Fellowship. She used quilt making to capture her experiences growing up in rural Mississippi. Below is a scene from the day of her father's funeral.

"The day of my father Denver Gray's funeral was also the day we left Union Church. My Grandmother, Alice Whalem, moved us to the Blue Hill community To live with her father, Joe January, who was born a slave and later bought 100 acres of the land he was a slave on, and built a very large house there in 1890. He died in 1941 I moved in 1946, when I married Ezekiel Rankin, a staff sargent [sic] in the US Army. My Grandmother died in 1943 and my Mother Brothers And Sisters continued to live with my great uncle Lovie January My Mother Laula Gray died in 1950 of Cancer." Hystercine Rankin
The Full Quilt

Newspaper Account of Denver Gray's Murder
Farrell Humphreys Killed Negro Monday

Surrendered to Sheriff and Released on Bond to Await Grand Jury Action

Mr. Farrell Humphreys who owns and operates a farm property on Highway 20 about 15 miles east of Fayette shot and killed a negro tenant on his place about seven o'clock Monday evening, April 3, The negro, Denver Gray, about 38 years of age, and Mr. Humphreys had been having tenant and landlord differences for several days prior to the difficulty that resulted in the killing.

Mr. Humphreys gave himself up to the Sheriff's office, waived preliminary hearing and was admitted to bail to await grand jury investigation. Several witnesses are reported to have seen and heard all that passed between the two men at the time of the shooting.

The Chronicle has heard no detailed statement of the trouble that caused the tragedy.

Denver Gray was the son of Walter Gray and Gaule Williams. He was born March 27, 1905, near Union Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi. He married Laula Meeks/Mix, daughter of Alex and Alice January Whalum.

Sources: The Fayette Chronicle, April 7, 1939, Page 1
Hystercine Gray Rankin

Search the Slave Owner's Church Records

Atty and Hager Whalum with a Grandchild
Photograph Courtesy of the late Christopher Whalum,
Direct Descendant of Atty and Hager

If church records are available from the area where your ancestors were enslaved, take the time to look them over. You may be surprised at what you find. Church records from the time period are fragile, for public use the records are likely on microfilm or have been transcribed. Check with the public library of the area, college/university library and state archives to see what is available.

I found the Union Church Presbyterian Church Session Records 1820-1887 on microfilm at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. I found a few references to people connected to my family. Below is one of those examples.

Atty, an infant slave was baptized May 17th 1840.
Atty, his parent(s), and other members of his family were members of the Union Church Presbyterian Church in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

The slaves were referred to as servants in the Session Records and the names of over 90 enslaved people were named in the records. Once I realized the slave owners of my family were members of this church, I decided to research the slave members.

Atty was born about 1837-1839 on John Mitchell's plantation in Jefferson County to his mother Mary, and father Henderson Whalum who was a slave of Gilbert Buie. Atty's mother was a slave of John J Mitchell of Jefferson County, MS.

Atty's Father: Henson a servant of G. Buie, Jr.,...were received as members and baptized on May 13, 1834.

Atty's Mother's Nieces and Nephew: ...William...Ally...Edny Catherine...Caroline... were received and baptized November 20, 1853, Slaves of J J Mitchell.

Atty served with the 6th Regiment, United States Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. His pension records confirmed members of his family and slave owners. After the War, he returned to Jefferson County, married Hager Nevils in 1869. The couple had several children: Mary b. 1871, Daniel b. 1876, Alex b. 1878, Sylvester b. 1880, Lou Fannie b. 1882, Lou Augusta b. 1882, Lester b. 1884, Laura b. 1886, Lillie b. 1891, and Thomas b. 1894.

Atty died March 24 1928, buried in the Hickory Block United Methodist Church Cemetery. The African American members of Union Church Presbyterian Church split from the church to form their own church, Hickory Block.

Atty's descendants married into my maternal family.

Tombstone Tuesday - Mollie Whalam

Mollie Whalam
Born in Jefferson County, Miss
Died June 15, 1890
"She was a kind and affectionate wife, a fond mother and a friend to all."
Buried at Hickory Block Cemetery
Union Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi
Mollie Whalum was not found in the census records. The Whalum surname has a variety of spellings, which could be one reason she was not found. A candidate for Mollie is sixty year old Mary Whaland found in 1880, married to Henson who was a widower in 1900.

Photograph Courtesy of Nathaniel Thomas

Wordless Wednesday - Atty Whalum

Atty and Hagar Nevils Whalum, Unknown Grandchild of the Couple
Photograph Courtesy of Christopher Whalum
Direct Descendant of Atty and Hager

Atty Whalum aka Eddy Mitchell was born about 1837 in Jefferson County, Mississippi on the John Mitchell Plantation. He was the son of Henderson Whalum and Mary Mitchell. Atty served with the 6th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery.

Atty's Headstone
The Singing so Beautiful

Tombstone Tuesday - Atty Whalum

At Whalum
Born 1829
Died Mar 24 1928
Hickory Block Cemetery
Jefferson County, Mississippi

Church Record Sunday - The Singing so Beautiful

Church Record Sunday - The Singing so Beautiful

Union Church Presbyterian Church of Jefferson County, Mississippi, was organized in 1817. The main building was built during the 1850s.

Church services were held once a month. On that Sunday two services were held, one for the whites and later in the afternoon one was held for the slaves. The singing of the slaves was said to be so beautiful that the people of the village would come outside to hear the singing.

Descendants of those singers married into my family and they continue the tradition of gospel singing.
The Jonestown Crusaders Gospel Group
Seated: Nathaniel Johnson, Jr., and Nathaniel Johnson, Sr.
Standing: Joe Johnson and Philip Johnson
The senior Nathaniel's 1st cousin twice removed Atty Whalum, an infant slave, was baptized 17 May 1840, at Union Church Presbyterian Church.