The Will of Lewis Weathersby 1843

Amite County Courthouse
Courtesy of J Stephen Conn, on Flickr

The ancestors of my Crossley cousins were bequeathed a quasi freedom, land and provisions in the 1843 will of Lewis Weathersby. The Weathersby heirs were not thrilled with this provision in the will.

Extraction of Lewis Weathersby Will Pertaining to the Crossley Slaves

In the name of God Amen I Lewis Weathersby of the County of Amite and State of Mississippi being of sound mind and disposing memory do make ordain and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills and codicils by me made...

15th I give and bequeath to my son Lodwick L Weathersby my faithful servants Thomas and his wife Lucy and their children Matilda, Sylvester, Andrew and Dicy in trust and under the following conditions, "to wit" in as much as the said Thomas and Lucy have served me for several years with great fidelity, it is my earnest desire and I do hereby enjoin it upon my said son Lodwick L Weathersby and that he enjoin it upon his heirs executors and administrators to make the said Slaves Thomas and Lucy as comfortable in life as possible, that he furnish them and their children with a house separate from others, that he provide a horse, farming tools, a small tract of land for their separate use, and that they have suitable time to work the same, and he attend to the sale of their little crops, furnish them with a cow for milk, and two hundred pounds of sugar, and one hundred pounds of coffee yearly, and that in consideration of these things, he require of them reasonable service and should the said slaves Thomas and Lucy at any time be able to raise a sum of money sufficient to compensate said Lodwick Weathersby say three hundred dollars for each, for the services of their daughters, Matilda and Dicy These he shall give to the said Matilda and Dicy to said Thomas and Lucy to serve and comfort, them in their old age.

SOURCES
Amite County Will Records 1818-1848, Vol 1, Pages 248-252, Microfilm Number: 6217
Microfilm found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Case Study of the Crossley Family

Wordless Wednesday Luau in a Chicago Backyard

The Neal-McDaniel Family and Friends

Photographs Courtesy of Tony Neal

Unraveling Grandma's Paternity Dilemma Using DNA Tests

Richmond Overton
1856-1928

Paternity issues are complicated. My paternity issue is over a hundred years old, which makes it more complicated. One woman, two men and eleven children are involved. I will concentrate on one of the eleven children, my paternal grandmother.

Three years ago I wrote a post concerning my paternal grandmother's paternity dilemma, Who is the Daddy. Grandma Gertrude's mother died when she was 7 years old and the question of her paternity would not be answered by the mother but by speculating family and friends. Two names were given as grandma's father, Richmond Overton and Elijah Usher.

My grandmother Gertrude Overton-Usher Durr was born between 1893-1895 to Jane Furnace.

I am hopeful my 23andMe DNA test will solve grandma's paternity question. I have four matches linked to my grandmother's family and other cousins are promising to test.

Documents and oral history claim Match 1 is a descendant of Jane Furnace and Elijah Usher.

Match 2 is a third great granddaughter of Peggy Demyers, Richmond Overton's grandmother.

Matches 3 and 4, siblings, are the 4th great grandchildren of Peggy Demyers, Richmond Overton's grandmother.

Matches 2, 3 and 4 are not related to Jane but they match with Match 1.

Looking over our family trees, it appears that Elijah Usher may not be the father of Jane's child, Match 1's ancestor. DNA is pointing to Richmond Overton as my ancestor and also the ancestor of Match 1. I am waiting for other cousins to test before putting the question to rest.

Tombstone Tuesday A Nice Cover

Grand Gulf Military State Park Cemetery
Summer 2013
Grand Gulf, Mississippi

Mad Men of Color

L to R: McKinley Winfield, Leroy Shephard and James Shephard
Leroy Shephard married paternal cousin Dora Overton.

I love the way my dapper Dans are dressed and groomed. They look like they walked off the set of Mad Men, all clean shaven with their white shirts, thin ties, suits, and hats.

Photograph courtesy of Shelia Easley
Taken in the 1960s, Detroit, MI

The Brick Makers of Windsor

Standing amidst the picturesque Windsor ruins, you can't help but think of the grandeur of the Old South but I also think of those who were enslaved, the nameless brick makers who labored with no payment.

Smith Coffee Daniell, II, per a newspaper article, vast holdings included 800 slaves. He was a property owner almost without peer in the Deep South. At one time he owned 21, 789 acres of land - much of it in the finest farming belts of the state: 400 acres in Attala County, 1440 in Bolivar, 800 in Carroll, 3211 in Claiborne, 1040 in Issaquena, 1500 in Leflore, 3440 in Sunflower, 3440 also in Washington and 6510 in Louisiana. According to Daniell's will, he asked that overseers be hired for his three plantations in Louisiana.

1860 Slave Schedules for Smith C Daniell II

Plantation	No. of Slaves	County
-	150	Claiborne County, MS
Locustwood	164	Tensas Parish, LA
Brierland	107	Tensas Parish, LA

Smith was an only child whose wealth was partially built on inheritance from his parents and in-laws. His father's estate in 1836 equally divided Negroes, lands in Mississippi and Arkansas Territory to Smith Daniell and his mother Priscilla Skinner Daniell.

Catherine Freeland Daniell, Smith's wife, inherited 44 slaves upon her father's death. The slaves were divided by what appears to be family groups. Listed below are their names. There must be a brick maker or two among this list.

Jim Smothers, Patsey, Pricilla, Ned, Little Jim, Cordelia, Little Patsey, and Rachel

Elisha, Julia and Bill McIntosh

Grigg, Kate, Henry, and Jacob

Henry Thomas, Abram, Susan, Nancy, and Jim Green

Bill McAllister, Hannah & child, Mary

Manuel Dorman, Sally & child and Alex

Old George, Rachel & child, Little George, Eli, John, Bob, Hetty, Bedley, and Mirley

Priscilla & infant

Here are additional Windsor posts:
The Magnificent House ~ Windsor
Cecilia Beall's Letter ~ 1854 Reunion of Slaves
E. M. Ross's Letter - 1860 Go Without a Servant
E. M. Ross' Letter ~1867 All Our House Servants Left Us
E. M. Ross Letter ~ 1867 No One to Protect Us

SOURCES
Thomas Freeland's Claiborne County Probate Records - 1857
Smith Coffee Daniell, Sr.'s, Will - 1836
Smith Coffee Daniell, Jr.'s, Will - 1862
Vertical File - Smith Coffee Daniel II
All records found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History

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