Wordless Wednesday - Elizabeth Thompson Ephraim

Lizzie was born about 1862, died 02 May 1915.
Daughter of Nimrod Thompson and Wontia Ann Watson
Wife of Tuck Ephraim
Mother of Mary, Revella, Bula, Versie, Smilie, Ovie, Bettie, Arvester, Hettie, Bernice, Annie, Arveld, and Ardella

Lizzie's daughter Ardella married my mother's 1st cousin once removed Willie Henderson. The family lived near Union Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Photograph courtesy of Anthony Neal, Sr.

Afro and Puffs of the 70s

This photo was taken in the spring of 1973 on my high school campus. That is me in the afro puffs on the side of my head and friend Katie in the afro. We graduated in 1974 and many of us had afros for our graduation photos. I have notice that my children and their generation have their own versions of the afro.

Wordless Wednesday - Mary Ephraim Bryant

Mary born about 1877 in Union Church, Mississippi, died after 1940
Daughter of Tuck Ephraim and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Thompson
Wife of Henry Keys Bryant
Mother of Robert John, Christine, Henry G, Brynetta, Leslie J, and Pauline

Mary's sister Ardella married my mother's 1st cousin once removed Willie Henderson.

Photograph Courtesy of Anthony Neal, Sr

Tombstone Tuesday - Roundtree

Roundtree
Isaac
Sept 11 1876
Sept 13 1955
I fought a good fight

Effie A
Oct 7 1872
Sept 6 1968
A servant of God at rest

Ike and Effie are buried at Zion Chapel AME Church Cemetery in Caseyville, MS.
Photograph courtesy of Nathaniel Thomas.

Put your Nose in the Neighbor's Business Tuesday's Tip

In the genealogy research world, knowing your ancestors' neighbors' business will provide clues to your own family history, so, put your good manners to the side. Go ahead and look at the neighbors' cemetery records, deeds, wills, probate records, vital records, taxes, diaries, personal letters, etc. Its okay to check out the family history of his wife or her husband. Its okay to know how they acquired those cows. Go ahead and be nosy.

One of my favorite research tools is the Civil War pension records. What do you do if you don't find a relative with pension records, as in my case? Look and see if the neighbors has one. My relatives testified in their neighbors cases and I was able to confirm oral history and relationships.

Go ahead and use your favorite research tool on the neighbors. You may be handsomely surprised at what you discover about your own people.

Churches in the Family Mount Mariah AME Church

Mt Mariah was formerly established 19th day of August 1875, when W G Millsaps and his wife Fannie Millsaps sold to the Trustees "for the use and benefit of the colored people of the Baptist Church one acre around the church building."

Cousins from the Adams, Beal, Ephraim, Ross, and Thompson families attended this church.

The church is located in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Trio of Ninety Something

Armonia Price (96 years old), Allie Moncrief (95 years old)
Florida Jones (92 years old)
This picture was taken in 2006 at a birthday celebration for the trio at the St Paul MB Church in Brookhaven, MS. Cousin Allie is the last survivor of the three.

Churches in the Family Mercy Seat AME Church

Mercy Seat is the church of my paternal grandfather and his family, located in rural Copiah County, Mississippi. Grandpa Mike Durr and other members of the family are buried in the church cemetery.


The picture below is the remains of the old church, which was a wood frame building. I remember walking up those steps to attend Grandpa Mike's funeral when I was five years old.

Wordless Wednesday - Brother and Sisters

Mae L McCallum, Ida Mae McCallum and Nathaniel McCallum
Children of Henry and Cora Coleman McCallum
Second Cousins of my Mother

Photograph Courtesy of the late Beatrice Sartin Wilson
Daughter of Edmond and Ida Mae McCallum Sartin

Amanuensis Monday Assortment of Negroes

Take Notice
I WILL BE AT MY OLD STAND at the Forks of the Road, Natchez, on or before the first of November next, with an excellent assortment of
NEGROES,
many of them fine Cotton Pickers, besides five Blacksmiths, two House Carpenters, one Cabinet workman (a splendid mechanic) and two No. 1 BRICK-LAYERS. The above Negroes have been carefully selected, and I will guarantee satisfaction to purchasers. R. H. Elam.
Free Trader and Woodville Republican copy one month, and forward account to R. H. Elam. o18-d :wif

Source:
The Natchez Daily Courier
November 6th 1855
Microfilm Number: 22503
Mississippi Department of Archives and History

I don't have documents proving that members of my families were purchased at the Forks of the Road Market but do have documents that they were purchased in Natchez, which was one of the towns the slave owning families conducted their business.

Little Country Church

This picture represents the church of my mother's memories, a small wood framed church amongst trees. All are dressed in their Sunday best, suits and ties for the men and a hat for almost every woman. I wonder how they were all seated comfortably in what appears to be a hot summer day in a no air condition building.

The Church is unknown, located somewhere in rural Lincoln County, Mississippi.

Photograph courtesy of Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Public Library.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & Family History - Week 22

Week 22. Secrets. Describe something about yourself that won’t be found on any record 100 years from now.

You won't find on any record 100 years from now that I loved to climb trees and I climbed late into my teen years. My mother cringed every time I was in a tree. She was afraid I would fall and break something. I was warned she had no way to get me to a doctor and no money to pay the doctor, warnings I knew to well. As I got older, I was told it was not feminine to be in a tree.

I loved the solitude and found it an escape from siblings who would not follow me up a tree. I love trees, nature, the out doors. I now walk among trees and enjoy their beauty all seasons of the year.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants.