Wordless Wednesday Charlie Benson 1878 - 1962

Son of James Benson and Laura Mae Pierce
Husband of Lula Young and Dora Henderson
Father of Joanna, Nannie, Nathaniel, Louada, R W, Laura, Charlie Ray, and Helen

How does Charlie connect to my family?
Charlie's daughter, Joanna, married Smylie Arthur Coleman.
Smylie was the son of Henry Coleman and Eudora "Dora" Markham.
Eudora and my maternal grandmother, Alice Markham Marshall, were siblings.

Photograph courtesy of Cory Broadnax
Direct Descendant of Charlie Benson

Negro Woman Beaten to Death Officers Believe June 1936

Cleo James, 25, negress, who was found in a serious condition on railroad tracks just north of town several days before died yesterday in the King's Daughters hospital from head wounds. At first negress claimed she had been struck by a train but Chief-of-Police Smith learned that she later told friends she had been violently beaten by George Humphreys, a negro with whom she had been going and was thrown on the tracks by him following the beating.

Humphreys is in jail here charged with murder.

Cleo's death certificate lists the cause of death , struck by locomotive at Brookhaven, Miss.

How does Cleo James connect to my family tree?
Cleo's accused murderer is on my tree. George Humphrey's descendant married into my Markham family. There are four George Humphreys on my tree, not sure which one is the accused.

Newspaper article from:
Lincoln County Times
Thursday June 18 1936
Brookhaven, Mississippi
Microfilm Number: 30718
Microfilm found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Wordless Wednesday Abandoned Country Store

Old Barlow Store
Barlow, Copiah County, Mississippi