Octavius August Markham was the fifth child, the fourth son born to Monroe Markham and his wife Mary. Octavius was born in the year 1879, when milk was first sold in glass bottles, on Feb 2. He was known as the sickly son born with allergies and likely asthmatic. Octavius health conditions prevented him from being as prosperous with farming as his siblings. He managed with the help of his children, his faith, and determination.
Mamie Culver married Octavius on 10 Jun 1903, in Lincoln County, Mississippi.
Octavius encouraged his children to acquire as much education that was available. Octavis' children may have been the first of Monroe's grandchildren to obtain college degrees.
The couple's first child was Evie Jane, known later as Eva Jane, who was born 10 May 1907. She was a public school teacher. She never married nor had children. Eva died 16 Aug 1993 in Jackson, MS.
Larry David, aka LD, was born on 2 Jul 1909. He was a World War II veteran. When lumber companies came to the Brookhaven area seeking men to work in the lumber industry and willing to relocate to northern California, LD was one of the first to go west. He worked for the Mt. Shasta Kimberly-Clark Corporation Plant. He married Leontine Luceil Bearden Gearing. No children were born to the union. LD died 12 Sep 1962, in Siskiyou County, California.
Allie Mae was born 29 Sep 1911. She earned her high school dipolma through a program sponser by a Franklin D Roosevelt program. Allie worked as a domestic, public school teacher and insurance agent. Allie married John Moncrieft and no children were born to the union. Allie died 28 Sep 2016, one day shy of her 105th birthday.
Twin daughters Louvella and Louvenia were born on 13 Nov 1914. Their father chose rhyming names for his daughters but in 1899 when he named his twin sisters non-rhyming names, Beatrice and Missouri, his community complained. I suppose Octavius decided to conform to community standards when he named his daughters. Louvella graduated from Alexander High School in Brookhaven, MS. After high school, she attended Alcorn and Jackson State University where she received a B. S. degree in elementary education. She taught children in various schools in the Lincoln County area. Louvella never married nor had children. She died in January 1994.
Louvenia graduated from Alexander High School. She received her B. S. degree from Alcorn State University and her master's degree from Tennessee State University in Home Economics. She never married nor had children. She died on 30 May 1996.
Early, a veteran of World War II was born 9 Sep 1917. He followed his brother LD to California to work in the lumber industry. He worked 28 years for the Mt. Shasta Kimberly-Clark Corporation Plant. In 1962, he married Myrtis Smith Hilliard. No children were born to the union. Early died 14 Jul 1998 in Beaverton, Oregon.
The last child of Octavius and Mamie was Marilda Louise who was born on 20 Jun 1920. Marilda was the only child to make Octavius and Mamie grandparents. She married Ely Diggs in 1947. The couple had one son, James. She died 24 Jun 1987 in Jackson, MS.
Octavius died in 1952 of kidney disease. His wife Mamie lived several more years and died in 1971. They both died in Lincoln County, MS.
6 comments:
Hello Linda, I’m interested in any information that you may have for Brookhaven, MS. My mother was born there and I am researching our ancestry. I was excited to see my cousin in the picture that you posted of the last graduating class of the Brookhaven Colored High School. I’d never seen that pic before. I’m at d.harper1@comcast.net if you have time. I’m not sure your email is current on this blog. Thanks!
Early died in Beaverton, which is a Portland suburb. My town, Eugene, is at the southern (or upstream) end of the Willamette Valley, and Portland is 110 miles distant where the Willamette River flows into the Columbia. Most Oregonians live in the 45x110 mile valley.
HarpDee, I graduated from Brookhaven High (the white high school) in 1967, which, as I recall, was year after the first black people attended (there were three of them, and they came there voluntarily). In 1973, I started teaching at Fannie Mullins Elementary, which had been an all-black school until a very few years earlier.
Until I read your comment, I had never heard of the Brookhaven Colored High School--all that I ever heard the black high school called was Alexander High School. I might have no information about your ancestors, but I have vivid memories of Brookhaven, which had its last lynching (of a voting registration worker named Lamar Smith) when I was a child. I only mention this nightmarish topic because I've blogged about the town's three 20th century lynchings the first two being of the Bearden brothers) and will share the link if you would like.
P.S. After writing my comment to you, I googled Brookhaven Colored High School and thought you might find the following link of interest: http://www.alexanderpanther.mysite.com/
Hi Snowbrush, Several Brookhaven families went to the Northwest following the railroad and lumber industries for employment. It is aways good having you visit.
LindaRe, I don't know how many of them were from Brookhaven, but there was also a heavy influx of black Americans into the Portland shipyard during WWII.
"It is always good having you visit."
I thank you sincerely. I enjoy your blog because we're both interested in the history of the same area, because I'm no longer in touch with anyone else who lives in Mississippi, and because I enjoy the photos you post. My wife's sister (my wife's name is Peggy) lives in Clinton, and her father lives in Utica, but I only I have contact with them through her. I haven't there since 2008 when I flew down for the funeral of Peggy's mother in Utica, and I haven't been to Brookhaven since 1994 when I moved my father to Oregon. From what I can gather from a distance, the area's religious and political oppression is worse than when I left. Yet, I suppose I will always identify as a Mississippian, probably because I spent my first 36 years there (I'm 73). Although I don't care to visit, I do care about what's happening in the area.
I've heard several NPR programs about Jackson's water crisis, the last one centering on the fact that state officials are being investigated for civil rights violations. I can but hope that you have somehow escaped the worst of the problem.
P.S. Did you happen to see 60 Minutes last Sunday? One of the segments was about the JSU football coach.
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