Monroe's Children John Markham - Child 21875-1959

My great grandparents Monroe and Mary Byrd Markham had a total of 17 children, who were born between 1872 thru 1903. I started this series in 2017 and only completed the 1st of 17 children. Let's see if I can complete this in 2021.

It's a boy, the second son, and second child for Monroe Markham and his wife Mary. John Markham was born about 1875 in rural Lincoln County, Mississippi. The first Kentucky Derby was held in 1875, an event in which the parents likely had little interest, and several African Americans were killed in terrorist attacks in Vickburg, an event that likely held the attention of John's parents.

On the 1880 census, John was listed as 6 years old. He was in the household with his parents, and brothers James, Joseph, and Buddy (Octavius). He was listed on the 1892 Lincoln County Children's List as 16 years of age, and he could read and write. Relatives said he was good with numbers. He married Ida Blue during the holiday season on 31 Dec 1896. Ida was the daughter of John Blue and Amanda English.

Dysfunctional behavior is common in families. What I am about to share is common knowledge within the family but just in case you meet someone who does not know the story, you can keep this between you, me, and the gatepost.

In 1900, John, his wife Ida, and their two young children Samuel and Arlynch lived with his parents-in-law, along with other relatives. Clara Blue was in that 1900 household as a 9-year-old. She is listed as a niece to the head of the family John Blue. Relatives have said she was the daughter of John Blue. No matter the relationship between Clara and John Blue, John Markham had an illicit relationship with his wife's 13/14-year-old relative. This relationship produced a son and damaged the bridge between John and his parents.

Between 1910 and 1930, John's family with his wife grew with seven children, mostly girls as is common in Markham men households, five daughters, and two sons. His wife Ida died in 1934.

John was a preacher and made his living as a tenant farming, working the land he rented. He was tending his fields one comfortable autumn day in October 1937 when he noticed a funeral processional going toward Galilee AME Church. When he questioned out loud a fellow worker, whose funeral was to be held at the church. The worker told him, "that's your Ma."

John Markham and Ida Blue's Children
Samuel Allis (1897-1973) married Mary Liza Thompson. They settled in Los Angeles
Arylynch (1900-1965) married Lessie Wilson. They settled in Georgia.
Cora Lee (1902-2002) married Daniel Coleman. They remained in Mississippi.
Dora Mae (1907-2001) married J W Johnson.
Manda (1908-?) was only seen on the 1910 census. She likely died in infancy or early childhood.
Ora Lee (1910-2002) married Oscar Lee Henderson and Ernest Johnson. She settled in Los Angeles.
Ada Elnora (1913-1999) married N Z Robinson. They remained in Mississippi.

Ora Lee, Ada Elnora, Cora Lee, and Dora May

John Markham and Clara Blue's Son
Virgil Markham (1905-1983) married Christine Holloway. They remained in Mississippi.

Virgil was not raised by either of his parents. Asiome and Carrie Smith, an aunt and uncle per census records, raised Virgil.

John did not remarry and remained in Lincoln County, Mississippi, where he died 02 Feb 1959, of hypertensive heart disease.

Henry "Jack" William Driggs 1874-1962

Jack's family members used the surnames Driggs and Griggs. Jack always used Driggs. He was the son of Gilbert Griggs & Martha Jane Godbold Roundtree, born about 1874 in Caseyville, Lincoln County, MS. Gilbert & Martha were never married. Jack was born during Gilbert marriage to his wife Emily.

Jack's siblings from his father side were: Cynthia, Emily, Easter, Mariah, Isom, Abram, Lavena, Claressa, and Boston Griggs.

From Jack's mother, his siblings were Mary Goodwin Howard, Emma, Pinkney, Ada, Annie/Annis, Rufus, Henderson, Laura, Louisa, Patsy Coleman Hooker, and Mittie.

He was employed as a hod carrier, which was a laborer employed in carrying supplies to bricklayers, stonemasons, cement finishers, or plasterers on the job.

Betty Blue was Jack's wife. The relationship produced one son, Leroy. Henry died September 14, 1862 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

How does Jack connect to my family?
Jack's sister Patsy Coleman Hooker's daughter
Roxanne Smith married Alex Thomas.
Alex and Roxanne's daughter
Ida Mae Thomas married James Monroe Markham, my 1st cousin once removed.
Alex and Roxanne's daughter
Rosanna Thomas married Samuel David Markham, Sr., my granduncle.

Jack's sister Mary Goodwin Howard was a sister-in-law to my grandaunt
Alice Marshall Goodwin.

Picture and obituary provided by Christi Young

Patsy Coleman Hooker's Headstone
Double and Quadruple Cousins
Sickly Felix
James Monroe Markham
Sunday Obituary of Rosanna Thomas Markham

Reverend J. W. Johnson "An Agitator"

Mississippian Fannie Lou Hammer spoke for many disenfranchised African Americans when she said, " I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." Reverend J. W. Johnson, a native of Brookhaven, MS, was sick and tied and begin to work for equal rights and opportunities. Johnson was labeled an "agitator" by the Sovereign Commission whose primary mission was to preserve the Jim Crow laws of segregation and he would be investigated for challenging racial segregation.

What were his activities that sparked investigation? He associated with members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The commission considered the NAACP a group of northern trouble makers who came to cause trouble among the content Negro people. Johnson attended meetings of FOCUS, another so called subversive Negro organization.

Johnson lived in Baton Rogue, Louisiana in 1961-63, and his wife Dora lived in Jackson, MS. The couple probably was separated. She told the investigator that her husband rarely came home. On Dec 15, 1961, approximately 2000 people peacefully marched through downtown Baton Rogue to protest the arrest of 23 Southern University students the day before for picketing restaurants that refuse to serve African Americans.

Johnson, along with others, placed an open letter to the citizens of Baton Rogue in a local newspaper criticizing the police department for the manner in which they handle the demonstrators. They used tear gas and police dogs to disperse the crowd.

The commission had in the Johnson file, his addresses to both homes, home telephone number, his wife's place of employment, his driver license number, make, model, color of the car he drove, tag number to the car. They knew of his two traffic tickets and how the tickets were resolved. The name and location of the churches he pastored were known by the commission. The above photo of Johnson came from his file.

The first amendment to the United States Constitution gives citizens, the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Johnson's constitutional right to peacefully protest against his government was violated. He was harassed by the commission and the police department. This should never happen.

Reverend Johnson was a native of Brookhaven, MS. He married Dora Mae Markham. She was born April 12 1907 in Caseyville, Lincoln County, MS, the daughter of John and Ida Blue Markham. The couple had one son. She died in 2001. Rev Johnson died before his wife but the date is unknown. Dora was my mother's first cousin.

Other articles concerning Mississippi Sovereignty Commission
Mississippi Sovereignty Commission
Investigating the Tougaloo Nine
Informant to Sovereignty Commission
Teachers, Did You Sign Your Statement
Tougaloo Nine
Appeasing the Negro
Suspected Members of NAACP

Sources:
Sovereignty Commission Online
SCR ID # 2-55-11-16-1-1-1
SCR ID # 2-55-11-16-2-1-1
Photos from "The Education of a Black radical"

Photograph re-scan id# 2-55-11-15-1-1-1ph
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Photograph
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records
Mississippi Department of Archives and History