Tombstone Tuesday Catherine McArn 1821-1885

Our Mother
Catherine McArn
Born Jan 12 1821
Died Feb 8 1885
AE 64 Yrs 26 Dys

Buried at Union Church Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Union Church, Jefferson County, MS

Catherine was the daughter of Dougald and Flora Gilchrist Torrey. She married Duncan McArn. Catherine and Duncan were the slave owners of members of my family, the Sartin family.

Suspected Members of the NAACP

Thadison Shoe Shop
Brookhaven, MS

A thorn in the side of the Sovereignty Commission was the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP was formed in 1909 in response to lynchings and the violent 1908 race riot in Springfield, Illinois. The grassroots based civil rights organization used the legal system to remind America to uphold its constitutional rights to all citizens.

Is this Negro a member of the NAACP? Is there a local chapter in your area? These were questions sent by the investigator to sheriff departments, school authorities, lawyers, judges, and other influential individuals.

Reverend R. T. Thadison, Sr., and his son R. T., Jr., were the proprietors of a shoe store in Brookhaven, MS. Both men were investigated by the commission because they were thought to be members of the NAACP. An investigator stopped by the Rev. Thadison's home feigning looking for directions. He spoke with Thadison and his wife and found the couple to be courteous and friendly but did not ask Rev Thadison and his wife if they were members of the NAACP.

Click on letter to read.
Reverend Thadison associated with several other individuals who were labeled NAACP members. They are named in the above letter from the investigator to the chief of police in Brookhaven. Genoa Sartin, a cousin was named in the letter.

The investigator did not find evidence that a chapter of the NAACP existed in Brookhaven but did think the organization may be underground. One person named in the letter received punishment per the commission files. Pertis H Williams, a funeral home director, was denied a loan because the bank official thought he was suspicious.

Other articles concerning Mississippi Sovereignty Commission
Mississippi Sovereignty Commission
Investigating the Tougaloo Nine
Informant to Sovereignty Commission
Teachers, Did You Sign Your Statement
Reverend J. W. Johnson "An Agitator"
Tougaloo Nine
Appeasing the Negro
Suspected Members of NAACP

NAACP: 100 Years of History
Sovereignty Commission Online
Photograph used with permission from Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library
100 South Jackson Street
Brookhaven, MS 39601
601-833-3369
http://llf.lib.ms.us/index.htm

Tenant Farmers on Durr Farm

James Pearly Scott, Jr., with mule in Caseyville, MS
1900-1992

Benjamin Durr, fellow researcher of Caseyville, MS, shared with me the names and notes of people who were tenants on his father's farm in Caseyville during the 1930s and 1940s. To my surprise, most were related to me.

• Walter Scott- moved to purchase his own farm.
  Walter married Susie Mae Smith. Walter was a 1st cousin once removed of my mother. James Pearly, in the above photograph, was Walter's brother.


• Perry and Kathaleen Thomas - Kathaleen was the farm's doctor. She delivered me (Benjamin Durr).
  Perry married Kathaleen Sartin.


• Walter and Pinky Henderson-moved to purchase a home in Brookhaven.
  Walter married Pinkie Markham who was my mother's 1st cousin once removed.


• Stanley Tyler and wife Willie Mae Thomas, daughter of Perry and Kathaleen Thomas


• Gilmore Banks married Ada Beth Henderson, daughter of Walter and Pinky Henderson.
  Gilmore Banks was a second cousin of my mother.
  Ada Beth Henderson was a second cousin of my mother.


• E.L. Holloway and Ethyl - E.L. had the first black gospel quartet on radio in Brookhaven


• Buster and Christine Markham – Jeannette Coleman, the lady you met in Brookhaven having breakfast with us was their daughter.
  Virgil "Buster" Markham married Christine Holloway. Virgil was my mother's 1st cousin.


• Anthony Washington and wife ?
  From the 1920 and 1930 census, Lincoln County, MS, Anthony's wife name was Lula.


• Walter Ransfer and wife?
  From the 1930 census, Lincoln County, MS, Walter's wife name was Alice.

Photograph Courtesy of James Scott

Ida Mae McCallum Sartin Wordless Wednesday

1902 - 30 May 1931
Daughter of Henry and Cora Coleman McCallum
Wife of Edmond Sartin
Mother of Irene, Beatrice and Robert Earl Sartin

Ida Mae was my mother's 2nd cousin.

Wordless Wednesday - Cora Coleman McCallum
Wordless Wednesday - Brother and Sisters

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

Amanuensis Monday - Paying the Freedmen 1865-1866

William Emmerson freedmen received for himself and his two children Willis & Amanda of D McArn 35.60$ amount due for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X
William was former slave of McArn, married to Elizabeth and their children were: Willis (unsound), Manda, Nancy, Scott, Isaac, Rena, Preston, Jacob, Isabella, William, James, Martha, and Frances

Frank Corbin freedman received of D McArn 16.50$ sixteen fifty cents amount due from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X
Frank was husband of Rachel during slavery, former slave of McArn. his breast and chest was badly mashed. The couple had one child, Harry, cripple from birth.

Joseph Sartin freedman received of D McArn 11.00$ eleven dollars amount due for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X

Charles Sartin freedman received of D McArn 16.90$ sixteen dollars ninety cents D McArn amount due for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X

Chester Sartin freedman received of D McArn 25.00$ twenty five dollars amount for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X
All three Sartin men were former slaves of McArn. The relationship between the three men is unknown. Charles' descendant married into my maternal family.

Rachel Corbin freed woman received of D McArn 14.33$ fourteen thirty three cents amount due for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
her mark X
Rachel was Frank's wife during slavery, had one child, Harry, cripple from birth. Rachel suffered with pain in head and breast.

George Parker freedman received of D McArn for himself & his two sons Henry & Andrew 31.35$ thirty one dollars thirty five cents amount due for labor rendered from August 22nd 1865 to Jan 1st 1866
his mark X

Duncan McArn was born on February 14, 1810. He moved from North Carolina to Jefferson County, MS, around 1835. McArn taught school in Franklin County during the first five years of his residence in MS. He married Catherine Torrey of MS on May 9, 1844. McArn soon began cultivating cotton on a plantation near Fayette, Jefferson Co. Duncan McArn died February 24, 1875.

According to the Jefferson County, Mississippi, 1860 Slave Schedule, Duncan owned 51 slaves.

McArn (Duncan) and Family Papers, Collection Number: Z/1487, Box 8
Collection found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History