Gulf Coast Cemeteries

Gulf Coast cemeteries are still in states of disrepair 18 months after Katrina hit the area.

18th Carnival of Genealogy

The 18th Carnival of Genealogy is posted at Creative Gene.

A Google Books Find

I was googling for a piece of information and came across a book that deals with Mississippi families. Barbara Dane's Crossin' the River deals with the Gilmore, Fooshee, and Tutor families of Pontotoc, Monroe, and Itawamba counties.

Northeast Mississippi Historical and Genealogical Society Meeting - Feb. 22

The Northeast Mississippi Historical and Genealogical Society will meet Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the Lee County Library in Tupelo. Lena Mitchell of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal will be presenting "Northeast Mississippi Includes Notables in Black History." The talk will profile several African-Americans who made contributions to history.

Underground Railroad

Detroit Free Press has an interesting article about the Underground Railroad. (via Genalogue) The article deals with myths and revisionist history associated with the railroad.

Oprah's Mississippi Roots

Maggie Reads, a blogging librarian, has a review of Finding Oprah's Roots. She talks about the difficulty of African-American research in the state:

Mississippi records, like many southern states, had a lackadaisical
attitude toward black race record keeping prior to the 1900s. When African
Americans were included in the list of others, they were recorded with
nicknames. Amazingly, these nicknames were white generated, and they may or may not have been the name a person actually went by.

Guntown Turns 140

Guntown, in Lee County, was incorporated February 16, 1867. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal article has this to say about the town's name:

Various publications link the town's naming either to a gunsmith who ran a shop
there or to James Gunn, a Virginia native who owned land in the area

.

Fascinating Blog

If you are interested in the history of the Natchez and Adams county area, you will want to take a peek at Dawn Dennis' well-documented blog.

Beauvoir Post-Katrina

Shawn has a great photo of Beauvoir after Katrina. Fortunately renovations are being made.

Bobo Family Reunion

2007 BOBO Family Reunion. The annual reunion of the BOBO Family Assn. will be Thursday, 3 May, through Sunday, 6 May, 2007, in Batesville, MS. Activities will include visits to places of interest to the family, including sites of early Bobo settlement in the 1800s and reports on current activities in family research and reporting. Bobo family members from 10 or more states are expected to attend For more information and registration details, contact Charles H. “Chuck” BOBO, BFA Coordinator: FamilyBobo@aol.com or visit the BFA Interactive web site: http://www.bobo-family-news.info/.

Thomas Reunion

A Thomas Family Reunion is planned Saturday May 19, 2007, at the new Lamar County High School Cafeteria, Highway 18 west, Vernon, Alabama , for the descendants of John Tapley Thomas and Sarah Key/Thomas, who moved from Georgia to Lamar County, Alabama sometime in the 1860’s. Our first documentation of that date is when he donated land for the Emmaus Church on July 21, 1868. His parents are believed to be Beasley/Bradley Thomas and Martha a/k/a Patty Key.Children of John Tapley and Sarah Thomas are; Virginia “Jennie” married to Sherwood Reddrick Holley; Simeon Brantley married to Nancy Copelin/Copeland and Margaret J. Graves ; George Key Married to Rebecca Copelin/Copeland, William H. married Unknown, John Christopher Columbus “Lum” married Martha E. Jackson and Georgia Baker; Mary Jane married James Benjamin Chandler; Elizabeth “Lethia”married Thomas Harvey “Tom“ Finch; Franklin Pierce married to Molly Riley.Any one interested in these family lines is welcome. For additional information contact Nelda Thomas Northington at 2223 Mountain Lake Drive, Kingwood, TX 77345 or phone 281-360-6043 or email nnorth@kingwoodcable.net; contact Jim Thomas at 7431 Old Springville Road, Trussville, AL 35173, or phone 205-680-6899 or email jthomhd@charter.net ; contact Kawatha Chandler Koonce at 423 9th St. South, Columbus, MS 39701. Telephone 662-329-4722 email kaykoon@bellsouth.net

Please bring information from Family Bibles, or other information on your family and a copy of any photos that you are willing to share.

A Luncheon is planned for 12:00 noon. at Lamar County High School Cafeteria, Vernon, Lamar County, Alabama. Please bring a covered dish/beverage. Eating utensils and ice will be furnished.

Please join us at 10:00AM to visit and share information before lunch.

Clarke County Book Available

Historic Clarke County – Second Edition

This hard back book on Historic Clarke County, Mississippi contains a wealth of genealogical information including cities, towns & communities, schools, local government officials, businesses, and numerous family histories along with many old photographs. With it being a Second Edition, it also embraces the full contents of the first original edition.

With the help of local and past citizens, it was compiled by Historic Clarke County, Inc. to help preserve memories of the past.

Measuring 9” wide and 11” in height with 520 pages, this book is a must for any family historian or genealogist researching Clarke County, Mississippi.

Please send your name, mailing address, phone number and payment of $50 plus $6 shipping & handling to:

Historic Clarke County, Inc.
P O Box 172
Quitman MS 39355

Amory Museum to Expand

Amory's museum which is housed in the old Gilmore Sanitarium will be expanding soon. The article features a history of the museum and information about its expansion.

5 Best Tips for Mississippi Research

I've decided to participate in the Carnival of Genealogy. This week's theme is "5 Best Tips . . ." So here are my picks for Mississippi researchers.

Mississippi Department of Archives & History - A state's official archival repository is always full of great items for researchers. MDAH has some great tools online for beginners, but a visit will eventually be a must for every Mississippi researcher.

Mississippi State University's Library's Special Collections - They have all sorts of interesting manuscripts as well as books published about the state and its counties and people. Most can be located through the library's online catalog. By the way, several area public libraries catalogs are also hosted on Mississippi State's OPAC.

The county courthouse - In Mississippi, the marriage records are found in the circuit clerk's office. Deeds, probates, wills, etc. are found in the chancery clerk's office. You may find tax lists and other records in other offices in the courthouse.

County historical society libraries and museums - While not every county has one of these, some do, and they are not to be missed. For example, Itawamba Historical Society has a wonderful library in its headquarters in Mantachie. They have many unique items which cannot be found anywhere else. Tishomingo County Archives & History Museum is another society-sponsored venture that is full of stuff for the family historian.

The local library - Most local libraries collect local history. They will have newspapers from the area and files which have been donated by people in the community which may be unique. The Evans Memorial Library in Aberdeen is such an example. Through the foresight of many individuals they have one of the best local history collections available for those researching Monroe County. They also have many items on counties and states from which the residents came. They have a great manuscript collection and a wonderful collection of photographs by F. S. McKnight, a local photographer.

Newton County Book

Newton County Historical and Genealogical Society is announcing the publication of World War II Veterans, Newton County, compiled by Terry Lange and Harold Graham. Copies may be purchased for $50 plus $5 shipping and handling until April 15 from the society. Their address is: 17222 Mississippi 503, Decatur, MS 39327. Additional information may be found in Nancianne Parkes Suber's column in the Clarion Ledger.

Lighthouse Park?

Biloxi mayor A. J. Holloway wants a park to surround Biloxi's historic 1848 lighthouse. That is an excellent idea. It's location in the middle of Highway 90 always made it awkward for tourists wanting to get good pictures.

Brinkley to Speak at Millsaps

LINK - Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, will be speaking at Millsaps on February 15.

Aberdeen's Gordon House Hotel

Some Monroe County researchers have located a photograph of the ruins of Aberdeen's old Gordon House hotel. You can see a photo of the ruins and read a brief history of the hotel on Monroe County, MSGenWeb.