Two Pictures - One Man?

Hi Family History Friends!
It's been a great year.  And I am ready for Christmas and the New Year.

 A question for you…I have 2 pictures that some say are the same person.  What do you think? Is this the same man at different times in his life?  Can you provide any insight into the time period?

Grammie used to say...Self praise is half scandalize.

Sufronia and L.C.

S

ufronia Wilson and L.C. Taylor, my grandparents from Holmes County Mississippi

 Holmes County is located in the west central part of Mississippi. It was created February 19, 1833 out of the land originally ceded by the Choctaw Indians in the Treaty of Doak's Stand, October 18, 1820 and known as the "New Purchase." Out of the original large county of Hinds was formed Yazoo County, and Holmes was formed from Yazoo in 1833. A portion of western Holmes County was contributed to the formation of Humphreys County in 1918. Holmes County was named for Governor David Holmes, fourth Territorial governor, first Mississippi state governor, and later U.S. Senator. 

Between 1820 and 1830, nearly 30,000 people moved into the lands opened up by the Doak's Stand Cession. The population of Mississippi increased 175 percent during that decade. Between 1833 and 1837, prices "rose like smoke," and Mississippi land offices sold over seven million acres of land on a seemingly limitless supply of credit. Towns sprang up overnight, and the charlatans, gamblers and speculators swarmed into Mississippi, ready to make their fortunes. The land boom created an atmosphere much like California would experience in 1849. The bubble burst in 1837, when Andrew Jackson ordered federal land offices to accept nothing but hard cash for land, and land prices plummeted. There was a mass movement westward, often to Texas, as speculators went broke and moved on to a new start.

Not all immigrants were speculators or charlatans, however. Great numbers of small farmers moved into these lands from the soil-weary seaboard states, attracted to the virgin soil. Census schedules often reflect the migration patterns of these families, as often the birthplace of the parents was Virginia, North Carolina or South Carolina, that of their older children Tennessee or Alabama and the younger children and grandchildren, Mississippi. Very few settlers in these counties were foreign-born.

Holmes County attracted many of these immigrants, drawn to its rich soil. All crops grew well, but the area was especially suitable for farming grain and fruit. Timber was abundant, and there were numerous rivers and lakes. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad connected Durant and Tchula with the county seat, Lexington, and this farming region shipped large quantities of produce to northern markets through the connection in Durant with the Illinois Central Railroad.

Four of the oldest settlements in Holmes County are now extinct: Rankin, Montgomery, Vernon and Georgeville. Rankin was located about five miles from Tchula. Montgomery was on the west bank of Big Black River at Pickens Ferry. Vernon was about 12 miles north of Lexington, and was once a thriving town.  (http://msgw.org/holmes/history/history.htm)

My grandparent Sufronia and L.C. Taylor, were born in Rankin County and Pickens, Mississippi, respectively.  They lived all their lives in Mississippi.  Grandmother Sufronia died in Homles County at the young age of 49; she was buried in Marigold, Mississippi where her mother was buried.  Grandfather L.C. gradually migrated to Bolivar County where he died.

The area from Tchula to Pickens, Lexington and Durant might seem like a short distance, but it was often walked or traveled by horse and wagon.  I have driven these roads and they are still pretty rural.

As sharecroppers, the only work for my grandparents was farming, raising cotton.  Granddaddy raised sugar cane and made cane syrup, selling some and keep some for his family.  And you can bet he made some pretty good "white lightning."  My grandfather loved the drink!

This depot in Durant, MS remained active until well into the 1990s!  I road the train from Durant to Chicago a number of times during the summer.  Grandmother Sufronia's sisters all migrated to Chicago; and we got to visit during the summer.

As sharecroppers, the only work for my grandparents was farming, raising cotton.  Granddaddy raised sugar cane and made cane syrup, selling some and keep some for his family.  And you can bet he made some pretty good "white lightning."  My grandfather loved the drink!

This depot in Durant, MS remained active until well into the 1990s!  I road the train from Durant to Chicago a number of times during the summer.  Grandmother Sufronia's sisters all migrated to Chicago; and we got to visit during the summer.

A Simple Blacksmith

D

eath of Nelson Gray

My great grandfather, Nelson Gray, was born in 1822 on a plantation in Georgia.  His mother was a house servant named Sarah and his father, James Gray, was the brother of the plantation owner (Archie Gray).  Until a cousin found this newspaper article, we only had census records and stories written about him by one of his sons.  It seemed odd that a man would live on this earth for 77 years and leave nothing more than a census report behind documenting his presence.
Great Grandfather Nelson was a blacksmith by trade.  Blacksmiths were very important to the community in the 1800s because they worked with metal to provide weapons, farm tools, cooking utilities, etc. and they also made repairs.  At the onset of the Civil War, great grandfather Nelson would have been about 39 years old with a wife and several children living on a plantation with extended family on near by McCrary, Riley and Mitchell plantations.
He is listed in the 1880 Census of Carsonville, District of Taylor County Georgia, Race-Mulatto.  Here he is listed with his wife Cassie and their children, James, Martin, Josephine, Josie, Amy, John, Admon, Cassie Ann Ellen.  A grandchild Marietta Brooks (This would have been the daughter of Cassie’s first son, not Nelson’s son.) and his maternal uncle Peter B. Gray.  Another child, Georgia Gray, is listed; however, her relationship cannot be verified at this time.  It is likely “Georgia” was an error in documentation and should be Archie Gray as he was born in 1879.  Three children were not listed on the 1880 Census, Sarah Gray who would have been married and out of the family home and Archie and Champion (my grandfather).  Champion (1882) was not yet born.

 

OBITUARY

 “Nelson Gray, aged 77 years, died at his home near Carsonville, on Monday  morning the 20th inst., after a long but patient illness. He was an honest, faithful servant, a blacksmith by trade, who in early life did a broad range of work in Taylor, Talbot and Upson counties. He was an excellent workman, kind and obliging and was liked by all who knew him. But the toil and hardships with him are ended; the last note upon his anvil has been sounded, and as he tried to live, so say a consistent member of the Baptist church; we trust his soul is at peace with its God.”
  Taylor County Tracer" Vol-9, Issue-9; Butler, Ga., Tuesday, March 28, 1899 (Newspaper), Vol. XXIII No. 22

Welcome Aaron Michael!

So much has occurred since I last posted.  I am shocked that it has taken so long...life just life.  I plan to begin from the latest and try and catch up, filling in from 2010 (only the big things:)

I made a new I-Spy quilt for the latest of my descendants, Aaron.  I thought he might need something to spit, pee and poop on as he learned to crawl.  There are pics of animals under each flap.  I am hoping he will learn to love animals and not fear them.

Aaron is number 7 of my grands, number 33 of the great-grands.

The passing of time:

The passing of time:  historical events are important to the everyday life of a people.  Although, we are not always affected, for good or bad, by events around us, we are often changed by these events in some way, often without our awareness.   (Hindsight is clear)

Ø      On February 3, 1870, the 15th amendment granted Black men (not women) the right to vote.  My great grand parents were alive and well; however, I have no yet located evidence to indicate they voted.

Ø      In 1882, Thomas Edison switched on the first commercial electric lights in New York Central Station.  If you have ever tried to live without electricity, even for a couple of days, you can appreciate the value to the electric light. I have tried living on oil burning lamps for a couple of days.  The dim light, the smell of burning oil, and the milk smoke in the air is not romantic.

Ø      In 1882, the outlaw Jessie James was shot and killed by one of his partners.  Sometimes we die as we have lived.

Ø      In 1882, congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, suspending entry into U.S. of all Chinese laborers for 10 years.  So what the railroad construction was complete?

Ø      In 1882, Pace v. Alabama--Supreme Court ruled that an Alabama law providing severer punishment for illegal interracial sexual intercourse than for illegal sexual intercourse in which both parties were of the same race did not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.  Enough said!

Ø      In 1882, Polygamy became a felony by the Edmunds Act as passed by the U.S. Congress.  So someone has a problem with me having two husbands?!

In 1880, ten years after the 15^th amendment granted Black men the right to vote, Cassie Cashion Gray was a 38-year-old free woman living with her free 65-year-old blacksmithing husband, Nelson, in Carsonville, Taylor County, Georgia.  She was a housewife and mother of 12.  Nelson and Cassie had been slaves in this area and they remained there after slavery.  In 1880, two children, Brooks and Sallie, had married and moved out of the home.  Remaining with the family was:

1.       James Gray, age 17

2.     Martin Gray, age 14

3.     Josephine and Josie, age 12

4.     Amy Gray, age 9

5.     John T. Gray (aka Saul Riley), age 8

6.     Admon Gray, age 6

7.     Elin C. Gray (Cassie), age 3

8.     Georgia Gray, granddaughter, age 1

9.     Marietta Brooks, age 2

10.  Peter Gray (uncle), age 75

Grandchildren, Georgia and Marietta, were in the home as was Uncle Peter, grandmother Sarah’s brother, who, by the way, was still farming, no retirement for Uncle Pete.
The Gray family was not complete.  The 1880 Federal Census was taken in June and Uncle Archie Gray was born in July 1879, a year earlier; however, he was not listed on the census.  It is likely he was napping or he might have been with another family member, an aunt or a cousin.  In the next two years, the Grays would complete their family (at least for this set of Nelson’s children) with the birth of Champion Nathaniel Gray on 22 January 1882. 

Champion is my paternal grandfather.  I am not sure of the date of this picture.  It was given to me by Cassie Gray, great Uncle Martin Gray's daughter, way back in the 1980's.  The three brothers were on the picture together.  He appears to be a mature man; however, there is no record oral or otherwise that I have "yet" located to indicate Champion was with his brothers John T. and Martin after he was married and living in Mississippi.  He was a small man, slight in built and short in stature.  His only daughter, Cassie, my mother, and my aunts recall him as firm, rigid, and mean.  I love him very much.

 

Then there were three…

Then there were three…

My grandfather, Nelson, married a young slave named Cassie.  Cassie came to the plantation from North Carolina.  She told her children that her last name was Cashion and her mother’s name was Annie.   She was born around 1840.  She would later tell her children that she never knew what slavery was until she came to Georgia. 

Cassie had a son, Brooks Gray, before she married Nelson.  To this family of three, Cassie and Nelson added 12 children, one set of twins.  The couple remained in the Taylor County Georgia area nearly all their lives.  Nelson died in this area about 1890.

By 1900, Cassie Gray, age 57, had experienced the pain from which no woman truly recovers: the death of her husband and the death of a child.  Her first daughter, Sarah Gray Duncan (aka Sallie), died in 1905.  In 1900, Cassie was living with her 3 youngest sons, Admon (25), Archie (20), Champion (18), and a granddaughter, Florence Gray (10).  Her world was changing fast with Admon’s marriage to Lulu in 1903 and Archie’s marriage to Emma Little in 1906.  Her nest was emptying and she was finding herself with less work to do.   Her children were scattering to Alabama, Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Tennessee.

 In 1910, Cassie, age 69 with no children to cook, garden, sew, wash, or chastise, found herself living in Worth County Georgia with her and Nelson’s first son, James G. Gray and his wife, Evelina Raines, and children.  Momma Cassie is believed to have died in Worth County Georgia, as she does not appear with any of her children after 1910.

Her son, Martin Gray, wrote that she was a beautiful woman, half-Cherokee/half white, small in stature, stubborn, sharp-tongued with hair like taffy and the color of a Roan horse.  In spike of her spicy personality, she must have been loved deeply by her family.  In 1880, she had two grandchildren and Nelson’s uncle Peter living with them in Carsonville, Georgia. 

Her name, Cassie, has followed every generation since her death, my aunts, my sister, my cousins, and my nieces, all have been named for a little spicy-mouthed half-breed woman from North Carolina. 

Her baby, Champion, is my grandfather.

The Male Child, Nelson

About 1820 in Taylor County Georgia, a male child was born of mixed ethnicity.  His mother was a young slave girl named Sarah.  Sarah lived on the plantation of Archibald Gray, her owner.  Sarah was not alone on the Archie Gray plantation.  Her brothers Jack, Adam, and Peter also lived on the plantation, along with her two sisters.  Neither the parents of the slaves nor the names of the sisters have been identified.  

The male child was called Nelson and he is my great-grandfather.

Crawling thru data...

I started gathering family history data in 1980.  I have tons of data and sources, nearly 8000 records.  The Atlanta Family History Expo hyped me up and caused me to remember some "rules of the game" that I learned years ago, and that I have pushed to the back of my file box.  I am repenting!  I will be more focused!  I will be more organized!  Nevertheless, I will reply "NO" more often.

My purpose for this work is to introduce and to create pathways for the next generation to love, respect, and honor those who came before us.  I am not naive enough to think that everything my ancestors did was done for us.  However, some of it was, even a small bit of their life choices were for me and the next generation...and for that I find joy.

I am happy to have met everyone and I hope to see you again soon, working permitting.
Many thanks and much love...

My First Blog!

My First Blog!
I am in Atlanta learning about family history.  I want to share my Gray Family from Georgia and my Taylor Family from Mississippi.