Mississippi Memories

Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How Bootleggers and the Law Kept a Dry State Soaked

2015-01-04T21:44:00.001-06:00

I'm pleased to announce that my new book, Mississippi Moonshine Politics, the story of state prohibition in Mississippi, will be released in March! Although the book will retail for $19.99, I'm offering signed copies for pre-order at $16 each, plus $4 for mailing costs. If you are interested in reserving a copy of the book, please message me for more details through the Facebook page I've set up for the book. A link to the page is included below.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mississippi-Moonshine-Politics/310492872466448?ref=hl

The Battle of the Bottle

2014-12-05T11:08:00.000-06:00

Today's post is a re-print of a post first published here on March 3, 2009.

August 6, 1966 was an infamous day in Greenville, Mississippi, as it was in the State of Mississippi. As the historic marker pictured above states, the "Jigger and Jug," owned by the Azar Brothers, became the first legal liquor store in the state. Still in business today, the store is advertised in McRae's Business Directory as a "specialty" retail store that sells liquor.

It is difficult for many people my age to remember that manufacturing and selling liquor was illegal in Mississippi for over half a century. But the fact that liquor was not legal in Mississippi did not prevent those who wanted to buy a "bottle" from making a trip across the Mississippi River Bridge to a liquor store in Louisiana or from buying from local sources known as "bootleggers."

Throughout the prohibition years, local law enforcement officers and political and religious leaders alike waged very public wars against the sale of alcohol while often looking the other way when dealing with those who were selling it. Non-drinking private citizens, some with both money and influence, often took up the controversial cause. One of those private citizens was Hazel Brannon Smith, a newspaper editor who owned the Lexington (MS) Advertiser. Mrs. Smith's frank and revealing editorials in the 1940's eventually led to the arrests of a number of Holmes County bootleggers.

The illegal sale of liquor, however, continued until the law was changed in the mid-sixties. When the new local option law became effective on July 1, 1966, Mississippi entered a new era: it became the last state to end prohibition.

Blogger's note: Be sure to watch for my upcoming book, Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How Bootleggers and the Law Kept A Dry State Soaked (The History Press), scheduled for release in early 2015.

Just Released - New Book of Historical Photographs of Kosciusko and Attala County, Mississippi

2014-08-19T15:02:00.002-05:00

If you have roots in or connections to Kosciusko, Mississippi, or Attala County, you may want to know about a new book of historical photographs, compiled and just released by Thomas Craft, a local photographer, and the Kosciusko/Attala Historical Society. The books are $20 each, if picked up, and $23 if they are purchased through the mail. Also, the books can be ordered directly from the Historical Society and from the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce (KADC), or they may be purchased through the Attala County Library in Kosciusko. For those who prefer to order over the phone, please contact the KADC at 662.289.2981, or the Attala County Library at 662.289.5141. Proceeds from book sales will go to the Attala Historical Society. I'm sure you will want to purchase your copy soon. As we all know, a picture is worth 1,000 words, something that is especially true with historical photographs!

New Book about State Prohibition in Mississippi in the Works

2014-08-11T20:56:00.000-05:00

Although I don't have a title yet for my new book about state prohibition in Mississippi, I'm well into researching and writing about Mississippi's "liquor issues" that spanned almost six decades. The anticipated release date for the book, published by the History Press, is Spring 2015. Mississippi's own prohibition law was passed in 1908, a little over a decade before the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919. In fact, Mississippi was the first state to ratify the amendment. Ironically, however, many considered the Magnolia State to be the "wettest state in the country" until the state's lawmakers passed a local option law in 1966 during the early administration of Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr. This will be my second book published by the History Press of Charleston, SC, and I'm pleased to be associated with such a fantastic publishing company. Although the History Press is a UK-based company, it has had a Canadian location and a U.S. location in Charleston, SC. Recently, Arcadia Publishing purchased the U.S. portion of the History Press. Just in case you aren't familiar with Arcadia Publishing, the photographic history books about various places throughout the country, including the recently released Yazoo, by John E. Ellzey, long-time reference librarian at the Ricks Memorial Library in Yazoo City, are part of the company's Images of America series. Since the History Press is retaining its name, my new book will still be published with the History Press imprint. I'm so happy be associated with the largest publishers of regional history in the country (and maybe the world!). And I hope you will follow the progress of my new book about state prohibition here and on Twitter, until I can set up a Facebook page with its official title. In the meantime, maybe you will want to read my earlier book, The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch, set in Holmes County, Mississippi. You can find it in a bookstore near you and online at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.booksamillion.com, and on other websites.

"Yazoo," by John E. Ellzey, Due Out on August 6, 2014

2014-07-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well, its been over two months since I posted here...and it's good to be back. I have a good excuse, however, since I've been working on a new book project about state prohibition in Mississippi, due to be published in Spring 2015. The project is going well, and I hope to post more information here, as soon as the book's title is announced. So stay tuned.

And it's especially good to tell you about a brand new history book, simply titled Yazoo, about to be released just 6 days from now. The book's author is none other than John E. Ellzey, who has been the reference librarian for the historic Ricks Memorial Library in Yazoo City, Mississippi, for 40 years. Published by Arcadia Publishing, the 128 page softcover book contains approximately 200 black and white images of people and places in Yazoo County, Mississippi, and will sell for $21.99. Just in case you aren't familiar with Arcadia Publishing, you are in for a historical treat. I'm including a descriptive sentence found on the company's website, stating Arcadia is "the leading local history publisher in the United States, with a catalog of more than 8,500 titles in print and hundreds of new titles released every years."

If you would like to read more about Yazoo, or about its author, click here to visit the publisher's website. Or if you prefer to contact the author directly, he can be reached by email at johnellzey@yazoo.lib.ms.us.

B.S. Ricks Memorial Library - Yazoo City, Mississippi

2014-05-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

Last month, I spent some time in my home state of Mississippi during the initial tour of my book, The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch. During National Library Week, I signed books at several libraries in or near Holmes County, Mississippi, where Tillman Branch's club were located. One of the libraries hosting a book signing that week was B. S. Ricks Memorial Library in Yazoo City, Mississippi. John Ellzey and the library's friendly and helpful staff welcomed me, and the book signing went well. Although I grew up in Mississippi and was educated there, and had been to Yazoo City, I had never before seen the beautiful historic building that houses the library's wonderful collection of books. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to sign my book within the walls of this library.

B.S. Ricks Memorial Library
Front Entrance Off Main Street
Yazoo City, Mississippi

Side View of Ricks Library
Corner Window
Looks out from Mississippi and Yazoo Collection Room

The Yazoo City library's history is a long and interesting one, beginning in 1838, according to its website, when it "was chartered by the Mississippi Legislature to provide public library service to Yazoo County." The current building, opened in 1901, was funded by Mrs. Fannie Ricks, a local philanthropist, who named the library in honor of her late husband, General B.S. Ricks. Located on North Main Street in Yazoo City, Mississippi, the home of country humorist, Jerry Clower, the fascinating and beautiful building was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1975.

According to the s nomination form, "the Ricks Memorial Library is a noteworthy example of the Beaux Arts Classicism fashionable at the beginning of the twentieth century. While the building is not large, the use of Edwardian proportion and classical ornament combine to give it a pronounced monumentality. Standing on a concrete foundation, the library is constructed of hydraulic pressed brick with terra-cotta trim and is covered by a tin roof. Its composition is dominated by a central, two-story pavilion.... Sheltering the entrance is a single-story, semi-circular portico of paired Tuscan columns of Indiana stone....Use of the semicircle, of which the portico is the most conspicuous example, also appears in the skillfully detailed arches above the windows and the door opening....Other details include panels placed in the.....areas beneath the windows, which are double hung with one-over-one glazing."

Exterior View of Curved Wall of Main Library

The building's exterior is beautiful and architecturally exceptional in design, and its portico and arched windows remind me of the long ago design of Moorish palaces. In addition to the library's rounded walls of numerous arched windows that allow natural light inside the library's main reading area, the unique building boasts a number of other outstanding features. One of these features is the elegant and gilded barrel-shaped ceiling inside the entranceway.

Inside Front Entrance to Ricks Memorial Library

Yazoo City, Mississippi

A closer look at the gilded ceiling of the library's grand entranceway. Each picture frame type square includes a blue and white cloud scene that gives the illusion of sky overhead.

My book signing inside this grand old building went very well. Several people who attended shared stories about growing up in Mississippi during the time of Tillman Branch's clubs in Holmes County nearby. And I left Yazoo City with some fond memories of my own -- of time spent with new readers of my book in this exquisite old building.

DNA Matches and Surname Mysteries

2014-03-26T20:36:00.004-05:00

At this point, I have several thousand serious DNA matches. No, they are not all close matches, but if I examine the family trees closely enough, the link is usually evident. But there are a few surnames that keep showing up in my matches that just don't compute. For instance, the surnames of Cox, Manning, and Wilson appear in numerous family trees as ancestors of individuals who share my DNA. But I don't have a clue, at least not at this point, about my familial relationship with these ancestors. One of the ongoing problems with evaluating these "cousin" matches resulting from Ancestry's DNA tests is that so many of the individuals with whom I match don't have much family information posted on the site for review. However, one thing is for certain, if the cousin matches keep arriving by the dozens, as they have since my test results arrived, I may indeed match up with all 1,011,001 of my relatives!

Excerpt from The People of Shrock Mississippi 1895 - 1922

2014-02-23T14:46:00.001-06:00

Edited by Duncan C. Covington, an Attala County native son, the book identified in the title of this post contains the names of hundreds of residents and former residents of Attala County, Mississippi and the surrounding area and chronicles the details of various events in their lives. I am including in the post here today a copy of one particular article published in the November 22, 1922 edition of Kosciusko's newspaper, the Star Herald. The article identifies students who were named to the Midway School's Honor Roll.

First Grade - Norma Stephens, Blanche Shrock, Eunice Caldwell, Mart Baldridge, Joe Mabry, Alice Baldridge, Walter Jones
Second Grade - W. C. Mabry, R.C. Jones, Herbert Harmon, Morris McDaniel
Third Grade - Leonard Porter, Myrtice Harmond, Estell Stevens, Ethel May Stevens
Fourth Grade - Elmer Caldwell, Buena McDaniel
Sixth Grade - A.B. Cochran, Thelma Jones, Anna Jones, Lucille Simpson
Seventh Grade - Laura Branch, Inez McDaniel, Clarence Porter
Eighth Grade - Charles Shrock, P.J. McDonald, Percy May, Joe Wyatt, Eva McDaniel
Ninth Grade - Lelia Porter

Included among the names above are several of my own relatives, including my grandmother, Lelia Porter (Branch), two of her brothers, Leonard Porter and Clarence Porter, and her future sister-in-law, Laura Branch (Jones).

Ghosts Of Our Ancestors

2014-02-08T15:10:00.003-06:00

The post appearing on Mississippi Memories today is a reprint, with minor revisions, of an earlier post of the same name.

A few years ago, after I became aware that I had a Gibson great-great-great grandfather, I began my search for Gibson ancestors with virtually no facts at all. Little did I know, however, how much information I would discover about this family. My research found that much of what has been written about the Gibson family in America concerns this family's biracial roots, ones that began in Virginia and continued as the family migrated into North and South Carolina and on to Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and places beyond. One of these accounts, documented by PBS's Frontline series, can be read here. Today, descendants of the early Gibson family of Virginia can be counted in the hundreds of thousands.

My Gibson story began with one man, John P. Gibson. All I knew in the beginning was that he had been born around 1799 in South Carolina, and he first appeared on a U. S. Census record in Mississippi in 1860. I later found that he had married Margaret J. Williams, born around 1820, in Monroe County, Mississippi on January 3, 1843. Through U. S. Census records recorded in Mississippi in 1860 and 1870, I found that John and Margaret Gibson became parents of seven children. One of their daughters, Malverda Gibson, later became my paternal great-great-grandmother. But along the research road, I found not only information about my South Carolina Gibson family and its descendants, but a treasure trove of interesting books and published articles about the biracial and multiracial heritage of this country.

One such book was "The Free State of Jones," written by Victoria E. Bynum and published by the University of North Carolina Press. This publication, a portion of which is available on Google Books, begins with an interesting quote by Sam Dabney, taken from James Street's "Tap Roots," published in 1943:

"We can't boast of our ancestors, because when we get started talking about our families, out jumps the ghost of a pirate or a cousin of color."

A reference to America's rich racial heritage, contained in Victoria Bynum's book, states that racial sentiments in the South "evolved over a period of three centuries." She states that "by the 1840's, claims of Indian, Iberian (Spanish), or Mediterranean (Moorish) ancestry, defended one's whiteness against race-based laws and social harassment." Gideon Gibson, a "light-skinned slaveholder of partially African ancestry" and a member of South Carolina's so-called Regulator Movement, is mentioned in Bynum's publication as a person who exemplified how racial identity was often "fluid" and "even negotiable in some cases."

Bynum goes on to say that "many of Gideon Gibson's descendants, migrated west in search of whiteness as well as lands." We know this is true, since some of the descendants of South Carolinians, Gideon Gibson, Jacob Gibson, and Jordan Gibson, eventually settled in the state of Mississippi prior to the Civil War. Their lives and the lives of some of their descendants have been well-documented in historical publications about several southern states, including Mississippi and Louisiana. Often, these publications mention the ethnicity of Gibson family ancestors.

Another book, entitled "The Invisible Line: Three American Families and the Secret Journey From Black to White," by Daniel J. Sharfstein, chronicles the lives of the Gibson, Spencer, and Walls families as they made the transition from black to white during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. First published in hardcover by Penguin Books in February 2011, the book was re-printed in paperback format on January 31, 2012 and is now available in audio and Kindle formats, as well. Sharfstein, a professor of law at Vanderbilt University, where is teaches courses in property, legal history, and race and the law, is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

One thing that we know for sure is that regardless of whether a person was labeled as a Mulatto, Mestizo, Mustee, Melungeon, Creole, Cajun, Redbone, or similar names denoting something other than an "all white" ancestry, racial "mixing" has occurred throughout American history. And it has not occurred only in the South Carolina backcountry and other states commonly known as "The South." Class consciousness was widespread and very real in the 1800s; it became common for those who had migrated from the colonies, including North and South Carolina, to portray their ancestors as aristocratic patriots and slaveholders. The facts, when known, often revealed that many of these "aristocratic" ancestors were actually Regulators, itinerant preachers, and even Tories.

In my quest to find my own Gibson ancestors, I found that members of this South Carolina family were not only involved in the infamous Regulator movement in that state, but their descendants later became civic and governmental leaders in Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky. The involvement of Gibson family members in business and politics has been well-documented. One well-known Gibson descendant, Randall Lee Gibson, a former Confederate general and Louisiana senator, was instrumental in the founding of Tulane University, where Gibson Hall is named for him. Another descendant of this large South Carolina family, Tobias Gibson, is credited with the spread of Methodism in the South.

An interesting bit of history that I stumbled upon during this research that began with the Gibson family was the story of Dr. Walter Ashby Plecker, a small-town doctor who became the Registrar of Virginia's Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1912. Dr. Plecker's views about racial mixing became the impetus for the passage of the Racial Integrity Law of 1924, commonly referred to as "Plecker's Law." Details about this law can be read on the University of Virginia's website, in an article entitled "Battles in Red, White, and Black."

This law became Virginia's infamous "one drop" statute, and its language created two racial categories, "pure" white and everybody else. The law's passage allowed Dr. Plecker to pursue his alliance with John Powell of the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America in waging an all-out war against the mixing of the races. One of his efforts entailed a push for "ancestral registration." Virginians were reluctant to comply with the idea of "ancestral registration," even though the state had already passed the first anti-miscegenation law in 1662. At that time, "passing" as white may have been rather commonplace, but proof of racial purity was difficult to obtain.

Plecker's method involved identifying racial impurity by compiling a list of family surnames that were "known" to be "mixed." The list was arranged by Virginia counties and included the names of "racially mixed" families who lived in these counties.

Counties and surnames included in "Plecker's List," as this list became known, appear below:

Amherst County:

Pumphrey (Migrants to Allegheny and Campbell) Adcock (Adcox), Beverly (according to Dr. Plecker, this family was trying to evade the situation by adopting the name of Burch or Birch, which was believed to be the name of the white mother of the adult generation at the time), Branham, Clark, Duff, Floyd, Hamilton, Hartless, Hicks, Johns, Lawless, Nukles (Knuckles), Painter, Ramsey, Redcross, Roberts, Southwards (Suthards, Southerds, Southers), Sorrells, Terry, Tyree, Willis, and Wood

Bedford County:

Branham, Burley (See Amherst), Cash, Clark, Coleman, Duff, Floyd, Hartless, Hicks, Johns, McVey, Mason, Maxey, Mayse (Mays), Painters, Pults, Ramsey, and Wood

Charles City County:

Adams, Allmond, Collins, Custalow (Custaloo), Dennis, Doggett, Dungoe, Hawkes, Holmes, Howell, Langston, Miles, Page, Spurlock, Stewart, and Wynn

Caroline County:

Byrd and Fortune

Henrico and Richmond City:

See Charles City, New Kent, and King William

King William County:

Adams, Allmond, Bolnus, Bradby, Collins, Custalow (Custaloo), Dennis, Doggett, Dungoe, Hawkes, Howell, Langston, Miles, Page, Spurlock, Stewart, Wynn

Nelson County:

See Essex

New Kent County:

Adkins, Bradby, Collins, Langston, Stewart, and Wynn

Elizabeth City and Newport News:

Stewart (descendants of Charles City families)

Essex and King and Queen Counties:

Brooks, Broughton, Byrd, Cooper, Fortune, Hammond, Mitchell, Prince, Nelson, Robinson, and Tate.

Elizabeth City and Newport News:

Stewart (descendants of Charles City families)

Fauquier County:

Colvin, Hoffman (Huffman), Phillips (See Prince William) and Riley

Greene County:

Shifflett, Shiflet

Halifax County:

Epps (Eppes), Stewart (Stuart), Coleman, Johnson, Martin, Sheppard, Shepard, Talley, and Young

Lancaster County:

Dawson (aka Dorsey)

Lee County County:

Bolden (Bolin), Bunch, Collins, Delph, Freeman, Gibson (Gipson), Goins, Hawkins, Mise (Mize), Moore, Mullins, Ramsey (chiefly "Tennessee "Melungeons")

Norfolk County and Portsmouth:

Bass, Bright, King, Locklear (Locklair), Porter, Sawyer, and Weaver

Prince William County:

Tyson, Segar (see Fauquier)

Lancaster County:

Dorsey (Dawson)

Roanoke County:

Beverly (see Washington)

Rockbridge County:

Southerds (see Amherst), Sorrell, Terry, Tyree, and Wood (including migrants to Amherst Co.)

Scott:

Dingus (see Lee County)

Smythe County:

See Lee County

Russell County:

Castell, Keith, Meade, Proffitt, and Stillwell, also see Lee and Tazewell Counties

Washington County:

Barlow, Beverly, Hughes, Lethcoe, Thomas, and Worley

Westmoreland County:

Atwells, Butridge, Okiff (Okeefe), Sorrells, Worlds (Worrell)

Wise County:

See Lee, Scott, Smyth, and Russell Counties

The Branch DNA Project.....Is Your Surname Branch?

2014-02-03T23:20:00.001-06:00

If your surname is Branch, and you are searching for your ancestors, you may want to consider joining the Branch DNA Project affiliated with FamilyTreeDNA. The Houston, Texas-based company is offering its FamilyFinder test kit for the reduced rate of $99 this week. First off, I am not affiliated with the company, but I have had my own DNA tested by FamilyTreeDNA and was quite satisfied with the results of my FamilyFinder test. My DNA results, however, cannot be used for the Branch DNA Project - samples must be from male members of the Branch family who are willing to submit a sample for y-DNA testing.

If you are wondering why I am writing about the Branch DNA Project, my answer is a simple one. I have searched unsuccessfully for years trying to determine the names of my 5th great-grandfather's parents. Here are the facts:

Edward Branch, born circa 1750, married Martha Tilman in 1797 in Amelia County, Virginia. Martha Tilman was a daughter of Richard Tighlman/Tilman. Edward had been married twice before, to Martha Botte and to Sara Goodrich, and according to most researchers, he had as many as ten children by the two women. My own family line is descended from Edward's marriage to Martha Tilman, a relationship that allegedly produced only one child. Edward Tillman Branch, born in 1798 in Brunswick County, Virginia, was the youngest son of his father's children. He served as a rather young man in the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812, and later, he migrated, possibly with other family members, to Mississippi. In 1830, Edward Tillman Branch married Winiford Ragland in Hinds County, Mississippi, and from that point on, my lineage is clear. If you are interested in reading more about the descendants of Edward Tillman Branch, who married Winiford Ragland Branch, in Hinds County, Mississippi in 1830, you may want to grab a copy of my new book, The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch, scheduled for publication by The History Press on March 11, 2014.

But in the meantime, I'm still searching for my 5th great-grandfather's parents. So if your surname is Branch, and you are male, and if you are related to Branch family members who lived in Tidewater or Southside Virginia in the 1700s, North Carolina, Tennessee, or Mississippi, please consider participating in the Branch DNA Project. Once you have purchased the test kit, the rest is easy.......you are only a cheek swab away from helping Branch researchers place some more branches on their family trees.

The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills

2014-02-02T20:21:00.001-06:00

Great News! The History Press has announced a March 11, 2014 publication date for my book, The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch. The book, my first, is a mix of regional and family history and the elements of a true crime that occurred in Mississippi in April 1963 and will be for sale online and in local book retailers.

The Lady in Red, A Poem

2014-01-22T21:47:00.001-06:00

A few years ago, I wrote a post on my other blog, Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek, about The Lady in Red, the body of a young woman unearthed in 1969 at Egypt Plantation near the town of Cruger, in Holmes County, Mississippi. Identification of the woman, dressed in red and encased for burial in a glass-sealed, cast iron coffin, was attempted, but was never made. Included below is a partial account of the event as it appeared in Jackson's Clarion-Ledger on August 2, 1969:

"The method of preservation used for The Lady in Red was common prior to the Civil War, when custom-made caskets, shaped to the body, were ordered as one would order a dress. The glass that sealed the coffin was placed over the body, and alcohol was poured inside until it was level full, and then sealed with a cast iron tip. When the back hoe machine hit the coffin, alcohol spilled from the casket and spots of the liquid were seen on the folds of the woman's dress."

No one knows how or why The Lady in Red was buried underneath the deep Delta silt and heavy dirt that make up Egypt Plantation's rich fields.Rumors have been rampant for years that her body may have fallen off a wagon on its way to be buried, that it had been lost in a flood, or that it had washed ashore after a steamboat that was transporting her body for burial was grounded after an accident. Later, the young woman's remains were placed in a grave in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Lexington, Mississippi, where they were marked with a small headstone that identifies the mystery woman simply as "The Lady in Red." In more recent years, a few people have claimed publicly and privately to either know or to be related to The Lady in Red. Certainly she must be someone's long lost ancestor, but her true identify remains a mystery still.

Recently, a distant cousin of mine, Arthur Pickett, who grew up in that area of Holmes County, told me he had written a poem in tribute to the unknown, but not forgotten, Lady in Red. I asked to read it, and I subsequently obtained permission from Arthur to reprint his work here today. So, with Arthur's permission, it is with pleasure that I introduce his beautiful and poignant poem.

The Lady in Red, A Poem

One day workmen came to rake the earth

With backhoe; it was then they found her berth

As she patiently waited rebirth;

But not one knew her life's worth.

No marker was found to name her face;

None to tell when she went to grace.

Was a eulogy before God to make her case?

Was there a new star to mark her place?

From that time-worn home taken she was

By a coroner, an undertaker, and his entourage

Taken by them with a limosine'd barge

East to the Lexington hills in a wooden cooperage

Mourn no more for her oh ye mortal

For now she has a new heavenly portal

Amongst pauper graves with no body corporal

Given name by poets knowledgeable.

She is now known as The Lady in Red

No more is she unknown and dead

Perhaps someone, somewhere will be led

To give her an ancestral name, instead.

Rest in Peace, My Lady, you will never leave us

For yes, we have seen that new star in Cygnus.

Arthur Pickett

Edward Arthur Branch Buried in Good Hope Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi

2014-01-12T21:13:00.001-06:00

Photo by J. Tracy

The Entrance to Good Hope Cemetery, established 1851, near the Good Hope Baptist Church in Madison County, Mississippi.

Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery is located across a well-built and maintained wooden footbridge from the church. From the footbridge, a visitor can see deep down into a wooded ravine that is part of the heavily timbered countryside that provides a beautiful, serene setting for this old church and deceased members of its community who lived during the 1800's.

To get to the church and cemetery from Highway 51 North, turn right onto Highway 17 East, and travel about 6 miles to Rocky Ridge Road, a paved and scenic county road. Stay on Rocky Ridge Road for about 5.5 miles, passing Schrock Road on the left. Turn left onto Mullinville Road and travel approximately 500 yards to the church and cemetery directly ahead.

The cemetery is fenced, and on each side of the gate are engraved stones dedicating the cemetery to the memory of Barrett family who were instrumental in its establishment in 1851. The actual location of Good Hope Baptist Church and cemetery is in Madison County, Mississippi, but it is very near the line that separates that county from Attala County.

The tombstone you see here is located in the cemetery at Good Hope and was erected for Edward Arthur Branch, my paternal great-grandfather. Ed, as he was known to his family and friends, was born on November 15, 1874 in Madison County, Mississippi, and he died on November 2, 1915, in Jackson, Mississippi. The inscription on the tombstone states simply "Gone Home."

Ed Branch was only 40 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. Two days before his death, he was admitted to a hospital in Jackson for surgery that doctors believed might save his life. He died of complications from that surgery, barely two weeks away from his 41st birthday. He left a widow and five children under the age of 18, and his only son, my grandfather, had just turned 16 years old.

Before he died, Ed Branch had been a member of an organization known as "Woodmen of the World," founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 1890 by Joseph Cullen Root. According to "Wikipedia," the organization's purpose was to help its members "clear away problems of financial security....," and one of the benefits of membership was the organization's free tombstones for its members.

My great-grandfather's tombstone, one of three present in the Good Hope Cemetery, and one of many in cemeteries across the state of Mississippi and the the country, is a reminder of the other men who worked in one of the earliest occupations in the United States, the wood and timber industry. Use of these tombstones, unique and shaped like stumps of wood that bore the Woodmen of the World logo, was discontinued by the organization sometime around 1920.

Finding the Fenners - An Update

2014-01-03T22:32:00.001-06:00

Over two years ago now, I ran across the name of a book about the Fenner Family, The Fenner Forebears. Privately published in 1987 by Ruth Leslie Barrett, now deceased, the book is currently out of print. So on a whim, I called the New Bern Historical Society in New Bern, North Carolina, where I knew the family had lived at one time, to see if the organization might have a reference copy. A helpful person who answered the historical society's phone quickly referred me to the Kellenberger Room of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library. I chose to call rather than use the research room's online resources, since I wanted to ask a researcher some specific questions about Richard John Fenner and his wife, Anne Coddington Fenner. Richard and Anne Fenner, early New Bern residents, are likely my Irish-immigrant ancestors. Although the book was not available, Victor T. Jones, Jr., the research department head, gave me the legal description (Lot 89 of the Town of New Bern) for the old Fenner House.

I told a friend of mine who lived in New Bern at the time about the house, and she offered to take a photo and send it to me. At the time the photo was taken, the owners, who are Fenner family descendants, were in the process of restoring the house. The town of New Bern, with three separate historical districts that contain some beautifully restored properties, takes preservation of historical structures seriously. And it shows throughout this beautiful old town.

Digital Photo by Amy Vaupel

The Fenner House, located at 217 Hancock Street, is within an easy walk of downtown shops and sightseeing adventures that include historic cemeteries, Tryon Palace, the Territorial House of North Carolina, Its lovely gardens, and a waterfront with comfortable benches for people watching and restaurants that overlook the water. One can only imagine how New Bern looked in the mid 1700s when the Fenner family occupied this colonial residence. Missing its original small front porch, the remodeled/restored structure now resembles a New England salt box styled structure. According to various historical accounts, Richard John Fenner may have been appointed to a position in the North Carolina territorial government, a position he occupied until his death in 1756.

During the past two years, I continued to search for a copy of Mrs. Barrett's book so that I might learn more about my maternal third grandmother, Rachel Fenner, who married William Neatherlin in Wilkes County, Georgia. My search finally paid off when John T. Leslie, a distant cousin contacted me by email and told me he owns a copy of the book. It seems that John T. (as his family calls him) and I are descended through two of the three sons born to Richard and Anne Fenner. Later, we talked by phone, and John T. generously offered to scan and email digital copies of the book's pages, which he has now done. And sometime soon, we plan to meet and further discuss our Fenner connections.

What a way to start off the New Year.....meeting a new cousin and getting to read a much-searched-for family history book!

Happy New Year.....Ring Those Bells!

2013-12-31T20:05:00.003-06:00

Have you ever thought about the significance of something as simple as a bell?

Not only were church bells of old used to announce the time of day to anyone within hearing distance, bells in general have been used since the earliest of times as a type of alarm, warning those nearby of things that were about to happen, things that were both "good" and some things that were "not so good." While bells have long been included in religious celebrations, the tolling of a bell may also serve as an announcement that a child has been born, a couple has been married, or to inform a community that a death has occurred.

During medieval times, the simple ringing of a bell was believed to have kept evil spirits away, and it was a common practice to ring a bell at the bedside of the deceased prior to burial. In modern times, bells of all types, sizes, and sounds are commonly used in our homes, schools, and other public places. Even our doorbells and the bell that ding-dings when we fail to buckle our seat belts have evolved from the early uses of bells as warning or announcement devices.

Today, bells continue to be a part of the simplest of our holiday traditions, both religious and secular. But neither Christmas nor a New Year celebration would be the same without bells.

Sharing and Preserving Family History At Christmas

2013-12-27T11:30:00.001-06:00

Christmas gatherings are perfect times to discuss and to preserve one's family history. After the more traditional activities of attending church, opening gifts, and eating a holiday dinner are over, sharing stories about family history is a perfect way to get older relatives to talk about what it was like when they were growing up. Talking about old or special Christmas ornaments on the tree, and remembering unusual or funny events that occurred during past Christmases may be ways to start a dialogue. My own family engaged in some "family story sharing" over the Christmas holidays, and a new cousin I met just last week and I shared our stories yesterday over the phone. Taking photos of family members gathered for the holiday is another fantastic way to preserve the memory of those who are close to us. We are extremely blessed to have a daughter who is a very talented photographer, so our family gathering was well-documented with photos of all of us, including the cat! And this year, for the first time ever, I gave someone a DNA test kit for Christmas. In my case, the gift went to a very close friend who is attempting to unravel her maternal family's history. Since genetic DNA testing has become an extremely valuable tool for adding more branches to the family tree, I imagine others like me gave test kits for gifts this Christmas, as well. Overall, ours was a very good Christmas, one filled with memories that will live on. I hope you made some special memories this Christmas, too. And along the way, I hope we all preserved a little family history.

Christmas Traditions

2013-12-16T11:01:00.002-06:00

This post was initially written for the Carnival of Genealogy, 61st Edition, and first published here on December 1, 2008.

Our Christmas-related activities, "after children" were many and varied over the years. They changed somewhat every few years because of the children's ages and where we lived at the time. But the ones I call "traditions" were started when our family was young, and they never changed. Some were influenced by our own upbringings, but the ones that meant the most actually started when the first child was born.

One of the things we always did was to put up a "real" tree, usually a Frazier fir. As we moved, the height of ceilings in our houses changed. And when we finally landed in Texas in 1985 and built a house that had a family room with a very high ceiling, we began purchasing a taller tree, usually something that was about 10-12 feet in height. It became a family event to select the "special" tree from one of the many Christmas tree lots that lined the major streets leading to our surburban neighborhood. But it was a "parent" event to get the large tree home on the top of our vehicle and inside the house when we arrived.

Placing the lights on the tree in the early years was always an "adult" task, too. And as soon as the lights were in place, the children began clamoring about who would be "next" to climb the ladder to hang their special ornaments on the tree. When the tree was all decorated and the lights turned on, we started a fire in the fireplace (whether it was cold outside or not!) and sipped on hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows on top, sitting quietly for a few moments to admire in awe the advent of a new Christmas season.

Another tradition involved driving around the week before Christmas to see the Christmas lights in our development and others nearby. In Texas, homeowners' associations take displays of Christmas lights very seriously, and some residents try to outdo their neighbors by having their rooflines, trees, and yard displays decorated by lighting professionals. One of these developments continues its lighting tradition, started about 25 years ago now, with red lights outlining the driveways and walkways that are bright enough to make you think you are nearing the East/West runway of DFW airport! Strategically placed throughout the neighborhood are painted and lighted storyboards that tell in pictures and words the story of "The Night Before Christmas....in Texas, that is..." It was great family fun then and now, and the children, even after they became teenagers, never seemed to tire of reading the story of Santa Claus in his "buckboard" and cowboy boots, making his rounds to deliver gifts to all the children in Texas. Visiting this neighborhood during Christmas season is still a family tradition.

One of my own family traditions growing up in Mississippi was a Christmas Eve gathering of our family which ended with eating fruitcake and drinking egg nog. For the adults in the family, the egg nog may have been laced with rum or with some good old Kentucky bourbon. Don't ask me where they bought the rum or bourbon back then....liquor was illegal in Mississippi until 1966.

But the fruit cake and eggnog tradition was not one that ever took hold in my own family after I had children. They did not like either eggnog or fruitcake. But we simply replaced those holiday items with ones they did enjoy, such as Christmas cookies, lots of Hot Chocolate, and spicy, mulled apple cider, stirred with a cinnamon stick. More often than not, we enjoyed watching a family Christmas movie together, or when the children were younger, we read Christmas stories and listened to Christmas carols, always ending with the always special, "Silent Night."

Until the children were teenagers, we allowed them to open one gift, and one gift only, to settle some of the anticipation that grew increasingly greater with every day leading up to Christmas morning. Christmas morning always came early in a household where five children had been waiting for weeks for this special day. After they descended on the gifts, we enjoyed a big, homemade breakfast, that usually consisted of French toast, waffles, or pancakes, with Canadian bacon or little smokie sausages, and juice.

Attending Christmas Mass was always a part of our Christmas tradition, but as the children grew older and could stay up longer, instead of attending Mass on Christmas morning, we began going to Midnight Mass, something that became a very special time for all of us. We especially enjoyed the singing of Christmas carols and a performance by the Bell Choir that began thirty minutes before the start of Mass. One of the many memories I have of my children growing up was the first time we attended Midnight Mass, when one of my sons expressed amazement at how few cars were on the streets of our surburban city at 11:30 p.m. I don't think he had ever been up that late in his young life. Little did he know at that moment how many times he and his brothers and their friends would be out at 11:30 p.m. (or later) as teenagers driving on those same streets.

As the children have grown older and some now have families of their own, they have started some of their own special traditions that emulate the ones they remember from childhood. Sometimes, when we are lucky, they include us. But what is important is that family traditions continue to overlap the generations that carry special memories of Christmas when each of us was "growing up."

Does DNA J1 Haplogroup Finding Prove Samuel Porter is Related to Landlot Porter?

2013-12-06T21:36:00.000-06:00

It all started when I contacted an individual named Carol Hughes about her post on an Ancestry.com message board. According to the post, Carol and I were researching the same individual, Anastacia Porter Lawson Porter. Known as "Gracy" to family members, Anastacia was the second wife of William Porter, who died in Hinds County, Mississippi in the 1800s. According to most accounts, William Porter was the son of Landlot Porter and Winnie Palmer Porter. More about the Porter family of Hinds County, Mississippi can be read here.

Source: Carol Hughes Personal Photo Collection
Gravestone of Landlot Porter
Fortson-Porter Private Cemetery
Hinds County, Mississippi

Shortly before reading Carol's post on the message board, I had read about a small family cemetery near Raymond, Mississippi that allegedly contained the graves of Gracy, her husband, William, his father, Landlot Porter, and other Porter and Fortner family members. I shared this information in an email to Carol, and was struck with amazement when I received her reply telling me that she lived within a few miles of the cemetery's location.

Although she had no previous knowledge of the cemetery's existence, Carol readily volunteered to locate it and kindly offered to photograph whatever headstones she might find. As most of us know, family obligations, weather, and life in general often take precedence over family research activities, and almost a year went by before Carol was able to make the trip to the cemetery. Although Carol had actually located the cemetery early on, she discovered it was located on private property and she needed permission from the owner. Carol was persistent, and soon her visit to the cemetery, albeit a bittersweet one, was realized. Although the cemetery is located on privately owned property, it has been vandalized and some of the heavier stones and monuments have been toppled. Gracy Porter's stone was one of those that had been overturned. Landlot Porter's grave marker is still standing, and the photo appearing in this post was included with Carol's permission.

Will I ever know how my great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Porter, b. circa 1799 in South Carolina, is related to Landlot Porter or to his son, William? I don't know, but I haven't given up searching. I have joined the WorldFamilies Surname Project and I submitted a DNA sample provided by one of the oldest living Porter males in Samuel Porter's lineage to FamilyTree DNA's lab in Houston, Texas. Test results showed the DNA sample submitted by this elderly Porter male matched Y-DNA samples belonging to descendants of John Porter (b. 1690 in Virginia) and to a descendant of Shadrack Porter, one of Landlot's sons by his first wife, Winnie Palmer. The most interesting information about these DNA matches, however, is that each of those tested that matched at the 12 to 37 chromosome range also belong to the J1 Haplogroup (M267), including the Porter male relative I mentioned.

Now what does that mean? Specifically, the J1 Haplogroup finding means that individuals with this result have ethnic ancestry in many of countries that make up the Arabian Peninsula, as well as some of the countries in Northern Africa. In addition, the majority of academic information about the J1 Haplogroup indicates this finding is indicative of Jewish ancestry, pointing to the "Cohen gene model." DNA findings can get rather complicated even without involving Haplogroup designations, so I invite you to read more about J1 Haplogroup results here.

The J1 Haplogroup finding in my father's ancestry (and mine) does not surprise me. Physical attributes common in my paternal grandmother's Porter family, particularly those of her brothers and her father, were characteristic of Middle Eastern men. Fascinating information.....and it's difficult to believe that it all resulted from just two cheek swabs!

Will this finding change the direction of my research? Most definitely. Since the Porter family came to Mississippi from several areas in South Carolina, I need to find out more about the family and its collateral lines before they migrated to the Mississippi Territory. Of historical significance is that South Carolina, specifically the cities of Camden and Charleston, had the largest Jewish population in the U. S. in the early 1800s. You can read more about this segment of our country's history in the Enclyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, an online history department located on the Goldring-Woldenburg Institute of Southern Jewish Life website.

So one of my directions for researching Porter family history for the coming year is researching South Carolina history....and who knows what I might find!

DNAme - How My Son is Related to John Adams, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and Cheddar Man

2013-12-02T22:56:00.000-06:00

Early last summer, I received an email from Dan Manley, who works for a UK-based DNA testing firm, asking me if I would like to receive a free test kit and write about the results of the DNA test on my blog. I agreed to do so, but I explained to Manley that I would like to have a family member tested instead, since I had already been tested by two other companies. With this understanding in place, I chose to have one of my adult sons participate. Surprisingly, my son eagerly submitted the necessary cheek swabs when I received the free test kit.

DNAme, it seems, is a fairly new company. The following is an excerpt from the company's website:

"Just like footprints on wet sand, the journey of our ancestors to populate the world left trails within us. These trails are carried in all of our cells and laid within our genes. We offer you a way to analyse your DNA and to find out the journey of your ancestors from Africa, 150,000 years ago, up to the present time...."

Although the company itself is based in the UK, my son's DNA sample was processed in the U.S. in a lab in Virginia. The test kit looked very much like those used by other genetic DNA testing companies. The swabs, shaped like mini-toothbrushes, were sealed inside plastic tubes with what appeared to be "twist-off" tops. These "tops" turned out to be rather difficult to "twist" off, however, and I actually damaged one tube container so much that I used heavy duty tape to re-seal the tube. My son and I were each concerned that this particular sample would be contaminated. So I emailed Manley before we mailed the tubes to the lab and explained what had happened, and he seemed surprised by the apparent difficulty and possible defect. But he assured me the difficulty I encountered opening and resealing the tubes was not an everyday occurrence, and he felt certain the sample should arrive intact at the lab. So we dropped the return kit in the U. S. mail and hoped for the best.

We waited several weeks with no confirmation of receipt by email from the lab or from the company, so I sent an email off to Manley. He quickly responded that the test had indeed reached the lab. It seemed as if it took much longer to receive test results from DNAme than what I anticipated, since the longest period of time I had waited for a previous test with another company (U.S. based) was about four weeks.

Several weeks after the follow-up email with Manley, I received notification in the mail that DNAme test results were in and were available on the company's website, www.DNAme.co. A small cardboard "ID" type card, containing an access code for viewing the results, was included with the letter. Retrieval of the results was quick and simple, and the website allowed us to download a copy of the report in .pdf format to save for future reference. My son's test results were clear and concise. The document stated his Y-Chromosome markers were analyzed, and his paternal haplotype was identified as R1b. The R1b Haplogroup carries the mutation M343. According to an explanation contained on the first page of the report of findings is this information:

"Haplogroup R is thought to have appeared some 30,000 years ago in Central Asia and is widely spread all over the world. You carry the mutation M343 which is linked to one of the subclades of Haplogroup R called R1b which is thought to have been part of the recolonisation of Europe following the Last Glacial Maximum. The founding member of your tribe is thought to have been born in south west Asia approximately 15,000 - 20,000 years ago. That time was called the Late Glacial Maximum and the climate was very hostile. The whole world was populated by less than 500,000 inhabitants. During this period, Northern Europe was covered with ice and approximely 100 metres below the modern-day one......It has also been suggested that most European male lineages descended from Near Eastern farmers and that maternal lineages descended from hunter-gatherers. This finding suggests that there has been a reproductive advantage for male farmers over hunter-gathers during the Paleolithic to the Neolithic transition period."

My son especially focused in on the next statement:

"You belong to direct descendants of the Cro Magnon people, the modern humans who painted the "Lascaux Cave" in Dordogne in the South of France. These paintings can be regarded both as a testimony of the artistic skills of your ancestors but also as a sketch book of their life during the last glacial age." What is interesting is that he does have some undeveloped artistic skills....now we know his skills are contained in his DNA.

At this point in reading the findings of his Y-Chromosome testing, my son was ready for some simply stated results....actually, so was I. So this is the text that followed, although it is still somewhat complex:

"The journey of your ancestors started about 60,000 years ago in Africa close to the Rift Valley region. Following the herds, they migrated toward the north. At that time, the Sahara was not a desert but a hospitable area. Following a climate shift, they continued moving toward the north-east and left Africa via the Arabian Peninsula. They did not stay there but followed the coastline and finally reached Central Asia. It was some 40,000 years ago that one of your ancestors migrated towards the west of Europe while the rest of the tribe decided to aim towards India and Asia. The climate changed again and glaciers started to cover Europe. Your ancestors met the Neanderthals, but probably due to their communicating and tool building skills had an advantage over them. With the climate continuing to become harsher, your ancestors looked for refuges in the southern parts of Europe. Following the Late Glacial Maximum and the thawing of the ice, your ancestors populated and dominated the northern parts of Europe. At that time, the English Channel was mostly dry and could be crossed on foot."

Now just what does Haplogroup R1b mean for my son?

The report explains this particular Haplogroup in the following paragraph:

"The R Haplogroup and its subclades, R1a, R1b and R2 are widely spread all over the world. R1b can be found in more than 80% of the population in England, France and Spain. In western Ireland, R1b is found in nearly 100% of the population. It is also greatly found in the United States and in some parts of Africa like Cameroon. The more we move towards central and eastern Europe the more Haplogroup R1a is represented. R2 is mostly found in India."

In summary, my son's genetic ancestry is:

European (England, France, and Spain) 95.40%
American (refers to non-specified Native American ancestry) 3.70%
African 0.20%
Asian 0.70%
Total: 100.00%

DNAme notes on the report the test's accuracy as + or - .5%

One finding reported by DNAme was surprising. It states that his matrilineal DNA Haplogroup is "U." This is an unusual reporting result in most genetic DNA testing of Y-Chromosomes. What I now know is that my son's maternal line, including me, according to the test results, is "part of a very large and old Haplogroup, the U group, which gave rise to a large part of the European population. (The) initial ancestor is thought to have been born in western Asia some 50,000 to 55,000 years ago during the Ice Age, about 15,000 years after modern humans started to spread from Africa. At that time, the first humans had just left their home from where we all originate. (My son's) great-great-grandmother probably came via the Middle East and crossed the Caucasus Mountains to explore new lands....Asia and Europe."

Wow, what a long and rich history we have as a people, always on the move, and it hasn't ended yet......

And yes, my son is related to John Adams, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and shares a common ancestor with Cheddar Man, who lived more than 9,000 years ago. According to DNAme, "Cheddar Man" lived more than 9,000 years ago and is regarded as Britain's oldest skeleton. DNA testing, also according to DNAme's report, describes how DNA testing permitted the discovery of two living descendants of the Cheddar Man still living in the town of Somerset, England, close to where his remains were found.

The story of "Cheddar Man" and where his skeleton was found is quite interesting, especially since my son's paternal ancestry can be traced back to Somerset, England in the 1600's.

Thanks, Dan Manley, for the free test kit, with the only obligation that I write about the results!

Ancestry DNA Results - New and Improved

2013-11-12T18:29:00.000-06:00

Wow! My DNA results at Ancestry.com show I am not really 67% Scandinavian, as earlier results indicated. I'm slightly disappointed, since being 67% Scandinavian explained why I've never been able to get a decent tan.

It seems the DNA database at Ancestry.com has grown by leaps and bounds, something that has enabled more refined reporting of a participant's DNA results. This is something the company mentioned initially, stating results would likely become more precise as more people chose to participate in DNA testing. My own new and improved results show one thing has NOT changed.........I remain 100% European!

So according to my new test results, I'm happy to report much more "specific" (and terribly intriguing) information. My genetic heritage comes from a broad list of locations, and the highest percentages are from the British Isles and Ireland, as shown here.

British Isles - 46%
Ireland - 22%

The two results above (a total of 68%) are remarkable, but not surprising, since my parents and grandparents always told me we were "Scotch-Irish." And we have lots of red hair on my mother's side of the family to prove it!

Europe West - 26%

What the heck does this mean? Were my ancestors from Austria, Germany, or France?

Not quite.....Ancestry.com explains a "Europe West" result could denote ancestry from one or more of a dozen countries, apparently classified as "Europe West."

Belgium
France
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
Luxembourg
Liechtenstein
Also: England, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic

To say the least, my ancestry is a hodge-podge of cultures, don't you think?

O.K. So now my ancestry is up to 94% European? Where's the other 6%??

Below the list of western European countries is a drop-down menu that includes something Ancestry.com calls "trace elements." See below:

Iberian Peninsula - 3%

The online explanation for Iberian Peninsula says my ancestors were from Spain and/or Portugal, but could also be France, Morocco, Algeria, and Italy. Iberian Peninsula involvement may explain dark hair and blue eyes of a very large number of paternal family members. And Morocco and Algeria involvement may explain the J1 Haplogroup identified in some of my paternal male ancestors.

But there is more.....

Holy smokes! I thought I was 67% Scandinavian....wrong. Revised DNA results show I'm only 2%. Guess it doesn't take much Scandinavian ancestry to prevent me from tanning.

Finnish/Northern Russia <1%. No wonder so many of my cousin matches (maternal and paternal) show origins in the Volga/Ural Mountain area.

Now to unravel the connections for over 3,500 cousin matches.......

Thanks, Ancestry.com...I am truly genetically enlightened.

A Salute to Ancestors and Family Members Who Served in the Military

2013-11-11T12:02:00.001-06:00

Veterans' Day is a special day for honoring men and women who have fought and continue to fight for our country's freedom. And I thank each one of them for their service to this country. Beginning with the American Revolution, at least one of my ancestors or other relatives has served in each of this country's major wars, declared and undeclared. Two of my sons served a total of ten years in the United States Air Force, and the younger of the two served in the war in Afghanistan. This post includes the names of my known ancestors and other relatives who were members of the military and includes the wartime period during which they served.

Francis Baldridge - American Revolution

John T. Baldridge - War of 1812 (NY Infantry)

Edward Tillman Branch - War of 1812 (VA Militia)

Asberry Gibson (Carroll County, MS) - Civil War

William Bailey Netherland (Holmes County MS) Civil War (Red's Co. MS)

Woodard Young (Holmes County MS) - WWI

Elton Young (Holmes County MS) - WWII

Walter Young (Holmes County MS) - WWII

William ("Billy") Young - (Holmes County MS) WWII - killed during USAF training mission

James Porter (Attala County) - Served in WWII in Europe

E. T. Branch (Holmes County) - WWII

E. T. Branch, Jr. (Attala County) - WWII

J. L. Branch (Humphreys County) - WWII

J. L. Branch (Hinds County) - served in U. S. Army during Vietnam Era

Today, I honor them.

Tillman Branch's Murder - Mississippi Supreme Court Affirms Matthew Winter's Sentence

2013-11-10T17:54:00.001-06:00

This is a follow-up post to an earlier brief account of the murder of Tillman Branch, the subject of a book I am currently writing. The book, tentatively entitled "Tillman Branch, King of the Mississippi Bootleggers," is scheduled for publication by The History Press in April 2014.

The earlier posting included a decision by the U.S. District Court, Northern Division, Greenville, Mississippi, regarding the legality of Matthew Winter's guilty plea, entered in Circuit Court of Holmes County in 1963. That decision was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of Mississippi, asking for Winter's guilty plea to be voided and his sentence vacated based on the contention that Negroes had been systematically excluded from a Grand Jury that indicted him and that Winter's attorney, David Crawley, Jr., had not advised the accused of his right to challenge the jury panel. The decision of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, rendered by Memorandum dated February 8, 1971, can be read below.

Interestingly, the case would be appealed later to the U. S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, a matter that will be discussed further in the upcoming book.

Matthew WINTERS

STATE of Mississippi.

No. 46191.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 8, 1971.

Constance Iona Slaughter, Jackson, for appellant.

A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Guy N. Rogers, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

INZER, Justice:

This is an appeal by Matthew Winters from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Holmes County overruling appellant's motion to vacate his previous conviction by a plea of guilty to a charge of murder, and the life sentence imposed as a result of his plea. We affirm.

Appellant, a Negro, was indicted at the April 1963 term of the Circuit Court of Holmes County for the murder of E.T. Branch, a Caucasian. He was at the time seventeen years of age and his family employed David E. Crawley, Jr. of Kosciusko, Mississippi, to defend him on this charge. Upon arraignment appellant pled not guilty. His counsel, after an investigation, was convinced from what appellant and members of his family had told him relative to the facts in the case that appellant had no real defense to the charge unless a mental examination would reveal that appellant was insane. Counsel then filed a petition asking that appellant be committed to the state hospital for a mental examination, and the court entered an order so committing him. He was found to be without psychosis and was returned to the Holmes County Jail. At the October 1963 term appellant entered a plea of guilty to the charge of murder and was sentenced to serve a life term in the State Penitentiary.

On October 6, 1969, appellant filed a motion in the Circuit Court of Holmes County seeking to have his sentence vacated. The motion alleged that at the time of his indictment, and for a long time prior thereto, Negroes had been deliberately excluded from service on the grand and petit juries in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. It was also alleged that appellant was denied his right of effective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to advise him of his right to challenge the indictment on the systematic exclusion of Negroes from the grand jury and his right to stand trial by a jury from which Negroes had not been systematically excluded. It was further alleged that because he was a Negro layman and uneducated in law, he did not recognize or become aware of his constitutional right until shortly before filing his petition to vacate.

The trial court conducted a full evidentiary hearing on the motion, and the evidence supports the following finding by the court:

The court finds from the testimony presented at the hearing that David Crawley, Jr., is and has been a member of the Mississippi State Bar in good standing since 1942, that as a part of his practice prior to 1963, he had handled a number of criminal cases, including murder cases. The court further finds that the petitioner's attorney, Mr. Crawley, investigated the charges against his client thoroughly, that his investigation showed no substantial conflicts as to the occurrence of the crime, that Mr. Crawley believed based upon his investigation that to go to trial would put his client in imminent danger of receiving the death penalty, that Mr. Crawley considered raising every possible issue and defense, including the systematic exclusion of Negroes from jury service in Holmes County and would have done so had the case been tried, that although the intention to raise the defense of systematic exclusion of Negroes from jury service was not communicated to the petitioner, it was communicated to the District Attorney during the plea bargaining. The court therefore concludes that the petitioner was advised of and knew the elements of the charge against him, was advised of his rights, and was aware of the sentences which could be imposed, including the death penalty. The petitioner knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered his plea of guilty upon the advice of competent counsel. The petitioner's voluntary guilty plea waived all non-jurisdictional defects. Lantz v. United States, 417 F.2d 329 (5th Cir. Oct. 6, 1969); Picard v. Allgood, 400 F.2d 887 (5th Cir., 1968); Askew v. Alabama, 398 F.2d 825 (5th Cir., 1968); Henderson v. United States, 395 F.2d 209 (5th Cir., 1968); Busby v. Holman, 356 F.2d 75 (5th Cir., 1966); and Clark v. Cook, Civ. No. 3702 (C.C.S.D.Miss., June 10, 1969).

The decision of the trial court is in keeping with our holding in Ellzey v. State, 196 So.2d 889 (Miss. 1967), where we held an eighteen year old defendant who had voluntarily pleaded guilty to murder could not thereafter urge that plea was void on the theory that Negroes had been systematically excluded from jury service in that county and that he had not been advised of his right to challenge the panel. We adhere to this decision for the same reasons stated in the opinion. We are aware that there are decisions of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Courts holding contra. However, such decisions are not binding on us, absent a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States holding to the contrary, we choose to follow the well-established precedent in this state.

For the reasons stated, this case must be and is affirmed.

Affirmed.

GILLESPIE, P.J., and RODGERS, JONES and SMITH, JJ., concur.

The Murder of Tillman Branch

2013-10-23T17:27:00.000-05:00

If you are following this blog or have visited my Facebook page, you already know that I am writing a book about one of my Branch cousins, a man named Edward Tillman Branch. Born in 1901 in Attala County, Mississippi, the man was known by most who knew him by one name, simply "Tillman." His name and his reputation as a bootlegger are still the subject of a few conversations among some of the older residents who knew him. Although Tillman was born and raised in Attala County, he spent much of his adult life near Goodman, where he lived with his wife and his second family of three children.

In Goodman, Tillman owned and operated a store known as The Long Branch or "Branch's Store." And just south of Goodman, Tillman owned a night spot known as The Blue Flame, or as it was referred to by locals, "Tillman's Place" or "The Spot." Although Tillman's relatives often remember him with fondness as a kind and helpful man, his propensity for being stern and sometimes outright mean in his dealing with others, is a common thread with many who knew him.

Tillman's club had a reputation for being rowdy. And as a long-time proprietor, Tillman was certainly aware of the dangers of having large groups of revelers fired up on moonshine under one roof on a Saturday night. But even the small troop of rough, tough, physical enforcers that Tillman hired to keep order in the club, were not enough to stop the gunshot that took his life early on Easter Sunday morning 1963. The shooter was an 18-year old black man named Matthew Winter, who had left the club and returned with a gun. Winter was arrested later that day, subsequently plead guilty, and was sentenced to life in Parchman State Penitentiary in Drew, Mississippi. Although early law enforcement documents are no longer available, an account of the incident can be read in a decision to an appeal filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Greenville Division. The text of the appeal court's decision, dated November 1, 1971, appears below.

333 F.Supp. 1033 (1971)

Matthew WINTERS, Petitioner,
v.
Thomas D. COOK, Superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Respondent.

No. GC 7120-K.

United States District Court, N. D. Mississippi, Greenville Division.

November 1, 1971.

Roy Haber, Jackson, Miss., for petitioner.

Guy Rogers, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, Miss., Pat Barrett, Lexington, Miss., for respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KEADY, Chief Judge.

Matthew Winters, the petitioner, on October 21, 1963, entered a plea of guilty in the Circuit Court of Holmes County, Mississippi, to a charge of murder, was convicted upon such plea, and on October 24, 1963, was sentenced by the Circuit Court of Holmes County to life imprisonment. Petitioner is presently confined at Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman, Mississippi, pursuant to that sentence. Subsequently, petitioner filed in the Circuit Court of Holmes County, a motion to vacate his sentence on the following grounds:

1. That petitioner was denied the equal protection of the laws in that at the time of petitioner's conviction upon his plea of guilty, negroes were systematically excluded from service on grand and petit juries in Holmes County, and, specifically, from the grand jury which indicted petitioner.

2. That petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel in that petitioner's "court-appointed" attorney failed to make proper investigation of the case, failed to confer with petitioner except for a brief period immediately prior to the entry of the plea of guilty, and failed to properly advise with petitioner.

3. That petitioner's plea of guilty was not understandingly and voluntarily entered.

The Circuit Court, after an evidentiary hearing, denied the motion to vacate by memorandum opinion and found that petitioner did have adequate assistance of counsel; that his plea of guilty was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered; and that such a guilty plea waived all non-jurisdictional defects, including the alleged defect in the selection of the grand jury. Petitioner appealed to the Supreme Court of Mississippi, which affirmed the decision of the Circuit Court. Winters v. State, 244 So. 2d 1 (Miss.1971)

Being dissatisfied with the results obtained in the state court proceedings, petitioner has filed in this court his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 et seq. Petitioner was granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, and a show cause order issued to respondent. Written briefs have been filed by both parties, and the parties have, by stipulation, waived evidentiary hearing and submitted the cause on the pleadings, briefs and the record made in the state court. It is admitted by respondent that petitioner has exhausted his state remedies within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

Petitioner is represented here by the same counsel who represented him in the state court post-conviction proceedings, but not the same counsel who represented him at the time of, and prior to, the entry of his guilty plea and his subsequent sentencing thereon. Petitioner's contentions here are essentially the same as those presented in the post-conviction proceedings in the state court. Respondent contends that petitioner's plea of guilty was understandingly and voluntarily entered upon advice of competent counsel and that petitioner thereby waived any defect in the composition of the grand jury.

FINDINGS OF FACT

On April 14, 1963, one E. T. Branch, an adult white male, was killed at a place of business, described as a "beer joint", operated by him in Holmes County. Shortly, thereafter, petitioner, a negro male, was arrested and charged with the murder of Branch. At that time, petitioner was 18 years of age and had left school in the fifth grade. He last attended school at age eleven, and had worked for a veterinarian at Kosciusko since that time. Although lacking in formal education, petitioner was intelligent and capable of normal understanding. Prior to his arrest on the murder charge, he had had two brushes with the law—a charge of driving while intoxicated in 1963 for which he paid a fine, and a charge of disturbing the peace, the outcome of which is not clear, but as a result of which, petitioner spent about six hours in jail. He had never been in a courtroom before April of 1963.

On April 18, 1963, the grand jury of Holmes County, returned an indictment against petitioner for the murder of Branch. On April 19, 1963, petitioner was arraigned before the Circuit Court of Holmes County, and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of murder. A period of only five days elapsed between the killing of Branch and the arraignment of petitioner on the murder charge. At some unspecified point during that five-day period, members of petitioner's family employed David E. Crawley, Jr., a practicing member of the Mississippi State Bar since 1942, as petitioner's attorney. Mr. Crawley is white. Mr. Crawley engaged in the general civil and criminal practice of law at Kosciusko, from 1942 until 1953, at which time he began to limit his practice, more or less, to the handling of personal injury and workmen's compensation matters on behalf of plaintiffs. During his career at the bar, Mr. Crawley had handled between 25 and 75 murder cases and 15 to 20 other capital cases. He estimated that he had handled a total of between 150 and 200 criminal matters of all types at the time of the habeas corpus hearing in state court. Mr. Crawley had represented the Winters family on other occasions and considered them to be among his best clients. He estimated that his clientele in criminal matters consisted of approximately 25% whites and 75% negroes. At the time he accepted employment as petitioner's defense counsel, Mr. Crawley was aware of the defenses available in a criminal proceeding, including the right of petitioner to challenge the racial composition of the grand jury which indicted him. He had never filed such a challenge himself, but knew of one case in which a white attorney had challenged the composition of a jury on racial grounds in Kosciusko, without adverse social or economic effects.

After being employed by petitioner's family and before petitioner's arraignment in the Circuit Court, Mr. Crawley conferred with petitioner in the Holmes County Jail at Lexington, and was given the following version of events leading up to, and including, the death of Branch:

Petitioner and a friend were at the beer joint operated by Branch. Branch was present, as were others, including at least one employee of Branch and certain unidentified members of petitioner's family. Petitioner began talking to a negro female employee, to which Branch apparently objected. Without warning, Branch slapped petitioner "rather severely across the side of the head." At this, petitioner became "enraged and infuriated," left the premises of Branch, got in his automobile and went with his friend to the friend's house, a distance of some 20 miles from Branch's establishment, for the purpose of obtaining a gun. A shotgun and shells were obtained at the friend's house, and petitioner and his friend then returned to Branch's place of business. A total distance of approximately 40 miles had been traveled from the beer joint to the friend's house and back. Upon his return to the Branch establishment, petitioner went inside, told the members of his family present to leave and get in the car, that he had "a little business to attend to," and after the members of petitioner's family had left the establishment, stuck the shotgun through a window or door and fired at Branch, killing him.

After hearing this story from petitioner, Mr. Crawley continued his investigation of the case by interviewing members of petitioner’s family to determine whether or not petitioner had told them the same story. He found this to be the case. He talked to no witnesses outside of petitioner's family.

Feeling that the only possible defense to the charge of murder was insanity, Mr. Crawley filed a motion for a mental examination of petitioner, pursuant to which the Circuit Court ordered petitioner transported to Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield for mental examination on April 23, 1963. This necessitated a continuance of the case to the October, 1963 term of the court. Petitioner remained at the Mississippi State Hospital for about six weeks and upon completion of the examination was returned to the Holmes County Jail. The psychiatric report based upon the examination was entirely negative insofar as a defense to the charge of murder was concerned. Following receipt of the report on the mental examination of petitioner, Mr. Crawley discussed petitioner's case with Mr. Pat Barrett, county attorney of Holmes County, and, after the commencement of the October, 1963 term of the court, with Mr. George Everitt, the district attorney. In the course of those discussions he learned that the testimony of the state's witnesses as to the facts surrounding the death of Branch would be substantially the same as the version given to him by petitioner and by petitioner's family. Mr. Crawley then concluded that there was a high degree of probability that petitioner would be convicted of murder and would be given the death penalty. He also learned that members of the Branch family were exerting pressure upon the authorities to insist upon the death penalty for petitioner. Although Mr. Crawley was aware of petitioner's right to attack the exclusion of negroes from the grand jury which indicted him and from the petit jury impaneled for the October term of the Circuit Court of Holmes County, he nevertheless felt that the facts of petitioner's case were such that no jury, regardless of how constituted, could fail to convict petitioner of the murder of Branch.

He was extremely concerned that petitioner might receive the death penalty.

At that point, the saving of petitioner's life was uppermost in Mr. Crawley's mind. Pursuant to that line of thinking, he embarked upon the process of plea bargaining with the state's attorneys in an effort to obtain an agreement to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment in return for petitioner's plea of guilty. In the plea bargaining process, Mr. Crawley advised the state's attorneys that should he be forced to trial of petitioner's case, he would file a motion to quash the indictment on the ground of the systematic exclusion of negroes from service on the grand jury which indicted petitioner, and in the event that motion were overruled, he would immediately challenge the composition of the petit jury on the same ground. As a result of the plea bargaining process, the state agreed to recommend a life sentence in return for a guilty plea by petitioner.

Mr. Crawley had kept petitioner's family advised of his efforts to persuade the state to accept a guilty plea in return for recommendation of a life sentence for petitioner. He did not advise petitioner's family of petitioner's right to challenge the racial composition of the juries. On October 21, 1963, Mr. Crawley conferred with petitioner in a witness room adjacent to the courtroom in the Holmes County Courthouse. Mr. Crawley advised petitioner that the testimony of the witnesses would be adverse to petitioner and that it was Mr. Crawley's opinion that if petitioner went to trial, he would probably be convicted and sentenced to death. Mr. Crawley further explained to petitioner that if he entered a plea of guilty he would receive 1039*1039 a life sentence and explained that petitioner would be eligible for parole after serving ten years of that sentence. At no time did Mr. Crawley advise petitioner that he had a right to challenge the racial composition of either the grand jury or the petit jury. Despite his awareness of petitioner's right to challenge the composition of the juries, Mr. Crawley felt that the preservation of petitioner's life was of greater importance than the vindication of that particular constitutional right. On the basis of his attorney's advice, petitioner decided to change his plea to "guilty."

On the same day, petitioner and his attorney appeared before the Circuit Judge, and petitioner then and there changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" of the murder of Branch. Before accepting petitioner's change of plea the Circuit Judge questioned him at some length in open court. Present at the time in addition to the judge were petitioner, Mr. Crawley, Mr. Barrett, the county attorney, and Mr. Everitt, the district attorney. The court advised petitioner that he had a right to a trial by jury and that his plea of guilty would result in a waiver of that right. Petitioner indicated to the court that he understood this to be the case. The court further questioned petitioner as to whether his change of plea was induced by force, coercion or fear, to which petitioner responded that it was not. The court also inquired of petitioner if any inducement or promise of reward had been offered him in return for a plea of guilty, and petitioner replied that no such promise had been made to him. Petitioner was also asked by the court if he was entering a plea of guilty freely and voluntarily and because he was guilty of the crime charged and for no other reason. Petitioner responded in the affirmative. The court then inquired whether or not petitioner's attorney had advised petitioner of his rights and whether or not petitioner had any complaint or criticism concerning the services of his attorney. Petitioner replied that he had been advised of his rights by his attorney and that he had no complaint concerning his services. In the opinion of Mr. Crawley and Mr. Everitt, the responses of petitioner to the questions of the court were intelligent and responsive and clearly indicated that petitioner understood the questions, none of which petitioner undertook to deny in his testimony on the motion to vacate. This court therefore finds that petitioner did understand what was being said to him by the state court and the questions asked him by that court prior to the acceptance of his guilty plea and further finds that his responses thereto were intelligent and responsive.

Upon completion of the questioning of petitioner by the court, the court accepted his change of plea to "guilty", and on October 24, 1963, petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Branch. At no time did either petitioner's attorney or the state court advise petitioner of his right to challenge the racial composition of either the grand or petit juries, and petitioner was not aware of that right.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

I. EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Petitioner's present criticism of his attorney and his characterization of the assistance rendered him by his attorney as "ineffective" are based upon Mr. Crawley's failure to advise him of his constitutional right to object to the systematic exclusion of negroes from jury service in Holmes County, Mississippi, and upon the alleged failure of Mr. Crawley to devote the necessary time, energy and interest to petitioner's defense.

The second criticism of Mr. Crawley's services is clearly not founded in fact. He interviewed petitioner at the Holmes County Jail promptly upon being employed and prior to the arraignment. This could not have been more than five days after the employment, and was probably less. After interviewing petitioner, Mr. Crawley promptly undertook such investigation as in his judgment was required. He then sought a mental examination of petitioner in order to determine whether or not the defense of insanity would be available. He conferred not only with petitioner, but with members of his family and with the state's attorneys on numerous occasions. He was fully aware of all of petitioner's rights, but was also aware of the almost overwhelming evidence against petitioner. His devotion to petitioner's cause is amply demonstrated by the evidence.

Despite Mr. Crawley's devotion to and interest in petitioner's defense, did his failure to interview all available witnesses and his failure to advise petitioner of his constitutional right to object to racial discrimination in the jury selection process in Holmes County deprive petitioner of the effective assistance of counsel? The facts surrounding the death of Branch as related to Mr. Crawley by petitioner presented a clear case of murder under Mississippi law. Mr. Crawley's conferences with members of petitioner's family confirmed that petitioner had given his family the same version of the facts. It should also be remembered that certain unidentified members of petitioner's family were present at the scene of the killing. It is not unreasonable to assume that those members of petitioner's family told what they knew either to Mr. Crawley or to the other members of the family. It is significant that Mr. Crawley's interviews with the family produced no conflicts with the version of the facts related to Mr. Crawley by petitioner. Mr. Crawley's conversations with the state's attorneys further confirmed petitioner's version of the facts. There is nothing before this court to indicate that even if Mr. Crawley had interviewed other witnesses he would have learned anything different from what he was told by petitioner, petitioner's family and the state's attorneys. It is possible, indeed likely, that some attorneys in the same circumstance might have interviewed other witnesses. However, in the absence of a showing that Mr. Crawley's failure to interview such witnesses resulted in his being unaware of available evidence which could have been used to the benefit of petitioner, the court is of the opinion that such failure did not 1041*1041 render Mr. Crawley's assistance to petitioner ineffective.

Insofar as Mr. Crawley's failure to advise petitioner of his right to object to the systematic exclusion of negroes from jury service in Holmes County is concerned, the court is of the opinion that this, too, is an area in which equally competent counsel might have elected to proceed differently. In Mr. Crawley's judgment, however, the case against petitioner was so clear that the racial composition of the jury would have made no difference in whether an indictment or a guilty verdict were returned. He felt an overriding obligation to attempt to save petitioner's life, which he set out to do, and which he accomplished. Under those circumstances it cannot be said that Mr. Crawley's assistance to petitioner was rendered ineffective merely because he failed to advise petitioner of the existence of a constitutional right, the exercise of which Mr. Crawley honestly believed would be of no ultimate benefit to petitioner.

The test of whether or not the assistance of counsel to a defendant in a criminal proceeding has been "effective", within the meaning of the constitution, is not whether or not the advice was correct, or whether or not other attorneys in the same circumstances might have proceeded differently. The test is whether or not the advice or other actions of the attorney were within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970). Parker v. North Carolina, 397 U.S. 790, 90 S.Ct. 1458, 25 L.Ed.2d 785 (1970). Edwards v. United States, 103 U.S.App.D.C. 152, 256 F.2d 707 (1958), cert. den. 358 U.S. 847, 90 S.Ct. 74, 3 L.Ed.2d 82. In the Fifth Circuit, effective counsel does not mean "errorless counsel" or "counsel judged ineffective by hindsight" but counsel "reasonably likely to render and rendering reasonably effective assistance." McKenna v. Ellis, 280 F.2d 592 (5 Cir. 1960), cert. den. 368 U.S. 877, 82 S.Ct. 121, 7 L.Ed.2d 78 (1961). Also, more is required of an attorney where the plea is not guilty and the case goes to trial than in the case of a guilty plea. Lamb v. Beto, 423 F.2d 85 (5 Cir. 1970). Since the actions of Mr. Crawley on behalf of petitioner and his advice to petitioner were well within the range of competence required, petitioner was not deprived of the effective assistance of counsel.

II. SYSTEMATIC EXCLUSION OF NEGROES FROM JURY SERVICE

For purposes of this opinion it will be assumed, without deciding, that negroes were systematically excluded from the grand jury which indicted petitioner and from the petit jury panel drawn for the October, 1963 term of the Circuit Court of Holmes County. It is alleged by petitioner, although denied by respondent, that according to the 1960 decennial census, there were in Holmes County, 2,218 white males and 3,913 nonwhite males eligible to serve as jurors. It is further alleged that approximately 99% of the non-whites were negroes. Thus, it is alleged, approximately 70% of the jury qualified males in the County were negroes, and that at the time of the indictment and sentencing of petitioner few, if any, negroes had ever been called for jury service. No proof was offered on this point in the state court proceedings, the trial judge limiting the state court hearing to the questions of effectiveness of counsel, waiver and the voluntariness of the guilty plea on the ground that it would be premature to consider the racial exclusion question unless one of the other issues were resolved in petitioner's favor. If proof had been taken on the racial exclusion question and if petitioner's proof thereon had been substantially as alleged in his petition here, such proof would have been sufficient to make out a prima facie case of systematic exclusion of negroes from jury service in Holmes County. United States ex rel Goldsby v. Harpole, 263 F.2d 71 (5 Cir. 1958), cert. den. 361 U.S. 838, 80 S.Ct. 58, 4 L.Ed.2d 78.

Even so, systematic exclusion from jury service on the basis of race is 1042*1042 a defect which may be waived. A guilty plea understandingly and voluntarily entered waives all non-jurisdictional defects, including any defect arising out of systematic exclusion from jury service on the basis of race. Throgmartin v. United States, 424 F.2d 630 (5 Cir. 1970). File v. Smith, 413 F.2d 969 (5 Cir. 1969).

If petitioner's plea of guilty was understandingly and voluntarily entered he waived his right to object to the composition of the juries, and the petition must be denied. The court is thus lead to consideration of the third, and most critical, point raised by petitioner.

III. VALIDITY OF THE GUILTY PLEA

Petitioner contends that his plea of guilty was not understandingly and voluntarily entered because he was never advised, and did not otherwise know, that he had a right to object to the systematic exclusion of negroes from the grand jury which indicted him and from the petit jury which would have tried him had he gone to trial at the October, 1963 term of the Circuit Court of Holmes County. Petitioner raises no other substantial question as to the validity of his guilty plea.^[6]

To support his position petitioner relies primarily upon Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1937); Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963); and Ellzey v. Breazeale, 277 F.Supp. 948 (S.D.Miss.1967). Petitioner argues that since waiver is defined in Johnson v. Zerbst, supra, as "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege," which has recently been restated in Fay v. Noia, supra, as "the considered choice of the petitioner," and since it is undisputed that petitioner himself had no knowledge of his constitutional right to object to the systematic exclusion of negroes from jury service in Holmes County, there was no intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege and no considered choice of petitioner and, therefore, no waiver. Petitioner further argues that since he did not knowingly and intentionally waive his right to object to the exclusion from jury service of negroes, his plea of guilty was not understandingly and voluntarily entered, since such a plea would constitute a waiver of such right, and he cannot be held to have waived a constitutional right, the existence of which was unknown to him.

The argument of petitioner ignores the fundamental difference between the waiver resulting from a voluntary and understanding plea of guilty and the type of waiver dealt with in Johnson v. Zerbst, Fay v. Noia, and the other cases cited by petitioner (with the exception of Ellzey v. Breazeale, supra, and other cases which will be discussed later), in each of which the defendant plead not guilty and was convicted after a trial on the merits. The well-established rule that a guilty plea knowingly and voluntarily entered waives all non-jurisdictional defects is not merely another rule of waiver. It is the natural consequence and flows from the fundamental nature of the guilty plea. A plea of guilty by a defendant in a criminal proceeding says to the court that the defendant has committed the offense with which he is charged and that he is willing to forego a trial and accept punishment. Assuming the jurisdiction of the court and the representation of the defendant by competent counsel, once the court has satisfied itself that the plea is understandingly and voluntarily entered, it is not required, before accepting the plea, to determine that the defendant was personally aware of each and every right which, had he gone to trial, might have been available to him under the constitution. It would unduly expand the presumption against waivers of fundamental rights to hold that, despite the availability of competent counsel, a defendant must himself be aware of, and agree to forego, each and every right which may be available to him under the constitution in order that his guilty plea be valid. The constitution requires that counsel be available to defendants in criminal prosecutions for the very reason that the learning, experience and independent judgment of counsel is the best guarantee of the protection of the rights of an accused. This court cannot accept the proposition that a guilty plea, otherwise valid, may be successfully attacked on the ground that the defendant did not have personal knowledge of all constitutional rights available to him and did not personally make the decision not to avail himself of them. All defendants in criminal prosecutions are, to a greater or lesser degree, ignorant of their constitutional rights. That is why lawyers are made available to them. But lawyers are not required to educate their clients in constitutional law. They are expected to utilize their training, experience and judgment in acting for and advising their clients who do not possess, and cannot be expected to acquire, the lawyer's training, experience and professional judgment. Petitioner was guaranteed many rights by the constitution in addition to his right to have his case presented to a grand jury from which negroes had not been systematically excluded. If petitioner had elected to go to trial, he had the right to be present in the courtroom and confront the witnesses against him; the right to cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses; the right to testify in his own behalf or to remain silent, as he saw fit; the right to appear in the courtroom free from restraints such as handcuffs or manacles; the right not to be required to appear in the courtroom before the jury in prison garb, and many others. It is probably safe to say that petitioner knew of none of those rights at the time of his guilty plea, and there was no reason for him to know of them. He had decided, upon advice of competent counsel and for reasons of his own, to forego a trial. He knew he had the right to demand a trial, but decided, on advice of counsel, not to do so. Therefore, the rights which petitioner might have exercised had a trial occurred became immaterial and were therefore waived by the guilty plea. This includes the right to challenge the racial composition of the juries.

Vastly different, of course, is the case in which the defendant does not plead guilty, but instead goes to trial protesting his innocence of the charge and striving for acquittal. In such a case, as the Supreme Court noted in Johnson v. Zerbst, the courts indulge every presumption against waiver of fundamental rights. This is so because it would be contrary to logic and the teaching of human experience not to presume that a defendant insisting upon his innocence and forcing the prosecution to prove its case in an adversary proceeding—a trial on the merits—intends to avail himself of every available right, unless there exists a clear indication that the defendant has intentionally waived such rights. Even in such cases, the principle is subject to limitations. See United States ex rel Goldsby v. Harpole, supra.

The waiver of non-jurisdictional defects flowing from a plea of guilty is effective only if the guilty plea is understandingly and voluntarily entered. The requirement that the plea must be voluntary is easily understood. It means that the plea must have been entered as the free and rational choice of the accused and not as the result of threats, coercion or promise of reward. The requirement that the plea must be understandingly entered does not mean that the accused must understand the nature of each and every constitutional right which might be available to him upon a trial, but means that the accused must understand the nature of the charge against him, that he has a right to a trial if he wishes, and the consequences of his plea of guilty. North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970). This is the standard for accepting a guilty plea in the federal district court. Rule 11, FRCrP. Here it is clear that the petitioner understood that he was charged with murder, that he had the right to a trial which might result in his being sentenced to 1044*1044 suffer the death penalty, and understood that the consequences of his plea of guilty would be his conviction without trial and his sentence to life imprisonment in the penitentiary.

The arguments made here by petitioner were dealt with and disposed of by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Edwards v. United States, supra, in an opinion written by then Circuit Judge Warren Burger. That opinion is made especially persuasive by the fact that the writer now serves as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. In Edwards, the court had this to say:

"It must be realized that this is not a case in which proof of guilt depended upon a trial. In such cases, the accused usually relies to a great extent on counsel to conduct an effective defense, because the accused does not know enough of the law to do so himself. While the accused may have to take the consequences of a poor defense, he may at least say the fault was not his own. But this is not so when he pleads guilty. Here the deed is his own; here there are not the baffling complexities which require a lawyer for illumination; if voluntarily and understandingly made, even a layman should expect a plea of guilty to be treated as an honest confession of guilt and a waiver of all defenses known and unknown. And such is the law. A plea of guilty may not be withdrawn after sentence except to correct a `manifest injustice,' and we find it difficult to imagine how `manifest injustice' could be shown except by proof that the plea was not voluntarily or understandingly made, or a showing that defendant was ignorant of his right to counsel. Certainly ineffective assistance of counsel, as opposed to ignorance of the right to counsel, is immaterial in an attempt to impeach a plea of guilty, except perhaps to the extent that it bears on the issues of voluntariness and understanding.

There seems to be little doubt that the plea of guilty was in the present case voluntary. There is no allegation that appellant was induced to plead guilty by any conduct of the police, prosecutor or court, but only that his own counsel's `bad' advice induced him to plead guilty. This, however, does not itself make out involuntariness. It seems likewise clear that the plea was understandingly made. It may be argued that a plea of guilty is not understandingly made when defendant is unaware of certain technical defenses which might very well make the prosecutor's job more difficult or even impossible were he put to his proof. However, we think `understandingly' refers merely to the meaning of the charge, and what acts amount to being guilty of the charge, and the consequences of pleading guilty thereto, rather than to dilatory or evidentiary defenses. A refusal years after sentencing to give effect to the latter could scarcely be deemed `manifest injustice' within the meaning of Rule 32(d). Appellant does not try to say he did not do the act charged. He pleads only that, unknown to him, he might have been able to suppress the truth as to certain evidence of his crime, and thus, perhaps defeat justice. He cannot be heard to this end after a voluntary, knowing plea of guilty." 256 F. 2d, at pp. 709-710.

The Supreme Court in a series of recent decisions has rejected attacks upon the validity of guilty pleas on various grounds, none of which were precisely the same as the grounds relied upon by petitioner here. However, those decisions when considered together unmistakably indicate that the Supreme Court has considerably more respect for the finality of a plea of guilty than the adoption of petitioner's arguments would permit.

In McMann v. Richardson, supra, the Supreme Court denied habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner who had entered a plea of guilty to a charge of robbery upon advice of counsel, holding that the fact that a confession had been coerced from the defendant does not, without more, entitle him to have his conviction upon a plea of guilty set aside. In Parker v. North Carolina, supra, a state prisoner also sought to collaterally attack the validity of his plea of guilty on the ground that a confession had been coerced from him, and the Supreme Court denied relief even though it was established that the defendant's decision to plead guilty was based upon the incorrect opinion of his attorney that the confession would be admissible upon trial. The petitioner in that case also raised the question of the validity of the indictment because of systematic exclusion of members of his race from the grand jury which indicted him. The state court refused to consider that claim because the objection was not raised prior to the guilty plea and was thus waived under state law. The Supreme Court was of the opinion that this state rule of practice constituted an adequate state ground for denial of relief on the racial exclusion issue, precluding consideration of that issue by the Supreme Court. It does not appear from the report of the decision whether or not the defendant himself knew of his right to challenge the composition of the grand jury. In Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970), the Supreme Court held that a plea of guilty induced by the defendant's fear of a possible death penalty in the event of trial was not thereby rendered involuntary. In North Carolina v. Alford, supra, the Supreme Court reached the same result and affirmed the validity of the plea of guilty even though the defendant, after pleading guilty, stated that he had not actually committed the offense with which he was charged, but was pleading guilty on the advice of his attorney in order to avoid the possibility of the death penalty.

Ellzey v. Breazeale, supra, decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, is the only reported decision of any court cited by petitioner which supports his position. Despite the high regard of this court for the decisions of its brothers in the Southern District, it is unable to agree with the result reached in that case for reasons already mentioned. Ellzey's principal reliance was upon four well-known Fifth Circuit decisions which dealt with the jury exclusion issue, and held there was no waiver of the right to attack the jury system in a common setting of a not guilty plea, trial and conviction of a negro defendant, as distinguished from a plea of guilty.

In addition, when Ellzey was decided, the court did not have the benefit of the decisions of the Supreme Court in Richardson, Parker, Brady, and Alford cases. Those decisions, as pointed out by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Colson v. Smith, 438 F.2d 1075 (5 Cir. 1971), substantially clarify a heretofore somewhat murky area of the law in the matter of how far habeas corpus petitioners may go in questioning the validity of a guilty plea upon collateral attack. It appears that they may not go so far as petitioner contends.

The rights guaranteed by the constitution stand as the guardians of individual liberty against the encroachments of tyranny and oppression. However, as the Supreme Court says in North Carolina v. Alford, supra:

"The prohibitions against involuntary or unintelligent pleas should not be relaxed, but neither should an exercise in arid logic render those constitutional guarantees counterproductive and put in jeopardy the very human values they were meant to preserve." 91 S.Ct., at p. 168.

Life is among the paramount human values. Petitioner chose to guarantee the preservation of his life by entering his plea of guilty. The court is of the opinion that petitioner's plea of guilty was understandingly and voluntarily made, and an order denying the petition will therefore be entered.

[1] The pertinent portions of the opinion of the Circuit Court of Holmes County are quoted at length in the opinion of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. 244 So.2d, at page 2.

[2] Petitioner testified that the County Sheriff and a deputy coerced him into signing a confession on the day of his arrest by beating him until he agreed to confess. He further testified that he attempted to tell his attorney about the beating and resulting confession, but his attorney would not take time to talk with him and refused to listen to anything concerning the alleged beating or confession. Crawley emphatically denied that petitioner ever made any attempts to tell him about a beating or a confession and denied that he had ever received any information concerning such an incident. Although Crawley interviewed petitioner at the Holmes County Jail less than five days after the arrest of petitioner, he saw no signs of a beating. No statement of petitioner purporting to be a confession was ever used against him, and his plea of guilty was entered approximately six months after the alleged coercion occurred. Under the circumstances, even if a confession was coerced from petitioner it would not have rendered petitioner's guilty plea invalid. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970); Parker v. North Carolina, 397 U.S. 790, 90 S.Ct. 1458, 25 L.Ed.2d 785 (1970).

[3] Mr. Crawley was aware that Branch had a rather poor reputation, but felt that the probability of obtaining an acquittal for petitioner on that basis was too remote to risk a trial.

[4] An apt illustration of Mr. Crawley's view of his duties and responsibilities as petitioner's defense counsel is the following excerpt from the cross-examination of Mr. Crawley by petitioner's attorney in the evidentiary hearing held on the motion to vacate sentence in the Circuit Court of Holmes County:

"Q You did not file a motion to quash the indictment prior to arraignment?

A No, I did not.

Q Did it occur to you that under Mississippi law, you might have waived the defendant's right to object on the ground of systematic exclusion of negroes as jurors?

A I was aware that any motion must be filed before arraignment. I was also aware that in view of the seriousness of the constitutional questions that could be raised, that it would be reversible error for the court to overrule the motion, probably. `Mr. Fitzgerald', the supreme thing in my mind at the time was saving this man's life. I felt then and now that I must do and did do at that time all I could to save this man from the death penalty.

Q Were you concerned with whether or not you were making the decisions your client would have made?

A Well, insofar as making decisions are concerned, I accepted the responsibility of this man's destiny when I accepted employment. I was representing him to the best of my ability, and I cannot say I would have allowed him to make any decision which I felt would put his life in jeopardy. Before I could do that, I would have asked the court to allow me to withdraw, I could not knowingly allow him to make a decision which would put his life in jeopardy.

Q But, it went a little deeper than that because you did not inform him of what his rights were, did you, as to the composition of the jury?

A Insofar as his constitutional rights with regard to the composition of the Grand and Petit Juries, I did not discuss that with him, as I say, I was more concerned with saving this man's life than anything else."

[5] § 2215, Mississippi Code (1942).

[6] See footnote 2, supra.

[7] Compare with the provisions of §§ 2449 and 2450, Mississippi Code (1942). Neither the Circuit Court of Holmes County, nor the Supreme Court of Mississippi based their denial of relief upon these statutes, however.

[8] United States ex rel. Goldsby v. Harpole, supra; United States ex rel. Seals v. Wiman, 304 F.2d 53 (5 Cir. 1962); Whitus v. Balkcom, 333 F.2d 496 (5 Cir. 1964); and Cobb v. Balkcom, 339 F.2d 95 (5 Cir. 1964). These cases were analyzed and applied in Gordon v. Breazeale, 246 F.Supp. 2 (N.D.Miss.1965), in an opinion by Judge Claude F. Clayton, then a district judge.

[9] In Ellzey, counsel was court-appointed and not privately retained as here. Also, following Ellzey's plea of guilty, a trial jury was impaneled and instructed to bring in a verdict of guilty, resulting in a sentence of life imprisonment. These factual differences seem superficial and would not render Ellzey distinguishable. Judge Russell was persuaded that "the fact that Ellzey pled guilty under the circumstances stated above [where his court-appointed counsel did not inform the defendant of his right to challenge the grand jury and special venire on the ground that negroes had been systematically excluded therefrom] was not an effective waiver. His right to object to the grand jury and the special venire from which his trial jury was drawn, remains. Had he known of this right it may or may not have affected his plea." (Emphasis supplied) 277 F.Supp., at pp. 951-952.

Judge Russell adhered to Ellzey in his unreported opinion, Windom v. Cook (S. D.Miss. Dec. 5, 1968), upon finding that Windom's pleas of guilty were "freely and voluntarily given in open court and after consultation with effective counsel," and he granted the writ because the record was silent as to whether Windom had been advised by his attorney of his right to object to the exclusion of negroes from the grand jury. While affirming in a per curiam opinion, Windom v. Cook, 423 F.2d 721 (1970), the Fifth Circuit rejected the district court's finding that Windom's pleas of guilty had been entered with the benefit of effective counsel but held instead that on the facts presented Windom did not have effective counsel, stating: "Counsel was not in a position to advise Windom prior to allowing him to plead guilty because he was unfamiliar with the case." The appellate opinion emphasized that the failure of counsel to advise an accused of his right to challenge the racial composition of the grand jury is but one element among other factors present which may be considered in determining whether there was effective representation of counsel. We do not understand the case to hold that such failure to advise, standing alone, overrides diligent efforts of counsel and vitiates a plea of guilty otherwise freely and voluntarily made.

[10] Petitioner's strong reliance upon the district court's opinion in Colson v. Smith, 315 F.Supp. 179 (N.D.Ga.1970), is misplaced. There Judge Edenfield held on the facts that counsel, by giving the case only perfunctory attention, did not provide effective assistance, although Colson was maintaining his innocence until entering a guilty plea. We decline to follow Judge Edenfield's intimation, which petitioner here seizes upon, that even though Colson's plea of guilty may have been free and voluntary, his conviction nevertheless could not stand if the indicting grand jury was, in fact, unconstitutionally structured as a defect of such nature was of jurisdictional proportion which could not be waived except by intentional failure "to exercise his right to be indicted by a fair and impartial jury." The latter view was firmly rejected by the Fifth Circuit when Judge Thornberry wrote as follows:

"At the outset we advert to the settled rule in this Circuit that a voluntary plea of guilty waives all non-jurisdictional defects, including the right to challenge the construction of the grand jury. Williams v. Smith, 5th Cir. 1970, 434 F.2d 592; Throgmartin v. United States, 5th Cir. 1970, 424 F.2d 630. Under this rule, were we to find that petitioner's guilty plea was voluntarily entered, we would be precluded from any consideration of the issue of grand jury composition. Thus we must dispose first of petitioner's attack on his plea of guilty." 438 F.2d at 1078.

Although Judge Edenfield's decision was affirmed, it was on the basis of factual findings that petitioner's guilty plea under the circumstances was "the product of ineffective assistance of counsel", which was a credibility decision not to be disturbed except on a showing of clear error.

Research Trip to Attala and Holmes County - Third and Final Part

2013-10-15T22:48:00.003-05:00

When I stopped writing in Part 2 about the research trip to Mississippi, we had just entered Madison County, Mississippi, north of Jackson. The town of Canton, once the bustling center of of the area's economy, is the county seat of Madison County. Twice a year, Canton hosts the Canton Flea Market Arts and Crafts Show, an event that attracts artists and craftsmen from across the South. Another beautiful and historic Mississippi courthouse graces the town's quaint square with it brightly painted storefronts. Interestingly, portions of "A Time to Kill," the first novel written by one of Mississippi's most well-known contemporary authors, John Grisham, was filmed in the courthouse in Canton.

Source: Private Digital Photo Collection of J. Tracy
Madison County Courthouse
On the Square in Canton, Mississippi

As we continued to travel south on Interstate 55, the mega-sized Nissan-Canton Manufacturing and Assembly Plant on the east side of the freeway caught our attention. Built slightly over a decade ago, the auto manufacturing plant brought thousands of much-needed jobs to an area that had been economically depressed for several decades. According to Nissan's website, over 5,600 employees from all of Mississippi's eighty-two counties, make up the diverse workforce at the Canton plant. Further south, after we passed the exit for Gluckstadt Road near the former German farming village of Gluckstadt, now a growing area itself, is the ever-growing city of Madison, Mississippi. The newness of it all can be seen on both sides of the freeway. Each time I drive through Madison and its sister city of Ridgeland, I marvel at the constant growth of the two cities, as their city limits extend to the north of Mississippi's capitol city, Jackson. It wasn't so many years ago the cities of Madison and Ridgeland were very small railroad towns where the only noise at night was the whistle of the City of New Orleans as it made its way north to Memphis. Now these two cities are popular locations for businesses, corporate offices, medical facilities, churches, and schools. And let's not forget the abundance of newer upscale subdivisions and other housing where the cities' numerous affluent residents live. When I grew up in Jackson, the city ended at Briarwood Drive. My, how things change over time....

Other small communities in Madison County include Camden, once the home of former Governor McWillie and Flora, the site of Mississippi's Petrified Forest. Not to be forgotten, is the historic national parkway known as the Natchez Trace, which can be accessed from areas within the town of Ridgeland, situated on the banks of a portion of an enormous lake known as the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Besides the many historic landmarks in the area, locals and visitors alike can enjoy shopping at Mississippi's largest mall, North Park, also located in Ridgeland, Renaissance at Colony Park, and fishing swimming, boating and sail on what locals refer to as "The Rez."

Just south of Ridgeland, and slightly east of I-55, is a growing business and residential area known as Flowood, where we would be staying in a hotel for the next three nights. Surrounded by areas of Brandon and Jackson, Flowood is located along a portion of busy Lakeland Drive (Hwy 25) and is just minutes away from the popular Dogwood Festival shopping area and from Jackson-Evers International Airport. In addition to being a central location for visiting close family members, Flowood was an easy early morning commute to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), a few blocks away from downtown Jackson, and where I planned to conduct some research for my book about Tillman Branch.

Over the past few months, I had been searching for archived copies of the Lexington-Advertiser and the Durant News, newspapers once owned and published by Hazel Brannon Smith. Editorials and articles in the newspapers, I believed, would provide some facts and other information that would be useful in writing the book. Calls to the Lexington Library and to the Holmes County Circuit Clerk's Office in Lexington had revealed that copies of newspapers during the time periods I needed were not available. But I had researched further and found that MDAH in Jackson had microfilmed copies the newspapers for the years I needed. Our initial early morning visit to MDAH involved procedural items that included applying for and being issued an ID card at the front desk. The ID card, we were told, would be used to enter and exit the research area through turnstiles situated near the reception desk. Since we also needed to make some photocopies, we purchased a prepaid plastic card that could be used in the photocopy machines located in the media room.

Many things have changed since I last visited the MDAH. Located at North and Amite Streets near downtown Jackson, the MDAH, according to its website, "is headquartered in the state-of-the art William F. Winter Archives and History Building." Founded in 1902, the department has six divisions, specifically referred to as Administration, Archives and Library, Historic Preservation, Historic Properties, Museum, and Records Management. Named for William F. Winter, a former governor of the state, the gray granite building itself is a work of art, and its contemporary architecture on the outside is carried throughout the sleek interior. With lots of natural, filtered light and walls, floors and ceilings that seem to absorb any noise, the building is a perfect place to spend a few leisurely hours reading about Mississippi's history or, as it was in our case, do some serious historical research in a limited amount of time.

William F. Winter Building
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Jackson, Mississippi

After we had completed the registration process and were officially "checked in" and armed with our proximity and photocopy cards, we made our way to the media room. Once in the room, we soon found open microfilm reader desks and started searching the online catalog for microfilm rolls during the time period I planned to research. And we continued to research for parts of two days. Luckily, the archive department is open for a few hours on Saturday morning, since I needed the extra time to complete what we had started on Friday morning. I consider the newspaper research effort at MDAH a true success, and it didn't take nearly as long as I had planned. The latter was an important outcome, since it left more time for us to visit with family.

As most family researchers already know, microfilm research is tedious work. And reading through microfilmed newspaper print is even more difficult, not to mention time-consuming. Years of that sort of work must certainly damage one's eyesight. The process required to scan and microfilm the newspapers, I was told by one of the very helpful research assistants, is just as difficult and time consuming. First, the newspaper pages must be cut apart and ironed. That's right -- ironed, like with an iron and an ironing table or board! Can you believe that behind all of these archived newspapers on microfilm, there are dozens of people who came to work many mornings with one purpose in mind: to iron newspaper pages and ready them for scanning. And the scanning effort itself must have been a cumbersome and time-consuming operation. Just thinking about the process made me appreciate even more what others have done and keep doing to make these archived documents and records available to the public - at no cost, except for a minimal photocopy charge if copies are needed.

But the digital age is upon us, and things are about to change in the media room. One of the archive assistants also told me the State of Mississippi currently has a small grant that will likely be used for digitizing newspapers. She wasn't sure whether the effort will include digitizing more recent newspapers or some of the older ones. I suspect older newspapers from the time period we researched will require much work to digitize. This is especially true, since less than stellar print quality of many of these old newspapers will make optical character recognition almost impossible.

With the research complete at MDAH, we left to visit family who live in and around Jackson, a visit that concluded with dinner on Saturday evening at the historic Wynndale Restaurant south of Jackson near the town of Terry, Mississippi. According to one of my brothers, Wynndale was the name of the now extinct town where the restaurant, once a country store, is located. He added that the former store and restaurant have operated in the same location for almost 100 consecutive years - quite a record. After a delicious dinner of steak (one of my brothers was courageous enough to order the 16 ounce rib-eye), catfish, shrimp, and all the southern trimmings (the homemade slaw is served in a large tub!) we took a few pictures and said our goodbyes. Family, good food, and lots of fun....what more can anyone want?!

Research Trip to Attala and Holmes Counties - Part 2

2013-10-05T15:35:00.005-05:00

When I first posted here about my research trip for the book I am writing about Tillman Branch, we were talking to the postmaster in the post office after photographing a beautiful and old mural above the service counter there. When I told the postmaster that I was looking for information and locations of former nightclubs and "juke joints" around Durant, he quickly informed me that I should talk to a local man named Sonny McCrory. He explained that I would find McCrory just a few doors down at his auto repair shop, but since it was around noon, I might find him at lunch further down Highway 51 south at Mile-A-Way/Caffey's, a local eatery. So off we went to search for McCrory. We stopped first at the auto shop and found out from an employee that he was, indeed, at Caffey's, as the local's call the restaurant, having lunch. Since we needed to eat lunch, too, we drove down to the restaurant. Based simply on the number of vehicles in the parking lot, Caffey's appeared to be the most popular place in town. Although we had just missed McCrory, a regular, according to the manager, we decided to eat lunch before heading back to his auto shop. As it turned out, the decision to have lunch at Caffey's was an excellent one. The restaurant offered a variety of items on its menu, as well as a hot buffet lunch each day that included a small salad bar, iced tea or a soft drink, and hot rolls, and dessert. After finishing off a piece of homemade cake with made-from-scratch caramel icing, we made an on-the-spot decision to eat there again the next day.

Shortly after leaving Caffey's, we were back at Sonny McCrory's auto repair shop, a business that he operates with the help of his son. McCrory, an older man who is not in good health, was friendly and welcoming. After a series of introductions that included some brief details about the book, my maiden name, my father's given name, the names of my grandparents, and the names of a series of aunts and uncles, McCrory was ready to talk to me. I proceeded with the interview by asking McCrory to confirm information I had that said over a dozen nightclubs existed in Durant during the early-mid years of the twentieth century. McCrory's quick reply was "Heck, at one time, there were 26 of them!" And he continued by telling me the names and owners of some of these clubs, including "The Blind Pig," "The Green Lantern," "The Rainbow Garden," "Club 11," "Club 12," "The Mile-A-Way," (the site of the present restaurant), and "The Blue Flame Cafe." The latter, he added, was owned by Tillman Branch, and was located east of the railroad tracks on Highway 12, the highway that goes to Kosciusko. McCrory lived in the area during the time these clubs were operating, and he was willing to share some valuable insight in how pervasive the sale of illegal liquor and bootlegging was in Holmes County during that particular time. Before our conversation ended, I had discovered McCrory and I are distant cousins. As we were ending our conversation, his receptionist volunteered that one of her cousins is married to one of my brothers! Suddenly, I'm thinking about how much else I don't know about some of my relatives! When I finish the book I am writing, it sounds as if I need to make a few additions to my family tree.....it seems to be growing branches and twigs at an extraordinary rate of speed.

Source: Private Photo Collection

Highway Marker in Downtown Durant, Mississippi
Halfway between Kosciusko and Lexington
Holmes County, Mississippi

After thanking Sonny McCrory for his time and for the wealth of information he conveyed and telling him I hoped to see him next year when the book is published, we drove over to Lexington, the county seat of Holmes County. The fifteen mile or so drive was a pleasant one, and I admired the dark green, kudzu covered hills, and the pastoral scenic countryside along the way. There was
wasn't a moment to stop and wander or to take photos along Highway 12, however, since the time McCrory's interview took was unplanned, and I already had an appointment scheduled to meet up with Mrs. Eloise Alderman in Lexington that same afternoon. I had been referred to Mrs. Alderman, who prefers to be called simply "Eloise," by the town's librarian, Laura Gilmore Lawson. If you have been following my blog posts about this research trip, you won't be surprised to hear that Laura is a cousin of mine. Our connection is closer than some of the other cousins I have met along the way, since Laura's aunt is one of my mother's first cousins. I forgot to mention that Eloise went to high school with my mother, and no, Eloise and I are not cousins, at least as far as my mother or Eloise know.

According to Laura and some other folks I talked to before the trip, Eloise is one of the town's unofficial historians and is known for the extensive scrapbooks she keeps that contain local news clippings. Eloise's scrapbooks document decades of county activities that detail the lives of local residents, and her collection is truly a genealogist's gold mine. If you have ancestors with Holmes County roots, you may want to talk to Eloise. Prior to the trip, Eloise had already told me that her clippings do not include information about any of the county's illegal activities that involved liquor, gambling, etc., so she is unable to help me directly with that subject matter. But during our phone conversations prior to leaving on this trip, Eloise had told me that she knew several older men in town who actually knew Tillman. She continued by saying the men were willing to talk to me when I got to town, and she was available to make the introductions. So we met Eloise, and she generously offered to direct us to the locations where I interviewed the men that afternoon. Through this series of interviews, I gained much valuable knowledge and insight in the life and business activities of Tillman, information that I will later incorporate into the book. I thanked Eloise for her help, and we made tentative plans to meet again next year after the book comes out. According to Eloise, some of her friends have already told her they want to purchase copies of the book when it is published, and I thanked her for telling them about it.

As we made our way out of Lexington, I stopped to take a few photos that are relevant to the book. First, I photographed the historic Holmes County Courthouse that serves as the county's center of justice. Although the original courthouse has been rebuilt several times throughout the years, the current brick structure is old and is an absolutely amazing piece of architecture. Located at the center of the town square, the courthouse, with its large clock tower, is still the focal point of downtown Lexington.

Source: Private Photo Collection (2013)

Holmes County Courthouse
On The Square
Lexington, Mississippi

Just a few blocks down the hill and off the square sits the old Holmes County Jail. Replaced by a newer facility a number of years ago, the now-abandoned structure is a sad reminder of the decades of civil unrest that plagued so many places in the south throughout the 1950's and 1960's. This particular photo is especially important to the book, since it is where the young black man who shot and killed Tillman Branch was taken after his arrest on Easter Sunday 1963.

Source: Private Photo Collection (2013)

Old Holmes County Jail
Lexington, Mississippi

I could not visit Lexington, of course, without seeing my aunt and uncle, my mother's only sibling and his wife, who live just off the square in a house where they have lived for over 50 years. My uncle and my mother grew up in the Coxburg community of Holmes County, near Lexington, where their parents grew up and where many of our younger cousins still live. We had a lovely, but brief, visit with the two of them, and left after declining their sweet invitation to accompany them to a church supper at their church in Coxburg. Although we already had dinner plans for the evening, our decision to decline the invitation was further complicated by the the aroma of fried chicken and freshly baked bread coming from my aunt's kitchen!

As we traveled away from Lexington on Highway 17, headed for Interstate 55 South, we passed The Little Red Schoolhouse, a historic landmark near Richland, Mississippi, known as the birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star. The organization was founded by Dr. Robert Morris, a Boston-born teacher who lived and taught in Oxford, Mississippi. Dr. Morris was a member of the Fraternal Order of Freemasons, and while teaching in Oxford, he had earned the title of Master Mason. Dr. Morris was soon recruited by some Holmes County citizens and educators to teach at the newly established Mount Sylvan Academy in Richland, Mississippi, in the now-historic small brick building known in later years as The Little Red Schoolhouse.

Source: Private Photo Collection (2013)

The Little Red Schoolhouse
The Birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star
Richland, Mississippi

And it was during his time in Richland that Dr. Morris founded the Order of the Eastern Star, an organization for women only, since female membership in the Masonic Order was prohibited. From its humble beginnings in rural Holmes County, the Order of the Eastern Star grew and multiplied, and currently there are chapters of the Order throughout the world.

Source: Private Photo Collection (2013)

Historic Marker
Richland (Holmes County) Mississippi

As we entered Interstate Highway 55 somewhere south of Canton and north of Gluckstadt, a former German farming village and now a burgeoning portion of affluent and ever-expanding Madison County, Mississippi, I noticed something I have seen before in the Mississippi Delta - small ponds, about an acre or so in size. For decades now, farmers throughout the Delta have transitioned lands depleted by more than a century of cotton and soybean farming into catfish farms. Now a large money-making part of the state's economy, raising catfish in small ponds, is a newer form of agriculture known as "aquaculture." But these ponds in Madison County did not appear to be true catfish ponds. There were no automatic feeding devices on the sides of the ponds, and, at a glance, they appeared to be more shallow than catfish ponds in the Mississippi Delta region. I also noticed a piece of machinery sitting in some of the ponds, a device that looked much like the apparatus used to harvest crawfish in ponds that I have seen in the past in south Louisiana and in coastal areas of Texas. Perhaps this portion of the South, once known as the land of cotton, is evolving into the land of catfish and crawfish.

Before we knew it, we were in heavy traffic created by the bustling suburban sprawl along I-55 that indicated we were almost to our next destination.

To be continued......