Block 5. A Stitch in Time

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

A stitch in time. . . Block 5 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

CUMMINGS, J.E., Block 05

The 1910 census of Oak Grove has James E. Cummings, age 27, as head of a household consisting of wife Lou, 26, sons Ira, 8 and Leedune, 1, and daughters Attic, 7 and Lorene, 4.

By 1920 the James E Cummings family of Oak Grove included James, age 37, a farmer, wife Lou, 36, sons Ira H., 18, James A., 17, Ludwig, 10, Olole D., 7, and Ellie E., 5, and daughters Lorene, 14 and Vana L., 9.

James Ellis Cummings 1882 - 1948 and Lou Cummings 1883 - 1921 are both buried at Oak Grove Cemetery according to Burton-Cruber.

Kermit McFerrin provides information that J.E. Cummings was born in Ratliff. The Cummings family had the telephone exchange in Ratliff and Mantachie.

PHILLIPS, T.J., Block 05

Thomas J. Phillips, 48, is listed on the 1910 census of Oak Grove with wife Lucy, 50, and four children.

Thomas Phillips, 51, manager of a general farm in Mantachie is listed on the 1920 census along with wife Lucy Ann, son Mitchell J., and daughter Vivian.

WATSON, J.A., Block 05

John A. Watson, 52, a farmer, lived in the Mantachie precinct on Tupelo-Guntown Road according to the 1930 census. With him are wife Verna Watson, 32, daughter Johnnie L. Watson, 19, step-daughter Maggie A. Watson, 12, and son Chester Watson 22.

WHITEHEAD, Lillie, Block 05

In 1920, Lillie Whitehead, age 17, is enumerated as a public school teacher in Fulton. She was living in the household of her parents, A.M.L. Whitehead, 58, a farmer, and Lucreca Whitehead, 58, her sister Minnie, 30 and her brother Claudie, 22.

If you have additional information about any of the names on this quilt square, please post a comment below. Your help is needed to "write" the story of this almost eighty-year old quilt.

A stitch in time . . . The 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt

Inspired by the 1930s Friendship Quilt, the members of the Itawamba Historical Society are preparing a 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt to be raffled off later this year. Raffle tickets for a chance to win this one-of-a-kind quilt are $1 each. Order your raffle tickets from the Itawamba Historical Society, PO Box 7, Mantachie, MS 38855 or stop by the Society at the Corner of Church and Museum Drive in Mantachie to obtain your raffle tickets.

You may also wish to consider membership in the Itawamba Historical Society --- $25.00 per year.

SOURCES:

Family information from Memories from Itawamba County: A Friendship Quilt circa 1931 --- A Stitch in Time by Terry Thornton with assistance from Members of the Itawamba Historical Society, Itawamba Settlers, Quarterly Journal of the Itawamba County, Mississippi, History and Genealogy. Winter 2009, Pages 143-61.

Square from 1931 Friendship Quilt photographed by Terry Thornton, September 3, 2009, Bond's House Museum, Itawamba Historical Society, Mantachie, Mississippi.