Block 22. A Stitch in Time

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

A stitch in time. . . Block 22 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

McFERRIN, J.A., Block 22

John A. McFerrin, 28, a farmer is listed on 1930 census in Beat 2 residing on Tupelo-Guntown Road. His household included wife Eula M., 28, sons Horace R., 7, and Bobbie J., 1, and daughter Gladis L., 5.

John A. McFerrin 1900 - ___ is listed by Burton-Cruber in the Mantachie Cemetery next to Eula Mae Morris McFerrin.

The SSI Death Index lists John McFerrin, born December 19, 1900, died December 1977.

According to Kermit McFerrin, J.A. was born in Lee County but moved to Mantachie in the early 1900s. A farmer, land owner, and cotton ginner, J.A. McFerrin was a member of the First Baptist Church of Mantachie.

McFERRIN, Eula Mae, Block 22. Surname provided by IHS member Kermit McFerrin.

Eula May Morris McFerrin 1900 - 1953 is buried in Mantachie Cemetery next to John A. McFerrin.

Eula Mae and John A. McFerrin were the parents of Horace R. McFerrin, Bobby J. McFerrin, John M. McFerrin, and Gladys McFerrin Hale.

See additional information at J.A. McFerrin (above).

McFERRIN, Bobbie Joe, Block 22. Surname provided by IHS member Kermit McFerrin.

According to IHS member Joe Sheffield, this person is usually known as Bobby McFerrin.

The 1930 census lists Bobbie J. McFerrin, 1 year old, as the son of John A. McFerrin, 28, a farmer, and Eula M., 28. Bobbie J. had an older brother Horace R, 7, and an older sister Gladis L, 5, listed in the household in Beat 2, Tupelo-Guntown.

Bobby Joe McFerrin was born in Mantachie, is a member of the First Baptist Church of Mantachie, is the husband of Mildred Ballard McFerrin, and the father of three children, Beth McFerrin Riley, Shenny McFerrin Gregory, and Barry McFerrin according to Kermit McFerrin.

McFERRIN, Gladys, Block 22. Surname provided by IHS member Kermit McFerrin.

Because this name is on the quilt block with Eula Mae McFerrin, J.A. McFerrin, Horace McFerrin, and Bobbie Joe McFerrin, this is most likely Gladys L. McFerrin, age 5, of Beat 2, Tupelo-Guntown Road as enumerated on the 1930 census. Eula Mae was Gladys' mother; J.A. was her father; and Horace and Bobbie were her brothers.

See J.A. McFerrin for more information (above).

McFERRIN, Horace Ray, Block 22. Surname provided by IHS member Kermit McFerrin.

The 1930 census of Itawamba County, Beat 2, lists 7 year-old Horace R. McFerrin as the son of John A. McFerrin and Eula M. McFerrin. Horace had a sister Gladis L. and a brother Bobbie J. listed in the farming household on Tupelo-Guntown Road.

See additional information at J.A. McFerrin above.

Born in Mantachie, Horace Ray McFerrin was a veteran of World War 2, husband to Eunice Boren McFerrin, and father of sons Billy R. McFerrin and Joe E. McFerrin according to Kermit McFerrin.

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

Have your name embroidered on the 2010 Friendship Quilt being prepared by the Quilting Committee of the Itawamba Historical Society. Each name is $10.00; all donations will go to further the work of the Historical Society. Contact the Society with information about the names you wish placed on the quilt. Telephone 662-282-7664 for details or come by the Society's offices at the Corner of Church and Museum Drive, Mantachie, Mississippi.

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.