Block 24. A Stitch in Time

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

A stitch in time. . . Block 24 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

BEENE, M.M., Block 24

Madison M. Beene, farmer, age 61 born Alabama, is listed on the 1920 census of Oak Grove with wife Margaret, 61, and daughter Mattie, 34.

The 1930 census records Madison Beene, 71, and wife Maggie Beene, 71, as residing in Beat 2 on Guntown-Fulton Road.

Matsion M. Beene 1858 - 1939 is recorded by Burton-Cruber as buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

BEENE, M.M. Mrs., Block 24

Margaret A. Beene was the wife of Madison M. Beene. See information from the 1920 and 1930 census above at M.M. Beene.

Maggie A. Beene 1858 - 1945 is recorded by Burton-Cruber as buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

CAYSON, T.H., Block 24

Thomas H. Cayson, 34, a farmer, wife Ethel, 29, and children Virginia, 7, and Stanley, 4, are shown on the 1920 census of Oak Grove.

The 1930 census of Beat 2 shows this family as Tommie J., 47, Ethel, 40, Virginia, 18, Stanley, 14, and Tom, 6. [Thomas H. Cayson is indexed as "Tonnie J." at Ancestry's 1930 census.]

Thanks to IHS member Joe Sheffield for help with this name.

GRIMES, Jimmie, Block 24

Jimmie Grimes, 30, is listed on the 1920 census of Mantachie as the wife of Edgar Grimes. Included with Edgar and Jimmie are daughters Valarie and Ruth and son Cecil Grimes.

On the 1930 census, this farming family was listed in Beat 2 on the Tupelo-Kirkville Road as Edgar Grimes, 46, wife Jimmie, 40, sons Cecil, 15, and Manard, 7, and daughter Reah, 11.

Burton-Cruber lists Jimmie Cummings Grimes [October 12, 1889 - ___] next to George Edgar Grimes 1883 - 1962 at Stephens Cemetery.

According to the SSI Death Index, Jimmie Grimes was born October 12, 1890. She was residing in Guntown, Lee County, Mississippi, when she died in November 1982.

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

Memorialize your Hill Country ancestors. Place their names on the 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt being prepared by the Itawamba Historical Society. Memorials are $10.00 per name. Contact the Society at the Corner of Church and Museum Drive, Mantachie, Mississippi, or telephone 662-282-7664 for more information. Donations to the Society are tax-deductible.

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.