Block 7. A Stitch in Time

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

A stitch in time. . . Block 7 of the circa 1931 Friendship Quilt in the Museum of the Itawamba County Historical Society

BOURLAND, Gorden, Block 07

According to IHS members, this is Gordon Bourland. No additional information was obtained for Gorden/Gordon Bourland.

McFERRIN, Midfred, Block 07

Midfred I. McFerrin is listed on the 1930 census as the one year-old daughter of Orville K. McFerrin, 23, and Gladis L. McFerrin, 20. Mr. McFerrin was a clerk in a general store. The family lived in Mantachie on the Tupelo-Guntown Road.

Kermit McFerrin provided information that Midfred McFerrin was the wife of E.V. Camp and the mother of Meredith Camp Smith, Thomas Camp, Joe Lee Camp, and Gene Camp. A member of the First Baptist Church of Mantachie, Midfred is buried in Stephens Cemetery. She was born March 30, 1929 and she died August 30, 2006.

SSI Death Index lists Midfred I. Camp whose last residence was Mantachie.

McFERRIN, O.K. Mrs., Block 07

The 1930 census of Mantachie lists Gladis L. McFerrin, 20, as the wife of Orville K., 23, and the mother of Midfred I., 1 year old. The family resided on the Tupelo-Guntown Road.

Gladys Cummings McFerrin and Orville K. McFerrin had three children: Midfred McFerrin Camp, A.K. McFerrin, and J.H. McFerrin.

According to family historian Kermit McFerrin, Gladys Cummings McFerrin was born September 18, 1905; she died June 21, 1989, and is buried in Mantachie Cemetery.

The SSI Death Index lists her as Glady L. McFerrin, 1909 - 1989.

WATSON, Jonnie Lee, Block 07

Johnnie L. Watson, 19, is listed as the daughter of John A Watson, a farmer in Mantachie, on the 1930 census.

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.

YOUNG, Eld., Block 07

The Reverend Mr. Jim M. Young is enumerated on the 1930 census from Beat 2, District 5, of Itawamba County on Guntown-Fulton Road. [The Ancestry Index lists him as Jina Young.] Mr. Young was listed as a pastor of a Baptist church.

The Young household consisted of Jim M., 55, wife Dora J., 50, daughter Magie L., 11, and son Prince G., 7.

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

The Itawamba Historical Society invites you to take part in an old-time fundraiser --- the 2010 Friendship-Memory Quilt project. If you would like your name, or the names of family members and Itawamba County ancestors stitched on the quilt, the cost is $10 per name. Send the names with your donation to the society at: The Itawamba Historical Society, Attn: Friendship Quilt Project, PO Box 7, Mantachie, MS 38855. Submissions should be made before March 1, 2010.

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.