Two little angels . . .

(left click for a large image)

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The two angels above were photographed recently in Fulton Cemetery, Fulton, Itawamba County, Mississippi. The image was intriguing and I made a close-up photograph of the marker.

(left click for a large image)

Look at the marker. At first glance it appears to mark the death of one child and I inventoried the marker as a single-name-stone for the burial of Powel Clayton, 1861 - 1862. But the two angels chiseled upon the stone made me wonder. So I took a second look at the stone and saw beneath the word "Also" a notice of the death of an unnamed daughter for which no dates were provided.

Here is an image the bottom of the stone enlarged (and enhanced by changing contrast). Note the inscription

ALSO

Unnamed Dau. of same

Two little angels who beckon

us to Heaven

(left click for a large image)

The two angels on the top of the stone, one obviously a larger child, a boy, and the other smaller and female, were most appropriate images for Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Clayton to have engraved upon the marker in the early 1860s for their two children.

Source:

Photograph of the burial marker for the children of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Clayton. Fulton Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi. Terry Thornton. May 13, 2010.

Fulton Cemetery, Itawamba County: An Inventory of Names on Grave Markers

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

An inventory of the names on the grave markers at Fulton Cemetery has been posted at Itawamba County Mississippi Book of the Dead. The alphabetized listing of the names is based upon a photographic record of the cemetery done May 13, 2010. The list contains 463 names, year of birth and death, as well as a link to the photograph of the grave marker.

Fulton Cemetery is presented at the Book of the Dead in four parts:

Post 1 is an introduction with general photographs and a map to the cemetery.

Post 2 contains the Surnames A - G

Post 3 contains the Surnames H - M

Post 4 contains the Surnames N - Z and Unknowns

Other Itawamba County cemeteries previous posted to the Book of the Dead include

Pleasant Hill Cemetery

Keys Cemetery

Maxey Cemetery

Chastain Cemetery

Files Cemetery

Asbury Cemetery

Little Cemetery

Walton Cemetery

Use the information in the right-side bar of the Book of the Dead to move from section to section.

A Book Review: Itawamba County, MS: World War I Draft Registration Records

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Cover of Martha Reece Bone Lake's recent book.

Mississippi genealogist Martha Reece Bone's Itawamba County, MS: World War I Draft Registration Records with selected information from censuses, cemetery books, and Social Security death indexes is a treasure-trove of information about the Hill Country.

Written and privately published by the author in 2007, hard-bound copies of this 232 page reference book are available for purchase at the Itawamba County Historical Society for $20 each to help raise funds to benefit the Society. Copies of this book may also be obtained direct from the author (contact her by email bone@tecinfo.com for specifics).

Researched over a period of several years, Martha transcribed information from the WWI draft cards complied on individuals from Itawamba County. She then added information about the individual which she gleaned from various census reports, burial information (from Betty Burton-Cruber's Cemetery Markings), and data, if available, from the SS Death Index.

Typical page from the book shows two columns of information per page

A typical entry in the alphabetized list of individuals for whom draft registration cards were prepared includes name, address, age, place of birth, race, occupation, family information including marital status and often name of spouse, physical description (size, built, eye and hair color), voting precinct, date of registration, and additional information from the census, burial information, and Social Security Death index.

Of particular interest to many researchers are the various given names or nicknames under which Martha found information about the individual ---- and she provides those various names. Inconsistencies in spelling of name, date of birth, and age of individual from the various records examined in this research are noted

Also included are a list of the registrars for Itawamba Country. The book ends with an alphabetical list of World War I veterans from Itawamba County.

On a personal note, Martha Reece Bone Lakes is retiring and making plans to move out-of-state. We wish her much happiness and contentment in her new location --- and with many thanks for her contributions to family research in the Hill Country of Northeast Mississippi.

Hill Country column from MONROE JOURNAL, March 3, 2010

[Note: Hill Country is a column from the Monroe Journal, Amory, Mississippi. My articles appear there every other week. After the column appears in MOJO it is then published here on the blog. I am happy to be writing in the newspaper of the Hill Country, the Monroe Journal. Below is the column from March 3, 2010.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AREA ONCE HAD PLENTY OF PIG YOKES

by Terry Thornton

George Spikes, age 25, born in South Carolina, lived in the Richmond area of old Itawamba County in 1860. He was a pig-yoke maker according to the census report of that year.

A pig-yoke is usually defined as three pieces of wood fastened in a triangle round a pig's neck to prevent trespassing through hedges and fences. Cows were also yoked to keep them inside a fence and there are reports of goose-yokes being used to keep geese inside a hedge, fence, or pen.

In the early years of Hill Country before barbed-, hog-, and chicken- wires were available, flocks of cattle, pigs and fowl ran loose. These free-ranging animals were identified by brand or by ear notches or by bells. Foraging on mast in the forest or grazing in open dells and hollows, the animals ran free. When hogs were rounded up and corralled for fattening just before the onset of hog-killing weather, they were often yoked to keep them in their sties

Around most barns were split rail, wattle, or hedge fences (bodock hedges were popular in some locations). Penned animals have a tendency to think the grass is greener on the other side and push through any fence or hedge to start free ranging again.

The loss of animals from fattening pens, sties, or from feed lots around barns was discouraged by using yokes. The Y-shaped yokes of wood about the necks of animals hell-bend on getting out prevented their escape but did not impede their eating or drinking.

Geese and other barnyard fowl wore small, light-weight yokes on their necks to prevent them from pushing through the fence and, of course, clipping their wing-feathers would prevent them flying over it.

In more recent times, I remember cows at Parham wearing yokes to prevent their escape from fenced pastures. Rita Cauthern Thompson of Hatley remembers pig yokes at her grandfather's farm near Pearce Chapel. She says the yokes were "Y" shaped similar to the ones cows wore only smaller. The cow yokes I saw at Parham were fashioned from a sapling which formed a sturdy "Y" shaped growth; the yoke, a single piece of wood, was strapped about the cows head and its shape prevented them from pushing through the fence.

Pig-yokes were not an American invention --- the earlier settlers brought the design to the Colonies. One of the best discussions of the use of pig-yokes is from Manchester, England, circa 1730s as reported at Page 468, The Athenaeum, Number 3024, October 10, 1885:

Pigs must have been a constant source of annoyance, for probably nearly every householder had one or more, and they were frequently not in their sties, but wandering at large in the streets. It was the duty of the swineherd to drive them to feed on the common during the day and bring them home at night. He must have been a man of superhuman patience and tact if he could accomplish his work without impeding the traffic. No pigs were to be driven to Collyhurste --- the common where they grazed --- 'unless they be both yoked and ringed.' We doubt if any of our readers have ever seen a pig wearing a yoke. The practice of using them is fast dying out. The pig yoke was a wooden frame which was fastened around the necks of pigs to hinder them from forcing a way through hedges. They seem to have been object of every-day use. . .

It is not known how many pig-yokes George Spikes made and sold (or bartered) to his neighbors in Itawamba or Monroe County --- but if you have an old animal yoke that is hog-sized, you just might have a Spikes' Pig-Yoke from 1860.

It is believed that Hill Country pig-yoke maker George Spikes, CSA, was killed in 1864 at the battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana.

~~~~~

Terry Thornton is a retired university professor/administrator living in Fulton. Readers may contact him the blog Hill Country HOGS WebPress or email hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com or at his FaceBook account.

CHASTAIN CEMETERY: Alphabetical list of names

CHASTAIN CEMETERY, Itawamba County, Mississippi: Alphabetized list of burials based upon photographs of the grave markers 11-7-09

Copyright © 2009 William T. "Terry" Thornton. Fulton, Mississippi 38843. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, view the images by clicking on the image number(s) following the name. Enlarge the image for even more details.

Each entry will consist of the following [if available]:

SURNAME in bold, Given names or initials, year of birth, year of death, name of cemetery, and an image number which links to a recent photograph of the grave marker.

Researchers are encouraged to view the photographs to obtain more information. If you discover errors in the transcription/index, please feel free to post a comment below.

Abbreviations used: nd -- no dates; nod -- no other date; img -- image. A question mark (?) is used to indicate that I am not sure of the transcription; a blank line (__) indicates that information is missing or unreadable.

CHAFFIN, Elizabeth Denton, 1817, 1902, Chastain, img 2986

CHASTAIN, Algandar, 1850, 1852, Chastain, img 2980

CHASTAIN, Edward Jordon, 1820, 1895, Chastain, img 2978

CHASTAIN, Rainey, 1793, 1889, Chastain, img 2981

CLARK, infant, 1953, nod, Chastain, img 2975

COCKRUM, Charity, 1819, 1912, Chastain, img 2957

COLE, J.C. Sr., 1875, 1964, Chastain, img 3043

COLE, Jennie, 1878, 1956, Chastain, img 3042

FILES, Abner, 1906, 1987, Chastain, img 3038

FILES, J. Manly, 1867, 1948, Chastain, img 3036

FILES, Julia S., 1873, 1948, Chastain, img 3036

FILES, Louise J., 1837, 1925, Chastain, img 3039

FILES, William Chester, 1900, 1979, Chastain, img 3035

FILES, William W., 1837, 1926, Chastain, img 3039

FORRISTER, J.D., 1846, 1924, Chastain, img 3002

FORRISTER, M.A., 1848, 1925, Chastain, img 3002

HAMM, Katie I., 1899, 1982, Chastain, img 3003

HOLLEY, Dessie M., 1890, 1899, Chastain, img 2947

HOLLEY, Pearly M., 1888, 1889, Chastain, img 2948

HOLLEY, R., 1846, 1928, Chastain, img 2960

HOLLEY, Rachael E., 1869, 1870, Chastain, img 2952

HOLLEY, Sarah, 1826, 1885?, Chastain, img 2955

HOLLEY, T.P., 1848, 1909, Chastain, img 2959

HOWELL, Cumy Underwood, 1908, 1996, Chastain, img 3014

HULSEE, Naomi P., 1868, 1946, Chastain, img 3046

JACKSON, Boyce Wayne, 1935, 1936, Chastain, img 2974

JACKSON, Collin K., 1902, 1975, Chastain, img 2973

JACKSON, Dexter R., 1894, 1964, Chastain, img 2972

JACKSON, Ezra G., 1892, 1912, Chastain, img 2968

JACKSON, Hollis E., 1919, 1920, Chastain, img 2970

JACKSON, infant, nd, Chastain, img 2949

JACKSON, Maudie, 1893, 1948, Chastain, ing 2971

JACKSON, Richard A., 1866, 1940, Chastain, img 2967

JACKSON, Sarah E., 1868, 1954, Chastain, img 2966

JUSTICE, Charles "Ben", 1911, 1996, Chastain, img 2996

JUSTICE, E.L., 1869, 1941, Chastain, img 2989

JUSTICE, W.R., 1866, 1938, Chastain, img 2989

KENNEDY, Nancy C. "Kate", 1871, 1946, Chastain, img 2963

KENNEDY, Oscar A., 1871, 1936, Chastain, img 2963

LAVENDER, Mauvileen, 1895, 1983, Chastain, img 2962

MANKER, Inez M., 1916, 1986, Chastain, img 2961

MAULPIN, Yvonne Thorn, 1941, 1992, Chastain, img 3022

MURPHREE, H.M., 1845, 1928, Chastain, img 3000

MURPHREE, J.C., 1835, 1863, Chastain, img 3013

MURPHREE, Joseph C., nd, Chastain, img 3009

MURPHY, Jack, 1877, 1940, Chastain, img 2977

MURPHY, Janie, 1884, 1932, Chastain, img 2976

MURPHY, Susannah, 1848, 1940, Chastain, img 2998

NIX, Charles Allen, 1937, 1937, Chastain, img 3032

NIX, Dorothy Sue, 1938, 1938, Chastain, img 3031

PATTERSON, Ora Ma, 1893, 1931, Chastain, img 3006

REYNOLDS, Jimmie Joe, 1936, 1936, Chastain, img 3004

ROBERTS, Coy L., 1915, 1983, Chastain, img 2997

ROBERTS, Letha, 1921, nod, Chastain, img 2997

ROBINSON, G. Richard, 1907, 1979, Chastain, img 2992

ROBINSON, infant, 1929, 1929, Chastain, img 2991

ROBINSON, Lonie T., 1908, 1995, Chastain, img 2992

SHEFFIELD, Dorothy Davila, 1924, 1985, Chastain, img 3018

SINGLETON, Benny, 1899, 1919, Chastain, img 3034

SINGLETON, infant, 1918, 1918, Chastain, img 3033

THORN, Amanda M., 1890, 1894, Chastain, img 3026

THORN, Athel, 1902, 1941, Chastain, img 3019

THORN, Bell O., 1875, 1942, Chastain, img 3001

THORN, infant, 1926, 1926, Chastain, img 3021

THORN, James A., 1862, 1953, Chastain, img 3028

THORN, Joann, 1947, 1947, Chastain, img 3024

THORN, M.H., 1893, 1934, Chastain, img 3020

THORN, R.V., 1910, 1977, Chastain, img 3025

THORN, Reba S., 1920, 2004, Chastain, img 3025

THORN, S. Froney, 1869, 1959, Chastain, img 3028

THORN, W.H., 1871, 1953, Chastain, img 3001

THORN, Wanda Nell, 1943, 1943, Chastain, img 3023

THORN, Wright A., 1905, 1908, Chastain, img 3027

UNDERWOOD, James Travis, 1926, 1945, Chastain, img 3017

UNDERWOOD, Luther Vernice, 1904, 1936, Chastain, img 3014

UNDERWOOD, Oscar, left arm of, 1924, Chastain, img 2944

WELCH, Maybell, 1905, 1991, Chastain, img 2995

WELCH, Samuel, 1904, 1985, Chastain, img 2995

WILKS, J. Sam, 1889, 1952, Chastain, img 3047

WILKS, James T., 1886, 1934, Chastain, img 3044

WILKS, Minnie, 1890, 1973, Chastain, img 3045

WILSON, Mattie, 1873, 1932, Chastain, img 2946

WILSON, Willie W., 1883, 1968, Chastain, img 2945

MAXEY CEMETERY: Alphabetized list of burials

MAXEY CEMETERY, Itawamba County, Mississippi: Alphabetized list of burials based upon photographs of the grave markers 11-14-09

Copyright © 2009. Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, view the images by clicking on the image number(s) following the name. Enlarge the image for even more details.

Each entry will consist of the following [if available]:

SURNAME in bold, Given names or initials, year of birth, year of death, name of cemetery, and an image number which links to a recent photograph of the grave marker.

Researchers are encouraged to view the photographs to obtain more information. If you discover errors in the transcription/index, please feel free to post a comment below.

Abbreviations used: nd -- no dates; nod -- no other date; img -- image. A question mark (?) is used to indicate that I am not sure of the transcription; a blank line (__) indicates that information is missing or unreadable.

BARNES, Katie, 1893, 1901, Maxey, img 3089

JUSTICE, Nathaniel, 1862, 1909, Maxey, img 3210

JUSTICE, Priscella Webb, 1867, 1904, Maxey, img 3210

MAXEY, A.J., 1845, 1895, Maxey, img 3079

MAXEY, H.P., 1870, 1898, Maxey, img 3080

MAXEY, Mary R., 1867, 1910, Maxey, imgs 3081, 3082

McWILLIAMS, William, died 1843, Maxey, img 3094

MOORE, G.W., 1834, 1911, Maxey, img 3103

MOORE, Martha A., 1846, 1880, Maxey, img 3102

MORROW, John, 1823, 19_, Maxey, imgs 3068, 3077

PALMER, Elias Alexander, 1831, 1924, Maxey, img 3057

PALMER, Mary Adelia, 1838, 1921, Maxey, img 3058

PALMER, Minnie May, 1895, 1897, Maxey, img 3075

PALMER, T.F., 1863, 1930, Maxey, img 3059

SHAW, J.R., nd, age 84, Maxey, img 3087

SHAW, Joe, nd, Maxey, img 3085

SHAW, Mary, nd, Maxey, img 3088

SHAW, Ruth, nd, age 84?, Maxey, img 3092

SHAW, Sarah, nd, Maxey, img 3084

SPENCER, Dezzie D., 1888, 1900, Maxey, img 3065

SPENCER, James Wyatt, 1840, 1923, Maxey, imgs 3206, 3208

SPENCER, John P., 1869, 1879, Maxey, img 3107

SPENCER, Kizzie H., 1883, 1901, Maxey, imgs 3063, 3064

SPENCER, M.E., 1853, 1907, Maxey, img 3066

SPENCER, M.F., 1846, 1905, Maxey, img 3209

SPENCER, Mittie Ann, 1872, 1881, Maxey, img 3107

SULLIVAN, W.G., nd, Maxey, img 3060

WALKER, Albert Malachi, 1872, 1873, Maxey, img 3105

WALKER, E.J., 1848, 1898, Maxey, img 3069

WALKER, John H., 1841, __, Maxey, img 3073

WALKER, Mittie Alice, 1868, 1869, Maxey, img 3106

WALKER, W.C., 1870, 1901, Maxey, img 3071

WIYGLE, Rosalee, 1880, 1887, Maxey, img 3062

WIYGLE, Sallie C., 1817, 1892, Maxey, img 3061

Grave Marking and Dedication Service of JAMES WYATT SPENCER, CSA

A Photographic Essay

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Flags and guard of honor

On Saturday afternoon, November 14, 2009, the late James Wyatt Spencer, Corporal, Company F, 24th Mississippi Infantry CSA, was honored and remembered in a grave marking and dedication service. Corporal Spencer, 1840-1923, is buried in Maxcy Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi. The service was conducted by the Corinth Chapter #333 of the Mississippi Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Kathryn Sewell, President of the Corinth Chapter of the UDC gave opening and welcoming remarks.

The great-grandson of Corporal Spencer, Charles A. Spencer offered a short scripture reading and lead the assembled group in the Lord's Prayer.

Frances Ramer, UCD Corinth, and Abby Hamlet, Chief Tishomingo Children of the American Revolution Society, unveiled the CSA military marker honoring Corporal Spencer.

Following dedicatory remarks by Kathryn Sewall, Charles Spencer offered a tribute to his great-grandfather.

Jean McCalla of the UDC Corinth placed a memorial wreath on the grave of Corporal Spencer.

A musket salute was fired in honor of Corporal Spencer followed by the playing of taps.

Doyle W. Spencer, great-grandson of Corporal Spencer offered the benediction.

Other random photos from the event.

Maxcy Cemetery is located on a high hill overlooking Reed's Creek. One of the oldest roads into Itawamba County was the Wilderness Road coming north from Monroe County. A gristmill, Maxcy Mill, was located on the creek just below the cemetery --- and Maxcy Church was once located across Wilderness Road from the cemetery. Today the cemetery is on private land and the road into the area is private.

SOURCES:

Grave Marking and Dedication Service Program for Corporal James Wyatt Spencer, November 14, 2009/

Maxcy Cemetery, Church, Mill, and Wilderness Road information from Itawamba County Historian Bob Franks, email November 13, 2009, to Terry Thornton.

Photographs by Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi, November 14, 2009.