Outrageous Proceedings (From the Winston Banner - May 2, 1872)

This undoubtedly biased account of an incident at the Winston County Courthouse preceded the vicious newspaper piece attacking John Warren Avery. Note how the author described Winston County as "one of the most law abiding communities in this or any other State" without going into detail of all the ways "the majority of white voters...have preserved their honor and vindicated their intelligence and patriotism..."

[2 May 1872, Page 2 - The Clarion-Ledger at Newspapers.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

The Clarion Ledger's First Response to Queries About John W. Avery

Who?

[18 Apr 1872, Page 2 - The Clarion-Ledger at Newspapers.com]

Perhaps they were confused because Mr. Avery was described as a carpetbagger (a Northerner) not a scalawag (a Southern man). But as we saw in one of my recent posts, the Clarion knew all about him just a few weeks later, none of it to his credit.

I've found a few more accounts of John Avery's heinous actions which I'll share in the future.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Information Concerning John W. Avery - Mississippi, 1872

A while back Christine posted about our ancestor John Warren Avery and the threats he received from the local Ku Klux Klan, whose members included his brothers and cousins. He received death threats after he testified before a grand jury in Oxford, Mississippi, in 1871 and removed himself and his family from Winston County as a result.

To follow up that story, here's a 1872 newspaper clipping showing how John was regarded by his neighbors in light of his actions, using epithets such as "a simon pure unadulterated scallawag of the meanest type, the double distilled quintessence of all villainy."

[9 May 1872, Page 1 - The Clarion-Ledger at Newspapers.com]

The author of this piece of invective alluded to a statement allegedly made by John's mother Mary (Thornton) Avery who,.having died on December 31, 1871, would not have been available to affirm or deny it.

Even John Warren Avery's military service as a private in the 35th Mississippi Infantry Regiment Volunteers was disparaged and his courage impugned.*



*You can read about his military record here.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: "The prehistoric shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico is so fertile you can see it from space"

The Washington Post published a piece about the region of Mississippi and Alabama known as the Black Belt and used this satellite image to illustrate their point:

It is subtle, and it blends in well with the surroundings, and if you are not looking for it there is a good chance you will scan right over it. But once someone points it out on a true-color map, it is impossible to unsee: a crescent of off-hue land in Mississippi and Alabama that is so perfectly-arced it looks unnatural.

[NASA via The Washington Post]

More from the Post's article:

In reality, this arc is super-fertile, cultivated land surrounded by dense forest. It is the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico as it existed 145 million years ago.

[NASA via The Washington Post]

As you can see, Macon County is one of the Alabama counties in the Black Belt and that's where my Warren, Hardy and Freeman ancestors moved as soon as the land was forcibly taken from the Creek Indians. They settled in an area called Cotton Valley which is located in the southern part of Macon County.

[The University of Alabama Department of Geography via TrueSouth.com]

Before intensive agriculture changed the land forever, the Black Belt comprised at least 356,000 acres of open prairie of which only a small fragment remains. Here's more information (with photos) about some of the plants and insects found there.

Cotton Valley proved to be a stopping point on my ancestors' way west as younger generations all moved on to Texas in the 1850s.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Miss Letta E. Porter, Poet - 1917

My paternal grandmother was 15 when she submitted a poem to the Gulfport-Biloxi Daily Herald. Her effort was judged to be the fifth best.

["Jackson Man Wins Prize in "Miss Issippi Is Calling You" Contest," Biloxi Daily Herald (Biloxi, MS) April 21, 1917, page 1, col 4-5; digital image, NewspaperArchive (http://newspaperarchive.com : 28 Feb 2017).]

I wondered what Mr. Bougher's prize winning submission was like so I sought it out and discovered that there's more to the story.

["Prize Winning Poem, 'Mississippi Is Calling You" Biloxi Daily Herald (Biloxi, MS) April 24, 1917, page 1, digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com/biloxi-daily-herald-apr-24-1917-p-1/).]

["["Winner of Prize Is Very Feminine" Biloxi Daily Herald (Biloxi, MS) April 24, 1917,

page 1, digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com/biloxi-daily-herald-apr-24-1917-p-1/).

From a quick search of the newspaper archives it doesn't look The Herald ever printed Letta's poem.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: USS Cairo - Vicksburg, Mississippi

In the Spring of 2005 Bonnie and I drove through the Vicksburg National Military Park. Unfortunately it wasn't until several years later that I became aware that Dick Worden, one of my maternal great great grandfathers, had served in the 24th Iowa Infantry during the attack on the strongly defended city.  The USS Cairo Gunboat (the history of which you can read about here) is on display near the north end of the park.

[All photos from my personal collection]

If I'd known I could have sought out the marker for his regiment and taken my own photo of it.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My 3rd Great Grand Uncle Henry Clifton Avery Was a Boiler Maker in Waco, Texas

Henry Clifton Avery (date unknown) (1879-1941), younger brother of my 2nd great grandmother Caroline "Carrie" Celestine (Avery) Porter (1871-1955), and son of  my 3rd great grandfather John Warren Avery (1836-1900).  Image originally submitted at Ancestry by Stephen Katsurinis.

Censuses and city directories show that Henry Clifton Avery was a boiler maker in Meridian, MS,  Mississippi City, MS and in Waco, TX.  I wondered what that kind of job entailed, and a search in Newspapers revealed some explanation in the form of an advertisement that H. C. Avery placed in a Waco newspaper (which I've transcribed):

"Waco and Brazos Boiler Works"
The Waco News-Tribune (Waco, Texas)
6 Jul 1924, page 16 [24] (center column)
accessed from Newspapers on 9 Jan 2018 

Waco and Brazos Boiler Works

As Seen by the Waco Chamber of Commerce 

Waco's growth is measured by the growth of the institutions of the city, and according to this standard the city is forging forward steadily, certainly and in a manner calculated to satisfy the most exacting. 

The Waco and Brazos Boiler Works', located at 1115 Mary avenue, owned by H. C. Avery, is a good example of the forward movement of the city.  A visit to this active spot was paid the past week by Secretary-Manager Chas. B. Braun of the Chamber of Commerce and a representative of The News-Tribune. 

Mr. Avery bought the Brazos Boiler Works two years ago, and at that time owned the Waco Boiler Works, so both names were retained and the combined plants were called the Waco and Brazos Boiler Works.  He has installed much machinery and the business has grown very rapidly, due not only to the service bur to the personality of Mr. Avery, who is personally very popular, kind and obliging, while his experience and ability in his line are admitted on all hands. 

Both a manufacturing and jobbing business form the service performed by the Waco and Brazos Boiler Works. 

The plant manufactures a small upright boiler, also storage tanks, wagon tanks and water tower tanks.  In the jobbing line are included steel flues, oxygen, blue annealed sheets, new boilers, return tubular boilers and water tube boilers; also handle second-hand boilers. 

There is under construction now at the plant a big storage tank for the Home Oil company at Marlin. 

A foundry is to be added to the plant at once, and all arrangements have been made for this natural and inevitable addition to the fast-growing business concern.  This foundry will care for commercial work, build smoke stacks, breeching, etc.  This is a decided forward step.  The foundry already has been surveyed off and the different units located by Mr. Avery'. 

Showing the outreach of the business, it may be stated that already orders are filled as far away as Rotan, Greenville, Alexander, San Saba, Giddings, Corsicana, Mexia, Georgetown, Bartlett and scores of other points in every direction. 

The business is not yet incorporated, but if it continues to grow as it has been growing, Mr. Avery may conclude to take this step.  It is evident that the business is destined to take important rank among the big institutions of the city if the ratio of growth is maintained as it has been since Mr. Avery merged the two plants about two years ago.  The plant is splendidly equipped with machinery and every convenience, and is right on the Cotton Belt tracks.

Well, alright!  Ask and ye shall receive.

Records reveal that this didn't last much beyond 1931, when he married a 3rd time and worked as a steel worker in Amarillo, TX and tool house clerk in the Galveston area before succumbing to congestive heart failure in 1941.

The building is now a paved parking area between the Balcones Distillery (left in the distance) and the Waco Auto Glass Center (near right). The area as seen by Google Earth's street view (Nov 2016).

I guess there is no chance that Fixer Upper's Joanna and Chip Gaines are going to renovate the old boiler maker's shop, then!



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Reminder to Always Scrutinize City Directories

My 3rd cousin 2x removed Mildred Hester Nichols was married to Theodore William Woodbeck, and they lived in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-1940's. They had one child under 18 living with them--how do I know that?  Jackson, East Jackson and Pearl City, Mississippi City Directory, 1947, "Woodbeck Theo W (Mildren H)" p. 1105; digital image, U.S. City Directories (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/13635560/828798955 : 7 November 2017).

Most entries in city directories are self-explanatory, but sometimes a directory will use code to indicate something extra about the residents.  In this case I found that the Jackson, Mississippi 1947 city directory indicated how many children under 18 were in the household:

Part of the explanation page shows that they accounted for children under 18, something I had not seen before.  Since the 1947 city directory was only partially digitized I could not find its Explanation page, but the 1945 Jackson, Mississippi city directory was complete and appeared to use the same format as the 1947 one.  Jackson, East Jackson and Pearl City, Mississippi City Directory, 1945, "Explanation" image 9; digital image, U.S. City Directories (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/12888254#?imageId=12888262 : 7 November 2017).

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Vandy Marcellus Neal (1838 - 1905) Doctor, Soldier (Confederate)

With this man I'm really going out on a genealogical limb--if I'm right, Dr. Neal is my second cousin, four times removed, through the my great great grandmother Sarah Matthews' line. But is he really?

Here's the 1850 U.S. Census records for the family of one of my first cousins, five times removed, Elizabeth Matthews Neal.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 13, Panola, Mississippi; Roll: M432_379; Page: 309B; Image: 236. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

[Detail of above]

Does this 13-year-old Mississippi-born boy turn out to be Vandy Marcellus Neal? I'm sure you've seen how badly census takers can maul unusual names and in this case the person who indexed the records read it as Vankrum. What do you think?

Oddly, although there are quite a few other records for Vandy, he somehow doesn't show up in any other censuses.

For instance we know that he graduated from the University of Louisiana, class of 1860, and served as an assistant surgeon in the 37th Alabama Regiment of Volunteer Infantry in 1862 (although he resigned effective almost immediately) and he served in several Alabama reserve companies in 1864.

[Civil War Service Index - Confederate - Alabama.

The National Archives via Fold3.com]

The following image and Dr. Neal's obituary were found on the public Ancestry.com family tree of h0uston511. Sadly the obituary doesn't mention his parents so I can't be sure that he's actually one of my distant relatives.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

"Mapsatilla" Was Probably "Mapsey Lilla"

Mapsatilla?  I don't even know where to begin with that.  No one by that name (beside this Mapsatilla) comes up on a search on Google or Bing search engines.  Maybe it is Massatilla?  1850 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 143), dwelling 188, family 190, Mapsatilla Herrod; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 376.

My 3rd great grandmother Celestine Letiticia Herrod had a sister who was born about 1840 in (likely) Madison County, Mississippi, and her name has been very difficult to figure out.

M. L. Herrod married S. B. Barnes in Madison County, Mississippi.

She is found in the 1860 Census living with S. B. Barnes:

Mapsey L.  Those initials match the marriage index record.  1860 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, p. 895, dwelling 797, family 795, Mapsey L. Barnes; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 586.

And in 1870 she was living with Silas B. Barnes and 5 year old Narcissa (Bonus: Mom has a DNA cousin match at Ancestry to a descendant of this Narcissa, which was a very cool discovery the past week!):

Clearly says Mapsy.  A nickname, or her actual name?  1870 U.S. census, Madison County, Mississippi, population schedule, Police District No. 4, p. 73, dwelling 572, family 572, Mapsy Barnes; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 739.

She likely died sometime about 1877.

I have cast about looking for the origin of Mapsatilla or anyone else on the planet whose name is Mapsatilla, with no success.  So concentrating on the Mapsey name, I did a search for it in the US Censuses 1850-1880, and in general in that era using Ancestry.  I made an interesting discovery.

According to various census records and family trees there was a Mapsy/Mapsey Lillia/Lilla (Wethersbee or Witherspoon) Cotten (born abt 1804 in probably Barnwell County, South Carolina), married to Haley Cotten, living in Franklin County, Mississippi in 1830 (when my "Mapsatilla's parents--Barney Herrod and Susan Wells-- were living there), and by 1850 this Mapsy Lilla was living in Leake County, Mississippi (neighboring county to Madison County, and where some of the the Herrod and Wells people ended up.

Is this a relative?  A family friend?  What kind of name is this?  I need more research, but I think this is possibly the same name of my aunt "Mapsatilla."

Mapsy Cotton in Leake County, Mississippi in 1850.  1850 U.S. census, Leake County, Mississippi, population schedule, Beat 5, p. 80, dwelling 528, family 587, Mapsy Cotton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 Jun 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 376.

Madison and Leake counties have been next to each other since their creation.
Image from the FamilySearch wiki on Mississippi.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Civil War Trust Announces Preservation of 319 Acres at Historic Champion Hill Battlefield in Mississippi

With this addition, to date nearly 800 acres the Champion Hill Battlefield have been saved and will, in time, become part of the National Park Service's Vicksburg National Military Park.**

Almost exactly 154 years ago* my great great grandfather Dick Worden, a private in the 24th Iowa Regiment, was one of the soldiers in Grant's amy who took part in the first assault of the battle which ended in the rout of Confederate forces and sealed the fate of Vicksburg.

[Photo from the Mississippi Historical Markers website]

Here's an excerpt from the 24th Iowa's Regimental History describing their role in the battle:

It was engaged in constant skirmishing from that time to the battle of Champion's hill, where it proved the equal of any regiment engaged. At one time it advanced unsupported charged a battery of 5 guns that was creating havoc, fairly ran over the men at the guns, and drove the supporting infantry in wild confusion, but was compelled by overwhelming numbers to fall back. Forty-three were killed, 40 mortally wounded and nearly 30 maimed for life, the total loss in killed, wounded and captured being 195 out of 417 engaged.

It's great to know that someday I will be able to visit Champion Hill with my daughter and grandson to see where our ancestor helped preserve the Union.


*The fighting commenced on May 16, 1863
**When Bonnie and I visited Vicksburg in May, 2003, I didn't know that one of my ancestors had been there during the Civil War.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My 3rd Great Grandfather John Warren Avery (1835-1900) Was Probably Run Out of Winston County, Mississippi by the Ku Klux Klan

After some research I have come to the conclusion that this Rev John Avery, testifying about his experience with the Klan, is my ancestor.  "Affairs in Mississippi: To the Editor of the Chronicle," Macon Beacon (Macon, Mississippi), 12 August 1871, page 2, col 4; digital image, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016943/1871-08-12/ed-1/seq-2/ : accessed 7 December 2016).

John Warren Avery (1835-1900) was born in Winston County, Mississippi, and although he had moved around a little he had appeared in records in Winston as late as the 1870 Census as a farmer (no mention his being a reverend).  By January 11, 1873 he was a resident of Lafayette County, Mississippi (as evidenced by his court appearance and signature in claiming his small part of an uncle's inheritance).  We were not clear until now just why he had moved, except that maybe there were better opportunities elsewhere.  Thanks to the digitized newspapers at LOC's Chronicling America, I now realize that he was run out of the area by the Ku Klux Klan for running a free school (taxpayer funded).  Apparently the Klan did not want free schools for either black or white children and were brutal in enforcing this, and were clearly not above threatening family members.

From the same story, and includes statements made by Rev. Murff, who was Alexander W. Murff (1821-1880), a Methodist Episcopal elder, former guardian ad litem for John Avery in 1853, and also John Avery's brother-in-law (he married John's sister Nancy Caroline Avery).

From statements by Cornelius McBride, another victim of the Klan, made to the Senate concerning the Klan activities.  In the index of this publication John Avery is referred to as John W. Avery.  "Index to the Reports of the Committees of The Senate of the United States, for the Second Session of the Forty-Second Congress. 1871-'72."  Government Printing Office (Washington, DC). 1872; digital images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtYAAAAcAAJ: accessed 7 December 2016).

I was dismayed, although not surprised, that I have these relations in the Klan, but I was also impressed that John Warren Avery had tried to make a difference in his community.  It also helped me figure out what his religious denomination was, something I wasn't quite sure about.

John must have had a hell of a time for many years, considering his Civil War experience on the losing side, and then the loss of camaraderie and support of many of his remaining relatives to the Klan.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Willet Orlando "Richard" or "Dick" Worden (1843 - 1912), Soldier, U.S. - Part 7

After the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, Dick Worden and his comrades of the 24th Iowa Infantry in General Hovey's Division formed part of General Sherman's forces at the Siege of Jackson* which took place from August 9th until the morning of the 17th when it was discovered that Confederate troops had abandoned the city.

[Map of the Siege of Jackson, Miss. Source: Library of Congress]

[From Personal memoirs of U. S. Grant by Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885. Source: Internet Archive]

After Jackson's second fall, according to its regimental history the 24th Iowa

"was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, and put in much of the fall and early winter in marches in various directions, without apparent aim or result."

The transfer entailed being transported downriver to New Orleans where on August 23, 1863, Dick Worden received a disability discharge from the Army and returned home to Iowa.**

For the moment at least, his war was over.



*Jeff T. Giambrone's blog Mississippians in the Confederate Army has an excellent detailed description of the two battles for Jackson here.
**To date I haven't been able to discover what disability my great great grandfather suffered that led to his discharge.




© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Willet Orlando "Richard" or "Dick" Worden (1843 - 1912), Soldier, U.S. - Part 6

Vicksburg fell to Grant's besieging armies on July 4th 1863 and one of my direct ancestors was present.*

[The Surrender of Vicksburg / Theodore R. Davis. The rebels marching out and stacking arms, with Gen. Grant and staff on horseback meeting marching soldiers on left and Gen. Pemberton and staff on right; view of the city from the river bank, showing part of the river batteries, with soldiers standing and sitting near cannon in foreground. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1863 Aug. 1, p. 488-489.

Source: Library of Congress.]

[Cleveland Daily Leader - Cleveland, Ohio. Wednesday, July 8, 1863.

Source: Newspapers.com]

[The Appleton Motor - Appleton, Wisconsin, Thursday, July 9, 1863.

Source: Newspapers.com]

I'm sure that July 4th had an extra special meaning hereafter for my great great grandfather Dick Worden who was one of the Union soldiers at Vicksburg on that day.

He had survived a brutal campaign but his war wasn't over yet. He and his comrades must have wondered where they would be sent next.


*Although the 35th Mississippi Infantry Regiment Volunteers that my paternal great great grandfather John Warren Avery belonged to was at Vicksburg during the siege, John was on medical leave still recovering from the effects of his imprisonment at Alton, Illinois.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Willet Orlando "Richard" or "Dick" Worden (1843 - 1912), Soldier, U.S. - Part 5

In my last post about Dick Worden I focused on his participation in the bloody battle at Champion Hill on May 16, 1863, where his regiment, the 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry

"proved the equal of any regiment engaged. At one time it advanced unsupported charged a battery of 5 guns that was creating havoc, fairly ran over the men at the guns, and drove the supporting infantry in wild confusion, but was compelled by over-whelming numbers to fall back. Forty-three were killed, 40 mortally wounded and nearly 30 maimed for life, the total loss in killed, wounded and captured being 195 out of 417 engaged."*

[Big Black River, Miss. Battlefield of May 17, 1863.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

The day after their loss at Champion Hill as the main force of the Confederate army retreated back toward Vicksburg, they halted to await the arrival of the remainder of their troops at Big Black River** where the Federal army attacked and defeated them a second time in as many days. But Dick Worden as part of the 24th Iowa did not take part in this battle as it had

"marched with its brigade from the battlefield of Champion's Hill to Black River Bridge, but did not arrive there in time to participate in the battle in which the Twenty-first and Twenty-third Iowa regiments won such distinguished honor. Remaining at Black River for a few days, the regiment continued its march to Vicksburg, where it arrived on the 24th of May and at once took its position on the line of investment in the center of General Hovey's division, where for the succeeding forty days it endured the hardships, dangers and privations incident to the siege of the rebel stronghold."***

The Civil War Trust has an excellent web page about Vicksburg, including an animated battle map.

[The siege of Vicksburg - Major General U.S. Grant, commanding / sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st O.V.I. ; Middleton Strobridge, & Co. Lith. Cin. O. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Confederate fortifications in rear of Vicksburg, Miss

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Approaches to Vicksburg, Miss. & Rebel defences.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

*From The Union Army: States and regiments, Volume IV; Federal Publishing Company, 1908. Page 162 (available as a free ebook here)
**They waited in vain--those forces, commanded by General William Loring, were on their way east to join Johnston's army near Jackson, Mississippi.
***Quoted from the History of the Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.