Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 11:47 PM Subject: Holmes Co Ancestors Mari , There is an old adage "be careful what you ask for " , but here is what I have in regard to my Holmes Co. ancestors. Benjamin Franklin GRIFFIN was born 1807 in Amite Co MS . a son of Ferdinand GRIFFIN ( aka Furney ) and Mary ( KENNEDY ) Wilkinson . Mary was a widow of Micajah Wilkinson with eight minor children when they married, and together they had six more.Family notes say that Benjamin surveyed a road in LA when a youth, for $5000 , that he was a wealthy plantation owner in Hickory Springs , and a Primitive Baptist preacher. He wrote a book "History of the Primitive Baptist's in Mississippi ". Several years ago a list member told me that he was a surveyor and had laid out the street plan for Lexington , but I have been unable to confirm this. He served in Co A 28th MS Cavalry. In 1835 , he married Rosanna TAYLOR in Holmes Co MS. Rosanna TAYLOR was born 1820 in Perry Co MS . She was a daughter of Sanders TAYLOR and Sarah "Sally" GREEN . who had migrated to MS from Wake - Johnston counties NC along with Sarah's parents , Silas and Charity (Speight ) GREEN., and other family members. Silas Green died 1824 in Perry Co ,, and the Taylors, after a brief stay in Holmes Co, moved on to Holly Springs in Marshall county. Mary Elizabeth GRIFFIN , eldest of Benjamin and Rosanna's six known children, was born in Holmes Co 1836.She was a music teacher in a girl's school in Lexington , and married Richmond J. Brown in Holmes Co 1854. Richmond Jones BROWN, was born 1822 in Henry Co TN , son of Henry and Susanna (Ligon ) BROWN. He married Mary M.JONES in Rankin Co MS 1845 , who died between 1850-54 , without children. He was a lawyer, and family history is that he was a judge in Holmes Co for about 20 years, and head of a girl's school ( the same one where Mary Elizabeth taught ) but I have not been able to verify it.He served with Co F 5th Cavalry in the war. The only documentation I have located is that he was Secretary of State Register of Commissions 1858-1864 and 1865-1869. After the war , and having lost everything they owned, he and his father in law, Benjamin Griffin, moved with their families to Johnson Co AR and lived there until their deaths. NOTE:Census records for Holmes Co 1840 show two sons under 10 and in 1850 two sons 10 years old, named Elbert and Albert, in Benjamin GRIFFIN's household. They are not mentioned in family records, and haven't been able to find them again after 1850. Could they be children of Benjamin by a previous marriage ? Or children of one of his brothers ? Since both Benjamin AND Rosanna were twins, I'm curious. Henry BROWN , father of Richmond J. Brown, was born 1783 in NC or VA. He married 1804 in Spartanburg SC to Susanna LIGON b Amelia Co VA. They were the parents of 12 children , most born in SC before they migrated to Henry Co TN in 1820. Some of the daughters had already married by then, and may have gone directly to MS. Soon after 1840 , with Susanna and three children deceased in TN, Henry joined his other children in Holmes Co , and in 1845 married Catherine PARKER. He died in Lexington about 1855-60. Henry Washington BROWN s/o Henry and Susanna, b 1813 SC married Nancy E. Mansfield 1839 in Yazoo Co MS, died in Holmes Co 1878. Census for Holmes Co 1850 show three daughters and a son . Yet his will, dated 1778 , indicates his wife and all his children have died, and names only his brothers Richmond J. and James J., and two minor grandchildren as his survivors. Will gives burial instructions in family plot on his plantation, but after engaging a researcher to check it out have been told it is now a paved parking lot for a church in Lexington. Were his family victims of a yellow fever epidemic ? Other children of Henry and Susanna, none of whose graves have been located , are: William BROWN died abt. 1850 Lexington MS Martha COURTS died Lexington MS .Susan DOUGLASS died Sataria, Yazoo Co MS Annie GROVES died Koscuisko, Attala Co MS Rilda DOLLAHITE Yalobusha Co MS It's hard to believe that out of 12 children, there does not seem to be anyone researching this Brown family. Surely they left descendants , but I have yet to find any connections. And of course, I would dearly love to find parents and / or siblings of Henry Brown, Sr.