This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/EJB.2ACE/567 Message Board Post: One of my ancestors, Minerva Steele, married Richard Grooms in Jefferson County on June 14, 1836. The minister who officiated was R. D. Smith, M.M.C.G. Does anyone have information on which church he pastored? What do the initials stand for? (I tend to think Methodist Minister of Christian Gospel but not positive.) Any assistance appreciated.

R. D. Smith was mentioned in quite a few places in "A Complete History of Methodism as connected with The Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South," by Rev. John Griffing Jones. Thus, your guess that he was a Methodist preacher is correct. > >

Elsie, Which Millsaps are you looking for in Jefferson County in the 1930s and 1940s? Tony Miller > >

Looking for location of the "Milsap Place" in the 1930s and 1940s. Thanks. Elsie

Seeking Mr. Baker 1863 Searching for any information on "Mr. Baker" resident of Jefferson County MS from about 1856 to 1863, and Presbyterian minister in Red Lick to 1863. Can anyone tell me his given name? About 1955 Anabel Power related: "During the summer of 1863, Mr. Baker, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Red Lick, Jefferson County, Mississippi, came to Rodney seeking transportation to the north. He was a Union man at heart and resigned his pastorate to go north." Susan Sillers Darden recorded on 26-May-1856: "It is reported that Charlotte Reed & Mr Baker [the same person?], a young man from the north will be married this morning. Mr Baker has been teaching school at John Collier's for a year; he is very smart, I hope she will do well." [The marriage did not take place. Within a year Charlotte married an 18-yo Mr. Welsh.] Thanks for any assistance Bruce Bruce D. Liddell Birmingham AL BDLiddell@yahoo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com

Thanks, Sue, you are appreciated. Ethel.

Hi Ethel, Here is the address Grady Leese 108 Williams Rd. Vicksburg, MS 39180-5508 email address gramar@canufly.net I think it was about $40 with postage, but it has about 375 pages and is well done. Sue M.

I am interested. Please send address to me. Thanks. Ethel Sacker P.O. Box 179 Kinder, LA 70648

I just wanted the list to know about a new book that is out on Claiborne County that I recently got that is very good. The title is "Genealogy from Glenwood Funeral Home Records, Port Gibson, MS 28 Jan. 1951 through Dec. 2002" by Grady & Martha Leese. Information may include relatives, birth and death dates, burial information, etc. and is indexed. There are a lot of Jefferson County burials done by this funeral home, too. I have the address is anyone is interested. Sue

Here are a couple of references of James S. Johnston, Sr. that I found on Making of America at U of Michigan. Sue Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman ... Governor of the state of Mississippi. Pub. in 1860 Author: Claiborne, John Francis Hamtramck 1809-1884. Located Making of America Books at U of Mich. (Page 17) On the 2d of December the citizens of Natchez and the adjacent country assembled to witness the presentation of the sword voted to Quitman by Congress for his conduct at Monterey.* It was presented by James S. Johnston, Esq., of Jefferson County, in behalf of the President of the United States. After a brilliant summary of his military career, the eloquent speaker concluded as follows: "To a magnanimous mind like yours, general, the consciousness of having done your duty, and your whole (Page 18) duty, to your country, in the hour of her trial and danger, is alone and of itself an all-sufficient reward. The patriot claims no equivalent, demands no satisfaction, to compensate him for the sacrifices and sufferings he endures in his country's defense. But, sir, while a grateful and approving government proffers to you no reward for your patriotic devotion, the public authorities have rightly respected the popular will, and fitly reflected the national sense and appreciation of your eminent services, by voting to you, as a compliment, this superb and elegant sword. "In their name, therefore, and on their behalf, as deputed thereto, I now present you this beautiful and apposite token of the nation's gratitude. In receiving from me, as their humble organ, this delicate and sacred trust, you have already given the best and surest pledge, by your deeds, that you will never suffer the slightest stain of dishonor to tarnish the unsullied surface of its pure and polished blade, and that you will ever be ready to wear it, and, if need be, to flesh it, in defense of the nation's rights, whenever foreign aggression is to be repelled or an insolent enemy chastised. " Accept it, then, general, as the gift of the American people; and, like the giant's sword, which the ancients kept suspended in the sacred temple, only to be drawn down and used in times of public danger, so, sir, may this fine commemorative weapon never be unsheathed by you for use, except to punish your country's foes, or to avenge your country's wrongs." * General Quitman's Swords. (page 17) 1. Sword presented by Congress.-Heavily embossed gold scabbard, the hilt set with two large jewels, one in the head and one on the guard, and ornamented with reliefs representing the storming of Monterey, and a group of American arms wound round with a scroll, on which are these words: " Storming of Monterey, 21st, 22d, and 23d Sept., 1846." On the scabbard: " Presented by the President of the United States, agreeable to a resolution of Congress, to Brig. Gen. John A. Quitman, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his gallantry and good conduct in the storming of Monterey. Resolution approved March 2d, 1847." (Page 214) I (Quitman) supported Claiborne and Gholson's vote for the Independent Treasury. I had been one of its earliest advocates.* *It is not improbable that the idea originated with him. The earliest articles I can recall in print, hinting at a total separation of bank and state, are from the pens of John A. Quitman and his friend James S. Johnston, Esq., of Jefferson County, a gentleman of rare talent and extensive learning. Bred in the strictest school of Virginia strict constructionists, of a family distinguished for ability, he early formed a close intimacy with Quitman, and they wrote and acted together.

The Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/JJ/fjo35.html gives the place of birth of James Steptoe Johnston, Jr. as Church Hill (also called the Maryland Settlement) in Jefferson Co. MS, and his mother as Louisa Newman (Covington) Johnston. Ann Brown has a sketch of Church Hill at this url http://www.rootsweb.com/~msjeffe2/churchhill.htm There is an Auburn antebellum home in Natchez. Sue

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Johnston/Johnson Newman Covington Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/EJB.2ACE/566 Message Board Post: Looking for information on James Steptoe Johnston b. circa 1808 in Virginia, m. Louisa (Covington) Newman (b. Adams Co. MS) abt 1834 in Jefferson County MS. He was an attorney and planter, believe he owned "Botetourt" plantation, "Auburn Hall" (possibly in Adams Co?) and a plantation in Catahoula Parish in LA. James' son James Steptoe Johnston Jr. b. abt 1837 was an attorney for a while too, became a minister and founded West Texas Military Academy (today's Texas Military Institute) in 1893. Any information about James S. Johnston Sr., his properties, records, etc. would be appreciated.

What's New? October 21, 2003 - Added Deborah Spence Baldridge Johnson to the Tributes Page. Contributed by Nancy Brister. Added a link to the Church Hill Cemetery-Christ Church Transcription. (which for some reason, was sent to Adams County MSGenWeb!) and last but certainly not least: Added A Way Of Life - a chapter from "A History of Jefferson County", a thesis prepared in 1960 for a Master of Arts in the Department of History at Mississippi College by Nancy L. Morton. I have been given the whole thesis and will be putting it online one chapter at a time. Ann Allen Geoghegan AKA "AnnieG" CC Jefferson & Claiborne MSGenWeb Project Coordinator, Mississippi Families on the Internet CC Kenedy County TXGenWeb Project State Coordinator - Mississippi American Local History Network

I just bought two of Jack Curtis's books, "Patriot, Planter, & Philanthropist - John Jones 1744 - 1821" (381 pages) and "Fearless, Faithful, Forgotten - Richard Curtis, Jr. 1755 - 1811" (155 pages). The books are very carefully researched (dispelling some of the earlier errors in the Jersey Settlers volumes), and are full of pictures, copies of original documents, history of the area, etc. Jack even traveled to Seville, Spain to research there for documents created in the Natchez district before the Americans took over in 1798. There are many Coleman and Griffing entries in each book. Jack is not on the internet, but his address is 706 Harvard St. Cleveland MS 38732. I have his telephone address if anyone needs it. He has written at least half a dozen books on subjects of interest to people in this general area. Sue sbmoore@swbell.net

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Scott, Coleman and Griffing Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/EJB.2ACE/310.331.343.1.1 Message Board Post: Do you know where Coleman Plantation was in Jefferson Co., Miss. I am fromJohn and Penelope Coleman Griffing too. India J. Wolf IWolf54197@aol.com or India49_1@hotmail.com

Hi folks, Here's what's new at Jefferson County MSGenWeb: October 20, 2003 - Added March 1849 Member Roll for Union Church Presbyterian Church - contributed by Linda Rudd Ann Allen Geoghegan AKA "AnnieG" CC Jefferson & Claiborne MSGenWeb Project Coordinator, Mississippi Families on the Internet CC Kenedy County TXGenWeb Project State Coordinator - Mississippi American Local History Network

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/EJB.2ACE/565 Message Board Post: I am looking for any information on Robert Currie m. Jane Morrison in 1804. They were in this county by 1805 for their first child was born in Jefferson Co. They were there until 1821 when a child was born in Claiborne Co. Robert died in 1823 in Claiborne Co. Children born in Jefferson Co., James Henry, Joseph Barnibas, Robert Morrison (my line) Evlina Eliza, Catherine Jackson, Stephen Decator and maybe David Gibson. Any infor or leads would be greatly appreciated. Please e-mail me if you have anything.

Thanks, Bruce. I would assume that these you have found are the same John A. Watkins. According to Diane Roos well-documented notes, Bible records, etc. on Ancestry.com, which I just discovered, there was an Andrew Watkins on the 1810 Jefferson County census who had a son John who might fit the bill as the writer of the article on the Panic of 1813. Incidentally, John was the half brother of Capt. William Jack, who died in the Fort Mims massacre. There was also an Asa Watkins in 1810 in Jefferson, possibly a brother of Andrew,but no John among his children. In Halbert & Ball's The Creek War, Ball states that it was a 14 page hand-written account and quotes Watkins as saying he was a young, schoolboy at the time. John, son of Andrew, was born in 1798, so he was fifteen at the time of the panic . The manuscript was first published in 1850 and again in 1890, but I have not yet found a complete copy other than what is on the web or the portion in the Creek war. Sue

Hi everyone, There are new pages on my site since the last time I wrote, the most recent, a Memory Book of inscriptions I've transcribed, from students of Franklin County Agricultural High School, 1925. There are many familiar names, perhaps you'll find a family member among them: www.geocities.com/twincousin2334/moms_memory_book.html I'm about halfway through transcribing records for all of my families. Instead of having a link for each family page, I've made a Records Index Page, and you can get to any family's records from there. It's at: http://www.geocities.com/twincousin2334/Record_Page.html If you're not a cousin, but you had family in any of the areas I had family, you might want to do a search of those pages, because I've transcribed ALL names that happened to be in my families' records, as in court records, etc. Also, I've transcribed ALL of the MARRIAGES recorded for everyone with that surname --- that is, from the resources and records which I have. This is especially true of my MS names. For instance, ALL Warren, Garrett (& the rest of my names) marriages from Jefferson, Franklin, Copiah, Lincoln and Warren Counties are included, not just my known family members. And there are many early 1800 Natchez District records for several of my names, mostly land deeds & tax records, which sometimes include other names. I have SO many more to transcribe (sigh), so you might want to check on my progress once in awhile. I haven't transcribed in any particular order, so some families have a lot of info and some, not as much (so far). Also, there's a page dedicated to the town of Rodney. There are several beautiful old photographs of the cemetery, where, by the way, the Confederate troops who routed The Rattler, camped the night before. There are photos of the Rodney Baptist, Rodney Catholic, Rodney Presbyterian & Bethel Churches. All of these photographs were taken in the 1930's & '40's by Eudora Welty: "The old cemetery is there still, like a roof of marble and moss, overhanging the town and about to tip into it." http://www.geocities.com/twincousin2334/Rodney.html Enjoy, Nancy Baldridge, Cain, Courtney, Curtis, Carmichael, Dawkins, Doty, Garmon, Garrett, Hanon, Jackson, McCormick, Matthews, Osborne, Sharp, Stampley, Stringer, Warren and many more! http://www.geocities.com/twincousin2334 ; www.thepastwhispers.com

On the Jefferson site, there is a description of the panic and flight of citizens from Jefferson and Claiborne, entitled "Panic of 1813" when they thought that the Creek Indians, perhaps aided by the Choctaws, might attack as they had done at Fort Mims in August. The article ends with this notation: "When this article was published forty years ago [1850] it was approved by two of the best traditional historians in the country and pronounced true. " John A. WATKINS, Col. , 486 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, April 10, 1890 Does anyone know where this article appeared originally? Was it in the Publication of the Mississippi Historical Society? Also, there is a link to a biography of John A. Watkins on the site that has no information on him. Does anyone have anything on him? Thanks, Sue M. sbmoore@swbell.net