Perhaps the researchers of Mississippi and Louisiana records of this time period ca 1830 can help me more fully identify these persons. Malinda (Keller) Blount and her husband Robert C. Blount; their two daughters, Martha Eleanor Blount and Mary Eugenia Blount? Did the children live to maturity? Did the widow Melinda [Malinda] Blount nee Keller remarry--see below? What happened to her daughters? Did the widow move to Hinds Co., MS? Many of her relatives (sisters who no longer bore the maiden name of Keller) moved to Copiah Co. Melinda was the daughter of George Keller, Sr. of early Wilkinson Co. and his wife Jane [Moore?]. E.W.Wallace Preparer: E. W. Wallace MALINDA KELLER. (b. 1803-d. aft 1834) The bride in the following newspaper notice is Malinda Keller, daughter of George Keller [Sr ] and his wife Jane Moore: "September 27, 1825: Married on the 6th, by James Ainsworth, Esqr., Robert C. Blount, Post Master in Gallatin, and Clerk of the Circuit Court of Copiah County, to Miss Malinda Keller, of Wilkinson County." (O'Levia Neil Wilson Wiese, THE WOODVILLE REPUBLICAN, January 4, 1840 - October 30, 1847, V. II, p. 73) The item is of interest in that Samuel T. Scott and Catherine (Keller) Scott, his wife, three months prior to the marriage, deeded to Martha Eleanor Blunt, the daughter of Robert C. Blount and Malinda Blount, his wife, "all of Copiah Co., MS" for natural love and affection two negroes, a mulatto woman named Mary and her child named Posh. Both the Scotts signed, and it was certified by Wm. Barnes, clerk of court of County of Copiah. However, the notarial record is recorded in Feliciana Par., LA Bk AA-311. (Perhaps the date recorded in the newspaper has been transcribed incorrectly.) (Questions: Why was the document recorded in W. Feliciana Par. when all were residents of Copiah Co., MS? Were the Negroes present in Feliciana, now W. Feliciana Par.? Why is this child called the daughter of Robert C. Blount and his wife Malinda, three months before the marriage? Was the child born out of wedlock?) The only known document which makes clear the identity of this Thomas Keller, Malinda's brother, is a power of attorney in which he, Thomas Keller, empowers R. C. Blount, Malinda's husband, to transfer slaves to a third party in exchange for real estate to Keller's nieces and Blount's daughters. In this document he mentions his, Keller's sister, Malinda, wife of Blount. The document is found in West Feliciana Par., LA, Conveyance Book C-209-210, 1829. State of Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish To all to whom it may concern know ye that I Thomas Keller of the State of Mississippi and County of Copiah, do by these presents make constitute and appoint [Robt C Blount--blurred writing] of the Parish and State first aforesaid my Lawful agent and attorney for the purpose of acting for me in making a Transfer of Title of two Negroes towit Charles and Rachel his wife Slaves for life to Clark Woodroof on the condition of his Clark Woodroof making to Martha Eleanor and Mary Eugenia Blount daughters of the said R. C. Blount and Malinda Keller wife of the said R. C. Blount and sister of the said Thos Keller a full ... complete and warrantee or transfer free of all and every encumbrance or encumbrances whatever of Lot No. 5 in Square No. 15 with the appurtenances in the Town of St. Francisville and fronting on Royal Street sixty feet and running back one hundred and twenty feet... and further by way of recapitulation I do by these presents ... charge and empower my said Attorney to do and perform all and Singular the acts and things requisite and necessary to be done or performed on the [premises?] abovementioned--and further I do bind myself to stand to and abide by whatever my said agent or attorney shall Lawfully do in this matter. Signed, sealed and delivered for the purposes above mentioned the 16th day of February AD 1829. Thos. Keller (seal) Witnesses Joseph Pruitt (?) A. C. Dunn, Wm. Proctor Following the above record is the sworn statement of one of the witnesses, A. C. Dunn. It is to be noted that in Copiah Co. Thomas Keller, Malinda's brother, was a probate judge in Copiah Co. for a year, and that later ca 1834, in Gallatin, John Washington Rose (husband of Margaret Scott, an offspring of Samuel Scott and Katherine Keller) practiced law. Malinda Keller Blount was widowed after about nine years of marriage. See biography of "Major" Robert C. Blount, who died in 1834. We do not know whether Malinda remarried. The following Wilkinson Co., MS newspaper notice may pertain to a relative, possibly a child of Robert Blount, or more likely a niece. There were a number of Blount families in Mississippi at this time. "Married Dec 24, 1841, by M. Overman, Esqr., Mr. Jeremiah Palmer to Miss Minerva Blount, both of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana." (Betty Crouch Wiltshire, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS FROM MISSISSIPPI NEWSPAPERS, V. 3: 1813-1850, p. 22: "From the SOUTHERN LUMINARY, (Jackson, MS) Printed and published by Silas Brown & Co.") Preparer: E.W. Wallace, Rev 1/99 ROBERT C. BLOUNT. (d 13 Nov 1834). Husband of Malinda Keller, dau. of George and Jane Keller of early Wilkinson Co., MS. Surmise is that he may have been born in South Carolina as there was a Letitia Blount in Sumter Co., SC who was enumerated in the 1820 census. According to a newspaper item from Jackson [MS] SOUTHERN LUMINARY, 27 Sep 1825, Blount married "Melinda Keller of Wilkinson Co., Miss. on the 6th, by James Ainsworth, Esq. Mr. Blount is postmaster at Gallatin, Miss." Gallatin was in Copiah Co., MS. >From Copiah Co. DB B-110, 4 Feb 1826 Benjamin Flowers & Joseph White to Robert C. Blount, all of Copiah Co., MS, for $10 Lot No. 17 in town of Gallatin in county & state, containing by estimation 1/2 A. more or less. Benjamin Flowers (seal) Joseph White (seal) acknowledged by Flowers & White before Wm. Barnes, J.P. (from SLC film .....) DB B-194 9 June 1826, Thomas Keller to Robert C. Blount, both of Copiah Co., for $50.. Lot No. 18 containing 1/2 A more or less. Acknowledged by Thomas Keller, 29 June 1826. Wm. Barnes, J.P. The 1830 census indicates Blount was enumerated in West Feliciana Par., LA. Deeds of E. Feliciana Par., LA, indicate his residence was probably in that Parish at one time. On 25 Jun 1832, in Wilkinson Co., MS, Robert C. Blount, M. E. Saunders, Jesse Sanders and Eleanor Keller, widow, made administrator's bond for George W. Keller, deceased. (SL film 0877086.) (Eleanor Keller was the former Eleanor Waddell. daughter of Noel Waddell, a Methodist minister. After she was widowed, she and James McDonnell [McDonald] lived for a time in West Feliciana Parish. Succession records there pertain to the estate of George Keller, her first husband and father of her several children.) George W. Keller (the son of George Keller), deceased, was the brother of Blount's wife Melinda Keller. George Keller, Sr.'s transcribed Bible records were published in Mississippi Genealogical Society., Cemetery and Bible Records, George Keller Bible Record [Jackson: MS Genealogical Society, V II.] The records give the birthdate of all the Keller children, some of the marriage dates, and a few death dates). R. C. Blount appeared on the Copiah Co., MS tax list for 1825. Court Minutes, Book A? At Sept term 1825, Copiah Co., MS, R. C. Blount was clerk of the circuit court of Copiah Co. At the same term, however, there was this entry: The State vs. Robert C. Blount - Malpractice in Office A True Bill, Aaron Miller, foreman. Another later entry: The State vs. R. C. Blount - On motion it is ordered that a summons [be issued?] for the defendant returned to the next term of this Court. A few pages later, no date, The State vs. R. C. Blount - In the case of Molli pas ... quire [ink bled through page and it is largely unreadable.] A later entry: James C. Dickson vs. Robert C. Blount - Continued at ... with leave to answer. p. 102: James C. Dickson vs. Robert C. Blount ... withdrawn and continued with leave to amend declaration at the costs of the plaintiff. (SLC film 876,456) Blount died young as evidenced by the following newspaper items: From the Jackson MISSISSIPPIAN, Nov 21, 1834: "Blount, Major R. C. "Obituary. Died Tuesday the 13th in his residence in Jackson in the 31st year of his age." (Mississippi Genealogical Society, NEWSPAPER NOTICES OF MISSISSIPPIANS, 1820-1860 (Dallas PL Gen 976.2 M692m) Jackson MISSISSIPPIAN, Nov 21, 1834 (Microfilm). "Blount, Robert C." "Estate Notice. Dec. 1834 Term, Probate Court, Hinds Co., Miss. Sam'l T. Scott, Admr." (Jackson MISSISSIPPIAN, Jan 9, 1835 - Microfilm). From Hinds Co. Tract Book of Original Entries (1st District 1827-1894) (SLC film 0885102) Vol. 1, 1831-1836 Robert C. Blount, Hinds Co. Township No. 5 Rt per ac $ & cents Purchase Descrip of tract Money Pt of Section Sec-Twp R Ac/100ths SE-NE 8 5 16 40-09 $1.25 50:11 1833 Feby 6 Rec #10796 NW-SW 9 5 16 40-28 $1.25 50.25 1833-Feby 12 Rec #10979 Blount had a daughter Martha Eleanor Blount to whom Samuel T. Scott and his wife Catherine (Keller) deeded two negroes in 1825 (Feliciana Notarial Records AA-311, 26 Jun 1825). All parties were stated to be of Copiah Co., MS. Martha Eleanor Blount may have been a child of a previous marriage of Robert C. Blount, but this cannot be determined with any accuracy with the records currently available to this writer. However, her given names indicate that she was a member of the Keller family--the daughter of Malinda Keller Blount, and not of a previous wife. Deeds of Copiah Co., MS, not yet read, show another deeds wherein S. T. Scott deeded to a Blount or Blunt female: B-68 S. T. Scott - Malissa [Malinda?] Blount.