Precious Memories Linger along the Travis Sipuel Family

Let's Talk about Holmes City,MS

Holmes County is located in the west central part of Mississippi. It was created February 19, 1833 out of the land originally ceded by the Choctaw Indians in the Treaty of Doak’s Stand, October 18, 1820 and known as the “New Purchase.”

Holmes was formed from Yazoo in 1833. Lexington is the county seat.

Surrounding Counties

Attala County  Carroll County  Humphreys County  Leflore County  Madison County Yazoo County

My Travis Maternal Great-Grandparents

Jim and Cornelius (Salter) Travis are my maternal grandparents on daddy's mothers' side -- there is probably a repeat in that sentence...huh?  My great grandfather was formally named James.... and my first cousin now living in Chicago IL recalls that he was nicknamed Jug...often called Jim. . . and his was called Snally!  In checking the census lists, I've seen my great grandmother's name written as Nealy, or Nealie.   

Here are some of the facts reports on the census records I have reviewed.  James Travis was the son of BYRD AND MOLLIE TRAVIS. He first appears as the adjoining line neighbor of this mother and father on the 1900 census.   James ' oldest brother is Rayford Travis on this same subsequent census line.
 

My Travis Family ~ Mississipi

I think I'll begin my looking at my oldest living Travis descendant..... yes... a good place to start!

WHere is the Watson Farm via...MISSISSIPPI PLANTATION RECORDS

WHERE TO FIND MISSISSIPPI PLANTATION RECORDS  follow this link....

(The) African American Experience in Ohio: The African-American Experience  in Ohio 1850-1920 is a digital collection brought together from a number  of individual sources specifically for this project. These sources include  manuscript collections, newspaper articles, serials, photographs, and  pamphlets. (Includes a plantation account book for Eustatia Plantation in MS) Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations From the Revolution   Through the Civil War: Series J: Selections from the Southern Historical   Collection Part 6: Mississippi and Arkansas LSU Plantation Records Collection (Lower MS): manuscript collections  documenting plantation society and economy in the Louisiana and Lower  Mississippi Valley. The plantation records and personal papers of planters,  factors, merchants, and others whose livelihood came from plantations   provide a wealth of documentation supporting research in plantation e conomy, slavery, and the social history of Southern landholding elites

HOLMES COUNTY:

Baby Place
Bee Lake

 LEFLORE COUNTY:

Hideout Plantation: Hughes(R.B.) Moor's Plantation: Moor
Pleasantview Plantation: Kearney
Rising Son Plantation: Whittington
River Bend Plantation: Pillow
Roebuck Plantation: Aron
Shellmound Plantation
Starwood Plantation
Wildwood Plantation: McLean, Merrill (Money Planting Co.)

LOWNDES COUNTY:

Barry Place
Bellemont Liberty Hall Plantation: Ervin

SANKOFA'S SLAVERY DATA COLLECTION

 Research Leads for Liberty Hall Plantation

• Location: Lowndes Co., MS
  Constructed: 1835
  History: William Ethelbert Ervin owned Liberty Hall Plantation, near Columbus, in Lowndes County, Mississippi, near Columbus. He was born to William and Eliza Dick Ervin in Sumter District, South Carolina in 1809. The family moved to Lowndes County, Mississippi, about 1832. His father died there in 1839. William E. Ervin built Liberty Hall in 1835 on the east side of the Tombigbee River. After his home was built he returned to Sumter, South Carolina, and married Sarah McGee Kennedy.
  
  
  Associated Surnames: Ervin
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• Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations, Series J: William Ethelbert Ervin Diaries, 1839-1856, Lowndes County, Mississippi. http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantj6.htm This collection consists of two plantation diaries kept by Ervin between 1839 and 1856. Ervin included information on buying and selling slaves, hiring slaves owned by others, providing slaves with blankets, hats, and other clothing, and paying slaves for their "Christmas work." He made lists of slave birth (and some death) dates. In 1847, he wrote out the rules for slave conduct and punishments in case the rules were broken. There were rules for how to handle quarrels, duties of husbands and wives, absence from the plantation, and the obligation of slaves to be in their quarters by 9 p.m.

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Other People Researching This Plantation

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RESOURCES

• Guide Introduction: Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations Series J, Part 6 (Mississippi and Arkansas) http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantj6.htm

Shields Plantation:    Shields Plantation

Location: Lowndes Co., MS
Constructed:
History: ----
Associated Surnames: Adams, Shields, Smith
Associated Plantations: Smith Plantation (Halifax Co., NC)

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Associated Free White Names

• Charles Shields: owner; resided in Scotland Neck, Halifax Co. North Carolina
• Howel Adams: overseer at Shields Plantation in MS
• William Ruffin Smith: executor of the Shields estate

Research Leads

• Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations, Series J: William Ruffin Smith Papers, 1772-1959, Lowndes County, Mississippi; also North Carolina. http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantj6.htm Most of the papers in Series 1 relate to the Mississippi plantation of Charles Shields, William Ruffin Smith's neighbor in North Carolina. Shield bought a plantation in Mississippi and took an unspecified number of slaves there to operate it under the supervision of an overseer, Howell Adams, but died shortly thereafter. Smith, as executor of the estate, administered the property for Shields's heirs. 

Lowndes Co. Links

• Lowndes Co. MS Largest Slaveholders From 1860 Slave Census Schedules, Transcribed by Tom Blake
  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ajac/mslowndes.htm

"When an elder dies, a great library and archives burn to the ground."

GREAT SITE  ////  while thinking of  my Mississippi TRAVIS Clan...
Last Sunday... 6-17-2012... Rayford Travis passed away..... b. 1932, living in Simpsonville SC.

left to right:  Erma Lena Frieson, Teen Henderson, James Travis, Dacron, Danada and Rayford Travis (photo 2010)

I googled a bit and found....
MISSISSIPPI TO AFRICA.... Mel's Roots Diggin' Site

I just love this tree... and Mel's researc tips!!!

Research, Study, and Analyze Federal Census Records

    Armed with names, dates, and places, head to the place that has census records. Such places include state archives departments, city libraries, libraries at some major universities/colleges, family history centers, national and regional archives, etc. Don't forget to take some money with you for copying purposes. Also, for a fee, you can access census records online at Ancestry.com.

     The 1940 census is the latest census that was made available to the public on April 2, 2012. See http://www.1940census.net/. Work from the known to the unknown by starting with the 1940 census and continue to the 1930, 1920. 1910, 1900, 1880, and the 1870 census. Unfortunately, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire. Censuses prior to 1870 only included whites and free people of color. If you are viewing microfilmed census records instead of the digital images on Ancestry.com, a soundex is available for the 1930, 1920, 1910, 1900, and 1880.  Locate your family in the soundex first, which will tell you exactly where to find them on the county census records. However, the 1880 soundex only contain families with at least one child who was 10 years old or younger. If you can't find your folk in the 1880 soundex, then browse through the 1880 county census. Also, be aware that a lot of county boundaries changed. It is possible that families found in the 1870 census were in the 1880 census of another county and they never moved.

     When you find your family in the census, make photocopies of that page and several of the pages before and after that one. Pay attention to their neighbors. It was common for family members to live close to each other. Plan to go back and view the census records again and again and again. Trust me, you won't regret it. I've found many family members just browsing the census in a specific area where I knew most of my family lived. Ask older family members about the names of the other families you will find living near your ancestors. They may be able to identify them. Also, record all of the families that have the same surnames as your ancestors who were living in the same county, especially the same district.

The following information was recorded in the 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, & 1940 Census records:

• Name (head of household)
• Names of the people in the household and the relationship to the head of household
• Sex, Race, Age
• Marital status
• Number of years married (may not have been asked in some counties in 1880) or the age when first married (asked in 1930 and 1940)
• Place of birth
• Place of birth of father and mother (not recorded in the 1940 census)
• Occupation 

The following additional information was recorded in the 1900 Census records:

• Month and year of birth
• Number of children a mother had given birth to and how many of those children are living (also asked on the 1910 census)  

The 1870 Census records only provide the following information:

• Names
• Sex, Race, Age
• Place of birth
• Occupation

Note: The 1870 census does not list the relationships to the head of household.

     The 1870 Census is very important in African-American genealogy research. It was very often the first official record that recorded former enslaved African-Americans by their first name and last name. It is also important because the 1870 census was done just five years after slavery. Therefore, for most African-American adults found in the 1870 census records, they were enslaved just five years prior.

     Many African Americans living together in the 1870 census had lived together earlier as a family group on their former enslaver’s farms/plantations and continued to depend upon these relationships even though some were not of blood relations. In 1870, you may often run across other families with the same last names as your ancestors. Some of them were blood relatives and some were not. However, it is very likely that all of them had labored on the same farm/plantation as slaves. Elderly family members may be able to determine which families were blood related.
The Ties That Bind: Finding a Link to
"The Beckley Five" of Pontotoc County, Mississippi
Researched and written by Melvin J. Collier

Search for other important documents.

Such important documents include:

• • marriage records
  • death certificates
  • birth certificates
  • family obituaries
  • pension records
  • Social Security applications 
  • Educable Children's Records (for Mississippi researchers)
  • There are many more records to explore. Order Mississippi to Africa, A Journey of Discovery
     to gain more insight.

     From marriage records, maiden names can be learned. Also, in some counties, the marriage license applications can be found. Often, those documents list the parents’ names. Marriage records can be obtained from county courthouses and state archive departments.  Pay attention to the other names of witnesses on marriage certificates. Often times, they were family members.

     Death certificates are valuable because they contain information such as the name of the spouse, the father's name, the mother's maiden name, the birthplace, the birth date, the place of burial, etc. Also from birth certificates, the parents’ names and the place of birth can be learned.  Those records are typically found at state vital records departments and at state archive departments.

     If you have knowledge that an ancestor or relative may have fought in the Civil War, try to locate his pension records which are stored at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  Over 200,000 African-American men served in the Union Army. The pension records of these soldiers often contain a wealth of information.  View the database at the USCT website.

     Social Security applications are valuable sources. They contain the father’s name, mother’s maiden name, birthplace, etc. Their database can be accessed on the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) website with instructions on how to order applications.

     The state of Mississippi did a census of all of the children called Educable Children's List.  These lists were started in 1878, recording all of the names of all school-age children between the age of 5 and 21 years old for each county.  The age and sex of each child were recorded.  Most of the records were taken every 4 years.  After 1878, the records were divided into districts and by household with the name of a guardian, typically a parent.  Also, after 1878, the lists were racially divided.  These records can be located at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and also at some county courthouses.  The 1885 - 1896 records are a good substitute for the 20-year-gap in the census that was caused with the destruction of the 1890 Census by fire.

     Once you are able to uncover names of more family members from these documents, plan to search for them in the census records as well. Not only trace direct ancestors, it can also be beneficial to trace other relatives that were known by family members. On one occasion when talking with a family member, she mentioned the name of one of my paternal great-grandmother’s older brothers. I was able to find this relative in the census records. In his household was his mother. Tracing this relative led me to the name of another ancestor, a great-great-grandmother.