Elizabeth had a daughter, Harriet Virginia Warden, B. 1809, D. 6 Oct 1876. She married Thomas Jeremiah Stockstill, B. 8 Jan 1804, D. 2 Sep 1872. They are buried in Thigpen Cemetery, Picayune, Ms. Thomas was the son of Joshua Stockstill and Mary Levina Knight. Harriet's son was Thomas Jefferson Stockstill, B. 19 Feb 1846, D. 26 Jul 1912, and buried in the Old Palestine Cemetery, Red Hill. (Seals From All Around, Section 2, Page 501)
Posted by Pamela G. Lumpkin on Sat, 05 Dec 1998, in response to Burge family of SW Ms., posted by Betty Davis on Sat, 03
Note: James was called Poplar Jim and the town of Poplarville was named after him.[Strahan Family Reunion .FTW]
Goes by the name Poplar Jim.
" Pearl River County Before 1890" I was born right over here on Ball Hill by the road to Col. Byrd's old home. The old house has rotted down. The spot where the old red dirt chimney has fallen down is the only mark left. A pine tree grew up in the middle of the old fallen chimney, and was later cut down and carried to Columbia to Governor Hugh White's saw mill. My mother was bought in Mobile as a slave and was owned here by a Mrs. Howard. My mother reared five children and it just so happened that Mrs. Howard had five childten. So each one of Mrs. Howard's children was given a negro child as a slave. It fell my lot to live with Mrs. Kennedy, where I remained until the slaves were freed. (Here I interrupted him and asked him where his father came from He immediately replied that he didn't know who his father was or anything about him. Said the colored people lived like stock in those days - they never married.) My master was good to me. When the war (Civil War) came on, it was bad times. I remember how the men would hide out to keep from going to war. I cooked and carried many a pan of food to these men in Pearl River swamp. This I did for one man regularly. All I had to do was to carry the food down after dark, and I was so scared I was trembling, and while walking along the path in the swamp, pretty soon he would step out from behind a tree and say, "Here Jeff" and then I would hand it to him and run back to the house. One day soldiers passed with wagons for four days going through to Mobile. At that time the river road was the best road around. We had no matches for fire, we used flint and steel. The first cotton gin I ever saw was operated by a horse. Some people separated the cotton from the seed by hand. The cloth was spun and woven. Some was bought in Gainesville, where they went over by cart and bought "nit" and "lice" cloth (salt and pepper I should think) for men's pants. Later gingham could be bought. This was considered very fine cloth then. Sometimes we had biscuits on Sunday, but one reason I am living and am healthy is the food that I was raised on. We ate corn bread, meat, greens and peas. People eat too much flour now and they use self-rising flour, which is most unhealthful. The best way to make biscuit is with plain flour, soda and clabber, or put a little vinegar in your soda and it will foam up and cook quick. I know a case where a negro slave sold for $100. Simon and Hezekiah Wheat sold him. Some of the men living around us at that time were: Joe Wheat, Billy Wheat, another Joe Wheat, Redden Byrd, and Peter Harvey's grandad. I remember when a Mr. Cooper would take his cart and go out and gather herbs for medicine. Medicine now days is too weak. It has too much water or alcohol in it and not enough medicine. Costs lots too. We used Sampson's snake root, black snake root, fever grasses, tree barks and other medicines made from native trees and herbs. We used parched meal for coffee. Our corn meal was ground by a water mill.,You see we even made what was used. Gall berries dyed black. Two colors of thread were used to make pants and I mean this kind made good warm ones. Wool was sold at Gainesville. I never went to school-colored folks had no schools long ago. I knew Poplar Jim Smith for whom Poplarville was named. I used to play with his boys. We played all day and when we went in to eat we knew to carry a load of wood. People used to cook on the fire places. That was the best cooking in the world. Food tasted better. They sometimes made dirt ovens and used them to cook bread and sweet potatoes in. When the war was over the slaves couldn't do without their masters because they had nothing on which to live and the masters needed the slaves, so when they were freed, most of them stayed on and farmed for their masters on shares. This gave the negroes a chance to have something for themselves.
Note: In the 1900 Pearl River County, Ms. census, she was listed as a 59 yr old living in beat 5 and farming. She was listed as having 8 children with only 4 living. Living with her at the time was daughter Violetta age 21.
Note: In the 1910 Pearl River County, Ms. census Slaydon was listed as a 37 yr old general store merchant living in the McNeill settlement with second wife Maggie Smith age 37, married 16 yrs, having 3 children with 2 living. Robert S. age 6 and Minnie age 3.
In the 1920 census Slaydon was listed as a 48 yr old merchant living in beat 5 on the Jackson Highway road with his wife Maggie age 48 and their 3 children Robert age 16, Minnie age 13 and Pat age 9.
Note: in the 1900 Pearl River County, Ms. census George was listed as a 40 yr old farmer living in beat 5 with his second wife, Alice Thomas age 31, married 6 yrs, having 5 children. Two of the children were listed as step children Robert Bryant age 10 and Martin Bryant age 8. Also staying with George at the time was a boarder named Floy Garner age 18.
In the Pearl River County, census of 1910 George was listed as a 49 yr old farmer, living in beat 5 with his second wife, age 39 married 17 years having 9 children with 8 living. five of these children were living at home.
