Simpson County Mississippi Slave Narratives

The information provided below is a brief summary of the original slave narratives that I stumbled upon while researching my family.  Some of the narratives are as little as three pages others while others span over ten pages long.  I've tried to provide as much detail as possible for the purpose of finding ones ancestor. The original narratives can be found here and are definitely worth reading as the stories told are inspirational and moving.

Boggan, Manda: born 1847 and lived in Weathersby, Mississippi. Owned by Isham Brown. Manda lived with both of her parents. Her father came from Virginia.  Her brother was taken to Texas with one of the Brown children after the death of their father.  She mentioned that a woman named Hannah was the cook.

Brown, Manus: born 1858 and lived in Mendenhall, Mississippi. Owned by John Brown. Manus lived with his parents, both of whom came from either Virginia or North Carolina.  Manus' family (parents and siblings) were the only slaves that John Brown owned.

Chapman, Hannah: born 1851 and lived in Cato, Mississippi. Owned by Colonel Bill K. Easterlin.  Known as "Aunt Hannah."  Lived with her parents until her father was sold to Bill Brown, who was neighbor of Easterin.  After the war the family reunited and lived at the Hyrum Jones place.

Cox, Hyrum: born 1851 and lived in Pinola, Mississippi. Owned by Charlie Cox. Hyrum lived with his family on the Cox plantation. After the war, Hyrum remained with the Cox family working for them for 15 years.

Cox, Julie (Tony): born 1850 and lived near Braxton, Mississippi. Owned by Joel Williams. Julie lived with her entire family on the Cox plantation. She was the maid for Vicky Williams, Joel's daughter. Vicky died but Julie remained a maid for another sister. Julie's brother Charlie was sold and the family never knew what happened to him.

Cox, Tony (Julie): born 1850 and lived near Braxton, Mississippi.  Julie's husband. Owned by Cato Miller. Tony's mother died when he was a year and half.  Cato Miller's wife raised him. His father remained with Tony until the war began than he went off to war. His father was crippled in the war and then captured by the Yankees. He never saw his father again.

Dixon, Emily: born 1829 and lived near Westville, Mississippi. Owned by Ras Dixon.  She had a brother two years her senior.  Her mother was raised by the Ras Dixon's wife.

Edmondson, Manda: born 1842 and lived near Weathersby, Mississippi. Owned by Isham Brown. Manda's parents were given to Isham Brown's son Allen after his death.  The family was reunited after the war.

Floyd, Angie: born 1861 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Everett Floyd.  Her grandmother was bought by Floyd from a Parker family that resided in South Carolina.  Her father came from Mississippi.

Floyd, Slyvia (male): born 1852 and lived near Meadenhall, Mississippi. Owned by Polly Newson.

Floyd, Tom: born 1842 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Everett Floyd.  He was half white. He and his mother Harriet were previouly owned by the Michael family of Missouri. Harriet was a medicine woman.

Grubbs, Minerva: born 1857 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned Louis Howell. His parents were sold to Howell from someone in Virginia.

Hayes, Wash: born around 1860 and lived near Meadenhall, Mississippi. Owned by William (Billy) Hayes. Grandfather came from Virginia. His father was sold at the age of 14 to a slave trader named Wane Anderson out of Virginia. His grandmother's name was Caroline and she also came from Virginia.

Louis, Jane: born 1851 and lived near Bridgeport, Mississippi. Owned by Turner Wilson. She and her parents came from Virginia.

McCastle, Duncan: born 1860 and lived near Pinola, Mississippi. Owned by Duncan Walker (he was a German).  Walker owned Duncan and his mother. His father lived on another plantation. The family reunited after the war.

Magee, Primous: born May 15th, 1859 and lived near Meadenhall, Mississippi. Owned by Dixon Magee of Lawrence county.

Mangum, Rose: born 1831 and lived near Magee, Mississippi. Owned by Warren Stubbs.

Potter, Issac: born 1851 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Jim Crowder, Mr. Gilbert, and  Mr. Potter.  Jim Crowder bought Issac and his parents from a Yankee slave trader who captured them in Africa. Jim Crowder died and his widow (?) married Mr.Gilbert. The Gilbert man died and the Crowder/Gilbert widow married a Potter.

Norwood, Glascow: born about 1852 and lived near Penola, Mississippi. Owned by John Norwood.

Powell, Salem: born about 1857 and lived near Shivers, Mississippi. Owned by John Powell who lived near Dry Creek.  Salem grew up with his parents Willis and Nancy.

Robinson, Manus: 66-years-old and lived near Braxton, Mississippi. Owned by Bill Tom (Toom or Tomb) of North Carolina. Lived with his parents on the North Carolina plantation.

Singleton, James: born 1856. Owned by Daniel Thompson.  His mother was Harriet Thompson. Lived on a plantation near Westville. His father was John Black who came from Charleston, South Carolina. His father was owned by Frank Smith of Simpson, Mississippi. When he was 6-years-old, his family (including parents) were sold to Harrison Hogg who then sold them to Albert and Annie Bell.

Strickland, Jane: born 1860 and lived near Georgetown, Mississippi. Owned by the Williams family of Simpson county.  Father came from Virginia.

Strickland, Liza: born 1847 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Mike Strickland.

Stubbs, Julia: born 1852 and lived near Magee, Mississippi. She lived with her parents on the Magee plantation. Owned by John Magee.

Walker, Edwin: born 1849 and lived near Pinola, Mississippi. Owned by Richmond Walker of Lawrence county.  Ediwn had two siblings Dave and Julia. Julia was married and then taken away from her husband and family to South Carolina.

Walker, Harriet: born 1852 and lived near Pinola, Mississippi. Owned by George Norwood.  Her mother and aunt were captured and brought to America from Africa.

Ward, Allen: born 1856 and lived near Westville, Mississippi. Owned by Westly Lee.

Weathersby, Foster: born 7 February 1855 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by John Newson of Old Hebron.  Newson owned the whole family until Foster's mother was sold to Era Hartzog.

Weathersby, George: born 1852 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Owen Weathersby.  His brother was Steve (see below).  When he was 7-years-old his family was sold to Willis Mangel.  His father was very abusive so his mother asked Weathersby if she could come back. Weathersby bought the family back except for the father.

Weathersby, Isom: born 1847 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by John Newson. His mother was the head cook.

Weathersby, Steve: born 1856 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Owen Weathersby.  His brother is George Weathersby (see above).

Wells, Minerva: born about 1853 and lived near Pinola, Mississippi. Owned by Martha Wells.  Minerva's mother died of a broken leg when she was a little girl.  Martha Wells took her into her home and raised her. Minerva's mother came from South Carolina. Her father was named Clark and lived on another plantation.

Williams, Chaney Moore: born 1852 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by Mr. Moore. She died 11 June, 1937.

Wilson, Issac: born 1845 and lived near D'Lo, Mississippi. Owned by John Wilson of New Hebron.

Researching Your Slave Ancestry

While combing through Mississippi records searching for my ancestors, I stumbled upon hundreds of slave narratives. These narratives were collected during the late 1930's and early 1940's as part of a Federal government project. Intrigued, I began reading them and soon I was lost in their stories. While I was reading one compelling story,  I wondered if anyone had compiled any of this information and put it on the Internet.  I discovered that there are only about a dozen or so of the hundreds of narratives published. Several are printed in a short book and a few of them are available on the Mississippi Genweb site but there are hundreds of narratives that remain unpublished.

I was shocked by my discovery. These records are a genealogy gold mine. Many of them hold vital clues in unearthing African American genealogy!!! I immediately decided that I wanted publish this information but before I push the publish button I need to explain how to use it first.

While African American genealogy can be difficult, all is not lost.  If you can trace your ancestor to a specific location (state or county) than you can begin your search.  Most ex-slaves took their former slave owner's name. One man, Mr. Westly Little, of Trenton, Mississippi said, "When I gets my name, that's all the name us ever knowed was our masters name and we changed names if we changed masters."  So finding out where your ancestor lived at the end of the Civil War can make a huge difference.

Mr. Westly Little was born about 1846.  He was the slave of Mr. Alexander "Sandy" Little who was the son of James Little, both of Smith County, Mississippi. Tracing the James/Alexander Little family can help with finding out more about Westly. So how do you do that?  Well, begin your search with the 1850 and 1860 census for Little family. They lived in Smith County, Mississippi. Once you've found out more about the Little family, ask yourself these questions. Did James Little have a will? Who did James leave his estate too? A lot of wills and estate records list slaves. Specifically, they list slave names and sometimes family relationships. The next step in your research is to look through the  Smith county records for James or Alexander Little. This information is important because you can begin to piece the puzzle together.

Other good sources of information are the 1850 and 1860 United States Slave Schedules. While these schedules don't list slaves by name, you can find out who owned them, where they were living, and their age at the time the census was taken.  From the narratives that I've read so far many of the families remained together so you can piece the family together by the ages listed on the census.

For some the information provided in these narratives will trace back several generations while others will have to work harder to piece together their family history.  It's a start and hopefully someone out there will find success and be able to find a connection with their ancestors.