Tombstone Tuesday - Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden of Prairie Mont

The inscription underneath the relief on his grave monument says "Sacred to the Memory of Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden,
Born in Charles City Co., VA, April 21, 1812
Removed to Mississippi in 1837
Died in Carroll Co., Feb 6, 1880"

The statue of an angel sitting to the right of the large marble monument in Vaiden Cemetery once graced its top. During a tornado in 1989, the statue was blown off and decapitated. Although the angel's head was later found and reattached, an arm and a wing were never recovered. A full description of this large marble monument can be read here. The death of Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden, for whom the town of Vaiden, Mississippi in Carroll County, Mississippi is named, prompted the newspaper notice below:

Daily Clarion, Jackson, Miss., February 7, 1880, P.2., Col. 1.

Death of Dr. C.M. Vaiden

"A good man has fallen in Israel ! Mississippi is called to mourn the death of one of her best and most public-spirited citizens. Dr. Cowles Meade Vaiden, whose good deeds these columns have so often recorded, died, after a lingering illness, at his home in Carroll county at 2 ó clock p.m. yesterday, February 6. We have barely space to make this melancholy announcement. On another occasion, we will endeavor to produce a tribute benefiting the lofty virtues of the lamented deceased."

As stated above, the newspaper later published a full-blown obituary for Dr. Vaiden, as shown here:

Daily Clarion, Jackson, Miss., February 18, 1880, P.2., Col. 2.

In Memoriam
The Late Dr. Cowles Mead Vaiden

"Though the health of Dr. Vaiden had been bad for years and disease had wasted his frame, he had resisted its gradual encroachments with so much resolution and borne his afflictions with so much unfailing fortitude, that few of his friends realized that he was for a long time on the brink of the grave, and when at last his physical forces succumbed to the destroyer, they were unprepared for the melancholy announcement that his brave and gentle spirit had indeed passed through the shadow of the dark valley and entered into life and immortality beyond. He was born in Charles City county, Virginia, on the 25th day of April, 1812, and died at his home in Carroll county, Mississippi, on the 6th of February, 1880. He had not therefore, attained the years of his life, threescore and ten, allotted by the Psalmist. He received his education in the county where he was born, and in his seventeenth year, seized with the desire to pave his own way through the world upon the actualities of which he had entered, he removed to North Carolina and engaged in teaching school. At the same time he devoted himself to the study of the higher branches of education. He afterwards studied medicine and received his diploma from the famous school in Philadelphia which has given so many successful practitioners to suffering and afflicted humanity. He was a laborious physician, and in that profession, as in everything he undertook, he succeeded, for in his vocabulary, it may be said without exaggeration, there was no such word as fail.

He was married in Lenoir County, North Carolina, to Miss Elizabeth Whitfield Herring, in October, 1837. The estimable lady who plighted her heart and hand to him in the morning march of life, and for forty-two eventful years, shared with him its joys and sorrows, was a watcher at his dying couch, and ministered to his sufferings and received his last adieu on earth to meet again in the home of the hereafter where there will be no more parting. It was a sad scene; the separation of these two whose current of thought and feeling had run into the same channel for so many long years until they had become as one.

In May, 1838, Dr. Vaiden removed to Mississippi, and after a few months prospecting, he settled permanently in Carroll county, where he died at Prairie Mount [sic], February 6th, inst. Here he engaged in practicing his profession, and also in planting and merchandising. He soon became a man of note in the community where he lived, and though not ambitious of public station, was elected to serve his county in the State Legislature for several terms, one of which was after the war. In every pursuit he developed the higher qualities of intellect and of manhood. He was a born leader of men, and left his impress upon everything he touches. He was the highest type of honor and chivalry. He was a strict man of business; and left nothing about which doubt and misconstruction could arise, in his transactions with his fellow-men. With A.M. West, and others whose names were not so conspicuous before the public, he was a pioneer of that great enterprise the Mississippi Central Railroad and gave his time and talents, and invested his means, for its accomplishments. It stands as an enduring monument to the wisdom and public spirit of its founders. He was a representative man in all works of benevolence, public charity and progress. With characteristic tact, he realized the changes that were wrought by the war, adapted his plans to them, and achieved success and fortune in spite of every obstacle. The climax of the monument he has erected in the hearts of his countrymen, and which is more enduring than the marble shaft that will mark the spot where sleep his mortal remains was his munificent contribution in the cause of education. At the time of his death seventy-four young men were attending the State University with means which he had placed at their disposal for that purpose. Who will take up the good work where he left it when summoned to the realities of another world? If it is given to the departed to look down from the battlements above to the scenes of their earthly toils and anxieties, how eagerly will he watch the fruits of his good example. Who will carry forward the enterprise to which he gave his heart and opened his purse? His life-book is closed, but the memory of the generous friend, the patriotic citizen, the public benefactor will not fade away."

More information about the Cowles, Mead, and Vaiden families, including a complete lineage for the Mead family, can be found here.

The Zollicoffer Family in Attala County

I have seen the name "Zollicoffer" many times on U.S. Census records for Attala County when I was researching my own family members, and I often wondered about the origin of the name. Today, I decided to do a little research, and what I found was a family with a legacy that stretched from Switzerland across the Atlantic to Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Attala County, Mississippi. Interestingly, I found the name was originally "Zollikofen," the name of the area in Switzerland where members of this ancient family once lived in a castle.

With a little more research, I found the patriarch of the family in the United States was Baron Jacob Christopher Zollicoffer, a Swiss emigrant who settled in colonial Virginia in the early 1700s. One of Baron Zollicoffer's sons was George Zollicoffer, who was born in 1738. George was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, having commanded a company of the North Carolina militia. One of Captain Zollicoffer's sons was John Jacob Zollicoffer, who was born around 1775 in Halifax County, North Carolina.

In 1803, John Jacob Zollicoffer married his first wife, Martha Kirk, who was born on March 30, 1783, the daughter of Isaac Kirk. On March 27, 1806, John and Martha had their first child, Frederic, who was born in Occonomee, Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1807, John and Martha migrated to Maury County, Tennessee to settle on land that his father had received for serving in the Revolutionary War. Captain Zollicoffer died in North Carolina on June 11, 1815.

John and Martha Zollicoffer settled in Maury County, Tennessee, where he became a storekeeper. On May 19, 1812, near Bigbyville, Tennessee, they had another son, Felix K. Zollicoffer. On June 11, 1815, when Frederic was 9 years old and Felix was barely three, their mother died.

On January 5, 1830, Frederic Zollicoffer married Elizabeth ("Betsy") Petillo Love, who was born on December 28, 1812 to John Draper Love and Susannah Caruthers. Susannah, the daughter of Robert Caruthers, was born on October 10, 1793, in Burke County, North Carolina.

Several years later, Frederic and Martha moved to Attala County, Mississippi, near the town of Kosciusko, where Frederic was a physician and a planter. It is unknown why the Zollicoffer family moved to Attala County, Mississippi, but it could have been that his mother's family, the Love family, were already living in the area. According to the Slave Schedule of the U.S. Census of 1850, Frederic Zollicoffer owned 15 slaves, 6 males, and 9 females.

Frederic's brother, Felix Kirk Zollicoffer, became a printer, and married Louisa Pocahontas Gordon, the daughter of Captain John Gordon and Dolly Cross. Louisa was born on February 21, 1819, at Gordon's Ferry, in Duck River, Tennessee. In 1835, he became State Printer of Tennessee and later, a state Senator. Louisa died on July 13, 1847 and was buried in Old City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. After the Civil War began, Felix received a commission of Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. On January 19, 1862, General Zollicoffer was killed during the Battle of Somerset and was also buried in Old City Cemetery in Nashville.

Frederic Zollicoffer and Elizabeth Petillo Love Zollicoffer became the parents of ten children, nine daughters and one son, who died when he was only 28 years old.

Children of Frederic and Elizabeth are:

Martha Kirk Zollicoffer - born November 18, 1830; died August 22, 1878

Married William Greer

Susanna (Susan) Zollicoffer - born November 26, 1832; died March 28, 1912
Married John Anderson Jackson

John Love Zollicoffer - born November 21, 1834; died April 1862

Marie Amelia Zollicoffer - born July 20, 1838; died July 2, 1879
Married Jesse P. Mills

Tennessee ("Tennie") Zollicoffer - born June 10, 1841; died July 30, 1891Married James M. Edwards and Jesse P. Mills

Sara Augusta ("Gus") Zollicoffer - born January 1, 1844; died August 11, 1923
Married William Francis Drennan and later Albert Litchfield Jenkins

Elizabeth Caruthers ("Bettie") Zollicoffer - born May 17, 1846; died November 27, 1900
Married Wesley Morris and later Albert Litchfield Jenkins

Davidella ("Davie") Zollicoffer - born February 17, 1849; died August 17, 1877

Cornelia Catherine ("Nellie") Zollicoffer - born June 12, 1851; died
May 12, 1892
Married Edmunds Grey Whitehead

Alice Virginia ("Sis") Zollicoffer - born November 7, 1853; died November 18, 1920

Elizabeth Zollicoffer died in 1854, and a review of the U. S. Census of 1860 for Attala County showed Fred Zollicoffer living in the household with his young children, since Elizabeth had died in 1854. Also living in the household was Elizabeth Zollicoffer, age 14, and David Zollicoffer, age 11, who may have been the children of his brother Felix and his wife, Louisa.

When I examined the U.S. Census of 1870, there were 116 individuals in the United States who were named "Zollicoffer." In Mississippi, there were 15 individuals, 5 who were shown to be "white" and 10 individuals who were shown to be "black." Among the five individuals was "Fred" Zollicoffer, age 62, who was born in North Carolina, and was shown to be living alone in his own household. The next household on the census page included Tennie Zollicoffer Edwards, a young widow at 29, and her four young children. Also included in the household were her sisters, Augusta, age 25, Cornelia, age 21, Cornelia, age 19, and Davie, age 16. Included among those shown on the census as "black" was James Zollicoffer, age 40, born in Tennessee, his wife, Caroline, age 25, and children, Louisa, age 11, Thomas, age 8, and Tennie, age 6.

Frederic Zollicoffer, a great-grandson of a Swiss baron, a grandson of a Revolutionary War veteran, and the brother of Civil War General, died on April 26, 1874 in Attala County. He is buried in Kosciusko City Cemetery, shown at the top of this post.

His wife, who had died almost 20 years before, his brother and his only son had all preceded him in death.