Beginning tomorrow on my other blog, Mississippi Memories, I will be writing several posts that detail the history of this early Attala County, Mississippi family that descends from Jean Baptiste Elzear Burel, a French emigrant. Please visit me there to read the story of this family's interesting beginnings and its subsequent migrations into South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and beyond.
(Photo courtesy of Duncan C. Covington)
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, James P. Burell was one of six children born to Patience Hannah Bird, and Dr. Jean Baptiste Elzear Burel. Patience Bird and Dr. Jean (John) Burel were married at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1785, and continued to live in the Germantown area of Philadelphia until for almost twenty years. In the early 1800s, the family moved south to Union County, South Carolina, where they lived near Goshen Hill.
(Photo courtesy of Duncan C. Covington)
Samuel Jenkins and Dr. John Burel lived near other in South Carolina, and the two families' familial links began when Anne Jenkins, daughter of Samuel Jenkins, married William Riley Burell, Dr. Burel's grandson. Members of the Burel and Jenkins families migrated to Mississippi and continued to live near each other in Attala County and the surrounding area. Today, many descendants of the Burrell and the Jenkins families are still residents of Attala County, while others are scattered throughout the United States.
(Photo courtesy of Duncan C. Covington)
Jean Baptiste Elzear Burel, a French physician who allegedly served with Lafayette during the American Revolution, is the patriarch of the Burel/Burell/Burrell family that first began in Philadelphia (Germantown) Pennsylvania, and later lived in Union County, South Carolina. In South Carolina, he was known as Dr. John Burel. While some of his descendants moved farther south and settled in the Hog Mountain area of Gwinnett County, GA, others moved westward to Mississippi.
