Mattie A. Branch and Mamie R. Branch

The two gravestones here lie next to each other at Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery near Camden, Mississippi, and are located to the right of Edward Arthur Branch's Woodmen of the World marker. Edward's grave marker and these two headstones are the only markers in the cemetery that bear the name "Branch."

You may notice the ground around the marker has been disturbed. Because the area had received a large rain just days before our visit, it was necessary to remove wet dirt and sand from the sides and top of each marker to read the dates of death.

On Mattie's gravestone are the words "died - 1870." Mamie's marker bears the words "died - 1800." The markers are identical, and both appear to be fairly new. I believe they are likely replacement markers for old ones that were concrete and were no longer readable. The dates on the marker, however, have created yet another "Branch Family Mystery."

The facts are this: Mattie Allen Branch was Edward Arthur Branch's mother, wife of Joseph Arthur Branch. But she could not have died in 1870. According to the U. S. Census taken in Mississippi in 1850, Edward A. (E.A.) Branch was 52 years old, with a date of birth of 1798. Their son, Joseph Arthur, was a small child. Joseph married Mattie Allen, and they became the parents of my great-grandfather, Edward Arthur Branch, their only son. Edward died in of cancer in 1915 at the age of 43. His mother could not have died in 1870, since her death would have pre-dated Edward's birth which occurred in 1872.

And just who is Mamie R. Branch? Was she an elderly aunt, unmarried when she died, or was she a woman whose maiden name began with the letter "R" and who married someone named Branch who arrived in Mississippi before Edward Tillman Branch and his wife, Winiford Ragland, were married in Hinds County in 1830?

I recall reading another blogger's advice recently that we should not take as gospel the information on a replacement gravemarker or tombstone. Could the dates of death on the headstones of Mamie and Mattie Branch be incorrect?

The mystery remains, and I feel a need to unravel it. And once again, I will open another chapter in the search for my Branch ancestors.

Odd Fellows Cemetery - Holmes County, MS

The Odd Fellows Cemetery in Holmes County, seen here, is one of the oldest in this county where "the Hills meet the Delta." Most of us have seen cemeteries identified as "Odd Fellows" cemeteries, and many who saw the name or its abbreviation "I.O.O.F." may have wondered what it actually meant. The abbreviation stands for "International Order of Odd Fellows." The symbol or logo for this organization that was founded on the importance of living an ethical lifestyle, appears as three unbroken, chained links. These unbroken links symbolize the elements of membership in the organization, "Friendship, Love, and Truth." Membership in this worldwide organization is based in the U.S. and headed by the U.S.-based Sovereign Grandlodge.

The command given to members of this group, whose activities are centered around providing kindness and assistance to others, is to visit the sick, to relieve the distressed, to bury the dead, and to educate the orphan.

Odd Fellows cemeteries are the organization's charge to "bury the dead."

The Odd Fellows Cemetery in Holmes County is located in Lexington, the County Seat of Holmes County. Families represented in this large, old cemetery are the following:
Ables, Autry, Applebaum, Baker, Barbour, Beall, Christmas, Cooper, Cox, DeLoach, Doty, Durden, Farmer, Freeman, Frost, Fryer, Fuller, Gwin, Hammett, Harthcock, Herbert, Hooker, Kearn, Meade, Melton, Noel, Pahlen, Ray, Rosenthal, Sheehy, Shephard, Sontheimer, Stigler, Sutton, Taggart, Ussery, Walton, and Zimmerman.

The Chapel of the Cross

The Chapel of the Cross is a beautiful example of Gothic architecture and a landmark in Madison County. This area of Madison county has always been one of my favorites. The pastoral setting for the 150-year old Gothic structure on Mannsdale Road (Hwy 463) contains dogwoods, cedars, oaks, and magnolias and is one of both Southern charm and serene beauty. The church and its cemetery are very near what once was Annandale Plantation, and are now the center of an Episcopal parish that numbers somewhere around 1000. Over the coming weeks, I plan to write about the church's history, its legends and the residents of Madison County who are buried in its old cemetery surrounded by ancient trees and wrought iron. One of those residents whose story I plan to tell was James Yellowly, a man who was instrumental in the founding of Madison County.

But perhaps the most well-known individual buried in the Chapel of the Cross Cemetery was Henry Grey Vick, who was not a resident of Madison County at all. Vick had the distinction of being related to the Vick family, for whom the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi is named. A very wealthy man, Vick lived in the Mississippi Delta, where he owned a large plantation at Nitta Yuma. But Vick was best known in Madison County as the intended bridegroom of Helen Johnstone, the daughter of the owner of Annandale Plantation. The story of the love affair between Helen Johnstone and her beloved Henry, and how he was buried in The Chapel of the Cross Cemetery, is something that I plan to include in the story of The Chapel of the Cross and its cemetery.

The gravestones of Bettie R. Cotten and B. F. Cotten show inscriptions on the base of each tombstone, the simple but meaningful words, "Mother" and "Father." Bettie's epitaph states lovingly "Weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth."



According to her gravestone, Bettie was born on April 14, December 27, 1860, and she died on March 16, 1933, several months before her 73rd birthday. B. F. Cotten's gravestone shows he was born on December 27, 1853 and died on July 18, 1913. B. F. and Bettie R. Cotten are buried beside each other, next to the north fence, in Good Hope Cemetery, located near to Good Hope Baptist Church in the community of Camden, Mississippi.



The U. S. Census of 1910 shows that Ben F. Cotten and his wife, Bettie R. Cotten, were living in Beat 5, Camden, Mississippi, close to the cemetery that became their final resting places over 20 years later. Ben's occupation, like most of his neighbors, was shown as "farmer." Two of the Cotten family's neighbors were the John B. Allen family and the Barrett family headed up by Richard and his wife, Sallie. Like Ben Cotten, John B. Allen and Richard Barrett were also farmers. The ethnic designation code shown on the census record for the Cotten, Allen, and Barrett families was "W."



In 1910, there were five children living in the Cotten household, Pearl, age 19, Katie, age 12, Hiram, age 14, Fannie, age 8, and McWillie, age 5. John Washington, age 19, who was also enumerated in the Cotten household, is shown as a "servant."



Ben Cotten's parents, according to the census, were each born in North Carolina, while Bettie's father was born in Alabama and her mother in Mississippi. Ben and Bettie, along with all children living in the household at the time the census was recorded, were shown to have been born in Mississippi.



The Washington family, headed by John's brother, James, and his wife, Sallie, are shown in the next household recorded on the census. Monrovia Washington, the mother of James and John, was also enumerated in the Washington household. Monrovia's place of birth, as well as that of her parents, was shown as "North Carolina." At the time the census was recorded, Monrovia Washington was shown to be 83 years old. All Washington family members were shown with the ethnic designation code "B" that was required on the U. S. Census that was taken in 1910 in Mississippi.



When I searched for early census information about other "Cotten" families in Mississippi, I found several families who lived in Leake and Neshoba counties. It appeared that some of these family members had migrated from South Carolina into Mississippi, and some of the families ended up moving to the community of Camden, Mississippi. Oral family histories over many years have indicated that some families who were pioneers in the area around Camden had Choctaw ancestry. Based on the migration path through Leake and Neshoba counties, where many Choctaws settled after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1833, these family stories may be well worth the research involved.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church, Est. 1828

The Ebenezer United Methodist Church is one of the many old churches in Holmes County, with burials in the cemetery there dating back to the mid-late 1800's. A number of early residents whose graves are in this cemetery were members of the following families: Brown, Burney, Burwell, Ellison, Forbus, Harding, Harthcock, Killebrew, Lucas, Murtagh, Parsons, and Spell. In the weeks and months ahead, I plan to post photographs and write posts about some of these families.

About the Graveyard Rabbit

The poem printed here was the inspiration for The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, founded earlier this year by Terry Thornton and its Founding Member, footnoteMaven. A weekly synopsis of other Graveyard Rabbit posts appears each week on the association's home website www.thegraveyardrabbit.com.

Chapel of the Cross Cemetery

Madison, Mississippi

Many of you who have either owned a "rabbit's foot," or known someone who has, possibly may not have known the basis for the rabbit foot's professed good luck.

Frank Lebby Stanton's poem, shown here, explains that legend.

The Graveyard Rabbit

by Frank Lebby Stanton

In the white moonlight, where the willow waves,

He halfway gallops among the graves,

A tiny ghost in the gloom and gleam,

Content to dwell where the dead men dream,

But wary still: For they plot him ill;

For the graveyard rabbit hath a charm(May God defend us!) to shield from harm!

Over the shimmering slabs he goes,

Every grave in the dark he knows;

But his nest is hidden from human eye,

Where headstones broken on old graves lie.

Wary still! For they plot him ill:

For the graveyard rabbit, though skeptics scoff,

Charmeth the witch and the wizard off!

The black man creeps, when the night is dim,

Fearful, still, on the track of him;

Or fleety follows the way he runs,

For he heals the hurts of the conjured ones.

Wary still! For they plot him ill;

The soul's bewitched that would find release,

To the graveyard rabbit go for peace!

He holds their secret---he brings a boon,

Where winds moan wild in the dark o' the moon;

And gold shall glitter and love smile sweet,

To whoever shall sever his furry feet!

Wary still! For they plot him ill:

For the graveyard rabbit hath a charm(May God defend us!) to shield from harm.

About The Graveyard Rabbit

The poem printed here was the inspiration for the Association of Graveyard Rabbits, founded earlier this year by Terry Thornton and its Founding Member, footnoteMaven.

A weekly synopsis of other Graveyard Rabbit posts appears each week on the association's home website www.thegraveyardrabbit.com.

Many of you who have either owned a "rabbit's foot," or known someone who has, possibly may not have known the basis for the rabbit foot's professed good luck. Frank Lebby Stanton's poem explains that legend.

The Graveyard Rabbit

by Frank Lebby Stanton

In the white moonlight, where the willow waves,
He halfway gallops among the graves---
A tiny ghost in the gloom and gleam,
Content to dwell where the dead men dream,
But wary still: For they plot him ill;
For the graveyard rabbit hath a charm(May God defend us!) to shield from harm!
Over the shimmering slabs he goes---
Every grave in the dark he knows;
But his nest is hidden from human eye,
Where headstones broken on old graves lie.
Wary still! For they plot him ill:
For the graveyard rabbit, though skeptics scoff,
Charmeth the witch and the wizard off!
The black man creeps, when the night is dim,
Fearful, still, on the track of him;
Or fleety follows the way he runs,
For he heals the hurts of the conjured ones.
Wary still! For they plot him ill;
The soul's bewitched that would find release,
To the graveyard rabbit go for peace!
He holds their secret---he brings a boon,
Where winds moan wild in the dark o' the moon;
And gold shall glitter and love smile sweet,
To whoever shall sever his furry feet!
Wary still!For they plot him ill:
For the graveyard rabbit hath a charm(May God defend us!) to shield from harm.