Grannie and Grandpa Ainsworth By Hazel Beasley Higdon, pp 3 &4
The Ainsworth family, of proud old English stock, had come to Mississippi: Territory from various parts of the country. Grandpa didn't know when they settled there. His father's parents were James Ainsworth and Elizabeth Mangum. His mother's parents were Lott Warren Ellis, from (Georgia, and Anna Roberts from Tennessee. They are buried in Pine Bluff Cemetery. Grandpa's parents, James Richard Ainsworth and Mary Melvina Ellis, were married at Old Bayou Pierre Church in 1842. Their first home was at Maharris, near the Bayou Pierre. Grandpa's mother died two days before his eighth birthday. She is buried in the Old Zion graveyard near Maharris. She left five boys. Wesley, the oldest, was about thirteen. The others were John, George, Gabby, Roberts, Richard and Lott. A trusted Negro woman cared for the family until Grandpa's father remarried.
Following his mother's death. Grandpa developed an allegiance to his step-grandmother Ellis and to her children (Note by James Hood: Think Aunt Hazel is referring Mary's children) , Nancy and Newton. Grandpa's stepmother was Martha Ann Brown. She bore two sons, Archie and Thomas, and three daughters, Mary Catherine, Sally and Annie. When the war started Grandpa's family moved to a secluded home place back beyond the house that we remember as Uncle Gabby's. There was a well built log house of four rooms with kitchen and dining room off from the main building. A nearby spring furnished water. Grandpa described the place as a very productive farm with large grain and cotton acreage and considerable livestock. There was a tannery, harness and shoe shop, saw mill and grist mill. During the war the farm provided foodstuff and supplies for the Southern army, thus Grandpa's father was excused from army duty. Uncle Gabby and Uncle Wesley were in service for the duration. Grandpa was conscripted the last year of the war when he was sixteen.
The Yankees, quite by accident, discovered the location of the Ainsworth farm. It so happened that Uncle Billy Cook Bought a hiding place for county records from the Gallatin Court House. The Yankees were in hot pursuit "but they lost interest in the records when they discovered the hidden farm. From then on marauding groups took food and supplies. A Yankee officer made friends with grandpa and paid the fabulous sum of twenty-five dollars for a pair of new boots that Grandpa had painstakingly made for himself. Family holdings diminished as demands of reconstruction were met. Slaves had to be paid for after they were freed. Some left. Those who stayed worked as farm helpers and stole to supplement their needs for food. Hogs left at large were their special target.
The Ainsworth sons worked hard helping their father. In addition, each was allotted land for personal use. Grandpa saved enough to pay his expenses at Soule's Business School in New Orleans in 1872 and to help "Uncle Wesley in medical school there at the same time. Grandpa was very proud of Uncle Wesley's choice of a medical career and of his return to Copiah County to practice for the brief period before his death, Grandpa went to Hazlehurst in 1873 to help Uncle Billy Cook with the county records transferred from Gallatin to Hazlehurst. He boarded at the Lows. By the time Uncle Gabby came home from service his father's failing health limited his ability to keep the farm productive. He had lost an eye in an accident with damaged machinery. Three of his sons and his oldest daughter had died. His wife died in childbirth with Annie. Their house burned. Responsibilities fell to Uncle Gabby. He married a school teacher with dependable income and a devotion to teaching. They built a home on the public highway and another nearby for his father and the two little girls. Grandpa's father died at Uncle Gabby's in 1893, when he was seventy-two. He was buried at Wesson Cemetery because Mount Hope was too frozen to dig a grave.
Three of Grandpa's brothers went to Texas where Uncle Lott began his practice of law in 1900.
The Ainsworth family, of proud old English stock, had come to Mississippi: Territory from various parts of the country. Grandpa didn't know when they settled there. His father's parents were James Ainsworth and Elizabeth Mangum. His mother's parents were Lott Warren Ellis, from (Georgia, and Anna Roberts from Tennessee. They are buried in Pine Bluff Cemetery. Grandpa's parents, James Richard Ainsworth and Mary Melvina Ellis, were married at Old Bayou Pierre Church in 1842. Their first home was at Maharris, near the Bayou Pierre. Grandpa's mother died two days before his eighth birthday. She is buried in the Old Zion graveyard near Maharris. She left five boys. Wesley, the oldest, was about thirteen. The others were John, George, Gabby, Roberts, Richard and Lott. A trusted Negro woman cared for the family until Grandpa's father remarried.
Following his mother's death. Grandpa developed an allegiance to his step-grandmother Ellis and to her children (Note by James Hood: Think Aunt Hazel is referring Mary's children) , Nancy and Newton. Grandpa's stepmother was Martha Ann Brown. She bore two sons, Archie and Thomas, and three daughters, Mary Catherine, Sally and Annie. When the war started Grandpa's family moved to a secluded home place back beyond the house that we remember as Uncle Gabby's. There was a well built log house of four rooms with kitchen and dining room off from the main building. A nearby spring furnished water. Grandpa described the place as a very productive farm with large grain and cotton acreage and considerable livestock. There was a tannery, harness and shoe shop, saw mill and grist mill. During the war the farm provided foodstuff and supplies for the Southern army, thus Grandpa's father was excused from army duty. Uncle Gabby and Uncle Wesley were in service for the duration. Grandpa was conscripted the last year of the war when he was sixteen.
The Yankees, quite by accident, discovered the location of the Ainsworth farm. It so happened that Uncle Billy Cook Bought a hiding place for county records from the Gallatin Court House. The Yankees were in hot pursuit "but they lost interest in the records when they discovered the hidden farm. From then on marauding groups took food and supplies. A Yankee officer made friends with grandpa and paid the fabulous sum of twenty-five dollars for a pair of new boots that Grandpa had painstakingly made for himself. Family holdings diminished as demands of reconstruction were met. Slaves had to be paid for after they were freed. Some left. Those who stayed worked as farm helpers and stole to supplement their needs for food. Hogs left at large were their special target.
The Ainsworth sons worked hard helping their father. In addition, each was allotted land for personal use. Grandpa saved enough to pay his expenses at Soule's Business School in New Orleans in 1872 and to help "Uncle Wesley in medical school there at the same time. Grandpa was very proud of Uncle Wesley's choice of a medical career and of his return to Copiah County to practice for the brief period before his death, Grandpa went to Hazlehurst in 1873 to help Uncle Billy Cook with the county records transferred from Gallatin to Hazlehurst. He boarded at the Lows. By the time Uncle Gabby came home from service his father's failing health limited his ability to keep the farm productive. He had lost an eye in an accident with damaged machinery. Three of his sons and his oldest daughter had died. His wife died in childbirth with Annie. Their house burned. Responsibilities fell to Uncle Gabby. He married a school teacher with dependable income and a devotion to teaching. They built a home on the public highway and another nearby for his father and the two little girls. Grandpa's father died at Uncle Gabby's in 1893, when he was seventy-two. He was buried at Wesson Cemetery because Mount Hope was too frozen to dig a grave.
Three of Grandpa's brothers went to Texas where Uncle Lott began his practice of law in 1900.
Grannie and Grandpa Ainsworth By Hazel Beasley Higdon, pp 3 &4
The Ainsworth family, of proud old English stock, had come to Mississippi: Territory from various parts of the country. Grandpa didn't know when they settled there. His father's parents were James Ainsworth and Elizabeth Mangum. His mother's parents were Lott Warren Ellis, from (Georgia, and Anna Roberts from Tennessee. They are buried in Pine Bluff Cemetery. Grandpa's parents, James Richard Ainsworth and Mary Melvina Ellis, were married at Old Bayou Pierre Church in 1842. Their first home was at Maharris, near the Bayou Pierre. Grandpa's mother died two days before his eighth birthday. She is buried in the Old Zion graveyard near Maharris. She left five boys. Wesley, the oldest, was about thirteen. The others were John, George, Gabby, Roberts, Richard and Lott. A trusted Negro woman cared for the family until Grandpa's father remarried.
Following his mother's death. Grandpa developed an allegiance to his step-grandmother Ellis and to her children (Note by James Hood: Think Aunt Hazel is referring Mary's children) , Nancy and Newton. Grandpa's stepmother was Martha Ann Brown. She bore two sons, Archie and Thomas, and three daughters, Mary Catherine, Sally and Annie. When the war started Grandpa's family moved to a secluded home place back beyond the house that we remember as Uncle Gabby's. There was a well built log house of four rooms with kitchen and dining room off from the main building. A nearby spring furnished water. Grandpa described the place as a very productive farm with large grain and cotton acreage and considerable livestock. There was a tannery, harness and shoe shop, saw mill and grist mill. During the war the farm provided foodstuff and supplies for the Southern army, thus Grandpa's father was excused from army duty. Uncle Gabby and Uncle Wesley were in service for the duration. Grandpa was conscripted the last year of the war when he was sixteen.
The Yankees, quite by accident, discovered the location of the Ainsworth farm. It so happened that Uncle Billy Cook Bought a hiding place for county records from the Gallatin Court House. The Yankees were in hot pursuit "but they lost interest in the records when they discovered the hidden farm. From then on marauding groups took food and supplies. A Yankee officer made friends with grandpa and paid the fabulous sum of twenty-five dollars for a pair of new boots that Grandpa had painstakingly made for himself. Family holdings diminished as demands of reconstruction were met. Slaves had to be paid for after they were freed. Some left. Those who stayed worked as farm helpers and stole to supplement their needs for food. Hogs left at large were their special target.
The Ainsworth sons worked hard helping their father. In addition, each was allotted land for personal use. Grandpa saved enough to pay his expenses at Soule's Business School in New Orleans in 1872 and to help "Uncle Wesley in medical school there at the same time. Grandpa was very proud of Uncle Wesley's choice of a medical career and of his return to Copiah County to practice for the brief period before his death, Grandpa went to Hazlehurst in 1873 to help Uncle Billy Cook with the county records transferred from Gallatin to Hazlehurst. He boarded at the Lows. By the time Uncle Gabby came home from service his father's failing health limited his ability to keep the farm productive. He had lost an eye in an accident with damaged machinery. Three of his sons and his oldest daughter had died. His wife died in childbirth with Annie. Their house burned. Responsibilities fell to Uncle Gabby. He married a school teacher with dependable income and a devotion to teaching. They built a home on the public highway and another nearby for his father and the two little girls. Grandpa's father died at Uncle Gabby's in 1893, when he was seventy-two. He was buried at Wesson Cemetery because Mount Hope was too frozen to dig a grave.
Three of Grandpa's brothers went to Texas where Uncle Lott began his practice of law in 1900.
The Ainsworth family, of proud old English stock, had come to Mississippi: Territory from various parts of the country. Grandpa didn't know when they settled there. His father's parents were James Ainsworth and Elizabeth Mangum. His mother's parents were Lott Warren Ellis, from (Georgia, and Anna Roberts from Tennessee. They are buried in Pine Bluff Cemetery. Grandpa's parents, James Richard Ainsworth and Mary Melvina Ellis, were married at Old Bayou Pierre Church in 1842. Their first home was at Maharris, near the Bayou Pierre. Grandpa's mother died two days before his eighth birthday. She is buried in the Old Zion graveyard near Maharris. She left five boys. Wesley, the oldest, was about thirteen. The others were John, George, Gabby, Roberts, Richard and Lott. A trusted Negro woman cared for the family until Grandpa's father remarried.
Following his mother's death. Grandpa developed an allegiance to his step-grandmother Ellis and to her children (Note by James Hood: Think Aunt Hazel is referring Mary's children) , Nancy and Newton. Grandpa's stepmother was Martha Ann Brown. She bore two sons, Archie and Thomas, and three daughters, Mary Catherine, Sally and Annie. When the war started Grandpa's family moved to a secluded home place back beyond the house that we remember as Uncle Gabby's. There was a well built log house of four rooms with kitchen and dining room off from the main building. A nearby spring furnished water. Grandpa described the place as a very productive farm with large grain and cotton acreage and considerable livestock. There was a tannery, harness and shoe shop, saw mill and grist mill. During the war the farm provided foodstuff and supplies for the Southern army, thus Grandpa's father was excused from army duty. Uncle Gabby and Uncle Wesley were in service for the duration. Grandpa was conscripted the last year of the war when he was sixteen.
The Yankees, quite by accident, discovered the location of the Ainsworth farm. It so happened that Uncle Billy Cook Bought a hiding place for county records from the Gallatin Court House. The Yankees were in hot pursuit "but they lost interest in the records when they discovered the hidden farm. From then on marauding groups took food and supplies. A Yankee officer made friends with grandpa and paid the fabulous sum of twenty-five dollars for a pair of new boots that Grandpa had painstakingly made for himself. Family holdings diminished as demands of reconstruction were met. Slaves had to be paid for after they were freed. Some left. Those who stayed worked as farm helpers and stole to supplement their needs for food. Hogs left at large were their special target.
The Ainsworth sons worked hard helping their father. In addition, each was allotted land for personal use. Grandpa saved enough to pay his expenses at Soule's Business School in New Orleans in 1872 and to help "Uncle Wesley in medical school there at the same time. Grandpa was very proud of Uncle Wesley's choice of a medical career and of his return to Copiah County to practice for the brief period before his death, Grandpa went to Hazlehurst in 1873 to help Uncle Billy Cook with the county records transferred from Gallatin to Hazlehurst. He boarded at the Lows. By the time Uncle Gabby came home from service his father's failing health limited his ability to keep the farm productive. He had lost an eye in an accident with damaged machinery. Three of his sons and his oldest daughter had died. His wife died in childbirth with Annie. Their house burned. Responsibilities fell to Uncle Gabby. He married a school teacher with dependable income and a devotion to teaching. They built a home on the public highway and another nearby for his father and the two little girls. Grandpa's father died at Uncle Gabby's in 1893, when he was seventy-two. He was buried at Wesson Cemetery because Mount Hope was too frozen to dig a grave.
Three of Grandpa's brothers went to Texas where Uncle Lott began his practice of law in 1900.
Gravesite Details
Unmarked grave
Family Members
Siblings
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