Census Sunday – Maps Can Help Locate Census Reports

I wanted to find more about Henry Sims Brumfield, 1835 – 1915. I knew he was born in Mississippi but I didn’t know where in the state or if he moved to another state. A book of maps showed me where he lived.  The book is

Boyd, Gregory A. 

Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005. 

When I saw this book in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City I snatched it right off the shelf. My paternal grandfather was born in Pike County and I started turning pages of this handy book as I headed back to the library table. Flipping through the pages I found “Surnames in Pike County, Mississippi Patents”. I found familiar surnames” Alford, Brown, Brumfield, Ellzey, Fortenberry & more. After returning home I bought a copy of this book.

Henry S Brumfield was shown to have an 1860 land patent. Therefore, I knew he was in Pike County, MS. I went to ancestry.com and quickly found Henry & family in the 1860 Census, living in Holmesville with his wife, Martha and three young children. In 1870 Henry & Martha were still there and now had seven children. In 1880 there were four more children. I would have missed all these people without the book of maps to lead me to the correct county.