Happy Birthday, W J Fortenberry 28 Nov. 1900

Willis James Fortenberry

28 November 1829 MS – 1 October 1905

Son of William Jasper Fortenberry & Violette Kennington
My 4th great uncle

Rev. W. J. Fortenberry of Tylertown, celebrated his 71^stbirthday on November 28, last. He had been in the ministry 38 years and, pastor of New Zion church all this time, and is called for another year. He had baptized about 1800 professed believers. Rev. A. F. Davis opened the services, when Rev. H. M. Schilling preached a strong, helpful sermon. It was a great day.

Source: Rev. W. J. Fortenberry (Jackson, MS: The Baptist, 27 Dec 1900) 1; digital image, Newspapers.com: accessed July 2018.

Thanksgiving is Family

This poem from last year expresses my Thanksgiving thoughts.

Thanksgiving is spatulas & spices & the family china;

Tables pushed together, folding chairs & mismatched glassware.

Thanksgiving is answering the ringing doorbell; 

Children chasing and hiding;

Hugs & surprises; Jokes & smiles.

Thanksgiving is aprons & appetizers & the family recipes;

Multicolored paper turkeys, crayoned pilgrims & pinecone centerpieces.

Thanksgiving is squeezing around the table;

Passing the mashed potatoes;

Candles & napkins; Gravy & cranberries.

Thanksgiving is cameras & cousins & the family traditions;

Posing in front of the fireplace, smiling on cue & laughter all around.

Thanksgiving is playing favorite board games;

Telling tall tales of holidays past;

Uncles & babies; Memories & plans.

Thanksgiving is family.

Colleen G. (Brown) Pasquale

Veterans' Day: 100 Years Later

The Great War, now called World War I, ended with an 

armistice, or end of hostilities 

Hubert Allen Brown
My Great Uncle
Son of Jasper Pascal Brown &
Rose Ella (Brumfield) Brown 

between the Allied Nations & Germany  on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918; 100 years ago.  In the following years it was known as Armistice Day.

In 1921 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established by Congress with a ceremony on November 11. In 1938 Armistice Day became a legal holiday dedicated to the cause of world peace. The day honored World War I veterans.

Unfortunately, we know that The Great War was not our last world war. World War II and the Korean War followed. In 1954 Congress changed the day to Veterans’ Day and it became a day to honor all veterans.

My family includes these World War I soldiers:

•  Peter Brady 1891 Ireland – 1951 NJ
•  Thomas Joseph Brady 1896 NJ – 1986 MD
•  Hubert Allen Brown 1894 MS – 1971 MS, Private US Army
•  Harry Lewis Creasy 1891 OH – 1950
•  Ernest S Gruissy b 1893 TX
•  Charles Forest Mark 1892 OH – 1967 OH
•  Eslie Guy Mark 1890 OH – 1972 OH
•  Elmer Ritter b 1887 OH
•  Frederick Isaac Ritter 1893 OH – 1975 OH

A great book to help you research your World War I hero is: 

Schaeffer, Christina K. The Great War: A Guide to the Service Records of All the World's Fighting Men and Volunteers. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.,1998.

The first part of this book includes research tips; what to expect to find in various records; and a time line of the war. The second part "takes the combatants, country by country, and describes each country's initial involvement in the war, the military records (and naval, if applicable), and, to the greatest extent possible, where they are located." The third part of the book "describes casualties, records for prisoners of war (POWs), and a table showing where to locate a geographic place-name before and after the war." The appendix includes a glossary of abbreviations, Internet addresses and a select bibliography. 

Anyone have another resource for World War I research? If you want to share, just leave a comment.

Today a big thank you goes out to all our veterans who have sacrificed much to guarantee our freedoms!

Read more about Veterans’ Day: The History of Veterans’ Day

Read more about my family’s Soldiers: Soldiers

Forget Me Not: Clifton Barksdale Brumfield, 1941 MS

Clifton Barksdale Brumfield

10 Dec 1862 LA - 24 Aug 1941 MS

Son of Barksdale Wade Brumfield & Mary Lucy Brown

My 2nd cousin, 3x removed

Last Rites for C. B. Brumfield

Planter, Cattle Dealer Was Well Known in Mississippi

Clifton Barksdale Brumfield, age 78, years, died in a McComb hospital Sunday evening, August 24, after an illness of some time. Mr. Brumfield, known to his friends as “Cliff,” was widely known in Mississippi and Louisiana, being a prominent planter and dealer of cattle.

Clifton Barksdale Brumfield was the son of Barksdale Wade Brumfield and Mary Lucy Brown and was born December 10, 1862. On December 16, 1885, he married Ada Selena Rollins. To this union eleven children were born, five boys and six girls. Five of these children have passed into eternity.

The children of this union surviving are: Clifton B. Brumfield, Smith Brumfield, Mrs. Lucy May, Mrs. Mary Felder, Mrs. Velma Wallace, Mrs. Audrey Lofton. Surviving the deceased are 28 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. The brother and sister of the deceased living are: Robert Huey Brumfield and Mrs. Lucy Emmaline Woods of Franklinton, La.

Mr. Brumfield knew the Lord and walked by faith, having united with Moak’s Creek Baptist Church when he was about 20 years old.

Mr. Brumfield loved his Master, his friends, his church, his family. His life was one of service, of devotion to those he loved. Truly he walked with God, and now that he has gone, we shall treasure his kind face and his devoted Christian character as one of the most precious gems in memory’s casket. Not only shall we remember his noble example in order that the Master may say to each of us, “He hath done what he could.” Were it possible for him to send a message from Paradise, perhaps it would be very much in the same words as those of the poet whose name is unknown:

What mean you by this weeping

            To break my very heart;

We both are in God’s keeping

            And therefore cannot part.

You there, I here, tho’ severed,

            We still in heart are one;

I’m only in the sunshine

            The shadows scarcely gone.

What tho’ the clouds surround you

            You cannot brightness see

‘Tis only a little way

            That leads from you to me.

I was so very weary,

            Surely you could not mourn

So weep not darling,

            God wipes away all tears.

‘Tis only yet a little while,

            Tho’ you may call it years.

His funeral was attended by a large crows of sympathizing friends, in the Montgomery Baptist Church. Burial was in the cemetery adjoining the Moak’s Creek Baptist Church, where it will rest “till the resurrection morn.”

Pall bearers were his grandsons, Woodrow Brumfield, John Clifton Felder, Beachman May, Henry Harrison Brumfield, Randall Brumfield and Gordon Brumfield.

Source: Last Rites for C. B. Brumfield. (McComb, MS: McComb Daily Journal, 27 Aug. 1941) 3; digital image, Newspapers.com: accessed Sept. 2018.

Forget Me Not: Borden Hamilton Brown

Borden Hamilton Brown

23 Jan 1921 MS - 27 Feb 1995 MS

Son of Hubert Allen Brown & Freddie Smith 

My first cousin, once removed

Borden and my Dad, Delbert K. Brown, were first cousins. They did not see each other often but, when they did, they had a great time together.

My Photographs

Silver Springs Cemetery, MS

Borden Brown, 74, of McComb. Died Feb. 27, 1995 at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center. Visitation is 4-9 tonight at Hartman-Hughes Funeral Home of Tylertown. Services will be at 2 pm Wednesday in the funeral home Chapel, with the Rev. Harold Gartman and the Rev. Byron Wilkinson officiating. Burial will be in Silver Springs Cemetery. Mr. Brown was born Jan. 23, 1921, in Pike County. He was the son of the late Hubert Allen Brown and Freddie Beatrice Smith Brown. He was a retired construction worker and county employee. He was a World War II veteran and a member of Silver Springs Baptist Church. He is survived by a friend and companion, Barbara Gibson of McComb; two brothers, Lynn Brown and Hugh Brown, both of Osyka; and two sisters, Thiry Fegan and Peggy Alford, both of Tylertown.

Source: Borden Brown (McComb, MS: Enterprise-Journal, 28 Feb 1995) 14; digital image, Newspapers.com: accessed February 2018.

Related Posts:

• Brown: An Old Family Tree Sketch
• Hubert Allen Brown