Sunday Morning Sunrise

After a rainy two days, and a foggy Saturday night, the cold north wind started breaking the clouds apart early this morning, revealing a spectacular sunrise in Itawamba County.
 

Frog Level Swamp

Frog Level Swamp as seen from Van Buren Road. Frog Level is a large swamp located south of Mantachie Creek near the creek's confluence with the Tombigbee River in western Itawamba County. This scene was photographed recently on a cold late autumn day.
 

Martha Eudoxie Raburn with Daughter Susie

Pictured are two of the early residents of historic Bonds House in Mantachie, currently operated by the Itawamba Historical Society as the county‘s museum of history. Mrs. Raburn appears in the 1880 Itawamba County census listed as Udoxey with her husband, William Greenberry Raburn (died November 9, 1894) and children Franklin, Elvira and Willis. William Greenberry is listed as the Itawamba County Tax Assessor. By the 1900 census the widowed Mrs. Raburn (born July 1856 in Georgia) is listed with her children Jessie F., General, Mattie, Doxie, Bennett and Susie A. During the 1920’s Mrs. Raburn lived with her daughter, Ila and her husband Oscar Middlebrook Younghanse in historic Bonds House in Mantachie.

Martha Eudoxie Raburn was born July 5, 1854 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, the daughter of Jesse and Elvira Davis and died in Itawamba County during 1928. She was buried in Center Star Cemetery in Mantachie.
 

Thanksgiving Greetings: 1908

An embossed vintage postcard from 1908 for Thanksgiving Greetings, printed in Germany shows a Victorian holiday scene. During the Turn of the Century era, postcards were widely used and commemorated such holidays as Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloweeen, Valentine's Day and personal events such as birthdays, weddings and the like.
 

Nancy Caroline Cockrell Thornberry's Portrait

My great grandfather was Marion Cockrell. His sister was Nancy Cockrell Thornberry, who was born during 1870 in Clay County, Alabama. They were the children of Elam Cockrell (born May 16, 1822 in Johnston County, North Carolina, died November 4, 1889 in Itawamba County) and Carolina Devaughn (born 1824 in Georgia, died in Itawamba County).

During the early 1870's several Cockrell families of the Clay County, Alabama area wanted to move west to better land. They were like thousands of southern families after the Civil War who wanted to leave their war-torn country to seek a better life in the newer country to the west. In 1873 a group of Cockrell families left their homes in the Clay County, Alabama area to begin their search for a better life. In this group of several families were Elum Cockrell, along with his wife, Caroline and their children, John, Marion, James M. Duff, Jordan and three year old Nancy. Along with Elum's family were Elum's daughter, Jane, with her husband, Benjamin East and their one year old daughter, Lula and Elijah Cockrell with his wife Jane, and one year old son, Billy. The families loaded their wagons with their furniture and personal possessions and headed west across Talladega Mountain. After crossing the Coosa River they crossed Shades Mountain and Red Mountain and traveled through Jefferson, Walker and Marion Counties in Alabama before ending their 200 mile journey in Itawamba County, Mississippi in the New Home Church community east of Fulton. By 1900 the family had purchased a farm west of the Tombigbee in the Centerville Community. It was here on November 24, 1887 Nancy Caroline married James P. Thornberry. Nancy Caroline lived out the remainder of her life in the Centerville community where she reared a large family. During the 1950’s Nancy Caroline was named by The Itawamba County Times newspaper as Itawamba County’s Citizen of the Year for a lifetime of charitable work done in the community. Nancy Caroline died in the Centerville community during 1964 and was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery.
 

Miss Mittie’s and Miss Belle’s School at Ozark

The above school group photograph was taken around the turn of the century in the Ozark Community of Itawamba County. On the back of the old photograph mounted on cardboard, the following is written: “Miss Mittie Grissom’s and Miss Belle Senter’s school at Ozark.” The photograph was found in a collection of photographs belonging to the Will Ferguson family. The Ferguson family owned a farm in the Ozark community and moved to Fulton before 1920. The Ferguson home in Fulton was located on South Cummings Street.
 

The Ida W. Moore Monument Mystery

The Ida W. Moore monument in the old Fulton graveyard is an example of the many highly ornate monuments in this old cemetery. This towering monument features a carved marble basket of flowers atop the monument. The base of the monument shows the monument was crafted by R. Miller of Aberdeen, in neighboring Monroe County. To-date I have not been able to find any information about this monument carver, or find any information about Ida W. Moore or her husband Clem C. Moore. There is no Clem C. Moore family listed in the 1850 or 1860 Itawamba County census records that I could find, but from the highly ornate quality of the monument, and its shear size, the family must have been financially successful. The biographical information on the monument reads:

IDA W.
Wife of
CLEM C. MOORE
Born
Nov. 29, 1836
Died
Oct. 19, 1855

I would appreciate hearing from any reader who has information about Clem C. and Ida W. Moore in Itawamba County during antebellum times or the monument carver, R. Miller of Aberdeen in Monroe County.