In the opening statement of the 1885 book, Serena Abbess Haymon gives a vital warning:
“I Did Not Change the Document in any way. If a name is misspelled, I feel that, this is part of your American History Transcript of the Original Document Educable Children”
The 1885 book is roughly 128 pages containing 178 transcribed census pages of names with the head of household and children’s names and ages only, spouses’ names are not included. Only children between the ages of 6 and 18 were to be included, but that is not always the case.
Wilkinson School District
Beaver Creek
Donegal
Turnbull
Woodville
Fort Adams
Old River
Percy’s Creek
Pinkneyville
Census Page
2-7
8-14
15-28
29-56
57-74
75-81
82-96
97-108
Wilkinson School District
Whites Town
Buck Church
Coons Hill
Sims Hill
Coons Hill
Sims Hill
Cold Springs
Dry Fork
Percy Town
Census Page
109–119
120–130
132–141
142–144
145
146–149
150–159
160–169
170–178
Epilogue from the 1890 Book (edited by AB):
H L Hayes Assessor of Wilkinson County do solemnly swear that foregoing is a true and correct list of the educable children of Wilkinson County that in making this list I have visited each neighborhood District in said county and have used all reasonable diligence and can make said list complete. That I have received the names of children from the parent or guardian or from some person who knew the name, sex, color, and place of residence of such children and that they ha[ve] [a] living parent or guardian or were not under the care of such.
WL H Assessor
The 1890 book is roughly 134 pages containing 172 transcribed census pages.
Wilkinson School District
Beaver Creek
Donegal
Turnbull
Woodville
Fort Adams
Old River
Percy’s Creek
Pinkneyville
Census Page
2-7
8–14
15–28
29–56
57–74
75–81
82–96
97–108
Wilkinson School District
Centreville
Coone Mill
Sim’s Hill
Whites Town
Cold Springs
Dry Forke
Perry Town
Census Page
110–126
127–134
135–140
141–151
152–161
162–167
168–172
I received permission from the Library Staff to share these documents with the following guidelines:
“Those works are copyright protected and reproducing them without the consent of the copyright holder is illegal. The library can make copies because of the fair use exemption in the Copyright Act. It really depends on how you are planning to share them and why. I’d suggest sending whomever you’d like to share the documents with our way, and we will give them a copy. Otherwise, you’ll need to contact the copyright holder directly and ask their permission to reproduce their work.”
Great information!
Thanks Monica. The information I was describing in this post probably won’t register with everyone until they need it. Read “A Case Study of the Phil McQuerter Family” in Part III and see how much I was able to find out about the development of that family between 1880 and 1900
I wish other states had these records available. They would be invaluable.
Absolutely. Mississippi has over 4 million online probate records. The neighboring states of Louisiana and Texas have only a fraction of their records available so far. It makes for a lot of fun.
Mr. Blakes,
I am a Sims descendant of the Sligo Plantation near Woodville, MS. I have pored over some of the census records, which give me a sense of how many individuals my ancestors enslaved but, as you know, the MS census through 1860 does not record the names of enslaved persons, just gender and age. Though I am white, I must assume some Sims relatives among the descendants of those whom my ancestors enslaved. I was not able to see anything except the title pages of the two docs referred to above. Are these documents likely to shed any light on my own search?
Thank you for your work,
Andrew Waldo
Andrew, the Wilkinson County Mississippi School Censuses of Black Families list the full names of each head of household and their minor children’s names. There are a number of Black families with Sims as their surname in this census. I have Sims relatives in my family also. I assume you have already checked the 1870 census, so you will likely need other documents with the names prior to 1870 to identify those enslaved by your Sims ancestor.
Hello,
I live in Baton Rouge, LA. I too am researching my family (Jackson, Douglas, Mars, Byrd) from Woodville/Centreville area on Highway 24. How can I obtain a copy of these books as they will be vital in filling in the information gap?
James. You can view the books at the EBR Library on Goodwood or send me an email alblakes1@gmail.com and I will make sure you get a copy. Also, do you know if you are a descendant of Eli Bird?
I am trying to trace my family roots to Woodville. My understanding is that my family was from Woodville before migrating to New Orleans.