Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Genealogy Travel: Louisiana – Part 4 – and Mississippi Too!

My father’s ancestors lived in southern Mississippi and northern Louisiana. During my recent trip to New Orleans I planned to do some Louisiana research. I went to the Louisiana Archives in Baton Rouge. The next day I drove to Washington Parish and used the Franklinton Library. Now it’s time for a true confession. I spent the next day in New Orleans. I played tourist and walked around the French Market and bought trinkets for Christmas gifts. I ate oysters and looked at the mighty Mississippi River.


Back at our hotel I had to decide what to do on Monday. It was going to be my husband’s last full day at the convention center. Did I want to spend more time enjoying the Crescent City or do more research? If I wanted to do research should I return to the archives in Baton Rouge or the library in Franklinton? Or, should I go to a new repository? I munched on some pralines and thought over my choices.

In the end I decided to do something I had not done in about twenty years, I went to Mississippi.

Main Branch in McComb, 1022 Virginia Ave., MS





I stepped up to the main desk in the McComb Library and asked about their genealogy resources. I was directed to a locked room in the corner of the library. The reference librarian unlocked the door and swung it open for me. That was the extent of my introduction to the genealogy records.

I took off my rain jacket, put my things on the single large table and started to scan the shelves.




Soon I was pulling books off the shelves to find information on my Alford, Brown, Brumfield, Ott & Smith families. I used my digital camera to photograph pages of these books:
  • Alford, Hugh Edwin. In Search of My Alford Ancestors. Mississippi: Privately printed.
  • Brumfield, Albert K., and Alma Dell Clawson. Brumfield Histories. Louisiana: Privately printed.
  • Chaun, Darryl Wayne, Trudy Berger, Hudora Lewman, Pearl Cotton Strange, Rial Ellsworth, Larry Carruth, and Patsy Carruth. Hollywood Cemetery, McComb, Mississippi; 1872 - 2007. McComb, Mississippi: Privately printed.
  • Gordon, Oma J. Mississippi Amite County Marriage Records; 1809 - 1913. Book I. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Privately printed, 2002.
  • Gordon, Oma J. Mississippi Amite County Marriage Records; 1914 - 2000. Book II. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Privately printed, 2002.
  • Lampton, William, and Irma Lampton. The Tombstone Inscriptions of Walthall County, Mississippi. Privately printed, 1976.
  • Murray, Nicholas Russell. Amite County Mississippi Marriage Records 1914 - 1931. Hammond, Louisiana: Hunting for Bears.
  • O'Rourke, Helen L. Gone but not Forgotten. McComb, Mississippi: Privately printed.






I also went through the file cabinets and was disappointed to find several empty folders. I photographed others including information on Pike County residents and the Spanish American War. When the library closed I had lots of information to take away with me.

Watch my blog for an analysis of my findings at the McComb Library.

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2 comments:

  1. This reminds me of the cartoons people post on Facebook on how you know you're a genealogist. "If you'd rather go to a library in Mississippi than tour New Orleans, you might be a genealogist."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness, Wendy! You made me laugh out loud! Very true!

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