Working Resource Page--Incomplete and Intended to Remain So
Transactions Focussing on Berrien County, 10th District, Adjoining Lots 192, 193, 222, & 223

Last Edit 2011-12-19

Please note: This is a working document. The entries are inserted into the table according to the date of the transaction; it is impractical to re-number and edit the footnotes each time an entry is made.

Footnote 1. The name is specified as J.E. Connell Sr. in the heading, but as John E. Connell in the text. I assume that this deed refers to John Ellis Connell (1821-1874), my ggg grandfather, in part, because he is said to have lived on Lot 223 during his first marriage, 1841-1866, by both Hux & McM. (This residence re Lot 223 will require verification, though, as he was enumerated in 1850 near the Parishes and Devanes and other Connells, putting him on/near the original Connell Plantation south of Nashville. fyi, the extant historical settlement on Lot 223 was the homeplace of Stephen M. Lewis until 1905, when it became the homeplace of Samuel W. Watson); whether SM Lewis or a predecessor built the log house is not currently known. Samuel Connell (1805-1869, father of William Evander Connell (1829-1899) and brother of John Ellis Connell) had a son John Enoch "Jack" Connell (1836-1900), aka Jack E. Connell. Neither John Ellis Connell nor John Enoch Connell had a son named John E., so I infer that the "Sr." on the deed is simply to indicate the older of the two John E. Connells. There was also a William Edmund Connell (1881-1967) and another John E. Connell (1845 (46?)-~1916), son of Justice (or Justus) Connell as well as a John E. McConnell, who died Sep 1, 1863, while serving in the same Berrien County unit as W.H. Outlaw. See Pioneers WGA, vols 1&2; also Connell-Morris (R.H. McMillian). These notes simply emphasize the difficulty of keeping individual names straight, and there is another area of inconsistency regarding the two that I am working on. N.B. the large number of inconsistencies. I've used the dob for Jack Connell that is consistent with the Lowndes Census, 1850. Particularly confusing is that I have seen a record of John Ellis Connell and of John Enoch Connell where each is indicated to be left-arm amputee (which may turn out to be true; I am working on that question now also) and each to be sheriff of Berrien County at the same time, obviously not correct. I will try to remember to update this page when I have a concise certain interpretation. Presently, the simplest interpretation is that William Evander sold to his uncle John Ellis. (Link to photo of WE Connell's second wife; her first husband, Mitchell Griffin, was the son of James Griffin, in deed record above, and a CSA casualty.)

It is easy for me to accept (see above) that the" Jr." was added as a convenience to avoid confusion as I myself did exactly the same. Thus, I have used "Jr." as part of my legal name (Veterans' Administration, Medicare, Voter Registration Card, all employment, publications, &c.) since I was about 10. I did not formally change my name; I simply started using "Jr." As Daddy told me, he was just W.H., but adopted William Henry (which appears on my birth certificate) when he went to Berry, which required a name, not initials only. He was no doubt named for his grandfather William Henry Harrison "Dick" Outlaw. My birth-certificate name is William Harrison Outlaw, but having two William H. Outlaws in one small town was too much. I used "III" for a short while before settling in with "Jr." because the former was pretentious and wasn't really the best solution. "Jr." has worked like a charm and few know it was an add-on, and of those, none care. I bet "Jr." and "Sr." solved problems for John E(llis) Connell and John E(noch) Connell, too. . . . but conjecture, even a well reasoned inference, is still short of fact.

Missouri (also, Mazura) Waters first married Jonathan N. Knight (1836-1864) who died at home on sick furlough. Missouri Waters became the second wife of John Ellis Connell on August 29, 1869. After John Ellis Connell died, "she continued to live on the Knight farm . . . ." (emphasis mine, from Hux 7:227) The point is, John Ellis Connell removed from his homeplace, presumably Lot 223, to go live on his second wife's estate. The pieces seem to fit.

Footnote 2. "Hux Link" links to the vignette published in Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia that I have produced for this special-purpose link to remind myself of which individual is referenced. I use this information with respect and appreciation for the work of Folks Huxford and the many collaborators who have uniquely preserved our history. "McM Link" refers to the vignette published in Record of Connell-Morris and Allied Families compiled by R.H. McMillan Jr. Again, I use this information with respect and appreciation for Mr. McMillan's work and that of his many collaborators, including my mother. "SM Link" refers to example material available elsewhere on Southern Matters. mfr who--remember to search SM; this is just an example link.

Footnote 3. I assume that this is Reubin (Rubin) W. Connell, a son of John Ellis Connell (see Footnote 1). Reubin Connell is the ancestor or many Berrien Countians (e.g., Dr. Bobby Clyatt, Dr. Henry Lee Carlton, Jamie Connell . . . ). L.E. Lastinger (The Confederate War) shows J.H. Kirby as an NCO, then officer, of the Berrien Light Infantry, Co. I, 50th Regiment, Georgia . . .; he went AWOL in February, 1865, which I note without judgement or further knowledge.

Footnote 4. Stephen M. Lewis was married to Polly (Mary) Sutton, g grandfather Buck Sutton's sister. Steve and Polly were Aunt Lena's grandparents and also grandparents of Lonnie Lewis, making me, of course, related to, among others, David Conner, Pauline Beasley (how I would like to have one last conversation with her!), . . . . Several images are entered into SM.

Footnote 5. HG Avera, I assume, is Harmon Gaskins Avera, the son of William M. Avera (1834-1896) who had a "fine plantation" on the Ten-Mile Creek (Hux 3:12). HG's mother was Harriet Jones, the daughter of Clayton and Malissie (aka Melissa) Jones. Malissie second married Harmon Gaskins, so apparently HG Avera was named after his mother's stepfather. Malissie nee Roland was my gg grandfather's half sister (see grave marker). In this way, HG is my half second cousin twice removed. Through HG's grandmother, Malissie, I am also related to an array of other Berrien Countians, including the descendants of John A. Gaskins (e.g. Evon nee Gaskins Waldrop) and of noted historian W.H. Griffin (e.g. Winona nee Griffin Hendley). (Additional information re the exact location of this land will be added when available.)

Footnote 6. Jerry S. "Buck" Sutton was my g grandfather and the brother of Mrs. Stephen M. Lewis, see Footnote 4.

Footnote 7. Samuel W. Watson was my g grandfather.

Footnote 8. This deed mistakenly references Land Lot 190, which is in Nashville. The correct lot is 192.

Footnote 9. Lucious G. Outlaw was my grandfather.

Footnote 10. The present (2011-10-30) "W.H. Outlaw Farm," named after my father, comprises the "Buck Sutton Old Home Place," in Lots 222 and 193, and a smaller adjoining tract, in Lot 223, that was part of the "Samuel W. Watson Home Place."

Footnote 11. Della S. Outlaw was my grandmother, and W.H. Outlaw and Buren P. Outlaw were her sons.

Footnote 12. Mark A. Watson was my grandfather.

Footnote 13. Lena B. Rowan nee Outlaw was Daddy's half sister on the Outlaw side and second cousin on the Sutton side. This sale was rigged. In brief, when Granny Della was murdered she, Daddy, and Uncle Buren each owned 1/3 undivided interest in the Buck Sutton Old Home Place. Granny Della's brother was the administrator, who advertised and sold to the highest bidder Della's portion. Aunt Lena bought it for a ridiculously low $35 and sold it the same day to Daddy and Uncle Buren. A longer and more fleshed out version can be found on page 19 of this document.

Footnote 14. As alluded to previously, Samuel Connell was the brother of John Ellis Connell, my ggg grandfather. William E. Connell was Samuel's son.

Footnote 15. John Ancel Money (1826-1884) was the second husband of Elizabeth C. Connell, Samuel Connell's daughter.

Footnote 16. M.B. Clyatt, I assume, is Martin Burris Clyatt.

Footnote 17. The SW corner of lot 193 is the juncture of lots 192 (NW), 223 (SW), 222 (SE), and 193 (NE) and some of the land described is part of the presently constituted W.H. Outlaw Farm. See the map linked to the page heading.

Footnote 18. A brief explanation of the cast of characters in this mini-saga is necessary, as it is convoluted, but the effort is well repaid as it turns out to be one of the most interesting accounts concerning these land lots. I augment my representation using various sources, particularly Hux and the deeds, &c. referenced here, but no imagination. What I say is true. Honestly, I have summarized the relationships, but grasping them all at once is a challenge. Jeremiah May (1834-1923) and his wife (Winnie Ann Akins, the daughter of William Green Akins) lived just west of the Ten-mile Creek from ~1880. Their homeplace is labeled on the 1908 Hudgins map of Berrien county as being on the 240/241 lot line. (Lot 240 and 222 have a common corner, so this location is very near the W.H. Outlaw Farm.) Goings-on at the Jeremiah May place are superbly described by his son, Ellis Connell May (b. 1868), who was named after my ggg grandfather John Ellis Connell (again, strengthening evidence that JEC lived on Lot 223). E.C. May's book, Gaters, Skeeters, and Malary, is fascinating! Before I go into the main story, I mention another relationship: Jeremiah and g grandfather WHH Outlaw were comrades-in-arm, being in the same CSA company. Two other of Jeremiah's sons are pointed out: First, John A. (born 1862) married Martha Price, the sister of Jim Price, who murdered my father's mother, Della, who appears in the record above, and second, Sirman G. (born 1878), who operated a small county store about half-way between the Jeremiah May home site and the W.H. Outlaw Farm home site. Now, in the mid-to-late 1950s, I visited with Sirman and we enjoyed each other's company, he in his 8th decade, and I a pre-teen. This was before the era of fast-food restaurants and much of the business was snacks--a can of sardines, or a bottle of coke into which as soon as space permitted, salted roasted peanuts were poured. The moon pie and RC is not an inaccurate image, either. . . . and, there was talk, talk, talk, like when Mark Sutton said he'd never buy another coke now that they had gone up to six cents a bottle. It'd be a surprise if you were to know just how much cursing and storming around it took to say that. A little country store like this was also an excellent place to lay down gossip and find it improved and multiplied in short order. In the presence of others, I followed the rule that a child should be seen and not heard, but Sirman was not too busy, so when he and I were alone, he told the old news, as well as the new news, and I listened intently while sitting on an upturned Coca-cola-bottle crate. Often, the old news didn't put my family in a good light, and Mama, of course, denied it all. She didn't like Sirman because he said unflattering things about her family and she didn't like Sirman because of his tie to the man who killed my grandmother. (Just hold on, the tale will turn.) He told me that my g grandfather Samuel W. Watson tore up a graveyard that was in his (SWW) field, tossed the markers in the woods to the south, and plowed over the land, and it was all gone. Mama denied it; I will never know whether she actually did not know or thought it best not to know. And, at that time, no one else I talked to had any recollection of it. So, I just tucked the story away for >50 years, until I ran into the 1925 deposition by SM Lewis, see table, an epiphany. I knew then that Sirman had been honest all along, but the size of the graveyard and knowledge of persons buried there is still mostly unknown and perhaps unknowable. Sirman had told me that it was some of the people of Grandpa Sam's first wife, the daughter of Samuel Gutherie. But, that does not accord with logic because there is a very old Gutherie Cemetery about 8-10 miles further east where she was buried, i.e., about 2 miles into present Lanier County. He also told me that Grandpa Sam was called before the Grand Jury, but I seached(2011-12-08) the indicies of that era and nothing turned up, either civil or criminal. Finally, the full impact of this account must include the knowledge that both of Sirman's parents died while living with him, and important dates: Grandpa Sam bought his homeplace on Lot 223 in 1905 and he died in 1925, so whatever he did was done in this brief 20-year period. (Earlier, Sam had property to the east and, right before he moved back to Berrien, in Irwin County, fast by the place of John A. Boykin, g grandmother Elizabeth's father.)

Now, I shift to the other side. John J. Akins (1832-1864) was a CSA casualty and son of William Green Akins. At the expense of redundancy, note that John J. Akins was the brother of Sirman's mother. (Another daughter married Steven Willis Avera, hence the continuation of the name "William Green;" I digress, but for reason: WG Avera's wife is related to me through the Watson and Sutton sides, establishing kinship with Berrien Countians such as Lamar Roberts and with Alton Rowan by marriage.) John J. Akins' widow, Wincy (or Wealthy Ann), raised her children alone and died in 1905. Wincy was the daughter of Blackstone Mullis, my ggg grandfather, and therefore my gg grandmother Fairby Sutton's sister. Fairby--herself also a CSA widow who remained unmarried--lived with her son my g grandfather Buck Sutton on the Buck Sutton Old Home Place, until she died in Dec, 1908. That is, again, at the expense of redundancy, when Wincy died, her sister lived on the farm that joined the SW Watson Homeplace. Now, this--from Hux 5:3--"she [Wincy] was buried in what is now a discarded graveyard and cultivated over in the field on the farm of the late Sam W Watson about three miles east of Nashville. (Authority for place of burial: W. Henry Griffin, Berrien county historian, deceased)."

I mentioned earlier that Mama did not like Sirman and I promised the tale would turn. Maybe he did not like the Watsons because SW Watson, in an open and notorious fashion, desecrated his aunt's grave within 20 years of her burial. Humbling, isn't it, to place oneself in an adversary's position.

When it is all said and done, we know the cemetery was in use by 1866 (see deed, above) and remained in use until at least 1905, when Wincy was buried there. A reasonable supposition is that at least several people were buried there, but we may never know the real number or the identity. What we do know is that old records as dry as deeds, depositions &c. can help us understand a complex person like my g grandfather SW Watson, who on the one hand had a drinking problem (1907-1908 Minutes of New Hope Primitive Baptist Church) and destroyed a cemetery and on the other felt personally obligated to investors who lost money in a failed bank on which he was a director (or equivalent).

Return to Documentation for this page.
Return to Image Workshop home.
Return to Southern Matters home.