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• Because of the query I posted last year, a kind person sent me my Great Grandfather Thomas Staten and his wife Sela Staten's names - also he told that my grgrgrandfather was probably Harvey Staton- and they all were from Halafax, NC - but had spent some time in TN on the way down. I am still trying to find them in TN and NC - so far no luck. Isn't this internet stuff with all the little Angels and Grimelins in there helping us, WONDERFUL!!

  Submitted by : Helen Arnold
  Email : dusty2@peoplescom.net
  WWW page :
  May 3, 1998 16:52

• Thanks to Helen, my co coordinator of Tallahatchie, I made a contact with a Ferguson decendent. Helen referred them to me when they wrote to ask her a question about researching Fergusons in Tallahatchie. Between the two of us, we now have 9 Ferguson researchers on the same branch exchanging information. Thanks to one of those contacts, I now have a picture of my husband's gr gr grandmother, Caroline Sides, who married Samuel Yancy Ferguson.

  Submitted by : Lela Evans
  Email : PipL7x3@aol.com
  WWW page : http://members.aol.com/levans3352/public/index.html
  May 3, 1998 16:55

• Thanks to this wonderful internet stuff I found someof my ancestors I thought I would never find. Just before Christmas in 1997 I found 4 cousins on the Shannon side. Since the first of the year I have also found another cousin on the Sheley side. On the Staten side I found a cousin by accident-He had posted a query for my GrGrandfather, someone saw it and sent me an email and ask me if my son was also researching, I said no, and then proceeded to contact the person and found that his grandmother was my grandfathers sister--My isn't this wonderful--so many success stories--

  Submitted by : Helen Staten Arnold
  Email : dusty2@peoplescom.net
  WWW page : http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/3965/index.html
  May 3, 1998 18:39

• I would like to thank the volunteers that have helped make this web site the greatest. Hats off to you! I have found ancestors from the marriage records, cemetery records and the History of Tallahatchie Co. I just came back from a visit to MS. Before I left I had asked a volunteer to look-up any JONES listed in the History of Tallahatchie Co. She told me there was a Jacob C. Jones. That name didn't fit in with my ancestor chart until I visited the Archives in Jackson and found a Guardianship order, which had him listed as the father of my grgrgrandfather. Then all the pieces just fell into place. I never thought I would ever get back that far. That quick. I just started my family tree in January. This is great. Thanks again Tallahatchie Co.

  Submitted by : Gayle Henize
  Email : Gayle2You@aol.com
  WWW page :
  May 4, 1998 08:31

• I really appreciate the efforts of the coordinators of this site and also of Nick Denley. First, through a query here I found several cousins whom I had never even heard of! Because my grandmother(Della Stewart Howard) died when my mother was very young, we had almost no knowledge of her or her family. Now, I am working together via the Internet with my newfound cousins to research our common ancestors. Also, they have sent me old family photos and shared family stories I never expected to hear. Another branch of my family, the Howards, (also in Tallahatchie Co. since before the Civil War) has been just as exciting. Thanks to the cemetery listings, I now know the burial places of some of my ancestors. The query page and military records sent to me by Mr. Denley's office helped me to "find" two cousins who still live near where our great great grandparents lived near Charleston! They and census records also helped me piece together the family tree.I could go on and on. Thank you!- Doris Simonis (chezD@ix.netcom.com)

  Submitted by : Doris Simonis
  Email : chezD@ix.netcom.com
  WWW page :
  Jun 15, 1998 03:40

From a query I posted some wonderful person e mailed me and sent his file snail mail. I have now found a link to my Bailey family I have been looking for so long. Instead of going around in circles I now know the direction my reasearch has to continue in. I was getting ready to adopt any Bailey family and be happy. Now I can go forward. Thanks for a wonderful job and a lot of hard work, Tallahatchie County is one of the best sites I have seen for helpful information. Patricia Bailey Lucero

Submitted by : Patricia Lucero
Email : PLucero503@aol.com
WWW page :
Dec 1, 1998 02:15

I have been searching for any info on Elisha Monroe Thompson and his family. He was born in 1848 and the first child of my g-g-grandfather. We know very little about this branch - we knew of seven childen, when Elisha was born and the name of one of three wives........but had no clue where he lived, when he died or was buried. Thanks to the good folks with this web page, we now have located Elisha's resting place, confirmed some dates and added information about a second wife. Perhaps in time, we'll learn more about the extended family and descendants.

Submitted by : David K Thompson
Email : dkthompson2@juno.com
WWW page :
Dec 19, 1998 09:27

Thanks for all the great work on these pages! In reviewing the newest information this week, I was able to confirm that my great grandfather, George P. Newman, was on the Board of Supervisors & also the time frame he served. Special thanks to Nick Denley for sending me a copy of the minutes for the Board. Nick also was instrumental in pinpointing the location of some property owned by my great great grandfather, Squire Herndon. He not only sent me a copy of the land record, but maps with the sites highlighted! The marriage listings have also helped me to confirm my data and obtain a copy of the marriage bond/licenses for several great and great great grandparents!

Submitted by : Cyndi Curran
Email : Cyndi1C@aol.com
WWW page :
Jan 6, 1999 17:41

Thanks once more to Nick & Helen! I checked the new page for Wayside Baptist Church Cemetery & found several of my KERR line buried there. I obtained some missing dates, and found a couple of new names to check out....yeah!

Submitted by : Cyndi Curran
Email : Cyndi1C@aol.com
WWW page :
Feb 13, 1999 23:21

RAINEY, LAUGHLIN, JONES, OAKES Thanks to you I have found many more of my relatives in Tallahatchie Co. MS.My father was from there and I have visited there to find family connections but the data that you have put on the WEB has helped me much more than I could do there. My time there has to be too limited. The data that I have found on the WEB tho fills in what I have. If anyone can help go on back I would be most grateful. I have most of the decendants of ANDREW LAUGHLIN RAINEY and quite a bit of his ancestry if anyone is interisted. If anyone has the E-MAIL addresses of the Churches etc that support the cemeteries I would like to contact them to help identify some of the names in their cemeteries that I have not been able to identify myself.

Submitted by : Robert H. Rainey
Email : rhrainey@esper.com
WWW page :
Feb 23, 1999 14:53

A BIG THANK YOU to Helen Arnold, Lela Evans and especially to Nick Denley for all of their work to create one of the VERY BEST of county websites, with so much to search. We were able to find Sarah Ann (Lott) Carson and her husband, Benjamin, and two of their young children in the cemetery listings. That led us to some great help from Nick Denley in the Courthouse to get Wills and Probates for these people. It was especially exciting to see that one child lived after the rest of the family died, and we hope to find that she grew up, married and also had descendants. Your website has taken us from knowing only the date of birth and marriage date/place of Sarah Ann Lott to being able to "reconstruct" their family, including Benjamin's father and siblings. This expression of appreciation is in behalf of several Lott researchers. Thanks so much.

Submitted by : Dot Bellmer
Email : bellmer@narrows.com
WWW page :
Apr 3, 1999 15:50

I started looking for my great great grandmother's name and burial site in 1974. I found her name about 1978 but I only have 1 census record showing her. Tonight I accidentally clicked on the wrong cemetery listing and decided to look for my family surnames anyway AND THERE SHE WAS! Clemintine Lance died 1869. Thanks to Nick Denley and anyone who has compiled these cemetery records and input the data.

Submitted by : Linda Hitt Ruffer
Email : wruffer@earthlink.net
WWW page : Cemetery listings for Tallahatchie County, Miss.
May 18, 1999 03:24

Thanks to all the hard work that has gone into the Tallahatchie site and the volunteers willing to do lookups, I have found cousins I didn't know existed. The cemeteries have added so much to my family history data. Special thanks to my special SHELEY cousin, Helen Arnold.

Submitted by : Alene Whitesides
Email : whitesides@ibm.net
WWW page : www.familytreemaker.com/users/w/h/i/Alene-D-Whitesides
Aug 10, 1999 21:23

Helen E. Staten Arnold, harnold@bigfoot.com. I want the whole world to know that My family has so much to be thankful for. We have been in contact with a cousin that we did not know existed. His mother, was my second cousin. Her mother and father were murdered in Cleveland Ms when she was only 6 years old, she was reared by this one and that one. She never told her children much about our family because she did not know. With the MAGIC of the internet, my Cousin Mike Currier's wonderful wife Shirley found us. Our family had wondered for years where this family was. Now Folks, Mikes mother had 2 little brothers and we do not know where they are, if you know these young men please contact me at the email address I put at the beginning of this Mikes Mother was Flora Murlene Turner Currier, her two brothers names are,James Turner and Willie Ernest "Little Brother" Turner, so if you know these two men, please contact us--we would love to have them back in the family. God Bless

Submitted by : Helen E. Staten Arnold
Email : dusty2@peoplescom.net
WWW page :
Dec 24, 1999 21:22

AM VERY EXCITED TO FIND MORE INFO OF MY ANCESTORS...HOPE TO HAVE CONTACT WITH SOME OF THEM IN THE NEAR FUTURE...I AM VERY PROUD TO BE THE GREAT-GRANDSON OF J0SEPH B. SUMNER AND LOOK FORWARD TO ANY FAMILY OR FRIENDS TO E-MAIL ME....I WILL SHARE ANY WAY I CAN.

Submitted by : LARRY ROGERS
Email : BOLAR ARK@AOL.COM
WWW page :
Feb 27, 2000 21:05

BREWER,OSBORNE and some others I had been researching for years, I even gave up for awhile. Then one day I came across this page because I had found out that some of my family were from here. I put in a quiery and a man by the name of Nick Denley e-mailed me back. He has given me so much help in finding some of my cousins and grandparents information I just can't thank him enough. And in my search it might even turn out that we may be cousins allso. I wanted to thank Helen and Lela for putting the page together allso but my message came back .If they are still around I do thank them allso. But Nick has been the most friendlest and helpful person anyone could ever run into. Thanks for the work Jill

Submitted by : JILL
Email : short4@hitter.net
WWW page :
Apr 15, 2000 02:09

This site has been the most help to me in researching my husbands ancestors. It is important to me to be able to teach my children about both sides of their ancestors, from the north and the south and the west. All of the pages have helped me out so much. I would like to say thank you to all of those who helped put this site together to make it easier for me, from Minnesota, to obtain this information.

Submitted by : Holly Hastings
Email : fishtank@usa.net
WWW page :
Aug 3, 2000 15:35

Glory!! I have been searching for my Great Grandmother's name for many years. Thanks to your wonderful service I finally found her through a query posted here. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to our family. Thank you Thank you thank you

Submitted by : JENNIFER COLBERT
Email : tpevoto@gchd,com
WWW page :
Aug 28, 2000 16:29

We would like to let all the volunteers know how very much we appreciate this website!! It is loaded with valuable information needed in family research. The genealogy bug was passed on to us by our cousin, Wanda Henson Carlton. Her father, John D. HENSON, and our grandfather were brothers. They grew up in Tallahatchie County. When we first searched the Tallahatchie County site on the advice of Wanda, we located the marriage record of our grandparents: Robert HENSON and Ethel SHINALL. We were so excited! Then, we located the marriage records of our grandfather's YARBROUGH and HENSON siblings and our grandmother's RUSSELL siblings. From there we were also able to locate most of them in the cemetery records. After visiting other websites which just listed the cemetery names, we came to appreciate the hard work put into the cemetery records indexed on the Tallahatchie County site. And, after reading census records on microfilm, we certainly know how much work has been put into the census records! Over the years, we have been in touch with Helen Arnold, Nick Denley, Freddie Tilghman, Thomas Russell, Thomas G. Russell, Lottie Barnett, and many, many others who have connections in Tallahatchie County and/or with our HENSON family. It has been a wonderful experience -- research made much easier! To those who have contributed by posting queries, we want you to know how much we appreciate you. Sometimes your questions have helped solve our mysteries or opened more doors to our research. To those who have worked hard to make this site "the best research tool" - a big "Thank you!" From census records to marriage records to cemetery records, we have been able to track most of our family. Years later, we feel like we know everyone who ever lived in Tallahatchie County! Keep up the great job!

Submitted by : Cie and Sandra Henson
Email : SanHenson@aol.com
WWW page :
Dec 1, 2000 23:15

Last night June 30th, 2001, I received wonderful information about Era Shook Henson from Nick Denley. This helped me connect closer to my Henson/Shook roots. Thank you Nick for sending me those goodies. I also want to thank Wanda Henson Carlton and Helen Staton Arnold for putting me in the right track on my Hensons. Thanks Guys, this is the best darn site I have searched and so well put together. I am still looking for where poor old Everette Arthur Henson b. abt 1903 d. abt 1933 is buried at as well as info about Veto McKinley Brewer's family. If you run across those names, please give me a hoot. Thanks again for all that generousity and advice. Wonderful people, Wonderful site.

Submitted by : Edith Oswalt Parker
Email : Sgtmajrp@aol.com
WWW page :
Jul 1, 2001 20:17

Researching my GGMother Myrtle Rowe's Family,having found her in the Marriage Books,Cencus with her parents and in Mt Pisgah Cemetery with her husband EDD Atkins.All on this wonderful site.I needed someone from the Rowe Family to confirm my connection.They had E.D Rowe and Mollie Goodnight and 3 children, but no Myrtle.Finally another researcher had Myrtle and her siblings,not much information but had names and husbands.I did find out about Myrtle's Fathers first wife and her half siblings, all 11 of them! Without this site I wouldn't have had the concrete proof to connect the family.I now have her ancestry to the late 1700's.I cannot give enough praise to the contributers to this Tallahatchie Co.site.Keep up the excellent work.

Submitted by : Connie Atkins
Email : con@olypen.com
WWW page :
Aug 21, 2001 03:14

I would like to thank everyone who has worked so very hard to publish the information available on this website. I would also like to personally thank Mr. Nick Denley with information he provided about my Little and Cooper families. I've looked at countless web sites, and Tallahatchie County is THE best! I have found ancestors from the marriage and cemetery records - ancestors I didn't even know existed. I was so excited about it, I had to make a trip to MS to see. Again, my sincerest thanks to all!

Submitted by : Debby Little
Email : debby-little@reliantenergy.com
WWW page :
Nov 12, 2001 15:54

On the 19 Jan 2002 I posted a query early in the morning around 0130. I didn't expect to hear anything back for quite some time. Well, in the morning I had email from Nick Denley. He had read my query and had all my answers. He was so awesome he had the entire family tree on my husband's family. Come to find out my husband's grandmother is Modie Eva Denley which is Nick's aunt. You can image how happy I was when he sent me the family tree on the Shook's and the Denley's. Because of Nick my children will know there entire family history. I want everyone to know how grateful I am to him for keeping up with the family tree on both sides of the families. I want to thank all the people who worked and are still working on the Tallahatchie web site because of your hard work you help me find Nick. Thanks million, Laura Shook

Submitted by : LAURA SHOOK
Email : DAKOTA2828@AOL.COM
WWW page :
Jan 23, 2002 12:44

Thanks to this page I was able to discover who my great-great-grandfather was. His name was Isaiah Gates. His son, Thomas J. Gates, was my great-grandfather. We knew that Thomas grew up around Grenada and fought in the Civil War for Mississippi, and I was able to use this information and your census records for 1850 and 1860 to locate his family. I discovered that he had many siblings, several of which are most likely half- or step-siblings since the mother's birth place is different from Thomas'. As you can see, this site was a great help to me.

Submitted by : Betty Gates Finley
Email : bettyfinley@hotmail.com
WWW page :
Feb 23, 2002 21:15

Hats off to the coordinators of this site and to Nick Denley. It's soooo important to share and help one another and these three folks have demonstrated their understand of this principle to the "Nth" degree. We had searched for a long time for information on our Robertson/Carroll folks in Tallahatchie Co and mainly just got more frustrated, until I posted on this site. Other site workers and researchers could take a lesson from you. Also, because of being able to post here, I found a wonderful Robertson cousin in Tenn who has been incredible with helping.

Submitted by : Kaye Cross
Email : kaye.cross@gte.net
WWW page :
Mar 2, 2002 13:23

How can I really say thanks for all the work done by Helen, Lela, Nick and just others like me. Have met so many wonderful people who have responded. My ggrandparents were Berriman and Elizabeth Dyer Dillingham. They had 9 dau and 1 son. 2 dau died at an early age. Have been able to find the others in the marriage census. Trying to find living cousins. Got a whole workup on the Dillingham/Wolfe. Wonderful!. Cannot find the son Peter Lakey "Matt". Will be putting out queries. I am willing to share. Mattie

Submitted by : MATTIE FRANKLIN MONTEITH
Email : mamonty38744
WWW page :
Aug 22, 2002 23:15

I just found my Great Grandfather, his parents, and siblings on the 1870 Tallachatchie Federal Census. I've been searching for them for 20 years. I couldn't believe my eyes. William M. Walker, his wife Lorindale, my Great Grandfather, George T. Walker, and four siblings. Charston Township, Range 2 East Thank You Tallachatchie.

Submitted by : Billy Cox
Email : bcox88@cox.net
WWW page :
Feb 14, 2003 00:29

As the result of assistance from Nick Denley, Eva & Calvin Covington, and Lucy @ the Sun-Sentinel, my husband, grandson and I were able to connect with relatives; a former teacher of my father and his siblings; review the lists of Educable Children from 1900-1923; and make copies of important documents related to the Thompson family at the courthouse. We visited the Churches/schools they were associated with and learned of the cemetery site where I believe my ancestors were buried. Unfortunately, the site had been made inaccessible for close srutiny. It was a wonderful and educational trip.

Submitted by : Brenda McKinley
Email : BMckin1790@aol.com
WWW page :
Jul 14, 2003 12:21

i FOUND THE MILITARY DISCHARGE RECORDS FOR MY GRANDFATHER ROOSEVELT WRIGHT! LOOKING FOR INFO ON HIS FAMILY, WIFE.... ERIC WRIGHT FAMILY96NUQ@YAHOO.COM

Submitted by : ERIC WRIGHT
Email : FAMILY96NUQ@YAHOO.COM
WWW page :
Aug 24, 2003 12:28

I found out my great great grandfather was Rolla M.Smith 1822-1873 which I never knew and he was the first person to be buried in the Smith cemetery somewhere between Cascilla and Rosebloom in Tallahatchie County MS. I found out this info through info from my father and smith cemetery page. This is fantastic information to me.

Submitted by : Alan Flint
Email : spacester@sbcglobal.net
WWW page :
Feb 01, 2004 03:39

FOUND: Marriages Charleston, District 1 Tallahatchie County 1901-1908 250 Wm. Edward Waldrup Bertha Lee Rowe 1-26-1904 Paternal Grandparents 342 A. L. Rowe Ethel Waldrip 7-12-1905 Brother and sister of Wm. Edward Waldrup and Bertha Lee Rowe 176 John Herndon Blance Waldrop Sister to Ethel Waldrip 01-18-1903 Census Record H. R.Rowe June 1861 38 GGGdfather Addie Apr. 1866 34 GGdmother Children: Earl Apr. 1883 17 GU, Bertha Lee Mar. 1885 15 Paternal Grandmother, Afton L. Nov. 1887 13 GU, Hardy G. Mar.1888 12 GU, Loving L. Jan. 1890 10 GU, Reubin W. Jun. 1896 3 GU

Submitted by : DOROTHY JUNE WALDRUP WARD
Email : Wardla71203@aol.com
WWW page :
Apr 14, 2004 01:31

I have been looking for my husbands gggggrandfather Mort/Mart At/dkins.One cencus he is listed as MA another Mort. Other researchers doing the Herndon,Newman, Howard,Rowe surnames gave a few hints and off i went.I found them in Cemeterys, marriage books,cencuses,and in queries but nothing to connect my Mart Ad/tkins to Nancy Francis Atkins Herndon.I believed they were related and today i have found my proof. 1840 Cencus Bibb Co Ala 1850 Cencus Monroe Co Miss Mordicai 1 1860 no info yet 1870 Cencus Lee Co Mississippi 1880 Cencus Tallahatchie Co Miss 1890 Tallahatchie Co Miss 1900 Cencus Tallahatchie Co Miss This Tallahatchie County site is the of the most informative of all the USGenWeb sites out there concerning Mississippi.

Submitted by : Connie Sue Atkins
Email : con@olypen.com
WWW page :
Apr 24, 2004 18:00