The following was presented to those attending a Baggett Family reunion in the late 1980's, one of whom was my grandmother, Bertha Barham. Since she brought it back, I have gathered several additions and corrections from subsequent conversations with family, in addition to my first Baggett reunion in 1995. The original footnotes are linked numerically; my annotations are linked alphabetically. Where no note is necessary, I have made textual corrections in [square brackets].
Look also at my Baggett Family Picture Gallery.
George was Dolly's oldest brother. He was 17 years old and worked on the farm. Henry was 9 years old. James was 4 years old and baby Jephtha was 6 months old.
Father and son were good laborers. The farm was worth $600.00, and in 1850 that was a good living (1).
When Dolly was 15 years old, she met John Baggett, a young man from Georgia. John's parents were from Scotland, but were living in Georgia when John was born (2)(B). (The Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants to the U.S.A. by Donald Whyte does not list any Baggetts - any spelling.)
Dolly married John Baggett on the 11th of October 1860, in Columbiana. When they got the marriage license, Judge J.M. McClanahan wanted their full names. So, for the record, Dolly became Dorothy Vick and John became J.D.S. Baggett. The preacher was not available, so the young people asked James Baxley, the Justice of the Peace, to "solemnize the rites of matrimony" (3).
Mr. Abraham Lincoln was successful in being elected to the Presidency of the United States in November 1860. That winter, Alabama seceded from the Union with a vote of the Convention: 61-39. On January 11, 1861, Alabama Governor Andrew D. Moore signed the ordinances of secession and called for army units to form (4).
John joined the Confederate army on February 20, 1861, in Talladega County, Alabama (5) and sent Dolly back to Columbiana to her father (6). John was a private in the First Alabama Battalion of Artillery. He was assigned to Company C, then transferred to Company B. John's battalion manned the three forts guarding the mouth of Mobile Bay: Fort Powell on the west, off Cedar Point; Fort Gaines in the bay on Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan on the east (7). John's battalion was stationed at all of the forts during the next three years (8).
In August 1864, the Federal Commander, Gordon Granger, began a campaign to capture the mouth of Mobile Bay. Co. Richard Lucian Page, nephew of Robert E. Lee, was the Confederate Commander of the outer forces of Mobile Bay. On August 5th, the Confederates abandoned Fort Powell. Early on the morning of August 8th, Fort Gaines surrendered. On August 23rd, Col. Page surrendered Fort Morgan (9).
The Battle of Mobile Bay was over. The Federals had captured 1464 prisoners and 104 pieces of artillery (10). Prisoners were sent to New Orleans; Ship Island, Miss.; or Elmira, New York. John was sent to Ship Island. He remained a prisoner from August 8, 1864 to January 6, 1865 (11).
The Confederates and Federals had a prisoner exchange. After being exchanged at Ship Island, John joined Holtzclaw's brigade and was sent to guard the Ironworks at Blakely, Alabama, where ironclad gunboats were being constructed. The brigade arrived in time for a siege and a bombardment. It lasted nine days and was the last infantry battle of the Civil War (12). On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to U.S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. That same day, John's unit in Alabama was captured and made prisoners. Within a month, on May 6, 1865, John was exchanged at Camp Townsend. However, the war was over. There was no new unit to join. Earlier that week on May 2nd, Lt. General Richard Taylor, son of Zachary Taylor, had surrendered the Department of the Army to Edward R.S. Canby at Citronelle, Alabama (13). By week's end, John had received a pardon at Meridian, Mississippi. On May 9, 1865, John headed home to Dolly. Within a year, their son William was born (14).
During the next 15 years, from 1865 to 1880, Dolly had seven children. Only six were to live: William, Warren, Leonard, Mary Ann, Allice and baby John. The family was living in Sylacauga, Alabama (D). Their first son, William, was now 15 years old and worked on the farm with his dad. Warren was "at school" (15).
In 1883, the family moved again. They were in La Grange, Georgia, where Willie Omettie, Dolly's last child, was born (16). John and the boys were working in the mill. Baby John was old enough to work in the mill and told several stories of seeing other children get whippings when they were not fast enough to suit the overseers (17).
The family soon moved to Valdosta, Georgia. Edna Moore remembers several stories of her mother, Willie Barham, "growing up in Valdosta."
By 1897, they had moved to Eufaula, Alabama. While all the children were mill-workers, John was not working in the mill. Cannonade during the war caused "some deafness" and he was unable to earn his livelihood by labor. John applied for and received assistance the government was providing for needy Confederate soldiers (18).
Two years later, in 1899, the family had moved to Montgomery. John was a shoemaker and re-applied for his Confederate pension stating that the family owned a $6.00 clock and $75.00 worth of household and kitchen furniture. They lived at the People's Cotton Factory Yard in a house provided by the mill (19).
There were only two of Dolly's eight children living at home: 22 year old John and 16 year old Willie Omettie. Both were employed at the cotton factory; John was a cardman and his sister was a drawer (20).
Ruth, Helan and Gertrude Missildine also lived at the People's Cotton Factory Yard in mill housing. Helan worked as a cardman and Gertrude was a spinner. The girls were living with their dad, James Monroe Missildine, and his second wife, Martha Elizabeth Sullivan, whom the girls called Lizzie (21).
On August 21, 1900, John D.S. Baggett died (22). Christmas of 1900 was a lonely one for Dolly. They had been married 39 years, and has spent Christmases together, except for the war years of 1861-1864. One year after John's death, Dolly celebrated Christmas 1901 with the marriage of her son John to Ruth Missildine. When John received a job in the mill in Bemis, Tennessee, Dolly and John's little sister, Willie, moved with them (23). Dolly proved to be a special mother-in-law. She was a midwife and delivered most of her grandchildren (24). Ruth's first baby was born in 1902. The little baby girl was the first child Ruth was to bury.
John met a young man named Probe Barham (E) at the mill. On October 5, 1902, A.N. Coor, a Baptist minister, married Probe B. Barham and Willie Baggett (25). In 1903, both Willie and Ruth were mothers. Willie had a baby every three years [correction: her surviving children were all three years apart:
- seven children [six surviving] in all (26). Ruth had 14 children:
From approximately 1907 to 1910, John moved his family to a farm in Humboldt, Tennessee (28). They bought the farm, and the kids grew strawberries while their father continued working at the Bemis mill (29).
Early in 1911, John and his family moved to Birmingham, Alabama where he and his older brother Warren opened a store. Warren bought and sold the groceries while John was the butcher. It was not a successful venture - Ruth had said that they were not doing it right (30).
By 1915, John and his family had returned to live and work at the mill in Bemis, Tennessee (31).
"Following World War I, a wartime epidemic of influenza in 1918 took the lives of many civilians as well as causing a heavy death toll among military personnel" (32). Winnie, Buster and Flora were the only family members to escape having influenza. "Ruth said she never had been as sick before in her life." They thought John had pneumonia. It "is serving him tough" (33).
Sometime before 1920, Tupelo [Mississippi] Cotton Mills contacted Bemis Mills to borrow some money. Bemis Mills made the loan on condition that John Baggett come to Tupelo and make recommendations to get Tupelo Mills "in the black." The Baggett Family moved to Tupelo. John's first recommendation was for Tupelo to sell their mill in Somerville, Tennessee. Bemis Mills bought the Somerville Mill. John then fired many overseers because they did not seem to know their jobs. When others quit in sympathy, John called Bud Walters from the Bemis Mill to come on down and help him. John also hired many family members to keep the Tupelo Mill from shutting down. When those "who had quit" saw that the mill was going to keep on running, they came back to work. A short time later, a fire broke out. There was little damage, and no one was arrested (34).
Lamar remembers "Poppa bringing home pieces of leather from the ends of leather belts the mill was making. He had an iron shoe-form that shoe repairmen used. Poppa used those leather pieces and half-soled all the kids' shoes. That thick leather made the shoes better than when the shoes were new." Lamar also remembers "Poppa going to Memphis or St. Louis on the weekends. Poppa knew how to splice ropes, and the places that used freight elevators had to splice the 'end-less' ropes that those elevators used. When the steel cables replaced ropes on the elevators, Poppa spliced those too. Poppa made more money on those weekends splicing ropes than he made in a week at the mill."
The Tupelo newspapers, 1913-1931, were researched, trying to find articles Dolly had written about her memories of the Civil War, but no articles were found (F). In the 1914 issue, two Baggett boys were on the school honor roll - Grover in the 6th grade and Terry in the 9th grade. In the November 23, 1927 issue, the wedding of Flora Baggett, "one of the most popular girls of South Tupelo," and Charles Robbins received a nice write-up. They were married in the Baptist Church in South Tupelo. This was the first wedding in that church. The maid of honor was sister Verble, and brother Terry gave the bride away. The Baggett boys played baseball during the 1930's but Dolly was not in Tupelo to know or read about their exploits.
In 1928, Dolly had left the home of John and Ruth. For years, they had tried unsuccessfully to get her a pension as a widow of a Civil War soldier (35). Dolly went to live with her son Warren. He lived in Florence, Alabama. They felt that since John had gotten a Civil War pension when he & Dolly had lived in Alabama, then maybe Dolly could get the pension if she lived in Alabama again. She applied for and received the pension. It was for $75.00 a month (36). Dolly was 84 years old, and her sons were all working in the textile business. All her daughters were married. Eight of her nine children had lived: William, Warren, Leonard, Mary Ann Stevenson, Allice Bell, John, Nollie Lambert, Willie Barham (37). Warren was married to Rebecca Jane [Porter]. They lived in a big house in Florence, Alabama, and had a small house for Dolly. All of their children were already married when Dolly went to live with them: Eugene married Rosie ( ), Allice married William Beardon, Glennie Susan married William Homer Lane and John D. married Viola Alvis.
Glennie and Homer raised their children in Florence, and these grandchildren of Warren remember "The big house Pappa lived in and the little house old Mrs. Baggett lived in." They also remember that the little house was kept locked: to keep Dolly in and her great-grandchildren out. They remember the grown-ups going to feed her. But the children were not allowed in; Dolly had a cane and swung it a lot(G). Christine Mitchell grew up down the street, and she remembers throwing rocks at the Lane children, Juanita and Virginia. Christine later married Tubie. He said he only married her 'cause she could throw rocks!
Warren preached in a little church in Cypress Inn [Tennessee] - Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church. Mrs. Stella Martin lives near the church today. She remembers Preacher Baggett. He stayed with Stella and her first husband, Jasper Robbins, on some weekends. Mrs. Martin said the preacher was fair complexion, tall, reddish (H) gray hair and could eat his weight in deer-hash. He could hunt deer, too.
Warren buried his mother Dolly on the 31st of March, 1936. She is buried in the Piney Grove Church cemetery. He also buried his wife Rebecca Jane in 1936. He later married a widow, Lena Bell McFarland Trapp. She had one son, Leonard Trapp. Lena Bell and Warren lived near the Piney Grove Church and ran a gristmill. He was a craftsman and could make and fix just about anything. He was sitting in a chair, watching his beloved bee hives, when he slumped over and died the27th day of June, 1944. He is buried in the plot with his first wife Rebecca and his mother Dolly. Leonard Trapp buried his mother Lena Bell in the Florence [Alabama] City Cemetery.
Before she died, Dolly gave her gold wedding ring to her daughter Willie. Dolly had spent most of her married life without a wedding ring. Her youngest son John (I) bought his mother her ring. When Willie died, she [left] the ring to her daughter Lola Barham. Lola has given the ring to her brother Herman's wife, Bertha. Bertha plans to leave the ring to her daughter, Marge Sims, to keep for [Bertha's] granddaughter, Kathleen Sims.
Dolly's son John died July 17, 1957, in Memphis, and is in the Glennwood Cemetery in Tupelo, Mississippi. His wife Ruth died November 18, 1949 and is buried next to him (39). Dolly's daughter Mary Ann Stevenson is buried in Valdosta, Georgia (40).
Dolly's daughter Nollie Lambert is buried in the Pritchard Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama (41).
Dolly's daughter Willie Omettie Barham is buried in Meridian, Mississippi (42).
The gravestone inscription of Dolly Baggett:
Dorothy Baggett Born Dec. 3, 1843 Died Mar. 31, 1936 "Having finished
life's duty, she now sweetly rests." MOTHER
The Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery is across the road from the church, Cypress Inn, Tennessee, in Hardin County (43).
1. Alabama 1850 census, Shelby County, #1032, page 151.
2. Alabama 1900 census, Montgomery County, Pct. 4, People's Cotton Factory Yard, Vol. 46, ED95, Sheet 18, Line 56.
3. Columbiana, Shelby County, Alabama, Courthouse, Marriage Record Book: 1859-1866, p. 104.
4. The Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, Fitzhugh Lee, p. 11.
5. War Department letter, Adjutant General's office [in] Washington, dated February 16, 1928, sent to the Alabama Pension Commission, Montgomery, Alabama, in reply to their request for the record of service, capture or parole of J.D.S. Baggett.
6. Conversations with Mrs. Edna Moore, daughter of Willie Baggett and Probe Barham. Edna married Elton Walker Moore, deceased. Edna now lives in Memphis, Tennessee (C).
7. The Way to Appomattox: Battles & Leaders of the Civil War, Volume IV, p. 384 map.
8. Alabama, Willis Brewer, p. 695.
9. The Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, pp. 426-430.
11. Letter from the War Department [note 5].
12. The Civil War Dictionary, Mark M. Boatner, p. 68.
13. Letter from the War Department.
14. Alabama 1880 Census, Talladeg[a] County, Beat 11, Sylacauga, Vol. 22, ED138, Sheet 10, Line 37.
17. Conversations with Lamar Baggett, son of John & Ruth Baggett. Lamar married Maggie Barksdale, daughter of Thomas Gilbert Barksdale and Ada Lee Lynch. Lamar and Maggie now live in Coldwater, Mississippi, with twins Lamar Jr. and Margaret Elaine, the youngest of seven children.
18. Civil War records, Archives, Montgomery, Alabama, Application No. 58, of the Soldiers/Sailors, Application for Relief of Needy Confederate Soldiers, Residents of Alabama, Who from Wounds Are Now Unable to Earn a Livelihood.
19. ibid., Application No. 22537.
22. Civil War Widows' Pension, Archives, Montgomery, Alabama, Application No. 8888.
25. Marriage records, Madison Co., Tenn., County Court Clerk's Office, Microfilm #521, in Jackson, Tenn., Library.
26. Conversations with Miss Lola Barham, daughter of Probe & Willie Omettie Baggett Barham. She lives in Meridian, Miss. (E).
28. Tennessee census 1910, Gibson County, 2nd civil dist.
31. Lamar was born in 1915 in Bemis, Tennessee.
32. American History, Vol. 2, by Nelson Klose, p. 193.
33. A letter dated November 10, 1918, from Gertrude Tunnell to Aunt Jane. Gertrude is Ruth Missildine Baggett's sister. Aunt Jane raised Ruth, Gertrude, [and] Helan when their mother died.
37. Civil War Widows' Pension, Archives, Montgomery, Alabama.
39. Lee County, Mississippi, cemetery records, Glenwood Cemetery No. 37, plot row 5. Glenwood Cemetery was known as the City Cemetery. it extends from Green Street on the east, to Church Street on the west and to/from Jackson Street on the south, Tupelo, Mississippi [about 5 blocks north of downtown].
41. ibid. [Susan White Thorn (CPASWT@aol.com) , great-granddaughter of Nollie Mae, notes the following error: "She was buried in the Lambert family plot in Mobile Memorial Gardens rather than a cemetery in Pritchard. She did live in Pritchard."]
42. Lola Barham. [Lola, Herman, Bernis and probably P.B. are buried near their mother in Memorial Park Cemetery in Meridian.]
43. Anne Bright, Lamar Baggett's oldest, has visited and seen the gravestone. Anne suggests that a truck would be the appropriate vehicle for the Hardin County roads (J).
(A) David Nolen, descendant of Emanuel Vick, son of William Vick below, has clarified this entire italicized portion which contains a bit of misinformation. Ms. Gentry was Dolly's mother in law; her mother was Abigail Hughes, who married William Vick in Shelby County, AL on 25 November 1840. He was married before, however, and had 4 children by his first wife. Says David (3/14/98):
"[William Vick] is listed in Shelby County, Alabama in the 1850 Federal census as follows:
Vick, William age 50
Abigal 25
Elizabeth 21
George 17
Terrissa 15
Jane 12 - She would be the last child of William's first wife.
Henry 9
Nancy 7
Dollacy 5 [apparently a mishearing of "Dorothy"]
James 4
Amanda 2
Jephtha 6 mos.
"There were 5 more children born after this. Jordan, 1852; Mary, 1854; Jesse, 1858; Sarah, 1860; and Pardee, 1864. This was a large family. Dora Duncan, daughter of Jesse Vick, told me that she thought William Vick was buried on the old Vick Family farm which she thought was somewhere between Columbiana and Chelsea but I am not sure where it may be. She said there were only two graves there, William's and a daughter who died young, maybe Sarah. I know where the cemetery is where Abigal is supposedly buried but she does not have a marker."
William Vick's entire American pedigree may be found here. For complete Vick information including periodic newsletters, contact the Joseph Vick Family of America, Inc., Billie J. Jurlina, Secretary.
(B) The 1995 reunion records showed John's full name as John Daniel Still Baggett. His father was John Daniel Still Baggett as well; his mother (see above) was a Miss Gentry, and his paternal grandfather was Irvin Baggett. Until we find otherwise, we must take John's word for the record that his parents were actually born in Scotland. I hesitate to use Jr. and Sr. for John and his father, since these terms did not always indicate paternal succession until late in the 19th century.
(C) Edna died 22 September 1996 in Memphis at the age of 84. Her daughter Monte Faye Robinson and grandson Christopher Robinson live in Memphis.
(D) Susan White Thorn (CPASWT@aol.com) notes the following corrections: "Eight were born in Sylacauga, Alabama: William, Warren, Leonard, James T.G., Mary Ann, Allice, John AND NOLIE... born in 1881."
(E) "Probe" Barham's full name was Probus Bernard Barham. He was the son of Thomas B[ernard?] and Rebecca Ellen Jones Barham, and grandson of Thomas Aradius Barham. According to oral family tradition, he was born somewhere in Tennessee, on 19 August 1872, although no official documentation of his family of origin have yet been uncovered. (His grave is near Jackson, Tenn.) Lola, their oldest child, who died 15 July 1995, kept meticulous records of what she believed to be the correct family history and was quick to correct any variation from this. She says a Rev. Jones married her parents, but this apparently disputes the official record.
(F) Does this mean that Dolly actually wrote articles? If so, where would they have appeared, if not in the Tupelo Journal?
(G) Lola Barham vehemently denied this story: "This is a fairy tale by Tubie & Juanita. I knew them when they were babies. My family lived near enough to Uncle Warren's house that we walked down there quite often. I stayed with Glennie when the children were born. I lived in Uncle Warren's house about a year to take care of 'Dolly' so he & Becky could leave her to go places sometimes. I know the kids imagined all this wild story they told. This was a nice 3 bedroom w/bath. Dolly had a room & so did I. The kids 'made up' all this story."
(H) Lola said his hair was dyed red.
(I) Lola said that her oldest son William did this.
(J) I also have visited the grave, along with my sister Rachel and cousin Michael, and we found the trip (10 August 1996) much more pleasant than this note makes it out to be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the roads, at least from the direction we came. The church, which is still quite active, is but a few miles from the Natchez Trace Parkway, just north of the Tennessee-Alabama line. It appears to be in Wayne County, not Hardin County.
Type-your-own e-mail address: Barhawk at virginia dot edu.