Little Berry Cooley

By Jimmy Earl Cooley

LB was a farmer, born in Wayne County Mississippi, a slave owner who fought in the Civil War, moved his family to Texas for a few years with his brothers; Ira and Middleton and eventually ended up around Long Acre in Beauregard Parish Louisiana which was a part of Old Imperial Calcasieu Parish in 1880. Little Berry was the grandson of John Cooley. John fought in the Revolutionary War and LB in the War Between the States. John for South Carolina and LB for Mississippi. LB was born in 1821, married Milly Arrington and later her niece Lovenia Arrington. LB's brother Ira and another brother Middleton both married Arrington women. This story contains real dates and history but narrative added to explain the details of everyday life and events surrounding the Cooley families. Their land and homes in Mississippi were left in bad shape after the CW and land opened up in Texas so the three brothers with their families and many Arrington kin followed the popular saying "Gone to Texas". All were in Texas by the 1870 US census but in Louisiana by 1880 census. Reports say that in this new land, they were always considered "newcomers”, robbed and mistreated. So the adventure from MS to LA was quite a journey for the group, with LB's mysterious friend, Rachele Abigaile, traveling right along; both helping and interfering much of the time. They finally settled in SW LA and most all of the present day Cooley's come from these three brother's families. I am a "Double Cooley" as both my father and mother come from children of William Cooley, Little Berry's father.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jimmy Earl Cooley
• Release date: Nov 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310727634

Jimmy Earl Cooley

Jimmy Earl Cooley, born February 21, 1936 in Ludington, Louisiana, graduated from DeRidder High School, graduated from ULL Lafayette, Worked for NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland, retired 1992, now living in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana with wife Carollyn and dog Chance.

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Little Berry Cooley

Copyright 2014 by Jimmy Earl Cooley

Smashwords Edition

Little Berry and Lovenia Cooley

1870

Table of Contents

Introduction

Preface

Chapter 1 My Family History

Chapter 2 Little Berry’s Family

Chapter 3 Life in Mississippi

Chapter 4 Milly Death/Ellen Birth

Chapter 5 Dealing with Milly’s Death

Chapter 6 July 4, 189 Celebration – Getting There

Chapter 7 July 4, 1849 Celebration – Finally There

Chapter 8 July 4, 1849 Celebration – Meeting Lovenia

Chapter 9 July 4, 1849 Celebration – Women Discussions

Chapter 10 July 4, 1849 Celebration – LB and Lovenia Alone

Chapter 11 July 4, 1849 Celebration--The Party

Charter 12 Horse Races

Chapter 13 Carl and Lou Meeting

Chapter 14 Search for Ellie

Chapter 15 Post Civil War

Chapter 16 The Civil War

Chapter 17 LB and the Civil War

Chapter 18 Leaving Mississippi for Texas

Chapter 19 Journey to Texas

Chapter 20 Travel through Louisiana and Meeting Rachele Abigaile

Chapter 21 Rachele Abigaile Released

Chapter 22 Living in Texas

Chapter 23 Journey to Louisiana – after Texas

Chapter 24 Crossing the Sabine River

Chapter 25 Land in LA

Chapter 26 Middleton’s Death and Return to Texas

Chapter 27 Cooley Family Life in LA 1880 - 1903

Attachments

Chart 1 Descendents of William Cooley

Chart 2 Descendents of Little Berry Cooley

Chart 3 Descendents of John Eugene Cooley

Chart 3A Descendents of John Brantly Cooley

Chart 4 Descendents of Marshal JB Cooley

Chart 5 Misc Cooley Family Genealogies

Attachment A John Cooley Descendents, will and summary of documents

in Columbia South Carolina Archives

Attachment A1 John Cooley Will – typed version

Attachment B List of Communications

Attachment C Cecil Singletary Comments on the Cooley Descendents

Attachment D Helyn Aguillard Comments on LB’s CW Cooking Pot

Attachment E Rickey Robertson Comments on LB’s CW Cooking Pot

Attachment F Photographs

Photo A Hopewell Church

Photo B Little Berry Cooley Gravestone

Photo C Lovenia Cooley Gravestone

Photo C 1 Little Berry and Lovenia

Photo D Little Berry House place Location

Photo E Little Berry House Place Site

Photo F John Eugene Cooley Gravestone

Photo G Emma Harriott Adeline Bailey Cooley Gravestone

Photo H Marshal JB Cooley Gravesite

Photo I Ermel Vuel Cooley Gravesite

Photo J Jimmy E. Cooley Birthplace TBD

Map 1 Plot of Sawmill Town of Ludington, LA showing the farm of John Brantly Cooley and the land of JB Cooley in Ludington with the birthplace of Jimmy Earl Cooley.

References

Appendix 1 Jimmy Earl Cooley Family Tree

Appendix 2 Discussion on Why Return to Louisiana?

Appendix 3 1870 Angelina County Texas US Census

Remarks

About the Author

Other Offerings by this Author

Book Cover

End Notes

Additional book facts and information

Search for My Root – Double Cooley by JEC

LBC Photo with Civil War Photo

Introduction

This book deals with the life of Little Berry Cooley from the death of his first wife Milly Ann Arrington, in Mississippi through his second marriage to Lovenia Arrington, Milly’s niece, and their lives in Texas and Louisiana until his death in 1903. It also deals with maternal research of my Cooley family.

Preface

After retiring in 1991 and living in Maryland (Washington DC area), I started a research into my family roots to dig up and uncover my ancestors and discover my branch on the Cooley Family Tree. This became very involved since I basically knew very little other than my immediate family. It became a labor of love and the search for my roots project to discover my Cooley ancestors led me to many different resources and to meet and communicate with a large number of people, many who have become close friends over the internet and mail. For several years this effort consumed much of my time and my approach resulted in a collection of several short stories written under the title of Search for My Roots and Captured Remembrances. The Captured Remembrance articles deal with certain photographs that I took of the family as a young man or prints or negatives given me by family members or friends. Each chosen photograph conjured up thoughts, circumstances, and remembrances that I translated into words.

The Search for My Roots articles centered around one family group or member, and objects or things that I thought should be preserved in writing. For example the story of MAM a jersey milk cow that I tended for my grandfather, during my high school years. The story of MAM is in my short story book A Collection of Short Stories by Jimmy Earl Cooley

By 1996 I had collected a large amount of family information from personal contacts through email and postal mail, books written on Beauregard and Calcasieu Parishes, trips to the National Archives and Mormon Library, visits to Beauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon, Winn, and Sabine Parish libraries and court houses, plus the World Wide Web and family members and acquaintances. My studies continue today, although tapering off when gardening seasons and photographic opportunities take me away and put on hold while we move our residence from Maryland to Louisiana, in 2006.

Throughout this project I found it a little difficult to document and organize the research information in a coherent and useful way. I bought several versions of the Family Tree Maker (FTM) software and found this helped; along with the entire computer word processing and publisher programs available today. But I found one must spend a lot of time in front of the computer, writing and be diligent in entering the data into the computer to utilize the full benefit - something that I am not particularly fond of doing.

But endure and plug along, I have.

Throughout my research certain ancestors spoke to me and I became a good friend with them. I don’t mean literally but something about these two stirred my interest and the details of their lives became much easier to gather and understand than others. The most interesting and strongest urge came from my maternal great grandfather; Little Berry Cooley and close behind, my paternal grandfather; John Brantly Cooley.

LB was a farmer, born in Wayne County Mississippi, a slave owner who fought in the Civil War, moved his family to Texas for a few years with his brothers; Ira and Middleton and eventually ended up around Long Acre in Beauregard Parish Louisiana which was a part of Old Imperial Calcasieu Parish in 1880. Little Berry was the grandson of John Cooley. John fought in the Revolutionary War and LB in the War Between the States. John for South Carolina and LB for Mississippi. LB was born in 1821, married Milly Arrington and later her niece Lovenia Arrington. LB's brother Ira and another brother Middleton both married Arrington women. This story contains real dates and history but narrative added to explain the details of everyday life and events surrounding the Cooley families. Their land and homes in Mississippi were left in bad shape after the CW and land opened up in Texas so the three brothers with their families and many Arrington kin followed the popular saying Gone to Texas. All were in Texas by the 1870 US census but in Louisiana by 1880 census. Reports say that in this new land, they were always considered newcomers, robbed and mistreated. So the adventure from MS to LA was quite a journey for the group, with LB's mysterious friend, Rachele Abigaile, traveling right along; both helping and interfering much of the time. They finally settled in SW LA and most all of the present day Cooley's come from these three brother's families. I am a Double Cooley as both my father and mother come from children of William Cooley, Little Berry's father.

John Brantly was born in the north Louisiana Parish of Sabine, his father was Nelson Cooley and mother: Margaret Ann (Molly) Phillips. He was a carpenter and his life and that of his family was centered on following the lumber sawmills across Louisiana working with the yellow pine and hardwood cut down indiscreetly. Much of the yellow pines were slaughtered, cut into board feet and shipped to northern states for buildings and houses. John and his wife Susan Idonia Sanders (Donnie, as he called her) ended up on Warren Street in the City of DeRidder the parish seat of Beauregard Parish and then to a small truck farm.

John and Donnie lived through the Great Depression which in some way resembled the hardships of the Civil War, except for the military aspect and the actual killing and maiming. Around __ John and Donnie bought the small farm and moved their family from DeRidder to Ludington, Louisiana, another sawmill town just north of DeRidder. Ludington is now a part of DeRidder and the house, he built and where they lived is still in use there, perhaps a tribute to my grandfather’s skill in constructing houses.

Their youngest son and my father J.B. a city fireman met my mother Ermel in DeRidder. J.B. bought a house in Ludington, near my grandparents, and it was here that J.B. and Ermel lived for several years and the place where I was born. He became Fire Chief of DeRidder around 1936 and we moved into the fire station which was part of the City Hall building built by the WPA on corner of Steward and Shirley Streets in DeRidder.

I never knew LB as he died well before I was born but I knew John (Grandpapa as we called him). Donnie died in 1952 and Grandpapa died in 1960, the year I left DeRidder and moved to Maryland to pursue a career with NASA; that spanned 30 + years.

I decided that documenting these two men’s lives in a book would please them and satisfy what they were asking me to do; while satisfying my yearning and curiosity. This novel on LB and the future one on John try to reveal aspects of their lives but it also presents useful family genealogy information that could help other Cooley’s descendant’s research.

What is written in this book is by no means all correct or even true but is a compilation of my research effort on LB and his family and my ideas and imagination as to what may have happened in their lives at that time in history. Many of the places, events, and characters (and their names) are fiction but many are not. I hope family members that recognize the people, places, and events will forgive me if I offend anyone by misrepresenting or omitting any important events or facts in LB’s life, it was not intentional but just my lack of information, understanding or interpretation.

Chapter 1 My Family History

This book is intended to spread my research and knowledge of my Cooley family. It basically covers the maternal side of my family.

Little Berry Cooley; son of William Cooley was my maternal great grandfather. Little Berry answered to the nicknames of Berry or LB and William to Billy. My family seldom discussed this side of the family so I was not aware of these names until I started researching the Cooley surname in late 1990. Records show Billy Cooley was from Darlington County, South Carolina. His family is shown in Chart 1. John Cooley was the father of William. See Attachment A.

LB was born in Wayne County, Mississippi in 1821, served in the War for Southern Independence (Civil War) from Mississippi from 1861 through 1864; moved to Texas about 1869 (See Appendix 3) He and his family is listed in the Angelina Texas Census of 1870. He and his family had moved to Louisiana by the time the US Federal census was taken in 1880. He died in 1903 near Sugartown, LA. (Calcasieu Parish) and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery alongside his wife Lovenia (Photo A and A1); which is located on a parish road a short distance off LA 384 (known as the Dry Creek Road, Beauregard Parish, La.) In 1912 the parish of Beauregard was formed from a part of Old Imperial Calcasieu Parish, La. LB’s and his family settled first in an area named Bear which is near Longville LA and later on a piece of land near the community of Long Acre, LA. My Aunt Beatrice (my mother Ermel’s sister) told me that the Long Acre community once had a hotel, general store, school, and blacksmith shop. Both of LB’s home places were located in Beauregard Parish, according to communications with several people (Attachment B) and Beauregard Parish land records. First he lived in the Bear community near Ragley and later at a site near Long Acre Road just beyond the end of Farley Green Road, which runs north of LA 26 to Claude Kelly Road (Photo D and E). The LA 26 goes from the Lake Charles Highway (Rt. 171) toward Oberlin, Louisiana. My mother, Ermel, and Aunt Beatrice told me their family lived in LB’s house, after his death, with their father; John Eugene and mother Emma Harriott Adeline Bailey Cooley. LB was a farmer and lived for 81 years and 58 days, married twice and had 14 children, including one daughter from a first marriage and an adopted son; named John, who is listed in the 1900 Calcasieu Parish, U. S. Census. He first married Milly Ann Arrington and second, Milly’s niece Lovenia Arrington; daughter of Milly’s brother William Arrington. Chart 2 shows the complete list of Little Berry’s children. There are few remaining in the family that remember details about LB except that he sometimes wore a uniform and rode a mule wherever he went when he lived in Louisiana and carried some provisions and a frying pan for cooking. Perhaps his Civil War experience taught him that he must be prepared, at any time to stop, build a fire and prepare a meal; not knowing where life may lead him. By 1880 the horrors of the Civil War were laid to rest and some people could not forget and forgive. LB’s life, however, was affected tremendously by the conflict between the North and South. He was proud of his service in the Confederate Army but often his mind went back to his enlistment times trying to put the pieces together. In his final analysis he always came back to the same conclusion. The Northern aggressors were trying to change the Southern lifestyle and force their values upon the South and that was reason enough to serve and fight.

The fifth son of LB was John Eugene Cooley. John Eugene: my maternal grandfather was born on October 13, 1868 in Mississippi and died December 12, 1921 in Beauregard Parish at the age of 53 and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery (Photo F). His death certificate states that he died of pellagra. John Eugene married Emma Harriott Adeline Bailey (Photo G), daughter of Alfred Bailey, and they had five children, one boy and four girls. Chart 3 lists John and Emma’s children.

My mother, Ermel Vuel Cooley was their second daughter of John Eugene and Emma Cooley. Ermel was born in Sugartown, La. on November 13, 1906 and lived in DeRidder, La, and the parish seat of Beauregard Parish until she died in 2005. She was 15 years old when her father suddenly died and her mother, Emma, and the children moved into the City of DeRidder soon after to live with one of Emma’s brothers. Ermel married first, Ben Henderson giving birth to one child and later married Marshal J.B. Cooley on April 6, 1927. J. B., who was also a descendant of William Cooley through a son Nelson, and was best known as the Fire Chief of DeRidder, Louisiana for many years; his fire fighting career in DeRidder spanning 42 years. J.B. and Ermel had three children, see chart 4. My father, J. B. died on February 7, 1988 in DeRidder, La. and is buried in DeRidder at the Woodlawn Cemetery (Photo H). My mother, Ermel, died March 12, 2005 and is also buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery. I was born in February of 1936 in Ludington, LA, which was a sawmill town on the Kansas City Southern railroad. The name Ludington came from Mr. Ludington of Ludington Wells & Van Shaik Lumber Company, Photo J and Map 1.

The post office was established on March 16, 1905. Ludington is a small village just north of DeRidder; LA located along Highway 171 (Pine Street within the city limits) Ludington is now incorporated into the city limits of DeRidder. I was born in a saw mill house on the corner of Rose and Claude Streets, shown on the Ludington Platt Map; (Map 1). Now the lot is vacant and void of any houses. See Photo G. Around my birth, in February of 1936, J.B. owned several lots in Ludington and his father John Brantly Cooley owned around 12 acres nearby. See Map 1. JB was working for the DeRidder Fire Department in 1936 when I was born. In a few years J.B. advanced to the position of Fire Chief of DeRidder and our family moved from Ludington, LA to the Fire Station in DeRidder. The DeRidder Fire Department was located on the west side of the City Hall on the corner of Stewart and Shirley Streets. I wrote a short history of the DeRidder City Hall and our life living there. I graduated from DeRidder High School and the University of Southwestern Louisiana at Lafayette LA with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics and worked in Maryland for 30 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland over 30 years, retiring in 1991.

Chapter 2 Little Berry’s Family

Little Berry’s father was William Billy Cooley and his grandfather was John Cooley of South Carolina. Many genealogy studies and records indicate that William married Nancy Bounds (Bownds), but the surname of Bounds is disputed by some researchers. Even with the advent of the World Wide Web (Internet) and electronic email, which has boosted the capability of finding family information tremendously, the last name of Nancy remains a mystery. Some People believe the she was a sister to James Bounds Jr. (#95 in Bounds Family History) who was born in 1766 or the daughter of James (#26) or Jesse (#36), who were younger brothers of James JR’s, second cousins.

Nancy’s maiden name being Bounds is supported by the fact that the Cooley and Bounds families were living so close to each other, as recorded by census records of Mississippi, and inter marrying within the two families. As a widow in the 1850 Jasper County, MS census, she was living next door to John and Mary Bounds with the families of two of her sons and one daughter living on the other side of her.

I have spent time trying to find solid, written proof of Nancy’s last name, as have many others. We all just wish that Grandma Nancy Bounds had been a little more diligent in recording her maiden name. I’m sure that somewhere, probably in SC or MS, there sits on a shelf, a box of records which contain proof. I sure would like to be the one that finds it. I recently applied for admittance into the Sons of the American Revolution and one of the first questions that the reviewing official genealogists asked me was for proof that Grandma Nancy was a Bounds! There is also the question of how the surname is spelled Bounds or Bownds. There are Family Bible records that spell the name Bownds.

There are records that William and Nancy had as many as 12 children (Chart 1).

John Cooley, William’s father was from South Carolina and left a will listing William as a son and I think there is ample proof recorded that John fought in the Revolutionary War. In his will he names his wife Rachele, but as in the case of Grandma Nancy Bounds, her last name is recorded and no one has identified her maiden name. John Cooley was born around 1750 and died in 1793 in Darlington, South Carolina. It is believed that John and Rachele had 8 children (Chart 5).

Information gathered indicates that William Cooley was born in Darlington County, South Carolina, and Camden District around 1780 and moved to Wayne County, Mississippi around 1818, just after Mississippi became a state. Statehood occurred on December 20, 1817. Some researchers believe that William and his family lived in Anson County, North Carolina between the time they left South Carolina and moved to Mississippi.

Wesley Cureton writes in the History of Beauregard Parish, Louisiana (reference 4) that the great floods of South Carolina in the second and third decades of the 19th century may have led to the move to Mississippi. But no doubt the recognition of the new state and the hope for being able to own and operate a farm helped to make the relocation. Wayne County, Mississippi was formed in 1809 and it bordered the Choctaw Nation on the north, Lawrence County on the west, Marion and Greene counties on the south side and the state of Alabama on its east border.

By the year 1820 William and Nancy were farming in Wayne County MS. 1820. They had seven children by then all born in South Carolina. They were Eliza b 1804, Elizabeth b 1805, Harbud b 1806, Mary b 1808, Nelson b 1810, William b 1812, and Daniel b 1818. Daniel was the first child born in the state of Mississippi. William is shown as a farmer in the 1820 Wayne County, Mississippi Census. He is approximately 40 years old and in his household are three males (ages 0-10), two males (10-15), one male (25-44), one female (0-10), two females (10-15), one female (16-18), one female (18-25), and one female (25-44). The male, age 25 to 44, and the female, age 25 to 44 were surely William and Nancy. The others in the household were five boys and five girls at the time of the 1820 Census. The Census also shows the William was involved with agriculture (farmer) and had no male slaves, one female slave, age 0-14 and one female slave, age 26-44, a mother with her daughter. Little Berry would not have been shown in the 1820 Census, since he was born in 1821.

By 1830 William and Nancy were living in Wayne County when the 1830 Census was taken and owned at least ten parcels of land. Several of their children were, no doubt, farming families by then and working with William to produce crops. According to Mississippi Land Records (early 1837 to 1850) William had 680 acres of land in Township 1N, Range 13E Sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 35 plus 40 acres in 14E and 75 acres in 10N. This totaled approximately 800 acres. The land was selling for $1.25 per acre in 1834. According to the 1830 Wayne County Ms Census, William had one male (0-5), four males (10-15), one male (15-29), one male (50-60), one female (15-20), one female (20-30), and one female (40-50). A total of nine persons were in his household in 1830. He had two male slaves (10-24), one female slave (0-10), one female slave (10-24) and one female slave (24-36). A total of 5 slaves in 1830. It is written in the Genealogy of the Bownds Family account that Mr. Merrill said that John Bownds and Mary hired two slaves named Noel and Amsby from the William Cooley estate and carried them to Texas with them."

By 1840, the Choctaw Indians ceded their land in central Mississippi to the state in 1830. William, Nancy and family moved a little northwest to the newly created Jasper County by the time the Jasper County; Ms. Census was taken in 1840. The 1840 Jasper County census shows William with one male (10-15), three males (15-20), and one male (50-60) and one female (30-40). He also had two male slaves (0-10), two male slaves (10-14), two male slaves (24-36), four female slaves (0-10), one female slave (10-24), and two female slaves (24-36). There were six involved in agriculture in the household. Little Berry, Ira, and Middleton were probably the sons remaining at home. What was life like in Mississippi during the 1820 when Little Berry was born and how did the Cooley’s come to settle there?

In the 1840 Wayne County Census, a William is shown with one male (0-5), one male (5-10), one male (20-30), one female (0-5), one female (5-10), and one female (15-20) with no slaves. The census indicated that there were two persons employed in agriculture.

Chapter 3 Life in Mississippi

Since William was a farmer surely all his children helped out in some way on the farm. So LB helped him work the land in Wayne County when he was old enough. In 1830 LB was almost 10 years old (born in 1821) and although Berry had older brothers and sisters, some born in SC, at ten years old he was beginning to assume the responsibility of a man and no doubt was called upon to help with the farm work and chores. By 1840, when William’s family was in Jasper County, LB would have been 19 years old and married Milly Ann Arrington, his first wife, in 1843. Mississippi was one of the leading cotton producing states in 1845 through 1860 and the chief source of wealth was the cotton crop in 1850. The farm work (no doubt King Cotton) continued under the direction of William until he died sometime before 1850 (Nancy lived for another decade or so and died Feb 13, 1857). LB was around 20 years old when his father died and approaching 40 when his mother died. So he must have been well established as a farmer in Jasper County, MS.

The Arrington family was neighbors and friends that came with the Cooley’s from South Carolina. At least three of William’s sons: namely, L.B, Ira and Middleton married Arrington sisters. See chart 1. In 1844 Little Berry was 23 years old. Milly Ann, his soon to be departed wife, was only 19 and they had been married only a short while. They were living in Wayne County, Mississippi on their father William’s land in a small two room house built from second hand lumber retrieved from an old house on the Arrington farm. LB, at age 22, married Milly Ann Arrington, age 18 years (b. Feb 26, 1825, d. 1846), and daughter of Arthur and Milly Arrington. William was alive to see the first child (Ellen) born to LB and Milly Ann. Unfortunately, in 1846, after the birth of Ellen, Milly Ann died. And LB was left with a young child and no wife.

The exact date of Milly's death or baby Ellen’s birth is not recorded. But I believe Milly was buried within a week, after the proper viewing and mourning time. The location of her grave is also not known. I’m sure a proper wet nurse was found for baby Ellen and members of the Arrington and Cooley families cared for her; most probably by her grandparents on both sides. William Cooley died around October 22, 1849 and Nancy Cooley lived until February 15, 1857. They both died in Jasper County, Mississippi. Baby Ellen was three years old when Billy died and almost a teenager when Nancy passed away. Her Arrington grandparents Arthur and Milly Anne were 69 and 62 years old when they died. By 1850 baby Ellen was probably living in the household of one of the Arrington’s and by 1860 when she was 16 years old she was most likely living with William Arrington and family. She married Harberd Cooley on Jan 28, 1865 (when she was 21). Some say that Harberd was the son of Nelson Cooley, son of Kitchen Cooley. But we know that Ellen was living in her uncle William Arrington’s house, Angelina County, Texas in 1870 Census with a daughter Annie who was 4 years old (probably Halberd’s child). Later Ellen married Penn Ferris, from Louisiana. Ellen and Penn Ferris had two children: John B, born 1874 in La. and Thomas, b 1877 in LA.

As for Mississippi before the Civil War, the railroads industry was strong at this time or tracks were coming to this area and the movement of supplies and travel in general was becoming somewhat easier. But the clearing of land and growing of crops with no though given to its longevity was ruining the land. Not many realized that the soil could be depleted by overuse. There were few substantial studies showing how to manage the land and the farmers did what their fathers had done in plowing and cultivating the soil for crops. Some observant farmers began to realize that the land needed some rest and started rotating crops or leaving land fallow for a period. But this was difficult for them to accept especially when more crops on more land generally meant more money for their families. But they also began to realize that they were getting small yields on soil that was planted year after year. It became more difficult to grow enough moneymaking crops on the abused land. The gold rush of 1849 occurred and some left the hardships of farming and went west to seek a fortune. Go West Young Man was heard loud and clear by many southerners and land was being opened for farming in the area owned by Mexico which is now Texas.

The 1850 Census of Jasper County, Mississippi shows LB Cooley, age 29, a farmer and Lovenia Arrington Cooley his wife, age 17, living in Jasper County Mississippi, with no Cooley children reported in the household. But several Spurlock children, ages ranging from 8 to 26 years old, and one 63-year-old female named Adeline Spurlock. There was also a 2-year-old female infant named Beashebia Epsy Ellander. Chart 2.

By 1860 LB (39) and Milly (27) had four children in the household; N.A, W.J. J.M, and S.C. They prospered in Mississippi and owned real estate estimated at 2,280 and personal estate estimated at 7,399. They owned land in Jasper County. LB owned 5 slaves in 1860; ages ranging from 41 to 10 years old. His brother Middleton owned 28 slaves. Some of these slaves probably came from their father William’s estate since he died in the 1850s. Middleton’s real estate was $1, 920 and personal estate was $30, 975 in 1860. The value placed on male slaves in 1860 was $1300.00 and $1,000 for females.

The 1860 census of Jasper County shows LB and Lovenia with four children between 1845 and 1849 the Cooley family prospered in Mississippi. Each of William’s other children married, started their families and owned and farmed land in and around Jasper, Wayne, Clarke, and Newton Counties in Mississippi.

Arthur Arrington, born around 1780 in Virginia married Milly Ann in South Carolina in 1808. He and his family moved to Mississippi, probably with the Cooley’s. They had three children that were born in South Carolina; William, Thomas, and Ezekiel and five that were born in Mississippi; Burrell, Mary, Bashaby, Milly Ann, and Ellen. Three of the Arrington girls and one boy married into the Cooley family. Ezekiel Arrington