Edwin Barksdale Alford b. 25 November 1792 in North Carolina. he was the son of Jacob Alford & Elizabeth Bryant. His mother, Elizabeth (Bryant) Alford, died in 1793. His father soon married Frances (Seaborn) Alford.[i]The family soon left North Carolina and moved to Georgia where the family can be found in records from 1798 to 1806.[ii]Jacob moved again, settling the family in Louisiana where they could be found in 1812.[iii]
Edwin served during the War of 1812. On 23 December 1814 he enlisted as a private in Captain William Brickham’s Company in the 13thRegiment of the Louisiana Militia. He was a participant in the Battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815.[i]
[i]NARA, War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files; Fold 3(fold3.com) Cpt. Wm. Brickham’s Co., LA Militia; Edwin Alford.
On 20 December 1818 in Pike County, Mississippi, Edwin married Martha P. Smith[i], daughter of Jeremiah Smith and Joanna Dillon. [See Smith Chapter for more information on this family.] Martha, born 25 March 1802[ii], was 16 years old. The marriage of Edwin and Martha is the earliest record of their life in Mississippi. Two years later he was one of four Alfords enumerated in the 1820 census which showed that he was in Pike County with a wife and young son.[iii]In 1821 Edwin bought a piece of land on the west side of the Pearl River. He and David Bullock bought 160.96 acres of land.[iv]
We find Edwin Alford listed in the 1820 and 1840 United States Census reports for Pike County, Mississippi. The 1850 Census report shows Edwin as a 58 year old farmer, married to Martha. The value of the real estate he owned was $2,000. Five children are listed: Jeptha, Julia, Seaborn, Newton and Martha E. Sons, Jeptha and Seaborn were farm hands. The 1870 Census lists several Alfords living next to each other: Julius, Edwin, Jacob and Frank. Edwin is living alone. He is 77 and still a farmer. His land was valued at $1,000 and his personal estate at $500.
Edwin & Martha are buried in the Edwin B Alford Cemetery, MS.
[i]NARA, War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files; Fold 3(fold3.com) Cpt. Wm. Brickham’s Co., LA Militia; Edwin Alford.
[ii]The Bible of Jeremiah Smith Sr.;Pages copied by Patricia (Brock) Smith and given to author, Dec. 2005; Bible in possession of Mrs. W. C. Uhlman, Tylertown, Mississippi. Martha Smith.
[iii]Heard, Ruby Alford, Gil Alford. Early Mississippi Alfords(AAFA Action III 1990) 36.
[iv]US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Accession #CV0112-505, 1821; digital image (glorecords.blm.gov: accessed April 2019) Edwin Alford, MS.
[i]Conerly, Luke Ward, and E. Russ Williams, Source Records from Pike County, Mississippi 1798 – 1910 and Misc. Legal and Family Records Pertaining to the Areas of Pike and Walthall Counties, MS(Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1978)92 – 98.
[ii]Heard, Ruby Alford, Gil Alford. Early Mississippi Alfords(AAFA Action, III, 1990) 35.
[iii]Williams, E. R., A Potpourri of Historical Data Concerning the Founding Families and Individuals of Washington Parish, Louisiana, 1798 – 1860. (Monroe, LA: Northeast Louisiana University, 1990) 1.
….. 1 Edwin Barksdale Alford b: 25 Nov 1792 in NC, d: 10 March 1878 Pike, MS
….. + Martha P. Smith b: 25 March 1802 in SC, m: 20 December 1818 Pike, MS, d: 08 Aug 1861 in Pike, MS
……….. 2 Rev. Warren J Alford b: 12 Sept 1819 Pike, MS d: 12 Nov 1899 MS
……….. + Celia Ann Lewis m: 08 June 1841 in Marion, MS d: 30 Jan 1900
……….. 2 Cynthia Ann Alford b: 11 Dec 1820 in Progress, MS
……….. + Jesse Ball b: 15 November 1808
……….. 2 Ira Payne Alford b: 22 Jan 1822 Progress,Pike County, MS, d: 15 Sept 1901 Washington Parish, LA
……….. + Elizabeth Hope b: 15 Jan 1826, m: 30 Dec 1843, d: 25 Dec 1871 in Washington Parish, LA
……….. + Mary Hughes Parker
……….. 2 William Harmon Alford b: 03 August 1823 in MS
……….. 2 Harriet Jane Alford b: 22 March 1825 in MS
……….. + Tyra Jennings Tynes m: 05 October 1847 in Pike, MS
……….. 2 Lacey Alford b: 24 Sept 1828 in MS
……….. + James Michael Ball
……….. 2 Jeptha Josephus Alford MD b: 2 Aug 1830 in MS, d: 21 Nov 1914 MS
……….. + Fanny Roberts
……….. + Corinne Edwards
……….. 2 Julia Ann Alford b: 21 March 1832 in MS
……….. + John Ratliff McEleveen
……….. 2 Seaborn S. Alford MD b: 15 Aug 1834 in MS, d: 22 Feb 1906
……….. + Anice Ball
……….. 2 Elijah Hayden Alford b: 1836
……….. 2 Juluis Newton Alford b: 14 Nov 1838 in MS, d: 26 May 1916
……….. + Mary Marguerete Brumfield b: June 1846 in LA
……….. 2 Martha Elizabeth Alford b: 8 Aug 1846 in Pike, MS, d: Aft. 1910
……….. + Jessie Alexander Brumfield b: 27 Sept 1838 in LA, d: Aft. 1910
……….. 2 Julia Ann Alford b: 30 August 1856 in MS
Selected Sources:
- 1820 U. S. Census, Pike County, Mississippi.
- 1840 U. S. Census, Pike County, Mississippi.
- 1850 U. S. Census, Pike County, Mississippi.
- 1860 U. S. Census, Slave Schedule, Pike County, Mississippi.
- 1870 U.S. Census, Osyka, Pike County, Mississippi, Page 2.
- Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Pike County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2005.
- Conerly, Luke Ward and E. Russ Williams. Source records From Pike County, Mississippi 1798
- 1910. South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1989.
- Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi. South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1984.
- Parish, Ray and June Sartin. Cemetery Inscriptions, Pike County, Mississippi 1750- 1978. Privately published.