National Library Week Tribute #4: Evans Memorial Library

Evans Memorial Library in Aberdeen is a small library with a very good genealogical collection. The collection was developed over the years by W. A. Evans and by former librarian Lucille Peacock. The genealogical collection contains not only materials relating to the northeast Mississippi-northwest Alabama area, but also information on areas from which persons migrated to the area. There are a large number of family histories on the shelves as well as filing cabinets full of folders relating to the area's families. One of the most interesting collections at Evans Memorial Library is the McKnight Photo Collection. F. S. McKnight was a photographer in the area from about 1894 to 1930. I am very fortunate to have several family photographs done by this photographer among the photos handed down through the family. An index to this collection is available at Monroe County MSGenWeb. There are many unidentified photographs as well. The collection at Evans Memorial Library provides proof that a small library can build a genealogy collection that people will want to visit!

Criminal Offenses

Earlier this week I visited the Monroe County, Mississippi Circuit Clerk's office. A group of us who were researching families in that county had stumbled across the amazing number of prostitutes enumerated in the 1860 census for the town of Aberdeen. Beside two of those was the notation "now at court". (Thanks to members of the Association of Professional Genealogists for help in deciphering the exact wording since it was rather cramped on the census.) Being the basically curious person that I am, I just had to find the court case for Martha Inman and Lucinda Hill. I was short on time that day, but I went through the criminal docket books for the period and didn't find them listed. I also read through the civil dockets just in case they were there instead of in the criminal dockets. I'll have to pick up that search on another date. Of course, there are other court options to consider as well. I just went to the one that I thought most likely.

However, I really didn't waste my time because if I hadn't gone through those criminal dockets I might have never known that my 2 great-grandfather and great grand-uncle were such scandalous criminals. Okay, that's not exactly the truth. I'd expect just about anything from this family back in the 19th century or even part of the early 20th century. However, I'd never have known about this specific incident. (It's also possible that it is my 3rd great grand-uncle and first cousin 4 times removed; however, it is more likely to be the ones who are closer kin based on what I know about the two families.) What was the charge? They were caught "hunting on the Sabbath." I'll go back when it's cooler to examine the case more closely because the records are in the attic of the courthouse, and I learned a long time ago that I don't do Mississippi attics in the summertime! Not even for a charge this juicy!