Previously, I shared the story of a mystery daughter who appeared only once in the records of my great-great-grandfather’s household: R. F. Brand, age eight, listed in the 1880 census of Newton County, Mississippi. At the time, I had no idea who she was. She didn’t show up in later censuses, marriage records, or probate files. All I had was a rumor that one of the Brand daughters was named “Fanny.”
Confused? Read this post first to get up to speed.
Well…it looks like I found her!
And the answer came from the most unexpected place: a Mississippi history Facebook group.
A Facebook Post That Changed Everything
I knew that Morgan Lumpkin Brand and his children lived in Little Rock, Mississippi, which was around Newton County. I found the Facebook group by searching various terms and, within it, did some sleuthing for the name “Brand” and found a post a member had shared of a photograph from her family’s collection. Under the picture was a handwritten caption:
“Another sister — Fannie R. Brand Smith.”
My heart dropped.
This may have been the missing Brand daughter… alive later, named, and photographed.
The names checked out for the parents and sisters.
But I still needed records to back it up.
Following the Clue to the Marriage Records
With “Fannie R. Brand Smith” in hand, I went straight to the digitized Newton County marriage books on FamilySearch. If she really was a Brand daughter, she should have married under the name “Brand,” not Smith.
And there it was:
“Marriage is shortly to be had between Donnie N. Smith and Rachel F. Brand.”
Newton County, Mississippi, 24 Oct 1889
(Marriage bond signed by M. L. Brand himself.)
Seeing Morgan Lumpkin Brand’s signature on her marriage bond confirmed everything.
The girl in the 1880 census wasn’t a neighbor’s child, a duplicated entry, or a clerical error.
She was his daughter.
Fannie Rachel Brand.
Born about 1872.
Married at age seventeen.
Later remembered by her married name, Fannie Rachel Smith.
Why I’m Sharing This Follow-Up
This little discovery reminded me of why I love genealogy:
- Sometimes the answer is buried online.
- Sometimes it’s in a courthouse two states away.
- And sometimes it’s in a stranger’s photo album, shared in a random Facebook group you joined on a whim.
R. F. Brand didn’t disappear at all; she simply moved into her married life as Fannie Rachel Smith, leaving behind a single census line that didn’t make sense until I put the pieces together.
Her Place in the Brand Family
With this new information, Fannie fits perfectly:
- Born around 1872
- At home in 1880
- Married in 1889
- Appears in later photographs passed down through Brand relatives
She was never a mystery child at all.
Just a daughter whose paper trail was thinner than her siblings’.
Stay tuned, and thank you for celebrating this little victory with me.
source citations
- Brand family photograph labeled “Morgan Lumpkin Brand & Levisa Harris Brand Daughters,” digital image, uploaded by [name redacted for privacy], Little Rock Mississippi History Group (Facebook), posted 2025; accessed by [name redacted for privacy] on 15 November 2025.
- Brand family photograph labeled “Fannie R. Brand Smith,” digital image, uploaded by [name redacted for privacy], Little Rock Mississippi History Group (Facebook), posted 2025; accessed by [name redacted for privacy] on 15 November 2025.
- Newton County, Mississippi, Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1889, bond for Donnie N. Smith and Rachel F. Brand, dated 24 October 1889; citing Newton County Circuit Clerk, Newton, Mississippi; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 November 2025), image 55 of 331.
