VISIT TO NEWTON, MISSISSIPPI

VISIT TO NEWTON COUNTY, MISS

I recently checked off one of the top to-do items on my research checklist: visit Newton County, Mississippi.

Newton County is home to most of my Brand ancestors, both living and deceased. Before I began researching my roots, it was completely unfamiliar to me, and I had never really known the origins of my father’s side of the family. My grandfather wasn’t very forthcoming about his relatives when he was growing up, so I knew only a few little nuggets my Maw Maw Tillie would volunteer.

Both my great-grandfather, Thomas Morgan Brand, and my great-grandmother, Mollie Monroe Brand, were born in Newton County and spent most of their lives there. They later moved to Beaumont, Texas, before Paw Paw Alton was born, so Newton was never a significant part of his life beyond the occasional visit.

My father and I decided it was time to visit Newton and see where it all began. We had been planning the trip for months, and the perfect opportunity finally came when he would be in town from Texas. When the day arrived, my dad, my stepmom, and I hopped in the car around 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday and made the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Louisiana to Newton, Mississippi.

ITINERARY

Hickory Cemetery
McGee Cemetery
Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery
Cedarlawn Cemetery

the cemeteries

1st stop

Hickory Cemetery, Hickory, Newton County, Miss

Hickory Cemetery was the first stop on our list. We have several relatives buried there: my 2nd great-grandmother, Ludie McGee Monroe, my 2nd great-grandfather, James Marion Monroe, and some of their children. Ludie and James were the parents of my great-grandmother, Mollie Monroe Brand.

Hickory Cemetery in Hickory, Newton County, Mississippi, has been the main community burial ground since the late 1800s.

2nd stop

McGee Cemetery, Chunky, Newton County, Miss

McGee Cemetery was our second stop, a small rural cemetery near Chunky in Newton County, Mississippi. We were unable to visit because the gate was locked.

Two of my ancestors are buried here: my 3rd-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Warren McGee, and my 3rd-great-grandfather, Almond Green McGee. They were the parents of my 2nd great-grandmother, Ludie McGee Monroe, who is buried in Hickory Cemetery.

3rd stop

Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery, Little Rock, Newton County, Miss

Our third stop was Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery in Little Rock, Newton County, Mississippi. My 2nd great-grandmother, Levisa Harris Brand, and my 2nd great-grandfather, Morgan Lumpkin Brand, are buried here, along with many of their children and other relatives.

Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery is a small country churchyard serving the Little Rock–Perdue community in Newton County, Mississippi. Just outside Little Rock, it holds several hundred recorded burials, including many long‑time local families.

4th stop

Cedarlawn Cemetery, Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Miss

Our fourth and final cemetery stop was Cedarlawn Cemetery in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi. There were two graves I especially wanted to see: my 3rd great-grandmother, Tamzy Brand, and my research subject, Nancy Brand Gammill’s daughter, T. Ada Gammill. Several other Brand ancestors are also buried there.

Cedarlawn Cemetery is a large, long‑used burial ground on Center Avenue in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, with thousands of burials representing the town and nearby countryside. It holds generations of local families in a peaceful, park‑like setting.

Final Stop: Lunch at The Southern Butcher

We were starving by the time we wrapped up our cemetery visits, so we headed to The Southern Butcher in Philadelphia for lunch. Over plates of burgers and soft drinks, we replayed the day, talking through the people we’d “met” in the cemeteries and the stories we were finally starting to piece together. It was the perfect way to end a day spent walking through history and reconnecting with the stories of our family.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This quick trip to Newton County answered many questions for me, but it also raised plenty of new ones. Seeing these places in person and standing in front of the headstones, driving the same back roads my ancestors once traveled, made the stories feel less like history and more like family.

I walked away with a more profound sense of where my Brand roots began and how many lives and decisions had to line up just right for me to end up here, digging into their stories. There are still gaps to fill in and mysteries to solve, but now I have real places in my mind when I think of Newton County and the people who called it home.

I’m already planning a return visit with more time to explore, visit local archives, and track down a few lingering relatives. For now, though, I’m grateful for one full day in Newton County, Mississippi, and for the chance to finally see, with my own eyes, the corner of Mississippi where so much of my family’s story began, and even more grateful that I got to experience it all side by side with my dad.