On April 27, 1988, James Lee Burns - father, grandfather, great grandfather, & great-great grandfather -  made his transition ✝ from this earthly life. His funeral was held on May 1, 1988 at Wanderer's Home MB Church in Mound Bayou, Mississippi located near the Bolivar & Sunflower County Line. He was also buried on the church's grounds. Our tribal chief with his great-grand daughter Not too long after his funeral we went to the property he owned with his departed wife Emma Hunter Burns. The house was long gone at that point so it was a vacant lot. Thankfully that plot of land remains in the possession of his descendants. Below was his obituary from his May 1, 1988 funeral and once you take a quick read, I will share further thoughts. Click for larger resolution It's funny how much an ancestor and my own life intersect that is we were living at about the same time though in my case I was nothing but a pup. And even more interesting is when a great-grandparent meets ...

Willie (?) Burns The known father of our Tribal Chief James Lee Burns is a man named Willie Burns . We know this primarily from his two daughters Lee Alice Burns Travis & Lucyrene Burns Robinson and was also noted in our Tribal Chief's obituary from his 1988 funeral. However, to find this Elder Willie has proven to be very elusive. Turner Burns - James' older brother - on his Social Security file lists his parents as Steve Burns and Aggie Andre (or perhaps he was trying to spell Andrews ). Wait who is this Steve Burns? Turner and James' older sister James Etta (Jeanette) lists her parents as William Smith and Aggie Follery on her own Social Security file. Although it's safe to say Great-Aunt James Etta and her older sister Bessie may well have a different father than Turner and James. And here's where the plot thickens. On FamilySearch.org I found a marriage record for Aggie Andrews and a Stephen Burns from Hinds County, Mississippi. Don't believe me? Cl...

As of Monday, April 8, 2024 this blog has an e-mail address and if you have anything to add (especially pictures) you can send to this email address which will also be seen by our tribal historian . If you just want to connect, then you're free to do that as well. Feel free to click the above image if you're either on your computer or checking your smart phone.  I also want to refer you to the newest page on here and I call it " Tribal Affairs ". It's important to pay homage to the people who were wise enough to share the information on their family that might allow us to carry out further research. For me, I want to do anything possible to discover our tribal chief's lineage. I want to find out more about his parents and finding information on any of his brothers and sisters will help with that. There are more pages here that will help you all with your own family research. Updated & Pinned Tuesday, May 7, 2024