Based on what I have been able to ascertain, in early 1864 the State of Mississippi requested each county to compile a list of all men who had served in the Confederacy. This occurred around the same time that the Confederate Congress passed an act to facilitate such a census of soldiers. As can be seen from the listings, counties and even beats within counties used different formats. But they generally listed all local men who had volunteered (prior to the Conscription Act of 1862), enlisted, or been conscripted. The census also included men who belonged to local militia units.

As I noted in the article, names found on the lists indicate that Jones County officials sought to include ALL county residents who had served in the Confederacy – regardless of their subsequent actions. The Newt Knight band formed in October of 1863. And it seems very likely the county supervisors conducting the survey in February 1864 knew who sided with the renegades. Nevertheless, many men whose names appear on the Knight Band rosters are also listed on the census due to their earlier Confederate service. This makes the census all the more valuable.

As you noted, the inclusion of Marion and Martin Parker on the census of soldiers suggests they had returned to Jones County by 1862-3. It is possible they did so due to the area’s reputation as a haven for anti-secessionists and disgruntled ex-Confederates. The records of the 1st New Orleans Union Regiment show the Parkers were among the earliest enlistees, signing up on 20 December 1863 along with Obediah Parker. Most Piney Woods men did not join the 1st New Orleans until the following Spring, after the Confederate campaigns in the area led by Col. Henry Maury and Col. Robert Lowry.

My guess is that the spouses of Marion and Martin were residing in Jones County in February 1864 and they reported the prior Confederate service (possibly in Alabama) of their spouses.

I have emailed the Nancy Sumrall documents to you. Martha’s husband is found on the list for Beat 1 (FamilySearch image 3, no 50) as ‘Walters, G.W.’ Martha and her children were not tallies–I assume because of the supervisor not considering her among the destitute wives, widows, and mothers.

Ed Payne

Good to hear from you and glad you find the FamilySearch records as interesting as I do. As you probably observed, the six men who enumerated the five county Beats each did so in their own way–as one might expect for Jones County. The tally on image 15 (Beat 2W, pg 2) should be the number in the family. However, I suspect that by that point in the war women had good reason to hide the identity any sons in their teens. After all, who knew how long the war might last and if the Confederacy might drop the conscription age to 15? So Nancy Sumrall may have sent her sons to the woods and reported only herself and Jefferson, age 3.

I believe the reason Elisha is missing is due to his pre-war residence and enlistment in Alabama. As I noted, the enumerators seem to have only listed men who resided in Jones County when they enlisted. If I have the correct Elisha Sumrall (there were several), he joined Company I of the 36th AL Infantry–only to die of disease within a few months on 4 Jun 1862. Documents on Fold3 show his wife Nancy petitioned the court in Wayne County for his back pay. By the time she received it (2 years after his death), inflation had made the $50.66 essentially worthless. If you don’t have access to Fold3, let me know and I’ll email you copies of the papers.

The fact that Nancy filed her petition in the Wayne County court and listed her mailing address as Buckatunna suggests to me that the family resided there in 1860. But they seem to have been missed by the 1860 census–which most likely could have resolved the questions surrounding Jacob Sumrall’s parentage.

- Ed Payne