52 Ancestors #8: Henry Bristol PRUITT

Henry Bristol PRUITT, Grandpa Britt as his known by the family, is my paternal great grandfather and the father to my grandfather, Samuel Wilson PRUITT. No one seems to know much about him.  My sister started researching a few years back but didn’t find a lot of information for him either. So far, we have found him on the 1910¹ and 1920² census of Clarke County, MS. I may have found him in the 1930 census³, but not quite sure its him because he is not living with his wife and children. My sister has shared her research so far, so I am using the tree that she built as a start, but other than what she knows, here is the rest that I have to go on.

• He is possibly from Alabama and later lived in Jasper County, MS
• He married Nancy CARR, who is said to be part Creek Indian and also from Alabama. They most likely married in Jasper County, because that is where their oldest son Lafayette was born.⁴
• They might have separated or divorced at some point. No one knows when, but I think the 1930 census⁵ might be the clue I need, if it is him that I found.
• His trade, outside of farming, was weaving baskets and seat bottoms.⁶
• He died near Jackson, MS maybe around 1953 and is buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Ranking County, MS. Grandma Nancy is also buried there⁷.
• We believe they had a total of 9 children together: Bertha, Lafayette, Mary, Ethel, Thomas James, Bessie (think she is listed as Chastana on the census), Samuel Wilson, and Lola⁸.

Not knowing exactly when he died and with no Mississippi death record index accessible past 1943, I decided to take a chance to see if there was a death certificate on file for him. I filled in what I knew which was his name, the county that I thought he died in and the year. I was quite disappointed when I received the death certificate in the mail. It was for a Henry Prewett⁹ sure enough, but it was definitely not my Henry Pruitt because this death certificate makes him born around the same time as his oldest son. So now, I definitely need to gather more information.

I will have to try again to research his children. I don’t have much information on them either, but I am sure something will turn up soon. I may have to accept the fact that my research on this line may really require me to visit home and do more research on-site versus on-line.

This is my eighth post as a part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, created by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small.

Footnotes:

1. 1910 U.S. census, Clarke County, Mississippi, population schedule, Enterprise, p. 3, dwelling 31, family 33, Henry Pruitt; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: 2014); citing Family History Library microfilm: 1374749

2. 1920 U.S. census, Clarke County, Mississippi, population schedule, Enterprise, p. 6, dwelling 55, family 58, Henry B Pruitt; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: 2014); citing Family History Library microfilm: 2340876.

3. 1930 U.S. census, Clarke County, Mississippi, population schedule, Enterprise, p. 13, dwelling 121, family 122, Britt Pruitt; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration, 1920; Roll T625_2070.

4. United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917 – 1918, images, Ancestry.com, card for Lafayette Pruitt, serial no. 606, Registration Leake County, MS.

5. 1930 U.S. census, Clarke Co., Mississippi, pop.sch., p.13, dwell. 121, fam. 122, Britt Pruitt.

6. Clifton Pruitt, Pachuta, MS, interview by Amy Pruitt Cole 16 March 2013; audio privately held by interviewer, Georgia, 2014.

7. State of Mississippi, death certificate 4442 (1943), Nancy Pruitt; Death Certificates and Indexes; Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson.

8. Evelyn Pruitt Payton, “Complete Genealogy Report for Henry Bristol Pruitt,” p.3; report Georgia, 12 August 2007; digital held by Amy Pruitt Cole.

9. State of Mississippi, death certificate 4824 (1953), Henry Prewett; Vital Records, Jackson.

© 2014 Amy L. Cole and Tracing Amy: My Ancestral Journey. All rights reserved.

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Cite This Page:
Amy L Cole, “52 Ancestors #8: Finding Henry Bristol PRUITT,” Tracing Amy: My Ancestral Journey, 22 April 2014 (https://tracingamy.wordpress.com: [access date]).

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