Della Barrett was born on February 6, 1891, in Rodney, Jefferson County, Mississippi.  Her parents were Josephine Foster and Benjamin S. Barrett.  At present we know little about them (Josephine and Benjamin);  only that they married on November 11, 1886 in Jefferson County, that Josephine died in childbirth while Della was still very young, and that Benjamin also died not too many years later, leaving Della an orphan.

Henry Lee Crawford was born on August 2, 1882, in McComb, Pike County, Mississippi.  He was the firstborn child of Henry Nelson Crawford and Frances Louisa Brent (see below), and had six younger siblings.  He grew up and became a railroad engineer.

Henry and Della married on October 8, 1907, and had three children:  Marjorie Eloise born May 23, 1909, Henry Nelson "Jinx" born March 11, 1911, and Frances Ellen born April 16, 1914.

Of Henry, his granddaughter Eleanor says:

Mama's family owned an antebellum farm named Topasaw.  Mama said the farm house was built without nails -- using pegs instead.  According to Paul Crawford and his brother, Paup [Henry] always wanted to live at Topasaw but DeeDee (my grandmother Crawford) didn't want to.  They had a house in town at 910 Delaware Avenue, McComb, MS.   [...]

Mama was a great raconteur as I mentioned.  One of her stories that she would tell was about her father.  When he did farm Topasaw, when he planted the fields, he would always say, "Well this row of corn is planted for Mr. Crow, and the next one will be planted for Mr. Rabbit."  This story has touched me so much through the years because it fits in so well with my own philosophy.  A philosophy that probably in no small measure was shaped and formed by the story.  Paup, rather than begrudging the wild creatures their part of the crop, acknowledged that it was their due and willingly accommodated for it.

He, I thought, was a gentle man.  I guess, a true gentleman.  He was quiet and soft spoken.  I never heard any angry words.  He was away a lot because he had long runs on the railroad but I do remember him being there, his presence.

Della Barrett was an orphan and had a hard childhood.  In some ways, I don't think she ever fully grew up.  When her husband was alive, she did not carry money.  She would put things on account or go to him for money.  Her childhood was so hard that she felt that when she was an adult she was entitled to play and have fun.

Henry Nelson Crawford and Frances Louisa Brent

Henry Nelson Crawford was born on October 20, 1856 in Pike County, Mississippi.  He was the second born of three children of Baptist preacher Benjamin Crawford and Nancy Cook (see below).  Although there were many preachers in the Crawford family, Henry chose instead to be a farmer.

Frances Louisa Brent, who is listed on census forms under the name "Mollie", was born on September 8, 1858, in Pike County.  She was the third child of Confederate Colonel Preston Brent and his wife and cousin Frances Ellen Brent, and had seven brothers and sisters.

Henry and Frances married on December 24, 1879.  They had seven children:  Henry Lee born August 2, 1882 (see above), Fannie Estelle born August 1884, William Preston born January 1887, Joe Briley born February 1889, Bennie W. born April 1891, Alma O. born March 1894, and Rosa.

The circumstances of Henry's life at the time of his death present a small mystery:  he died on June 17, 1920, in Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, of a heart attack, and his death certificate says that he was then working as a steward at the state hospital there.  We do not know why he was in Vicksburg or why he was no longer farming;  his farm was presumably still in the family, since it must have been the family farm Topasaw that his son Henry Lee farmed later.  A possible clue is his nickname, which appears to have been "Dock" (church records list the marriage of Dock Crawford and Mollie Brent).  If "Dock" was really "Doc", as in "Doctor", perhaps Henry had some lifelong interest in medicine, and would have chosen to spend his golden years doing hospital work once his children were old enough to take over the farm.

Frances died two years later on April 22, 1922;  I am still investigating whether she was living in Vicksburg or in McComb at that time.

Benjamin Alexander Crawford and Nancy Cook

  This page is still under construction below this point.

Benjamin Alexander Crawford was born around 1825 in Marion County, Mississippi.  His parents were Jesse Howell Crawford and Florah Graham, who already had four sons.  They had come to Mississippi from Effingham County, Georgia, in the early 1800s, along with Florah's parents and some of her brothers and sisters.
 
 

Frances Ellen Brent and Col. Preston Brent

 
 

Jesse Howell Crawford and Flora Graham

Martha Turner and Henry Cook

John Alexander Brent and Rebecca Kaigler

Elizabeth Briley and Preston Brent Sr.

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