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In 1866 the number of children orphaned in Mississippi by the Civil War was estimated to be 10,000. The problem was so acute that the Confederate Orphans Home of Mississippi was established by the Mississippi Baptist State Convention in 1865 at Lauderdale Springs outside of Meridian. In less than two years the facility was home to over 200 orphans, and it remained in operation until 1878
when the last of its charges had been placed into homes. The great majority of children in Mississippi who had lost their parents never saw the inside of an orphanage, as most were taken in by friends or family.
The following letter was written to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey in 1865 by George Houston of Leake County, Mississippi. Houston and his wife had taken in four of their orphaned grandchildren, and his moving letter illustrates just how difficult it was providing for children in a state devastated by four grinding years of war.
To his Excellency W.L. Sharkey Governor of the State of Mississippi
The petition of the undersigned, a citizen of the county of Leake and state aforesaid would respectfully show unto your Excellency:
That said petitioner is now very old; and diseased so much so that he is not able to labor but very little, having been confined to his bed the greater portion of last year. That said petitioner has reared a large family of children all of whom have grown up and left him and his old companion alone.
Your petitioner would further show that in the year 1862 one of his sons in law Mr. Holowell died in the Confederate States service, and that soon after, Mrs. Holowell his wife (and daughter of your petitioner) also died leaving four helpless little children on the hands of your petitioner with nothing upon which to support them; that these children have been supported entirely by your petitioner since the death of their parents; that said petitioner and his wife are poor and have no help or means of subsistence beyond their own bodily labor and are realy unable to provide fully for their own wants much less to raise and educate four orphan children who are not able to help themselves at all.
Your petitioner further shows that the community in which he lives is poor, and unable to render him assistance under the circumstances that are now existing in regard to the country, and that the county treasury of his county is empty consequently the Board of Police cannot assist the indigent and destitute of their county at present. And your petitioner fears that unless he can get some help from the state that said orphan children will be compelled to suffer. Therefore the premises considered your petitioner prays your Excellency for such help to the said children as may be meet and proper; and he as in duty bound will ever pray &c
George Houston
August 25th, 1865
We the undersigned, neighbors of the said petitioner do hereby concur in the above petition; and recommend the said orphan children as proper objects of help and that the said petitioner Houston is a man whose viracity can be relied upon in safty, in our opineon.
Jno. B Grigsby, Probate Clerk
D.S. McDonald, President Board of Police L.C.
[33 additional names]
Series 771, Box 956, Folder 5, MDAH
I did a little research and found George Houston in the 1860 United States Census living in Leake County, Mississippi, with his wife, Mary. His information on the census indicated he was 61 years old, born in North Carolina, and was by occupation a carpenter. The census also recorded that he had real estate worth $150.00, and a personal estate valued at $250.00. [1860 U.S. Census, Leake County, Mississippi, page 561]
The son-in-law mentioned in the letter to Governor Sharkey was Fredrick G. Hollowell, who married George Houston's daughter Mahaby Ann Houston in 1844. Fredrick and Mahaby settled in Rankin County, Mississippi, where they had a successful farm; on the 1860 U.S. Census they reported owning real estate worth $800.00, and having a personal estate valued at $442.00. They also had a large flock of children to support; on the census they listed 7 children - Martha age 14, Mary age 12, Frances age 8, William age 6, Quentin age 4, Lydia age 2, and John age 9 months. Added to this brood was Fredrick, born in 1862. [1860 U.S. Census, Rankin County, Mississippi, page 1017; also see genealogy of the Hollowell Family located at: www.oocities.org/heartland/ridge/3462/generation7a.html]
I did some research on George and Mary Houston and did find a few interesting facts. In addition to losing their son-in-law and daughter, George and Mary also had a son who died in the war. Jesse F. Houston succumbed to disease in May 1862, and his grieving father had to fill out the paperwork necessary to obtain the back pay due his son at the time of his death.
In looking for post Civil War information on George and Mary I was not very successful. The only information I was able to find was a listing on the 1866 Mississippi State Census showing the couple had living with them 4 male children, 2 female children, and 1 female between the ages of 20 - 30. The Houston's had apparently taken in most of the remainder of their grandchildren. (1866 Mississippi State Census, Leake County, page 5, accessed on Ancestry.com, March 7, 2019)
After the 1866 Mississippi State Census, George and Mary simply disappear; I could not find any trace of them, and they are not listed on the 1870 U.S. Census. I did have slightly better luck in finding information about the Hollowell children. In the 1870 U.S. Census for Leake County, Mississippi, Frederick Hollowell, age 8, was living with Augustus and Mary Pigg, his aunt and uncle. Unfortunately he passed away just two years later of typhoid fever, and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Leake County. (Listing for Frederick Hollowell on Findagrave.com, accessed March 15, 2019.
Also on the 1870 U.S. Census for Leake County was Lydia Hollowell, age 12, who was living with J.P. Maway, a miller, and his wife Martha. In that census Lydia was listed as being "at school." I next found her in a marriage record when she became the wife of a gentleman named General Price Davis in Yazoo County, Mississippi, May 20, 1885. (http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~hollowel/genealogy/marr.html)
In the 1880 U.S. Census for Yazoo County, Mississippi, I found Quentin Hollowell, age 25, living with his wife Mary and daughter Josephene, making his living as a farmer. His brother John F. Hollowell, age 20, was living in the household of Rebecca McCormack, and listed his occupation as "servant."
Both Quentin and John remained in Yazoo County for the rest of their lives, and both became honored members of the community. I found several mentions of the brothers in the local newspaper, but one brief article stood out. The November 1, 1912, edition of The Yazoo Herald contained the following story:
"Mr. Q.T. Hollowell, one of the best and most progressive farmers of the county, and a man who responds cheerfully to worthy appeals for charity, gave the Herald $2.50 Friday to be forwarded to the Homeless Children's Society, an appeal from which appeared in the Herald of October 18. The money with other, was forwarded to Hon. Geo. B. Power, member of the Board of Directors of the Society. If others wish to contribute this paper will forward their contributions."
The article that Quentin saw in They Yazoo Herald that prompted him to contribute was published in the October 18, 1912,
edition of the paper. In their letter to the paper the board of managers of the Mississippi Children's Home made this statement:
"Will you at this time make an urgent appeal in your paper for the relief of these children, either in your editorial or news column? We need at least 3,000 between now and the first of the year to do the work now before us, and we believe, with the help of the press of the State, that it can be raised...we now ask that you join us in an effort to acquaint the public in general, and the big hearted contributor in particular, that with an adequate support we can at once provide these children with excellent family homes. We should easily care for a hundred children this year."
Quentin T. Hollowell was one of the big-hearted contributors to the orphan's home, and that is not surprising given his own family story. Having seen his parents die during the Civil War, and his siblings split up and sent to various family members and friends, I'm sure he had great sympathy for orphan children in similar circumstances. Quentin may have become a prosperous farmer, but he never forgot his own childhood, and did what he could to make life just a little bit better for Mississippi's orphans.