Willis Brumfieldwas the son of John Brumfield and Margaret Kelly.[i]He was born in 1794 in North Carolina. He married Nancy Virginia Holmes 25 January 1818 in Pike County, Mississippi.[ii] Nancy was the daughter of Elisha Warren Holmes and Sarah Stovall.[iii]Their children were: Margaret (Brumfield) Alford, John Griffin Brumfield, Elisha Brumfield, Isaac Nelson Brumfield, Sarah (Brumfield) Smith, Josiah Brumfield, William Brumfield, Axa Brumfield, Charles Dawson Brumfield and Willis Nathaniel Brumfield.[iv]
Willis served as a corporal in the War of 1812 along with his brothers Charles, Davis, Ridley and William. They all served together in the 12/13 Consolidated Regiment of the Louisiana Militia.[v]
Willis Brumfield was only 39 years old when he died on 16 October 1833 in Washington Parish, Louisiana.[vi]There is no story to tell us how his wife managed to care of all of their children. She was, undoubtedly, a strong woman and did whatever she needed to do to maintain a safe home for her family.
Their son, Willis Nathaniel Brumfield, was born after his father died. According to Alma Clawson, Willis’ mother applied for a land bounty for Willis based on his father’s War of 1812 service. She was not entitled to benefit from her husband’s service because, by that time, she had remarried.
Pike Co., Miss. 23 Apr. 1857, Willis Nathaniel Brumfield certifies he is a child and only surviving minor child of Willis Brumfield, deceased (as of 3 March 1855). That his father died 16 Oct. 1833 in Washington Parish, Louisiana and no widow survives him, she having remarried and is now Jane Faust. She married second time in August 1844. Jesse Brumfield and Isaac Brumfield certify for minor Willis Nathaniel Brumfield of Pike Co., Miss., 23 Apr. 1857. Jane Faust, age 58, certifies she is the mother of above minor, that his father, Willis Brumfield, died in Washington Parish, La. 16 October 1833, that she married Nisra Faust 24 Aug. 1844.[vii]
Willis Nathaniel Brumfield served in the Civil War. He was a private in Company K, the Brent Rifles, of the 38thRegiment of the Mississippi Calvary. He enlisted 26 April 1862 and was discharged 12 May 1865.[viii], [ix], [x]His brother, Isaac Nelson Brumfield also served in the Civil War. He served in Company K, Wingfield’s, of the 3rdLouisiana Calvary. He enlisted 8 January 1863 and was discharged 26 April 1865.
[i]Conerly, Luke War, Source Records from Pike County, Mississippi, 1798 – 1910 (SC: Southern Historical Press, 1989) 105.
[ii]Randolph, Ruth Brumfield, and Nell Brumfield Jacobs Smith. Brumfields Revisited: Ancestors and Descendants of George Y. and Martha Penny Brumfield. (Privately printed, 1995).
[iii]11. Conerly, Luke Ward, Pike County Mississippi, 1798-1876; Pioneer Families and Confederate Soldiers, Reconstruction and Redemption(Madison, GA: Southern Lion Books, 2008).
[iv]Clawson, Dell, Fields of Broom(New Orleans, LA; privately printed, 1972) 13.
[v]Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War of 1812; NARA; digital image, Fold3(fold3.com:accessed Aug 2017) Willis Brumfield.
[vi]Randolph, Ruth Brumfield, and Nell Brumfield Jacobs Smith. Brumfields Revisited: Ancestors and Descendants of George Y. and Martha Penny Brumfield. (Privately printed, 1995).
[vii]Clawson, Dell, Fields of Broom(New Orleans, LA; privately printed, 1972) 13.
[viii]National Park Service, US Civil War Soldiers, 1861 – 1865; digital image, Ancestry(ancestry.com: accesses 2017).
[ix]Sons of Confederate Veterans, Confederate Graves Registry Public Interface (cgr.scv.org: accessed August 2017.)
[x]Conerly, Luke Ward, Pike County Mississippi, 1798-1876; Pioneer Families and Confederate Soldiers, Reconstruction and Redemption(Madison, GA: Southern Lion Books, 2008).
1 Willis Brumfield b: 1794 in York, SC, d: 16 Oct 1833
…… + Nancy Virginia Holmes b: 1797 in Georgia, m: 25 Jan 1818 in Pike, MS
…………2 Margaret Brumfield b: 09 Feb 1819 in Washington, LA, d: 08 Sept 1885
………… + John Seaborn Alford b: 11 Oct 1807, d: 15 Nov 1891 in Washington Parish, LA
…………2 John Griffin Brumfield b: 1820 in Washington, LA, d: Sept 1849
………… + Louisa Bullock
…………2 Elisha Brumfield b: 23 May 1822 in Washington, LA, d: 1860
………… + Salena Arvozena Jane Warner m: 15 Jan 1845
…………2 Charles Dawson Brumfield b: 27 March 1823 in Washington, LA
…………2 Isaac Nelson Brumfield b: 10 Nov 1823 in Washington Parish, LA, d: 06 Oct 1909 in Tylertown, Walthall, MS
………… + Sarah J. Smith b: 23 Nov 1836 in Pike, MS, m: 1854 in Pike, MS, d: 01 Aug 1929 in Tylertown, Walthall, MS
………………3 James Monroe Brumfield b: 24 Dec 1854 Pike, MS, d: 22 Nov 1896
……………… + Cynthia Shivers
………………3 Jesse Eli Brumfield b: 29 June 1857 in Pike, MS, d: 12 May 1952
……………… + Mary Elizey
………………3 Elnora Elizabeth Brumfield b: 29 Jan 1860 Pike, MS, d: 3 Feb 1905
……………… + William Louis Rowell m: 07 Oct 1880
………………3 Margaret Jane Brumfield b: 13 April 1862 Pike, MS, d: 20 Feb 1937
……………… + Samuel Matthew Foil m: 11 March 1878
………………3 Lucy Ann Brumfield b: 18 June 1864 in Pike, MS, d: 25 Aug 1934
……………… + Walter Monroe Foil
………………3 Richard Silman Brumfield b: 31 March 1867 in Pike, MS, d: 17 Aug 1949
……………… + Nora Fitzpatrick m: 29 Jan 1902
………………3 Joseph Davis Brumfield b: 20 Dec 1869 in Pike, MS
……………… + Annie Quinn
………………3 Alexander Griffin Brumfield b: 12 April 1873 in Pike, MS, d: 29 Sept 1963
……………… + Netie Aramantha Conerly
………………3 Samuel Omelia Brumfield b: 15 Jan 1876 in Pike, MS, d: 13 March 1963
……………… + Liza McKenzie
………………3 Lottie Irene Brumfield b: 06 April 1879 in Pike, MS, d: 16 Oct 1908
……………… + Jesse Monroe Conerly m: 23 Feb 1906
…………2 Sarah Brumfield b: 09 April 1824 in Washington, LA
………… + Calvin Smith b: 22 September 1812 in Pike, MS, m: 1843, d: 22 Jan 1843 in Pike, MS
…………2 Josiah Brumfield b: 02 March 1827 in Washington, LA, d: 04 Aug 1897
………… + Margaret Burch
…………2 William Brumfield b: 05 Jan 1829 in Washington, LA
………… + Sarah Lewis
…………2 Axa Brumfield b: 02 May 1831 in Washington, LA
…………2 Willis Nathaniel Brumfield b: 31 March 1834 in Washington, LA, d: 21 Dec 1895
………… + Nancy E. Haley
Selected Sources:
- Luke Ward Conerly, SOURCE RECORDS FROM PIKE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI 1798-1910; 1798-1910; South Carolina, Southern Historical Press, 1989