BUNN-L Archives

From: Carla Tate <>
Subject: Re: [BUNN] Tilden Bunn, MS
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:50:50 -0700
References: <mailman.779.1224399741.21920.bunn@rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <mailman.779.1224399741.21920.bunn@rootsweb.com>

First you need to get a copy of the marriage license. When they married, licenses generally had the parents' names on it. If that does not work, you need to get a copy of Josie's marriage record to her next husband. (I see from World Connect she married a James K. Scoggins, who clearly would have to be a subsequent marriage to that with Tilden as her maiden name was Cummins when she married Tilden.) This marriage license might confirm that Tilden's last name was actually Bunn.

Second, you need to get a copy of the death certificate of Mamie. I have not looked at many MS death certificates but in AL they frequently list the BIRTHPLACES of the parents of the deceased on the death certificate. I do see that Mamie lists her father as being born in MS on the 1910 census when I found her and her mother living with Josie's brother James.

I suspect Tilden was really named Samuel Tilden Bunn, for Samuel Tilden the famous Democratic presidential candidate who fought Tammany Hall. I tried to locate a Samuel on the 1880 and 1900 census, but I do not have home access to Ancestry and could not find him on Heritage Quest or through FamilySearch with just the info I had.

I would also check the military records of the Spanish-American War of 1898; he might have served and you could at least get a birth year for him.

Tilden's last name has probably been misread by the census takers. I note that on the marriage index for Attala County he is listed as Bunn or Brown in the index. You should also be aware that the Bunn name in NC (where I suspect his grandfather was from) was original Burn and is listed in some documents as both Burn and Bunn.

Many, many families migrated from NC into AL and then into MS. I note that Andrew Cummins' family did just that. I suspect the Bunns did also. A Delilah Bunn married into my Bolton family (in NC) and migrated into AL with her husband where she died.

You also need to look for any voter registration, tax and deed records in both Attala Co. MS and Oktibbeha Co. MS for Tilden or for any other Bunns as he may be listed by his first name. Voter registration records frequently list the father of the person listed as these voters were "grandfathered" in to vote if their fathers had been registered voters.

Danny Bunn knows more about the NC Bunns than anyone now alive. He has written several books about them. I am copying him on this E-mail. He might have additional info or suggestions for you. Also the name of the daughter who died (of Tilden's and Josie's) that you said was buried in the same cemetery would be useful as that might point to the first name of Tilden's mother.

I found a Hiram L. and Mary J. who had a son (read as Samuel L. but I think the L could be a T) the right age on the 1880 census. Hiram and Mary J. seem to have died before 1900 (at least I can't find them). I think their last name was read as Burns on the census, but this could easily be wrong.

Carla Tate

This thread:

• Re: [BUNN] Tilden Bunn, MS by Carla Tate <>