Bolivar County MS

Slave Narrative of Berry Smith

Interviewer: W. B. Allen Person Interviewed: Berry Smith Location: Forest, Mississippi Place of Birth: Sumpter County, Alabama “Uncle Berry” Smith is five feet two or three inches tall. He is scrupulously neat. He is very independent for his age, which is calculated at one hundred and sixteen years. He believes the figure to be correct. His mind is amazingly clear. “I was born an’ bred in Sumpter County, Alabama, in de prairie lan’, six miles from Gainesville. Dat’s where I hauled cotton. It was close to Livingston, Alabama, where we lived. “I was twelve years old when de stars fell. … Read more

Quapaw Indians

Quapaw Tribe: Meaning “downstream people.” They were known by some form of this word to the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, Osage, and Creeks. Also called: Quapaw Connections. The Quapaw were one of the five tribes belonging to what J. O. Dorsey (1897) called the Cegiha division of the Siouan linguistic stock. Quapaw Location. At or near the mouth of Arkansas River. (See also Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.) Quapaw Villages Quapaw History Before the French became acquainted with this tribe (in 1673) the Quapaw had lived on Ohio River above its junction with the Wabash, and that portion of the … Read more