March 2025 Society Meeting

***DUE TO ANTICIPATED SEVERE WEATHER, THIS WILL BE A ZOOM ONLY EVENT***

Zoom link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8706009895?pwd=cFhnWWlDWlFNR3l5YXVjcXh6Q1RVQT09&omn=84947670239

The MGS March meeting will be held at Christway Commons and via Zoom on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.  MGS is proud to welcome presenters Nykki Starr and Dorla Evans as they discuss the stories and process behind Dr. Evans's book, Aaron Whitaker Guyton of Kosciusko, Mississippi: The Journey of his African American Children.  

Over two years of effort in research and writing, the book documents the life of Aaron Whitaker Guyton (1808-ABT1882) and his known ancestors and descendants. Whit Guyton never married legally under the laws of his time. A Southern white man living during the times of slavery, Guyton had three African American partners with whom he had children in the period spanning the 1840s to the 1880s. His partners were Sarah (later Sarah Russell), Patsy Gibson, and Artie Rainey.

A chance meeting with two of his descendants (Nykki Starr and Rickey Simmons) at a Guyton family reunion in Kosciusko, Mississippi led Dorla to study the nature of Whit's relationships with his partners and to research the identities of his descendants. The story can be told only because Guyton included his young children with Artie Rainey in his will, a highly unusual act in the 1880s in rural Mississippi and he gave property to his older children during his lifetime. With the help of Nykki, Rickey, and other Guyton descendants, Dorla has produced a book that traces the outlines of the journeys that his children and their descendants have taken.

Winter 2025 Seminar continues!

Mississippi Genealogical Society is thrilled to welcome back J. Mark Lowe for our Winter 2025 Seminar.  This seminar will follow the same format as the 2023 seminar -- pre-recorded instructional videos from Mark, along with handouts providing detailed resources uploaded to a showcase.  These videos will be available to watch and rewatch at anytime during the seminar time period -- through Saturday, March 8, 2025.  There will be live Zoom meetings scheduled each week through the seminar time period and these meetings will be recorded and uploaded with the seminar videos for all registrants to view.  Additionally the videos and handouts from the 2023 seminar will be available in the showcase.  Cost is $50. For more details and to register, click the link below under 'Upcoming Events'.

Locations and meetings

Mississippi Genealogical Society has a new meeting place -- Christway Commons at Christway Church in Flowood on Old Fannin Road.  This is the meeting area in the rear of the church -- through the parking lot, around to the right rear of the main building.  On meeting days there will be a sign indicating the door to enter.   The address is 1501 Old Fannin Road, Flowood.

MGS generally meets on the third Saturday of most months.  Previously, we meet in January, March, May, September, and November.  Now, we are adding meetings in every month except December.  These meetings will tend to be skills-building and planning sessions