This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is At Worship. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.
My family has a strong Baptist heritage dating back many generations and almost 200 years. On my paternal line, this heritage begins with my earliest known Horne ancestor, my 3x-great-grandfather Elisha Thomas — “Preacher Tommy” — Horn.
Elisha Thomas Horn, c. 1880
Photograph of Elisha Thomas Horn, ca. 1880, digital image, privately held by Thomas Ayres, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Texas. Thomas obtained the photo from Raymond L. Horne of Mississippi who found it among the items of Emmett Horne’s estate.
On this day in 1957, descendants of Elisha Thomas Horn (my 3x great-grandfather) gathered at Zion Hill Baptist Church to dedicate a monument to his memory. It was the centennial anniversary of his deeding property for Zion Hill Church, near Carthage, Leake County, Mississippi.
Gatherers prayed, sang the national anthem and two hymns, and had a time to visit and review family records. The governor of Mississippi, James Plemon Coleman, even addressed the crowd. (And they served dinner on the ground as all good Baptists — even the Primitives, I suppose — must do for an important occasion!) The monument was unveiled in the adjoining cemetery, and it still stands today. My father, oldest son, and I visited the monument in May 2013.
Monument to Elisha Thomas Horn, Zion Hill Cemetery, Leake County, Mississippi
My “tree cousin” Susan Pollard Caldwell sent me a wonderful find in 2015 — a scan of the program distributed at the Centennial Celebration. It was among the papers of her uncle George Joshua McCauley, a keen genealogist, who she presumes attended the event. All four pages of the program are presented below:
Elisha Thomas Horn Centennial Celebration Committee, Program, 4 Jul 1957; privately held by Susan Pollard Caldwell, Memphis, Tennessee, from the papers of George Joshua McCauley. Received electronic scan 20 Oct 2015.
Zion Hill Cemetery (Coosa, Leake County, Mississippi), Elisha Thomas Horn monument, personally photographed, 23 May 2013.
On September 5, 1826 — 190 years ago today — my 3x great-grandparents Elisha Thomas Horn and Marilda Richardson were married in Greene County, Alabama.
This entry in Greene County’s Marriage Book A records a marriage license issued on September 1, 1826, for the couple to wed. It was executed on September 5, by James C. Neill, justice of the peace. The couple obtained parental consent, as Marilda was underage, most likely 16 or 17 years old. Elisha was approximately 26 years old. Continue reading 5 Sep 1826: Elisha Thomas Horn and Marilda Richardson Marry in Greene County, Alabama
