A STRONG HOLD
In 1867, after the Civil War, Henry Strong of Brookhaven, Mississippi emigrated to São Paulo, Brazil along with his daughter,
Sally Strong, and other southerners. My branch of the family has remained there until this day. About a year ago, my sister and I, while searching for material for a biography of our grandmother, found a little suitcase with letters written more than 130 years ago to our great-great-aunt Sally Strong by Tom Atkins, a Mississippian who was very much in love with her. He must have had quite a hold on her heart, for she never married. Just about that same time, the Fraternity of American Descendants in São Paulo received a letter from an American, Janett Anderson Gibbs of Georgia, asking for information about the fraternity's annual
reunion, since she knew some of her ancestors had emigrated to Brazil. As luck would have it, I told an acquaintance at the fraternity about My recent suitcase discovery one day while I was there conducting more research. Our discussion caused her to remember Janett's letter which, she passed along to me since I was one of the few English speakers. I was stunned to see that the writer was asking about the Strong name, as she was apparently descended from a brother of Henry Strong! I quickly unraveled that Janett and I were 6th cousins. How unexpected to suddenly come across a cousin this way! Janett and I corresponded, and she was able to share a lot of information on the Strong family. Among the papers she sent was a newspaper article from 1981 with a picture of the house built by Henry Strong in Brookhaven around 1857! I was fascinated to see the house of my great-great-grandfather because the one he built in Brazil had disappeared long ago amidst a sugar cane plantation. Earlier in 1999, Janett came to the fraternity reunion in Brazil. A month later, I returned the visit and went to Georgia. Together we embarked on a road trip covering 1,730 miles in eight days! We visited cousins and searched for the Strong-Hill Cemetery. At the abandoned cemetery, we found the tomb of Henry's wife, as well as the tomb of John Strong, Henry's father and the common ancestor of Janett and myself. We also met with the owner and restorer of the old Strong house that had so captured my imagination. Natalie, the owner, invited us to return during a planned reunion to tell the story of Tom Atkins and Sally Strong! This house, built by Sally's father, is one of the oldest Antebellum constructions in that area and marks the spot where Tom and Sally met for the last time before she took the train to New Orleans, her point of departure for Brazil. How strange that a suitcase in Brazil should contain the secrets of a house in Mississippi, and that the two should be relinked 130 years later through a "chance" connection of two virtual strangers. And how much fun to find new relatives and deep roots which, only a while ago, I knew nothing of. Maria E. B. Byington, Brazil
mebby@uol.com.br (maria elisa)
[The following was sent by Mrs. Mary Nowell, and is from the December 11, 1981 issue of the "Daily Leader", of probably the Copiah Country, Mississippi area. The Henry Strong who owned this house was the son of Capt. John Strong of Copiah County, Miss., and earlier Norfolk, Virginia.]
Pre-Civil War structure displays antique
Appropriate to its present use is the structure, which now houses Plantation House Antiques, a new business having its grand opening this weekend. The building itself is an antique, dating back to pre-Civil War days and standing on land known during the past several decades as the Luther Jackson Place.
A two-story white frame house with a chimney at each end and a gallery across the front, the building stands facing the frontage road at Exit 14 [changed to 42] of I-55. Green shutters frame the windows, which _arch symmetrically across the front of the house, and it takes very little imagination to picture a beautiful belle in hoop skirts standing on the gallery to greet a beau as he leaves his mount at a hitching post, or to picture the rolling countryside covered with sun-bathed fields of cotton.
The house is built entirely of heart pine and rests on hand-hewn sills of a size almost unheard of today — 12"x 16". The stoods reach from the ground floor to the roof made of lumber with a length and straightness now very rare.
According to an article published May 22, 1957, by the Leader-Times, an abstract of the deed held by Luther Jackson at that time noted that Deed Book "OE" was destroyed by fire and some details were not available. It did show, however, that the land—more than
3,000 acres at one time—was first deeded by the United States of America to John Harrington in 1819, the year that Mississippi entered the Union. It passed through the hands of Wyatt Allgood, John R. Chambers, Samuel Jayne, who is recognized as the founder of Brookhaven, and H. S. Strong who, it is believed built the home which stands there today. Strong owned the property from 1857 until 1867, and it was during that time he must have built the house.
Jackson had information, the article stated, that Henry Strong was so infuriated by the outcome of the Civil War that he sold the house and moved with a great many other Southerners to South America.
The abstract showed a conveyance at that time to Mary M. Ellis for "love and affection". After that time, owners changed rather rapidly until 1907 when it was owned by John W. McPhall, then C. T. McPhall, and Luther Jackson in 1937.
The current owner's—Mr. and Mrs. Peter Swalm and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stamps—say they will maintain the historic character of the house as best they can. It originally contained six large rooms, and Jackson during his occupancy added a bath and back porch.
Plantation House Antiques will deal in what Manager Robert Stamps calls prime period items—"true" antiques of various periods such as Georgian and Queen Anne. He will be assisted by Mrs. James Noble as a sales person and Mrs. William L. Furlow as a part time employee.
Ancestry of Henry Strong at SFAA webpage