| Notes |
- African-American - possibly fathered by Thomas Londe Avent, of MS.
This idea is based on an inquiry of Rickie Austin, who says that the tradition in his family has always been that they were descended from a slave child of Benjamin Edward Avent (1799-1878, Lafayette Co., MS). My investigation seems to indicate that it is possible that Tempy Avent may in fact have been fathered not by Benjamin, but by his son Thomas Londe Avent (1833-1910).
Lafayette Co., MS, census records show that Tempy was listed as 'mulatto', so she was clearly of mixed race. They also show her and another black child, Young Avent (about the same age as Tempy) in the household of Thomas Londe Avent's brother, James Knox Avent, in 1870, so it's reasonable to assume they were brother and sister.
Other census records show that Tempy's parents were both born in GA. We know that Benjamin Edward Avent himself was born in NC, and James Knox Avent was born in MS, as were most of Benjamin's numerous children, but he had four sons who were, in fact, born in GA before the family moved to MS 1838-40. One of the GA-born children was Thomas Londe Avent. We also know that on 18 Sep 1883 Young Avent received a marriage license, witnessed by a Thomas Avent. So, if this Thomas Avent was Thomas Londe Avent, then it's reasonable to assume that he may have been Young's father, and if Young and Tempy were brother and sister, then Thomas may have been the GA-born father of Tempy, as well. So, to summarize the evidence:
* we can prove that Tempy was of mixed race and that her father was born in GA
* Rickie's family tradition is that her father was Benjamin Edward Avent
* we can prove that Benjamin was born in NC, and all his children were born in MS, except for four sons, one of whom was named Thomas and was born in GA
* a 'Thomas' Avent' witnessed the marriage license of Young Avent, who was likely Tempy's brother
This is far from conclusive but when dealing with situations like this circumstantial evidence is usually all you have to work with. More research is needed to prove or disprove this claim, but it's worth considering.
1900 Lafayette Co., MC census, Beat Two,
Murphy, Fate, Dec 1839, m. 14 yrs, b. AL, both parents b. AL
Tempy Oct 1840, m. 14 yrs, mother of all 5 children, b. MS, both parents b. GA
Clarence, Sep 1887
Sue, Sep 1890
Velmer, Jun 1894
Bertha, Jan 1897
Sweet, Jan 1899
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1863 -
