With the enumeration of the citizens of the United States of America in 1870, it was about this time that George Pullman was producing his famous "sleeper cars"; and the transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, now connected the East with the West, making travel westward much more appealing. Domestic travel was on the rise and people of that era were beginning to move about. Yet, no railroad traversed Attala County in 1870. The nearest railroad station was located at Durant and in Goodman in Holmes County. Vehicles called hacks which were usually drawn by mules and occasionally by horses traveled out of Kosciusko going to either Durant or Goodman. Northbound travelers went to Durant to catch a train that went to Jackson and Humbolt, Tennessee. From Goodman, travelers would go to points south including Canton and Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The railroad would eventually come to Attala County. The first train arrived in Kosciusko on March 10, 1874 and was welcomed with a parade and a picnic. This train did not extend eastward beyond Kosciusko until 1884 when the Illinois Central pushed the line 88 miles east connecting Durant with Aberdeen, Mississippi. The towns of Ethel and McCool came into being as a result of the railroad expansion.

By 1870 the population of Attala County, Mississippi was 14,776. A few extracts from the 1870 census follow:

By 1870, only Marcus Alonzo and Joseph are at home with George and Aminda. Marcus is now seventeen and Joseph is fifteen. George Luther, who would have been thirteen, died some time prior to 1870. As previously indicated, the exact date or circumstances of George Luthers death are not known. It is presumed that he is buried in the Bear Creek cemetery, but if so, his grave is unmarked.

James Robert, Henry Alexander, and step-daughter, Mary McDonald have left the household. James Robert Carr married the first of his three wives, about 1865 or 1866. On the 1870 census, James Robert, now 22 is shown with his family living on a farm in Township 16 Range 9, Beat 2. The family is enumerated as dwelling # 54, family #54 as follows:

James Robert Carr's first wife, the widow of Isham Marion Landrum, was Louisa Jane Pool Landrum. Louisa came to the marriage with two daughters, Nancy A. 'Nannie' Landrum, age 9 and Marion Elizabeth "Pinkey" Landrum, age 5. On the 1870 census, James Robert, 22 is shown with wife, Louisa, 29, a daughter, Lucy age 3, a son, Emmett age 5/12 and his step-daughter, Nancy A. Landrum, now age 13. Nancy's sister, Marion Elizabeth Landrum is not shown on the 1870 census. Marion, or Pinkey as she was nicknamed, would have been 9 years old in 1870. One must assume that she died sometime before 1870. If so, she lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in Attala County. Nancy 'Nannie' Landrum, would at a future date, marry Marcus Alonzo Carr, her step father's half-brother and she would name her first daughter Pinkey.

Henry Carr was married in December 1869 to Florence E. Landrum. Henry and Florence are shown in Dwelling #39, family #32 on page 6 of the 1870 census for Beat 2 in Attala County.

It is not know what became of Mary M. McDonald. She appeared on the 1860 census at age fifteen and she would now be twenty-five years of age. Chances are very good that she would have married shortly after the 1860 census was taken. By this time, she is likely a wife and a mother of three or more children. Unfortunately, marriage records do not exist for this period due to a courthouse fire, and without marriage records, and with the 1870 census showing only initials, efforts to locate Mary McDonald may prove futile.

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Also in 1876, General George Custer and his soldiers are killed in a battle with the Sioux Indians at the Little Big Horn in Montana. Then, in 1877 the Nez Perce Indians being persued by the United States Cavalry troops attempts to lead his band into Canada. Many Nez Perce die while trying to escape, most due to exposure to the elements. The chase ends with the capture of Chief Joseph. He delivers his famous words in his surrender speech; "I will fight no more, forever!"

In 1879 Thomas Edison invents and demonstrates the first electric light at Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Now, we move forward to 1880, still in the dark but free of hostile Indians. The 1880 Federal census shows that most of the family is still living in Township 16. Range 9, Beat 2 in Attala County, Mississippi. It would seem that the wanderlust that brought the Carr family to Mississippi did not plague the next generation as they seem content to establish roots and raise families.

1880 U. S. Federal Census

State:	Mississippi	County:	Attala
Township:	T 16 R 9 (Beat 2)	Page:	12

Name	S	Age	Rel.		Occup.	Birth	Father	Mother
91/91
Carr, M. A.	M	27	Head	M	Farmer	Ala	Ala	Ala
Carr, Nancy A.	F	22	wife	M	Housekeep	Miss	Ala	Ala
Carr, Pinkey E.	F	4	Dau	S		Miss	Ala	Ala
Carr, Lura J.	F	2	Dau	S		Miss	Ala	Ala
98/98
Carr, G. M.	M	58	Head	M	Farmer	Ala	Va	Va
Carr, Aminda	F	57	wife	M	Housekeep	Ala	Ga	Ga

M. A. Carr family shown in Dwelling 91 Family 91
G. M. Carr family shown in Dwelling 98 Family 98

As noted above, the first household that is listed is that of Marcus Alonzo Carr and his wife, Nancy A. 'Nannie' Landrum. Marcus or 'Lonnie', as he was known, and Nannie were married in the early part of 1875. They would eventually have nine children. Two of those children are shown on the 1880 census, Pinkey E. (November 2, 1875), and Lieura Jane (June 8, 1878) or "Lura" as she would be known. It is believed that Pinkey was named for Nannie's sister, Marion Elizabeth Landrum who was called 'Pinkey'. The child nicknamed 'Pinkey' would apparently die before she reached the age of ten. By the same token, since it appears that Pinkey was named for Nannie's younger sister, it can probably be assumed that the initial E. in Pinkey Carr's name stands for 'Elizabeth'.

Not far away is the household of George Miller and Aminda Carr. All their children have left home at this time and we find them living alone, but with three sons living nearby. At this point, George and Aminda have ten grandchildren.

1880 U. S. Federal Census

State:	Mississippi	County:	Attala
Township:	T 16 R 9 (Beat 2)	Page:	13

Name	S	Age	Rel.		Occup.	Birth	Father	Mother
104/104
Landrum, E. A.	F	55	Head	W		Ala		N.C.
Carr, Florence	F	26	Dau	W	At home	Miss	Ala	Ala
Carr, Luther H.	M	9	Son	S		Miss	Miss	Miss
Pool, William H.	M	35	S-I-L	M	Farmer	Miss	Ga.
Pool, Cornelia	F	24	wife	M	at home	Miss	Ala.	Ala
Pool, Martha E.	F	8	grdau	S		Ark	Miss	Miss
109/109
Carr, Joseph M.	M	26	Head	M	Farmer	Ala	Ala	Ala
Carr, Nannie	F	22	wife	M	Keephouse	Miss	Ga	Miss
Carr, Charles	M	3	Son	S		Miss	Ala	Miss

E. A. Landrum Family shown in Dwelling 104 Family 104
Joseph M. Carr Family shown in Dewlling 109 Family 109

The next household that is listed is that of Eliza Ann (Mansker) Landrum. Eliza, shown at age 55, is the widow of Pharas Landrum who died October 20, 1855 at age 36. In the household with Eliza are her daughter, Florence Landrum Carr (the widow of Henry Alexander Carr), Florence's son, Luther Henry, age 9. Also in the household is another of Eliza's daughters, Cornelia Landrum Pool, her son-in-law, William H. Pool and her granddaughter, Martha E. Pool, age 8.

Henry Alexander died shortly after the 1870 census, possibly in 1871. It is believed that he is buried in an unmarked grave in Bear Creek Cemetery. His wife, Florence E. Carr would be buried next to an unmarked grave in Bear Creek Cemetery when she died in 1925. As noted, also in the house was Florence's sister, Cornelia along with her husband, William H. Pool, and their daughter Martha E. Pool. Yes, if you can follow along, William H. Pool was the brother of Louisa Jane Pool Landrum Carr (James Robert's wife and Nancy Landrum Carr's mother).

Joseph Miller Carr, his wife, Nannie and their young son, Charles, are next and they are not far from the George Carr homestead. Joseph and Nannie were married about 1876. Charles H. was the first born and there would be five more surviving children, in time. Nannie, who was the former Nancy Jane Black, was Joseph's first wife. She would die in 1896. Joseph would remarry and father two more children. It is noteworthy that Joseph's first born was named Charles. Interesting!

1880 U. S. Federal Census

State:	Mississippi	County:	Attala
Township:	T 16 R 9 (Beat 2)	Page:	15

Name	S	Age	Rel.		Occup.	Birth	Father	Mother
128/128
Carr, Robert	M	32	Head	M	Farmer	Ala
Carr, Louisa J.	F	39	wife	M	Keephouse	Miss	Ga	Miss
Carr, Lucy E.	F	13	Dau	S	At Home	Miss	Ala	Miss
Carr, Emmett	M	10	Son	S	Farm worker	Miss	Ala	Miss
Carr, Robert M.	M	7	Son	S		Miss	Ala	Miss
Carr, Henry M.	M	5	Son	S		Miss	Ala	Miss
Carr, Jason	M	2	Son	S		Miss	Ala	Miss

The Robert Carr family is shown in Dwelling 128 Family 128

James Robert Carr, the son of George Miller Carr and his first wife, Lucy Brown, is listed on page 15 with the first of his three wives, Louisa Jane Pool Landrum. Louisa was the daughter of Middleton Pool and Mary Ann Fancher and the widow of Isham Marion Landrum. Louisa was also the mother of Nannie Landrum Carr, Marcus's wife. Whoever talked to the enumerator of the censes for 1880 apparently did not know where Robert's parents were born as this information was not filled in. What the census images do not show is that Louisa gave birth to twins on Christmas day, 25 December 1873. We do not know the names of these children or even their sex, but one died on 16 February 1874 and the other on 4 March 1874. The children are apparently buried in unmarked graves.

As noted above, Louisa Jane pool Landrum Carr, before her marriage to James Robert Carr, was married to Isham Marion Landrum (1 September 1835-16 November 1861) and from this union two daughters were born. Nancy A. Landrum (26 July 1857) and Marion Elizabeth "Pinkey" Landrum (11 September 1861). As noted above, Nancy married Lonnie Carr about 1874 and it is not known what became of her sister, but it is believed that she died before 1870 or, before her tenth birthday.

As can be seen in the 1880 census, James Robert and Louisa had five children living with them; Lucy Ella, age 13, Emmett, age 10, Robert Miller, age 7, Henry Middleton, age 5, and Jason, age 2.

The subject of the accuracy of census information plagues genealogy researchers. The information shown for the household of E. A. Landrum is a case in point. She is shown as the head of household, which surely she was. The house and the property on which it sat belonged to her. She was what is known as the family patriarch. In actuality, while Eliza was undisputably the head of the house, there were three distinct family units living in the house. On the census image the dwelling being enumerated is identified as dwelling #104. The enumerator shows all members of the household as a single family unit and assigned the number 104. This would indicate that no dwelling in the 103 prior households contained more than one family unit. Hard to believe! But, in this situation, there are clearly three different surnames present in the house; Landrum, Carr and Pool. If we accept the fact that there were no similar situations in prior houses, this group should have been shown as family #104, #105 and #106. Obviously, the enumerator did not understand this aspect of his duties as a census enumerator. Off the soapbox and on to the life and times of the Carr family.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. In 1884 Mark Twain published "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". On October 26, 1886 the 'Statue of Liberty' was unveiled in New York harbor, a gift to the United States from France. In the words of the sculpter, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi upon first gazing upon New York Harbor;

"The picture that is presented to the view when one arrives in New York is marvelous, when, after some days of voyaging, in the pearly radiance of a beautiful morning is revealed the magnificent spectacle of those immense cities [Brooklyn and Manhattan], of those rivers extending as far as the eye can reach, festooned with masts and flags; when one awakes, so to speak, in the midst of that interior sea covered with vessels … it is thrilling. It is, indeed, the New World, which appears in its majestic expanse, with the ardor of its glowing life."

"...Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

In 1889, 50,000 settlers swarm into Oklahoma to homestead former Indian lands.

Unfortunately, the 1890 Federal census was destroyed by a fire and subsequent water damage. The 1890 census records for Mississippi no longer exist. The time frame from 1880 to 1900 produced many changes in the life of the Carr family of Attala County for which few documents exist. To further complicate the search for information, the Attala County Courthouse burned on three separate occasions. The fires occured in July 1858, July 1860 and in July of 1896. Records were lost in each of the three fires. Marriage records prior to December, 1892 were lost, court records to 1886 and indictments to 1890 were also lost. This makes research, for the early years, in Attala very difficult. Of course, if you had an ancestor that was charged with an indictable criminal offense prior to 1890, you will be spared such knowledge. A new courthouse was constructed after the fire of 1896 at a cost of $16,459.

In 1890 in Attala County, beef was selling at 4¢ a pound, bacon at 6¢ a pound, Corn was 70¢ a bushel and eggs were 14¢ a dozen.

The population of Attala County in 1890 was 22,213. The town of Kosciusko had 1,394 citizens, McCool 243, Newport 52 and Sallis 156 citizens.

In 1892 Ellis Island opened in New York City. The first of the eventual 12 million immigrants passed through the doors, seeking a better life in America. In 1893 the Ferris Wheel was introduced at the World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois.

The Spanish American War began on April 21, 1898 and ended on August 12, 1898, a duration of 112 days. A number of young men from Attala County served with the all-volunteer forces during the war.

We will now move forward in time to the Twentieth Century. The next section will attempt to captualize what transpired in the twenty years from 1880 to 1900 and then proceed forward in time as the Carr family grows and expands.

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