The following information, mostly abstracted from public records such as the Federal Census, is in no way represented as the sum of Jim's life. There might be additional information on Southern Matters. I have given myself free rein in writing these profiles--I simply follow my thoughts and let construction, prose and grammar fall by the wayside. To get the most out of any profile, one must read them all; I've tried to avoid redundancy.
My grandfather Lucius Galveston Outlaw (1873-1918) was the middle of seven children. I did not know him or his older siblings, but I do remember his younger siblings, including James S. Outlaw.
James Sheffield Outlaw was born May 18, 1881. [grave marker] Given the time and place, Uncle Jim was born into good circumstances. The 1870 FC (Agriculture) shows that Greatgrandfather W.H.H. had 35 acres of improved land (a “two-horse farm”) plus 210 acres of woodland, and as best I can read, a separate lot (490 acres). His land was valued at $500, exceeded by only two of the 40 farmers enumerated on the same page as he (ave= $220). The value of his farm equipment was exceeded only by three. In the year preceding, he produced 2 bales of cotton, 60 bushels of sweetpotatoes, 20 lbs of butter, 30 gallons of syrup (good for him!), 10 lbs of beeswax, 150 lbs of honey (good for him!), 30 bushels of corn and 25 bushels of oats; they lived in a house worth twice the average, but had a typical income. He had 15 cows, 3 in milk, 4 swine, and used a horse—not a mule. It is quite likely that Grandpa Dick (W.H.H.) watched his balance sheet closely as he was the youngest person in Berrien County in 1860 to have a personal estate of any value. In summary, Uncle Jim had a good start in life.
James S. Outlaw and Ethel G. Rape (b. April 15, 1883) married Jan 15, 1903. [Paulk op cit] Ethel was the second child of farmers John L. and Matilda A. Rape, who were enumerated in the 1900 Berrien FC, Militia District 1157. I did not look further into the exact location, but noted that neighbors were Parrishes and Knights, but the area was not Connells Mill (where James S. Outlaw was enumerated). Her older brother Peter was a school teacher. [John and Matilda were also enumerated in the same militia district in 1880, before Ethel’s birth; the 1890 FC is mostly missing; as mentioned below, Ethel died before the 1910 enumeration.) [dob from memorial portrait, Outlaw-006] The elder Rapes died in the 1920s and are buried at Long Bridge. [Hancock op cit]
Ellie Berta Outlaw, daughter of Jim and Ethel, was born October 7th, 1903. [McMillan op cit] Ellie became one of my parents’ favorite cousins.
Ethel G. Outlaw died October 14, 1903, before her 21st birthday (memorial portrait, as). Oral history indicates the cause of death was complication from childbirth, which is consistent with the date of Ellie’s birth. I cannot begin to imagine the pain her death caused her family.
The circumstances following Ethel’s death are unknowable, but it is inarguable that Uncle Jim could not care for Ellie alone and work. I have a studio photo of Aunt Ada (said to be in her wedding dress), Uncle Jim and Ellie (of the age consistent with the wedding date of Jim and Ada, below). I have another studio photo of Ellie with ggrandfather W.H.H. Outlaw that was apparently taken at the same time and place. Perhaps, Uncle Jim’s parents assisted him with Ellie.
James S. Outlaw and Ada V. Connell (b. July 16, 1885) were united in marriage February 27, 1907. She was the middle of 13 children of Jasper D. Connell (1855-1925) and Fannie Irene Morris Connell (1857-1936), making Ada my 3d cousin 2x removed. [oral history substantiated by several sources] Jasper and Fannie’s circumstances—starting with a one-room cabin with a clay floor—and family activities are wonderfully described by Mack Briggs Mathis, Sr., in his 1972 booklet on the Connell and Morris families.
Ellie was “very lovely, very neat, and a well-mannered child and was accepted by Aunt Ada and the whole Connell family with open arms, as one of the family.” [M.B. Mathis, Sr., op cit]
Uncle Jim and Aunt Ada had one child, Comer J. Outlaw, b. April 10, 1908.
A note in the Nashville Herald referred to Uncle Jim’s farming ability, including getting two crops of corn in a season. [Judy and Wayne Dasher’s “Clippings . . . . ]
The J.S. Outlaw Family was enumerated in the 1910 FC in Massee (then Berrien, now Cook County), a sawmill village. Uncle Jim was a farmer and owned his farm outright. Ellie, merely 6, was able to read and write.
A portrait of the Jasper D. Connell family in 1917 shows Aunt Ada in a wheelchair. Mathis op cit elsewhere in his booklet states “Aunt Ada was bedridden for nearly half of her married life. I was told her sickness was probably caused by a ground rattler snake bite in her childhood, . . . .”
The 1920 FC shows them in the same location, i.e. neighbors to Ada’s brother W.E. Connell, and of which progeny I best knew Guy, who was about Daddy’s age. (N.B. Several W.E. Connells.) Ada’s parents were only a couple of houses away.
Mathis op cit describes Uncle Jim’s farm as “well kept, and he made good crops of cotton, corn, peanuts, watermelons, and potatoes.”
Comer J. Outlaw and Bessie Lee Luke (July 31, 1909-April 18, 1969, gravemarkers) married June 12, 1927. [State of Georgia Archives] Bessie was the daughter of Henry Crawford Luke (1879-1952) and Sancel (or variant) Arkansas Griner (1880-1962) and the granddaughter of Elder William Luke (1835-1905?) and Rebecca Tucker (1841-1890). [Luke Family Tree, Ancestry], making her my 1st cousin 3x removed. Bessie’s sister Gertie (1903-1981) married Elder Noah Leon Sutton (1906-1936) [McMillan op cit], brother of my grandmother née Sutton Outlaw. Always, connections.
Ellie married Rufus Merle (several variants) Connell (born February 15,1898). Merle, like Ada above, was also my 3d cousin, 2x removed. For years, Merle was city clerk [personal knowledge] and his image (1945) in this capacity is on the Berrien County SmugMug site, as is Ellie’s in her role as a teacher (1960-61). They had no children, but reared Martha Nell Durrance (b. October 17, 1940) daughter of Merle’s sister Lilla Mae (who died the day Martha Nell was born). Merle and Ellie are to be commended as Martha Nell was selected as “Most Intellectual” in the 1958 Berrien High School Class. [synthesis from McMillan op cit, Connell-Holder-Edwards-Shirley family tree on ancestry.com and the Berrien County (Georgia) SmugMug site). Merle died November 22, 1958 and is buried in Westview. Later, Ellie married J.J. Wiley (b. April 15, 1906); no children issued from this union either.
By the 1930 FC, Ellie had left the J.S. Outlaw household, but daughter-in-law Bessie had joined, along with Comer and Bessie’s daughter, Myrtle Hortense. The family still lived in Massee and Uncle Jim still farmed, but I did not determine by neighbor analysis whether they were in the exact same location.
Nearing 60 by the 1940 FC—the last available to the public—Uncle Jim continued to farm in Massee. Comer and Bessie Lee remained part of the household, as was their son, Hastings (b. abt 1929). Comer worked off farm part-time as a laborer in the carpentry business, and Bessie was a full-time clerk in a dry-goods store.
When I knew Uncle Jim and Aunt Ada, they lived in a small house in Nashville. Daddy would often take me with him to visit his relatives, and my main memory is of Aunt Ada adding fuel to the small “stove” that heated their house. Back in those days, simply staying warm was time-consuming.
At one time, my memory of Uncle Jim was both inaccurate and uncharitable. When I knew him, he was an unkempt senior who had succumbed to alcoholism. Sometimes, he’d run short of money for wine and come sit in Daddy’s outer office (where Mama worked) and wait for a loan from Daddy. The amounts were small, and as Daddy reminded Mama, Uncle Jim always paid the loans back. It was an abrasive topic, though, as Mama had no tolerance for alcohol in any form or fashion, and she regretted that he sat in the office in his condition (Daddy’s position was elective). I describe my attitude not to disparage Uncle Jim, but as a frame of mind that I had. Age and thought combine to powerfully transform perspectives. Now, I think of him as the young—even handsome—young man whose travails included the death of a young bride, the responsibility of rearing a child alone, all followed by a spouse’s continual sickness for years, and his own alcoholism. Nevertheless, he prevailed and became a successful farmer and landowner.
Aunt Ada died March 4, 1963. Uncle Jim died June 15, 1963, a day before his younger brother, Joe. Uncle Jim and Aunt Ada are buried at Long Bridge.
Many thanks to Gary Breckenridge for assistance with this essay.
Last edit: 2014-06-23
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