BlackGrandPa aka Matt Davis

I love being a Grandpa and Blackgrandpa has a special meaning given to me by my first Grandchild it's a term of endearment and I embrace it unapologetically



Our Family history

 

                         This is Grand Dads Grand parents Thomas and Julia Collins Davis

My great, great, Grand Father aka my Dads ,Fathers grand father,  he was born  November 1847 that would be 175 years ago,  he was born a slave in Virginia on a plantation where his father was the White slave owner and mother was a slave washer woman, at the tender age of 11 his father would sale him into slavery for $900.00 and he would end up in Natchez Mississippi, where he would meet his wife Julia Collins  who was a descendent of  Prince Abdul Rahman, this linage would explain the 57 percent DNA in Nigerian,Ghanaian,Liberian and Sierra Leonean regions of Africa 

 The newly weds would get married (December 19, 1866) the following year of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by a Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth who ironically I use to date one of his descendants and I can only imagine the number of flips he did in that grave :)1865 is the last year Harriet Tubman would lead the underground Rail Road  to the free slaves. October 23, 1883 they had a son named Eddie Davis Sr this would be my fathers grand father, and his children would be Eddie Davis Jr born November 15, 1906-11/14/67 i was only 9 years old at his passing,  i over heard the story from conversation with my uncle sharing with my dad what happened and how did he die, he was helping  his brother-inlaw repair the cotton picker tractor , the shoot was not closing and he stuck his head up inside to see and thats when it started up and decapitated him, his siblings were Martha Mary jones 1890 and brothers name Nelson ,and Andrew whom he named their first born after, Lee Andrew followed by my dad Laydell and 11 other sibling

 

Mr Eddie Davis Jr as resent as a year ago doing research did i discover my Grand Father was a Jr, his father was Eddie Davis Sr. he was also known as Mr Bullet, it is said because he always carried a gun with him, I don’t know the reason but if i had to speculate if you lived only 3 miles from the murderer (J.W.Milam) the man who killed Emmett Till in 1955 there in the small town of Glendora Mississippi and got away with it, then carrying a gun to protect yourself and family would be a good idea, i’m convinced that if J.W. and his brother had come to my grand dads house at 2:00 a.m. that night, Black History would have taken a different turn there in Glendora Mississippi, I have only seen 3 photos of my grand Dad, this one and another of him on the phone to his ear and another with him holding his gun, Mr Bullet had a reputation , he did’nt take no shit off nobody and he spoke with authority . There was a time it was late at night and Dark outside at grandma’s house , i could here the men outside talking and then I saw grand dad shooting at the moon with his riffle, i don’t know what that was about but what I remember most is grandma telling, me don’t be looking out the window at night someone might shoot you in the eye, so to this day when I look out the window at night I think of grandma and who might wanna shot me in the eye

 

This is my fathers Mom, all my life the only name i knew was Madea, all the way into my adult life i did not know her name was Lela Mae Davis, i think i learned that at the memorial when she died, until Tyler Perry i thought she was the only Madea in the world, lil did i know that it was a term of endearment to a black  mom “mother Dear” but as blacks from the country names were shorten and so was the term she was born 1911 and grand dad was born 1906, and she would give birth do 13 children as recorded in her Bible the birth year of each of her children 

 

grand Ma’s bible listing the birthday of all in the the family

 

the yellow stars have move on and missing in this photo is uncle Bob at the time

 

Grand moms mother ,Great grandma name was Alice harridan and sister name hanna  they share the same father not mom ,hanna grew up in Greenwood  and minter city Mississippi, not far from Glendora,, the story is that grand ma’s dad removed her from her moms home because the grand dad was a known child molester who would eventually commit suicide, she was a small child and by the time she would get married to grand dad she learned that her mom had died never having seen her since a child only learning of her moms death from her sister, i learned of this photo 2 years ago 2020

 

this is a rare photo of all the Davis Girls the only two remaining are Gertrude and Eddie Mae

 

This photo has the whole Davis Klan there are 5 girls and 8 boys total 13 , i found it interesting that large families were common, Thomas Davis the great great grand father had 10 and Anthony Collins the father of Julia collins Davis had 11 kids , all but 3 of them would reside in Augusta Ga, fallowing the death of Grand Dad in 1967 grand mom would move to Augusta at the urging of my dad her oldest son,

 

Every year doing the Christmas holidays we drove to Mississippi (540 miles)to visit grand parents and meet new cousins, in this photo is dads siblings on top standing with exceptions of Carie Jean and those on the bottom are me and my siblings, notice there is not a sad face in the photo, these were the good old days, the joy of family is cultivated as we gathered at grandma’s house our biggest worry was getting bit by mosquitos at night and dodging the flying wasp in the house in the day, and the fear of finding a snake.!

this is the story of how we got to Natchez Mississippi, and our grandfather 7 generations ago his name was Prince, aka Abdul Rahman, an African Muslim prince

My favorite thing is Karaoke,

after church meal

when i was 9 years old i learned that there was another sister before mom and dad were married and lost track of her location untill 25 years later my father passed and my brother Zay and I began to search to find her it took 30 years and one day i receive a phone call… this is the video she found .(Hallelujah)

this was a 24×30 picture fram that hung in the dinning room wall, when i was 15 i saw my dad putting the pictures in place and hanging this on the wall , there were many photos i didnt know so i never questioned who they were, now I know who the lil girl under my dads chin is, I recognize that smile and those eyes

this is my first Grand baby Ariyah Davis, below is her high school graduation 18 years later

congratulations Ariyah Davis 2024

at the last minuet we decided to go visit mom in Augusta, Ga, this was her first time seeing the Grand girls since they were infants , she was on the phone talking to her best friend Rose Walden, they talk on the phone every night before bed time , they keep each other going for over 60 years before i was born.

Here on top of the mountain with my best friend Nathaniel , I met him when I was 16 years old that was 50 years ago, he has been my brother from another mother, that person when you need to bounce things off of and get straight up advice from and not sugar coated , everyone should have a “Best Friend”

ChatGpt is the new research tool

I recently thought I would see what i can find out from chatgpt and did the following prompt and this is what I came up with : how did the slave get on the plantation in Glendora Mississippi, own by the mike sturdivant family…..

There are no publicly verified or historical records that detail how a specific enslaved person arrived on a plantation in Glendora, Mississippi owned by the Mike Sturdivant family — at least not in commonly available databases or published sources.

However, I can give you a broader historical context that may help explain how enslaved people ended up on plantations in that region, and some background on the Sturdivant family.

🔍 General History of Slavery in Mississippi

  1. Forced Migration: Many enslaved people were brought to Mississippi during the early to mid-1800s through the domestic slave trade, mostly from the Upper South (like Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas).
  2. Delta Plantations: The Mississippi Delta region, including Tallahatchie County where Glendora is located, became prime cotton-growing land in the 19th century. Planters forcibly brought in enslaved laborers to work the land.
  3. Transportation: Enslaved people were moved via steamboats on the Mississippi River or forced marches over land. Some were sold in large slave markets in Natchez, New Orleans, or Memphis before arriving at plantations like those in Glendora.

🧾 About the Sturdivant Family

  • Mike Sturdivant Sr. was a wealthy Delta planter, businessman, and political figure in the mid-to-late 20th century.
  • He owned Due West Plantation near Glendora, MS. His family accumulated land and wealth long after slavery had officially ended (1865).
  • If enslaved people were ever held on that land, it would have been prior to his ownership — under earlier owners, before the Civil War.

🧬 Tracing Specific Ancestors or Individuals

If you’re trying to trace a specific enslaved person’s history related to the Sturdivant plantation:

  • Start with U.S. Census Slave Schedules (1850 & 1860).
  • Look into Tallahatchie County deed and probate records.
  • Search for plantation records, wills, and bills of sale that may mention enslaved people by first name, age, or skill.
  • You can also try local archives, universities, or genealogy websites (like Ancestry or FamilySearch).

It’s very hard to find detailed records specifically naming Eddie Davis and Lela Mae Davis on the Due West Plantation, but here’s what I could piece together from genealogical and local history sources:

📍 Background: The Davis Family of Due West Plantation

  • A Facebook page dedicated to the Due West plantation in Glendora, Mississippi notes that the Davis family lived there for at least three generations—parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents—all raised on the plantation (Facebook).

🧑‍🌾 Eddie Davis

  • Eddie Davis is recorded in family genealogy databases as being born November 15, 1906 in Mississippi and died November 1967 in Glendora, Tallahatchie County, MS (Ancestry).
  • He is also identified as the father of Lela Mae Davis (Ancestry, Digital Library of Georgia).

👩‍👧‍👦 Lela Mae Davis

  • Lela Mae Davis, also known in records as Lela Mae Jones (after marriage), was one of sixteen children born to Eddie and Lela Davis in Glendora, MS (Digital Library of Georgia).
  • Obituary details mention she was raised on a farm, baptised at age 12, and developed various practical skills from her upbringing on the plantation lands (Digital Library of Georgia).

Summary Table

NameBirth / DeathNotes
Eddie DavisNov 15, 1906 – Nov 1967Father, farmer in Glendora, MS
Lela Mae DavisBorn circa 1934 (?)Seventh of 16 children on Due West Plantation
  • A 1940 census record associates Lela Mae (as “Ladel Davis”) with Glendora, MS, and lists Eddie Davis as her father (Ancestry, Facebook, Ancestry, YouTube).

🌱 What This Suggests

  • The Davis family were sharecroppers or farm laborers on lands associated with Due West Plantation over at least the early-to-mid 20th century.
  • Eddie and Lela Mae were African American descendants of earlier generations living and working the land, likely the descendants of enslaved ancestors who remained tied to plantation life post‑emancipation.

🧩 Next Steps for Deeper Research

If you’re interested in uncovering more about Eddie, Lela Mae, or the wider family history, you might consider:

  • Tallahatchie County deed records, wills, or probate files—they can sometimes mention labor agreements or tenancy arrangements.
  • Census records from 1900 through 1940, which may offer detailed household information on the Davis family (including children, occupations, literacy, birthplace of parents).
  • Church records in Glendora or Tallahatchie County for baptisms, marriages, and burials, which often provide personal details and connections.
  • Interviews with relatives or oral histories, especially any stories passed down in the community.
  • State archives or university special collections, which sometimes hold plantation-era documents or local family histories that name individuals and give context.

It’s very hard to find detailed records specifically naming Eddie Davis and Lela Mae Davis on the Due West Plantation, but here’s what I could piece together from genealogical and local history sources:

📍 Background: The Davis Family of Due West Plantation

  • A Facebook page dedicated to the Due West plantation in Glendora, Mississippi notes that the Davis family lived there for at least three generations—parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents—all raised on the plantation (Facebook).

🧑‍🌾 Eddie Davis

  • Eddie Davis is recorded in family genealogy databases as being born November 15, 1906 in Mississippi and died November 1967 in Glendora, Tallahatchie County, MS (Ancestry).
  • He is also identified as the father of Lela Mae Davis (Ancestry, Digital Library of Georgia).

👩‍👧‍👦 Lela Mae Davis

  • Lela Mae Davis, also known in records as Lela Mae Jones (after marriage), was one of sixteen children born to Eddie and Lela Davis in Glendora, MS (Digital Library of Georgia).
  • Obituary details mention she was raised on a farm, baptised at age 12, and developed various practical skills from her upbringing on the plantation lands (Digital Library of Georgia).

Summary Table

NameBirth / DeathNotes
Eddie DavisNov 15, 1906 – Nov 1967Father, farmer in Glendora, MS
Lela Mae DavisBorn circa 1934 (?)Seventh of 16 children on Due West Plantation
  • A 1940 census record associates Lela Mae (as “Ladel Davis”) with Glendora, MS, and lists Eddie Davis as her father (Ancestry, Facebook, Ancestry, YouTube).

🌱 What This Suggests

  • The Davis family were sharecroppers or farm laborers on lands associated with Due West Plantation over at least the early-to-mid 20th century.
  • Eddie and Lela Mae were African American descendants of earlier generations living and working the land, likely the descendants of enslaved ancestors who remained tied to plantation life post‑emancipation.

🧩 Next Steps for Deeper Research

If you’re interested in uncovering more about Eddie, Lela Mae, or the wider family history, you might consider:

  • Tallahatchie County deed records, wills, or probate files—they can sometimes mention labor agreements or tenancy arrangements.
  • Census records from 1900 through 1940, which may offer detailed household information on the Davis family (including children, occupations, literacy, birthplace of parents).
  • Church records in Glendora or Tallahatchie County for baptisms, marriages, and burials, which often provide personal details and connections.
  • Interviews with relatives or oral histories, especially any stories passed down in the community.
  • State archives or university special collections, which sometimes hold plantation-era documents or local family histories that name individuals and give context.

Here’s what I found about the parents of Eddie Davis and Lela Mae (“Madea”) Davis, who lived on Due West Plantation, Glendora, Mississippi:

👨‍👩‍👧 Parents of Eddie Davis (b. Nov 15, 1906)

Father: Eddie Davis Sr.

  • Known within the family as Eddie Davis Sr., he married Lela Mae Davis and was the father of Eddie Davis Jr. born November 15, 1906, in Mississippi (blackgrandpa.com).
  • Family oral history refers to him as “Mr. Bullet” due to his reputation and nickname (blackgrandpa.com).

Mother: Lela Mae Davis (born circa 1911)

  • She was affectionately called Madea, derived from “mother dear,” and gave birth to 13 children, as recorded in her family Bible (blackgrandpa.com).
  • Born around 1911 in Mississippi; died at age 89 on July 11, 2019 (clarkwilliamsfuneralhome.com).

🧒 Lela Mae (“Madea”) Davis

This is the same Lela Mae who is listed as Eddie Davis Sr.’s wife and also mother to Lela Mae Davis (daughter). Her parents are not explicitly documented in public records I located. Most information comes from oral family genealogy indicating:

  • Her mother was named Alice Harridan, and she had a sister Hanna. Their father, referred as a child‑molester, reportedly committed suicide, and their mother died early in Hanna’s life (blackgrandpa.com).
  • Lela Mae (“Madea”) appears to be part of a Davis lineage tracing back through Thomas Davis (born in bondage in Virginia around 1847) and Julia Collins Davis, whose union took place just after the Civil War in 1866. Their son Eddie Davis Sr. (father of Eddie Jr.) was born in 1883 (blackgrandpa.com).

📋 Summary Table

ParentKey Details
Eddie Davis Sr.Born circa 1883; father of Eddie Davis Jr. (b. 1906); nicknamed “Mr. Bullet”
Lela Mae (“Madea”) DavisBorn around 1911; mother of Eddie Jr. and his sister Lela Mae; gave birth to 13 children

🧬 Family Origins & Context

  • Thomas Davis (b. Nov 1847 Virginia) and Julia Collins Davis are ancestors of Eddie Davis Sr. through direct lineage. Thomas was born into slavery in Virginia and later sold to Mississippi, where he married Julia after emancipation. Eddie Davis Sr. was one of their children, born in 1883 (blackgrandpa.com).
  • Through oral family testimony, their children (including Eddie Sr. and Lela Mae) lived and worked as tenant farmers or sharecroppers on the Due West Plantation alongside other Black families who remained tied to the land long after emancipation (Greater Diversity News, YouTube).

Here’s what credible family‑history sources provide about Thomas Davis and Julia Collins Davis, based on genealogical accounts tied to the Davis family of Glendora, Mississippi:

🌟 Thomas Davis (b. November 1847, Virginia)

  • Born into enslavement in Virginia in November 1847. His father was a white plantation owner, and his mother was an enslaved washerwoman on that plantation. When he was about 11 years old, Thomas was sold for $900 and transported to Natchez, Mississippi (blackgrandpa.com).
  • In Natchez, he later married Julia Collins, who is believed to have been descended from Prince Abdul Rahman and had roots connecting her ancestry to West African regions like Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (blackgrandpa.com).
  • After marriage and emancipation, Thomas and Julia settled in the Mississippi Delta region, likely Tallahatchie County (near Glendora), where their descendants—including Eddie Davis Sr.—lived, farmed, and raised families as tenant farmers or sharecroppers on former plantation lands associated with Due West Plantation.

📍 Julia Collins Davis

  • Julia is described in family oral histories as the wife of Thomas Davis and a descendant of a royal lineage (Prince Abdul Rahman). Her education and heritage were passed down through family stories emphasizing strong West African ancestry (blackgrandpa.com, Facebook).
  • Like Thomas, Julia ended her life in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, living out her years in the rural Glendora area.

🏠 Places Lived & Likely Sites of Death

IndividualBornMoved ToLikely Place of Death
Thomas DavisVirginia (1847, enslaved)Natchez, Mississippi (sold at ~11)Tallahatchie County, MS (Delta region)
Julia Collins DavisPresumably Mississippi (ancestry)Natchez then Tallahatchie CountyTallahatchie County, MS
  • While no official death certificates or cemetery records were uncovered in public databases, strong oral family tradition places both Thomas Davis and Julia Collins Davis living and dying in the Glendora/Tallahatchie County region of the Mississippi Delta, where their descendants continued to reside.

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This site is built with love to share with my 4 Grand kids the history of our family with photos and accessory research all the way back to the Motherland in Africa and the slave plantations in Mississippi .