The Rounds Family of Adams County, Mississippi

The Rounds Family of Adams County, Mississippi originated with the marriage of Charles Rounds (b. 1811 in Virginia/Africa) and Charity Rounds (b. 1822 in Mississippi). Charity Rounds was a slave of Dr. William Mercer at the Laurel Hill Plantation. It is unclear at this time where Charles Rounds was enslaved, presumably on the Laurel Hill Plantation also. After the Civil War, Charlie and Charity Rounds continued to reside in Adams County, Mississippi. They purchased the Rounds Plantation (Glen Aubin) in about 1874. The 1870 census showed the members of the Rounds household, they are as follows: children, Andrew, Lucy, Goliah, Flora and Rose, grandchildren Harrison Holmes, Minor Duncan and Joseph Rounds.

An excerpt from the book "African-American Historic Places" published by the National Register of Historic Places:

Like China Grove, Bourbon and Oakland Plantations, Glen Aubin was one of several plantations in southwest Adams county that were purchased by former slaves or their children in the year immediately following the Civil war. Glen Aubin was constructed as the residence of John Odlin Hutchins and his wife, Aubin, from whom it derives its name, on land acquired by Hutchins' grandfather, Anthony Hutchins as an early English land grant in the early 1780's. Coming to Natchez in 1772, Anthony Hutchins was teh area's largest landholdler and planter in the late 18th century. The house appears to date from around 1835 to 1845, with the only major changes occuring around 1850, when the roof was raised to accommodate the second story bedrooms.
In 1874 Charlie and Charity Rounds, who were former slaves or free blacks, purchased Glen Aubin. The purchase was arranged by Wilmer Shields, the plantation manager at the neighboring Laurel Hill owned by William Newton Mercer. The name Charity appears in a list of slaves owned by Mercer, and it is possible that Charity Rounds had been a Laurel Hill slave who, with her husband, was assisted by Shields in acquiring the plantation. From 1874 until 1894, Glen Aubin served as the residence of the Rounds Family, who are responsible for maintaining the architectural integrity of the house, including all original hardware, oak graining and interior and exterior paint colors.

The REAL family story about the Rounds Plantation:
After Charles and Charity Rounds acquired the Glen Aubin home, it was passed to their son Goliah and his wife Dinah. They raised their 10 children in the home and surrounding property. Charles and Charity Rounds are buried on the right side of the Antebellum home. The home did not leave the Rounds Family ownership until it was sold in a shady deal in the 1970's. The land, about 400 acres in all, is still owned by the descendants of Charles and Charity Rounds. It includes a large family cemetary plot where several family members are buried.

The Rounds Plantation



Goliah Rounds (b. 1854), son of Charity and Charlie Rounds

Was Lost, but now am Found: Charles Rounds Jr.

A few months ago while searching through some online records trying to get some follow up leads on family members and check for any new records, I came across a Civil War pension card. Charity Rounds of Mississippi was the beneficiary and Charles Rounds Jr. was the soldier.


I have to admit, I looked at the record initially and dismissed it because to my knowledge there was no Charles Rounds born between Charles Rounds (1811) and Charles Rounds (1878) the son of Goliah Rounds. I continued my Civil War research on my Thompson ancestor, but kept that pension file in the back of my mind. After about another couple of months, I decided to look over the record and couldn't dismiss the coincidence.I ordered the pension file from the National Archives. I was pleasantly surprised that my 'hunch' paid off. I found a long forgotten Rounds Family member, Charles Rounds Jr.



This pension file, although only 19 pages long gave some vital information about Charles Jr. and his parents Charles Sr. and Charity Rounds. From the documentation, Charles was enlisted in the 50th USCT of Vicksburg, Mississippi at the rank of Private. About one month after mustering in on July 20, 1863 at the young age of 23, Charles died of disease on August 12, 1863. This puts his estimated birth year at about 1840 making Charles Jr. the oldest known child of Charles Sr. and Charity. He was described as being 5'4" having a black complexion, black hair and his occupation was a farmer.

The pension file also gives information about Charles and Charity receiving a $100 bounty on February 3, 1880 as a provision of the Bounty Act of July 1866. They filed two claims which leads me to believe that they may have been paid $200 total. This may have been the money they used to assist in the acquisition of The Rounds Plantation.



After the death of Charles Rounds Sr., Charity filed for the pension of Charles Jr in 1890 and started receiving a Civil War pension on August 11, 1890. She received a pension until her death on August 18, 1910. Witness statements report that she was nearly 100 years old upon her passing. The witness who reported her death was her grandson, Charles Rounds (son of Goliah and Dinah Rounds) along with son-in-law Jerry Shephard a man named Daniel Duncan. His statement confirms the oral history that Charity is buried on the side of the Rounds Plantation house.

The Rounds Sisters Part I

The Rounds branch of my family has been an area of great interest for me in my genealogical research. The Rounds family of Adams county, Mississippi is my mother's grandmother's paternal line.

I was able to locate my oldest known ancestors to date, Charlie and Charity Rounds in the 1870 Federal Census. They are listed with their children and some grandchildren. The names are as follows: Charles Rounds, Charity Rounds, Andrew Rounds, Lucy Rounds, Goliah Rounds, Flora Rounds, Rose Rounds, Harrison Holmes, Minor Duncan and Joseph Rounds.

As any genealogist knows regardless of skill level, women are the hardest to track down in census records because of their change in surnames once they marry. I opted to take the challenge on of making a reasonable attempt to find my great-great-great aunts. Fortunately enough, I was able to find some information about my aunts by looking over census records in their county of origins.

I was able to locate my aunts by checking in their county and town of origins, comparing their birth years to make sure they were the same people, and seeing how far they lived from known male relatives. The tricky thing with the date is this, sometimes birth years were estimated on federal census records on some records they were very accurate. You have to use your best guess in order to figure out if it is that person or not. The clues are there, use your intuition.

I was able to find the follwing sisters and their families. They are listed below.

1880 Census:
Flora (Rounds) Shepherd b.1857 married Jeremiah Shepherd b. 1836
Children: James Shepherd & David Shepherd
I tied her to my great great great grandparents because of her father being born in Virginia like Charlie Rounds and her being neighbors to them as well.

Rose (Rounds) Hayes married Henry Hayes on 15 October 1881
Children: Charity Hayes/Hays and Henry Hayes/Hays Jr.
I tied her to my great great great grandmother by the name of her daughter and her proximity to the family homestead. Unfortunately, she was deceased by the 1900 census

I'm still searching for sister Lucy, I know she's in the census near by her brother Goliah. Hopefully, I can find her again. My fingers are crossed.

Genealogy Road Trip: The Rounds Family Cemetery

In an earlier posting, I described a bit about my visit to the Mt. Sinai Church cemetery and to the Rounds Family Cemetery. Many of my Thompson-Galmore relatives are buried in the Mt. Sinai Cemetery and the Rounds Family Cemetery has interned the majority of the Rounds family. The Rounds cemetery is located a few hundred yards from the main house on the Rounds Plantation (Glen Aubin). While I was out taking photos of the headstones at the Rounds family cemetery, a group of cattle decided that they were going to visit the pond right behind the house and cemetery. Being afraid of a 1000lb side of living beef, I kept a very low profile.
This headstone is the grave of Surgetta "Suzette" Rounds, one of the grandchildren of Goliah and Dinah Rounds. This is the rearview which lists Surgetta's children and grandchildren. The front view is a traditional headstone included is a military photograph of Suzette. This was definitely one of my favorite headstones. I was able to finally visit the graves of Goliah and Dinah Rounds. The headstone has been updated by my family and its also one of my favorites. I was able to obtain the dates of their deaths for my family tree records. Unfortunately because the graves of Charles and Charity Rounds are so close to the main house, I wasn't able to get a look at them.

Day1&2: Strolling through the cemetery

Mt. Sinai Baptist Church Sibley, Mississippi

My first couple of days in Mississippi, I was able to visit two cemeteries in Adams county. The first cemetery I visited was the Mt. Sinai Baptist Church Cemetery in Sibley, Mississppi. My grandmother St. Arby Washington-Thompson is buried there. I was also able to locate the grave of my Thompson family relatives, Galmore relatives and some other folks who shared those suranames. Quite a few of the older headstones have been weathered away. I also took a photograph of Mt. Sinai church, the second built sanctuary. A piece of the original sanctuary now hangs over the doors of the new building. The placard over the door is the image of two crescent moons with a star in the middle. Its a very unique piece that I will research the symbolism of at a later date.

The second cemetery I visited is the Rounds Family cemetery. This is the cemetery on the Rounds Plantation that came into the Rounds family by Charles and Charity Rounds. Charles and Charity Rounds were buried several yards away from the cemetery near the main house. I was able to locate and photograph Dinah Brown-Rounds, Goliah Rounds and many of their children in the cemetery. Also in the cemetery were other descendents of Charles and Charity Rounds.
All in all I think these first couple of days were productive and gave me leads in search of other family members.

A Legacy Of Service Honored: Adams County WW I Veterans Remembered

Last summer while researching in Mississippi, I had the opportunity to visit NAPAC  (Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture) and speak to the Director of Cultural & Heritage Tourism, Darrell White. During my visit, Mr. White discussed a project that the city  and museum were working on in conjunction with the GSA (General Services Administration) to have the names of African-Americans and other unlisted soldiers who served in WWI from Adams County, Mississippi on plaques. The city of Natchez originally displayed plaques of WW I soldiers names from the county dating shortly after the end of the war. However, these plaques didn't include the names of several white servicemen and none of the African-American servicemen who were on active duty during the war. This information was discovered by a graduate student, Shane Peterson, while he was in Natchez working on his thesis.

The push for a new plaque to be made was first published in the local news in March of 2010. My cousin, McKinley Barnes, was interviewed by the Natchez Democrat about his uncle Richard Lively who served and died in WW I. With the aide Darrell White, Shane Peterson, Ser Seshs Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley (Friends of the Forks of the Road); the project to get plaques got underway. GSA was generous enough to sponsor the creation and display of the new plaques.  In November of 2011, the plaques were dedicated at the Natchez Federal Courthouse.


Video of Plaque Dedication

While visiting the Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery and the Rounds Family Cemetery, I found the graves of African-Americans who served during  WW I. Many of these men were my family members. Their names now appear on the plaque in the honor of servicemen who served during WW I.

Descendant of Jerry and Flora (Rounds) Shepard
(Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery, Sibley, MS)

Son of Scott Washington Sr. and Roxie McFarland-Earls
(Rounds Family Cemetery, Rounds Plantation, Adams County, MS)

Marshall Glover, PVT US Army WW I
(Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery Sibley, MS)

Descendant of Charles and Charity Rounds
(Rounds Family Cemetery, Rounds Plantation Adams County, MS)

Road Trip Countdown: Rounds Plantation, Adams County, Mississippi

Rounds Plantation circa 1985

Rounds (Glen Aubin) Plantation in southern Adams Coutny, Mississippi was purchased by Charles and Charity Rounds during the Reconstruction Era. This is the home where the Rounds family built their life and legacy in the century following the Civil War. This is the place the descendants of Charles and Charity Rounds regard as our ancestral home.

Road Trip Countdown: Goliah Rounds

Goliah Rounds 1854 - 1931

Goliah Rounds was the middle child of Charles and Charity Rounds. He married Dinah Brown in October 1877. He took over the stewardship of the Rounds Plantation where he and Dinah raised their ten children. Their daughter, Alice Rounds-Washington is the Family Griot's great-grandmother.

Rounds (Glen Aubin) Plantation in Photos

Fully Restored Rounds Plantation 1985

Rounds Plantation 1983, Sibley, Mississippi

 One of the most difficult things for me to find was an image of the Rounds Family Plantation in Adams County, Mississippi. The best image that I'd had was a lopsided photo taken in the mid-1980's with a 110 film camera. (Remember those??) Needless to say the photo quality was not the greatest, even during that time. After searching the internet for photos of this place which is on the National Register of Historic Places and coming up empty, I was able to find photos of a pre-restored Rounds Plantation in the application for it to gain this status at MDAH (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). These are the first images of the inside of the home that I've ever seen. I can only imagine what it was like during the Antebellum and Reconstruction Era. It must've been beautiful!

Front entrance of the home

Inside of the home

Inside of the home

More Photos from the Genealogy on the Road Trip

While on my trip, I took several photos of historical records and locations that I just couldn't seem to fit into my blog postings. So some of the more interesting ones I'm posting about now. Enjoy the photos and the story behind them!


Port Hudson, Louisiana This is the post where my great-great grandfather Benjamin Thompson served while in the Army with the 10th Regiment Infantry Corp de Afriq, which later was changed to the 82nd United States Colored Troops. They were organized on 1 September 1863. To learn a brief history of all the Union colored troops visit http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/deafriq.htm


Ormonde Plantation, Mississippi This is the Ormonde Plantation I believe to have been owned by Dr. William Mercer and his wife where Charity Rounds and her family were enslaved for decades. Quick note this is less than a mile away from the Rounds Plantation which Charles and Charity Rounds purchased. These days the Ormonde Plantation is mainly used for hunting.


Mammy's Cupboard Resturant I'd seen this place as a child during our summer vacations to Mississippi. Even as late as the early 1980's 'Mammy' was pitch black. After some political rumblings a compromise was apparently made and Mammy was given a skin bleaching and miraculously overnight she became light brown. She didn't trade in her headscarf for a nicely done hairstyle, nor did she trade in that slave era outfit or that god awful name "Mammy". Its 2009 and this place still gets quite a bit of business. Sigh.


Welcome to Natchez, Mississippi Hwy 61 This is the sign that welcomes visitors into Natchez city limits. Or Natchez proper as it would be called if it were in the Northeast. This is a fairly new marker, added in the late 1990's. Its just a couple miles up from Mammy's Cupboard.


Marriage Bond of Edmund Brown and Harriet Bewitt dated March 1866, Woodville, Wilkinson County, MS This Marriage Bond was in the same book as many of my ancestors. This bond stood out immediately. The first thing I noted was that Mr. Brown signed his own Bond in cursive. The second thing I noted was the year 1866. This record is obviously a Freedman's record. What I also find amazing is the possibility that Mr. Brown learned how to sign his name either during his enslavement or shortly thereafter when teachers from the North came down to Mississippi to teach the former slaves how to read and write. Either way this makes for an interesting record. Again I have to give kudos to the Wilkinson County Clerks for maintaining such pristine and organized records! Thank you for making my research that much easier.

I will definitely have more stories and photos to come about my Mississippi family later this year. I'll also be getting into my Callins and Lanier families of Alabama in much greater detail. Thanks for reading!

Tombstone Tuesday: Goliah Rounds Jr.

Goliah Rounds Jr., son of Goliah and Dinah (nee Brown) Rounds.

Charity Rounds & Family Discovered!

I have great news! I've recieved my copies of the Ellis-Farar Papers slave inventories from their plantations: Presleigh, Ormond and Beverly (Laurel Hill). After reviewing all of the documents regarding the enslaved Africans at the plantations owned by the Ellis and Farar family descendants, I believe that I have discovered my great-great-great grandmother Charity Rounds and her immediate family listed together having a value of $1700.

They are listed as follows:
Chisolm, MaryAnne, Margaret, Hannah and Charity.

They appear on multiple slave inventory records belonging to the Ellis-Farar children, which leads me to believe that they are a family. I was also able to find a Charles on the records, which could be my great-great-great grandfather. He is listed alone on multiple inventory records. Census records from 1870 and 1880 show that he was born in Virginia, which could indicate that he was purchased by the Farar's and had no family in Mississippi other than his wife and children. Which could explain why he took the surname Rounds and not Mercer or Farar.

I was advised by seasoned genealogical researchers to find out as much as I could about the slaveholding families, which I did to a degree because it helped me locate my ancestors. However, its not about the enslavers its about my ancestors. So in that vein, below is a short biography from LSU's special collection.

The Ellis-Farar families owned plantations in Adams County, MS, Pointe Coupee and Houma, LA. Biographical information on the Ellis-Farar families from Lousiana State University Hill Memorial Library Special collections.

The Ellis and Farar families were early settlers and major landowners in Mississippi and Louisiana. Richard Ellis owned White Cliffs, Homochitto, and Laurel Hill plantations in Adams County, near Natchez, Miss. Upon his death, these plantations and the property associated with them were inherited by Ellis’ children John, Abram, Jane, Mary, and Martha. Dr. Benjamin Farar (1773-1826) was an early settler of Pointe Coupee Parish, La. and also owned lands in Adams, Miss. He had three children: Captain Benjamin, Ann Frances, and Margaret Madeline.

Mary Ellis married Capt. Benjamin Farar and moved to Laurel Hill Plantation. She inherited the land from her father and they became successful planters. Their daughter, Ann Eliza married Dr. William Newton Mercer (1792-1874) and inherited Laurel Hill. Abram Ellis and his family (daughters Margaret and Ann, son Richard G.) resided at Homochitto Plantation and later moved to Evergreen Plantation in Houma, La. Margaret Ellis married Dr. Stephen Duncan (1787-1867) and Ann Ellis married Thomas Butler (1785-1847) who owned The Cottage near St. Francisville, La. Richard G. Ellis attended Cumberland College and married Julia Saul. He later owned Evergreen, which was passed down to his son, Richard G. Ellis, Jr. Jane Ellis married Major George Rapalje and lived in Natchez, Miss. They later moved to Laurel Hill Plantation and Jane Ellis Rapalje took on a major role in its management.

Call for Descendants: Rounds Family

This months Call for Descendants is calling for the Rounds Family of Mississippi.
There are two branches of the Rounds family originating from the state of Mississippi, one in Adams County and one in Humphreys County.

If you think that you are a descendant of either family, please respond to this call. There are people looking for you to help build their family tree.

The Family Griot

Genealogy Road Trip: The Reunion

I'm officially back from my family reunion/vacation/genealogy research trip! What an enjoyable yet busy trip it was. On Saturday the 4th of July, the Washington-Rounds-Earls family met on Ben's Corner to celebrate with barbecue, truck rides, swimming and meeting up with one another after two years apart. I must say that my cousin, Micki (Garland) threw down on the barbecue again this year. I packed some extra barbecued chicken & ribs and potato salad to eat during the week I was staying there. It was delicious!



The children and some adults went down to take a dip in the creek that runs through Ben's Corner.



Our family also celebrated the wedding of Mary Alice and Kenneth on the 5th of July. Kenneth married into the Washington-Rounds Family. Mary Alice is the granddaughter of
Saint Arby Washington-Thompson.








I also was able to meet a cousin who was raised by Jane Letcher-Ivory, my great-grandfather Will Washington's older sister.

Me, cousin Jane's daughter & my mom






And some other photos from the Washington Rounds Reunion. . .

Life Along the Natchez Trace: Southern Adams County, Mississippi

Inspired by the 1968 National Geographic article, "Life Along the Natchez Trace",  I decided to share these photos of what I refer to as 'the country'. These are photos from the former plantation lands in which African-Americans remained after the Civil War and made it their homes. These specific area cover Sibley, MS the areas known as Beverly and Hutchins Landing in southern Adams County, MS. The first photo is taken from the National Geographic Magazine.

Baptism of Willie McGee, 1968
Willie McGee (center), Brother Rounds (left) and Reverend Walter Logan (right)
Reverend Logan would go on to baptize, christen, marry and eulogize several members of the Thompson, Galmore, Rounds and Washington families. He also married my parents in 1970.

Mount Olive Baptist Church
Sibley, MS
Reverend Walter Logan's son, Douglas,  is the current pastor



Hutchins Landing
Anthony Hutchings and John Hutchings former plantation and land 
as it appears today




 

The Mercer Connection. . .

In a previous entry I briefly talked about Dr. William N. Mercer and his ownership of my great-great-great grandmother, Charity Rounds. I came across this information from an excerpt of the book "African American Historic Places" published by the National Register of Historic Places.
As I usually do, I started with a general search ofgoogle and Ancestry.com. One of my first significant finds was to learn that Mercer and his wife's family (Ellis-Farar) had donated their family papers to Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA. I immediately contacted the staff at the LSU Special Collections and arranged to recieve a copy of the slave lists from all the plantations in Mississippi owned by the Farar and Ellis families. I will be recieving copies of the listings from the Ormond, Laurel Hill, Natchez and Presleigh plantations, which cover southwestern Mississippi and Louisiana. I'm excited as to what I will find, whose names will be listed. Of course I'm looking for my relatives, Charity and possibly Charles Rounds.
More to come on this research. . .

MtDNA Test Results. . .

Back in April, I sent my DNA to be tested by African Ancestry for analysis to determine my Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA). After what seemed to be one of the longest waits of my life, the results were returned to me yesterday. The maternal ancestry of the Rounds Family originates from the Balanta people mainly of Guinea-Bissau. These results confirm the oral family history of the Rounds family's origins in Guinea.

I spent about 10 minutes trying to wrap my head around the notion of actually knowing what ethnic group I belong to. Its an amazing and indescribable feeling. These results excited me so much and I began to search out information on the internet about. What I found out was so incredible to me because it made me so proud! It also created an entirely new set of questions about the connection between how my ancestors came here and if there were others who shared the same connection between Guinea-Bissau, Virginia and Adams County, Mississippi.

This is what I found on WikiPedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanta):

The Balanta (same spelling in Guinea-Bissau Creole and Portuguese, balante in French transliteration), meaning literally "those who resist", are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, representing more than one-quarter of the population. But despite their numbers, they have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organization. The Balanta can be divided into four subgroups, (three of which are Balanta Kentohe, Balanta Ganja, and Balanta Brassa) the largest of which are the Balanta Brassa.

Archaeologists believe that the people who became the Balanta migrated to present-day Guinea-Bissau in small groups between the tenth and fourteenth century C.E. During the nineteenth century they spread throughout the area that is presently Guinea-Bissau and southern Senegal in order to resist the expansion of the Kaabu kingdom. Oral tradition amongst the Balanta has it that they migrated westward from the area that is now Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia to escape drought and wars. Today, the Balanta are mostly found in the south and central regions of Guinea-Bissau.

Video introducing Balanta language:




Video of Balantas Dancing

Balanta Dance

Family Griot just after barefootin' in the creek
at Ben's Corner. Yes that is mud and muck!

One of the things that the Washington Rounds Family enjoys the most when gathering for reunions is to enjoy various outdoor activities. At the Washington-Rounds picnic this year at Ben’s Corner the children and a few adventurous adults hopped in a cousin’s pickup truck and rode down to the creek that runs through the property. This is a fun  activity that has become tradition at family reunions held at Ben's Corner.



The creek at Ben's Corner. One of
our favorite places to go on the property.

 Many of us took off our shoes and jumped into the warm creek water. A female cousin who is known for never going without a pair of shoes joined us in the creek. We all had a good laugh about that!


What??!! No Shoes??!!



My MtDNA. . .

Today, I recieved my DNA testing packet from African Ancestry by mail and I'm truly excited.

For the past few years, I have been struggling with the decision to take this test. The source of my struggle was emotionally based. The test I'm taking will trace my maternal lineage from my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and through to my great great grandmother Dinah Brown-Rounds. The source of my conflict lies in the stories of my great-great grandmother's heritage. My mother's family is very racially mixed with caucasion and possibly Native American ancestry. According to family oral history, Dinah Rounds was bi-racial and has native American heritage in her lineage. I honestly don't believe that she has a Native American background because this is a common coping mechanism within the black community to pyschologically deal with the violence committed against our women by white men. Another topic for another posting. I am truly hoping that my great-great grandmother's mitochondrial DNA will reflect an African ancestor. I'm not exactly sure what ethnic group that branch of my family will originate from. This is what makes this new discovery I'm about to embark on the more exciting. The uncertainty of it all. The discovery of who my women folk are, the knowing of who my kinfolk are beyond the shores of America hopefully into the continent of Africa.

Spiritually speaking, my belief is that this discovery will lead to another level of my own spiritual development. I believe that knowing my African heritage of both my parents families will enable me to understand, connect and become more aligned with my spirituality and my purpose in this life. It will also help me to understand some other spiritual things that I see in my family that I may have inherited. This is a path I have been actively journeying for the last two years.

It will be sometime before I can share the results of my tests on my blog because I will be sharing the results with my family first. Look for an update in July 2009. Until then. . .

Family Griot

Wordless Wednesday: Running of the Bulls

The Washington-Rounds family gathers bi-annually to celebrate family reunions. Many of our reunions are held out in 'the country' at Ben's Corner Farm in Mississippi. Several activites the children and adults enjoy are horseback riding, four-wheeling and wading in the creek that runs through the family property. At this particular reunion, we tried something new and had our version of the "Running of the Bulls"!!!