Person:Gilbert Case (1)

Gilbert inherited land from his parents and he and Barbara Jane owned a largea cotton farm 5 miles west of Brookhaven close to what is now called the "oil road" by their descendants. Their home was built from logs. An open hall extended down the entire center of the house and the kitchen was set apart from the rest of the house. A large porch ran across the front of the house with a lilac bush on each end of the porch. The lilac bushes stood until a few years ago. Gilbert joined the confederate Army during the War between the States and was mustered in on 9 June 1862 at Monticello by Maj. S. H. Brown for a period of 12 months. He was a Private in Co. B., 2 (Quinn's) (State Troops), Mississippis Infantry. He was discharged for disability on 27 July 1862 with a leg injury which bothered him until his death in 1900. Gilbert was called "daddy" by his grandchildren, and he had a beard that was down to his waist. Barbara Jane was calld "mammy" by her grandchildren, and she smoked a pipe. Aunt Ida remembers her to be the best woman she has known in her entire life; she never remembers "mammy" raising her voice to anyone. Samantha, being the oldest child, was the first to marry, and land was given to her and her husband, "Cotton" John A. Smith after they married. Later, Gilbert sold some of the land to a Mr. Seavey, a merchant in Brookhaven, but John eventually bought back this land. Others in the family sold their share to John, and the land was retained in the family. It eventually went to the oldest son of John and Samantha, Henry Smith, and is still owned by his descendants. Oil was discovered on the land in the Macedonia-Friendship area in the 1940's, and eventually oil wells were working on the property that had at one time belonged to Gilbert and Barbara Jane. Thus, the name "oil road".