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for sure and that she lived in Bay St. Louis. Both her and her husband, Benjamin, had headstones in Cedar Rest Cemetery in B. S. L., but they were stolen years ago. Some of their children have headstones next to where their parents are buried.
On July 23, 1978, we received a letter from Mrs. Jane McAbee of Thomaston, GA.
She is a descendant of Rebecca Mary McArthur, a sister to Jerry’s great-grandfather, Lott McArthur, Sr. She said the following in her letter: Rebecca McArthur was married to Benjamin Sones (bom 1808 in South Carolina), lived in Gainesville, MS, and last in Bay St. Louis where they are both buried in the Cedar Rest Cemetery. They had:
A.	Eliza N. Sones - born in 1835 per 1850 Hancock census. Eliza was baptized at
O.	L. G. Church on July 1, 1859 at age 24. She married 1) Oliver F. Bowen on October 16, 1860 according to Hancock County Civil Records and 2) (first name unknown) Baldwin. Eliza died January 23, 1876. She had at least one son, Richard Bowen who was bom on August 10, 1861 according to O. L. G. baptism records. Richard is reported to have married and had Margaret Reily Bowen in 1889 in Fergus, Montana. Mrs. David (Iona) Wainwright of Waveland is related to the Sones family, and she told us various things about them. She said that “Eliza Sones” married Oliver Baldwin, lived in New Orleans, and had children, but she was not completely sure.
B.	Sara Chinn Sones - bom September 29, 1837 and died in Atlanta, GA on February 4, 1920. She was married to William “Green” Mitchell and had three children. She lived in New Orleans, LA until around 1900 where Mitchell worked as a Steam Boat Captain. They then moved to Birmingham, AL, then finally to Atlanta. Sara had: Albert, Willie, and Florence Lee. Florence married David Crockett and lived in Atlanta, GA. For more information on this line, see Mrs. McAbee’s letter in our research file.
C.	Benjamin D. Sones - bom 1840 as listed in the 1850 Hancock census. He was baptized at O. L. G. Church on December 14, 1858 at age 19. He died July 17, 1858 as found on his headstone in Cedar Rest cemetery. The headstone date is incorrect and should be 1859.
D.	Lott McArthur Sones - bom 1841 per 1850 Hancock census. He was a lieutenant in the Confederate Army and died November 30, 1864 at the battle of Franklin, TN. His body was later returned to Bay St. Louis and buried in Cedar Rest cemetery. His full story is told in the December 7, 2003 edition of the Sea Coast Echo. He never married.
E.	Henry J. Sones - bom in 1844 per 1850 Hancock census. His headstone in Cedar Rest cemetery says he died October 1, 1867.
Mrs. McAbee took these dates from the headstones in Cedar Rest Cemetery in Bay St. Louis. She has done some research on these lines and says she thinks she found our McArthur’s in the Fayette District, North Carolina in the 1790 or 1800 census. She also
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