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only assume he returned to his old home in what is now Pearl River Co. and died sometime after 1859.
While we do not like to use “family lore” as a source, we will offer the following information. On Jerry's mother's side of the family, some older members of the McArthur line told us they remembered hearing about an “old uncle” that lived with their “Seal” relatives in Pearl River County. They heard that he was “rich” and was a “contrary old man” while they had forgotten his name. Later we found a book called “Next Door to Heaven” by S.G. Thigpen. On pages 180-182, he discusses Jacob Lott and gives details on the property Jacob owned, the legal description, and subsequent owners. He also tells of Jacob being a son of Solomon Lott, that he was never married, and was an “eccentric old man”. Mr. Thigpen went on to say that “Jacob Lott had two sisters”.
While he did not give their first names, he names their husbands. One married James McArthur and one married William “Billy” Seal. Jacob lived with this Seal family in his later years. Two of Billy Seal's sons, Amos and Solomon Seal made their homes on Jacob's property, and later on, Solomon Seal actually moved into Jacob's old home.
Mr. Samuel “Grady” Thigpen was not a genealogist, but rather a historian. He moved to Picayune in 1910 as a school teacher and later bought a hardware store that he named “Thigpen's Hardware”. We interviewed him two times in 1980 and found him to be very intelligent. He knew, or knew of, many of the “old timers” of that area, and he interviewed them often in the preparation of his book. He spoke to many members of the Seal family, who told him about their connection to Jacob Lott. Mr. Thigpen died in 1984 at age 85.
This brings us to who was the Jacob Lott found living in Hinds Co., MS in the 1830 census and later shows up in the Harrison Co., MS 1850 and 1860 census. This Jacob Lott in 1850 shows that he was bom in South Carolina, 55 years old (bom 1795) with wife Elizabeth Lott (bom 1807) and with his first child bom in 1830. In 1860, this Jacob is shown to be bom in South Carolina in 1797 with wife and children. Researching on the internet, some of Jacob and Elizabeth Lott's apparent descendants claim that he was the son of Solomon Lott and Ann Joyner. They submit this Jacob Lott married Elizabeth Nichols on August 30, 1826 in Jefferson Co., MS. They also place him in the 1830 Hinds Co., MS census as bom between 1790 - 1800, his apparent wife bom between 1790 - 1800, and one male child bom between 1825 — 1830. This Jacob Lott in Hinds Co. appears, based on ages, to be the same one listed in the 1850 - 1860 Harrison Co. census.
There are several problems assigning this Jacob Lott to our Solomon Lott. First, the one in Harrison Co. clearly names his place of birth as South Carolina in both the 1850 and 1860 census. From everything we know about our Solomon Lott, he had his children in North Carolina. Another problem is that our Jacob Lott had to be bom before 1791 with him having to be at least age 21 in 1812 to legally make a land claim. The Hinds and Harrison Co. Jacob Lott is simply too young. And lastly, the descendants of our Solomon Lott most often named their offspring after their own relatives. The one in Harrison Co. has children - Vincent, Jefferson, Jimsey, Janette, Miltilda, Alfred, Frank, etc. according to census records and that family's own descendants.
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