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"BLACK CONFEDERATES IN HARRISON
COUNTY. MISSISSIPPI"
BY PAUL ?. PUEBLA ? 2001
Over the past seven years while plowing through volumes of records and documents, on our journey to write my wife?s more than 300-year Gulf Coast genealogy, we?ve learned many interesting facts. One of the many is that there were Black Confederates on the pension roles in Harrison County. In fact thousands of African Americans received Confederate Pensions in Mississippi and other Southern States. As an Apache I find all this record keeping extremely interesting, since our history was oral, until most of our story tellers died or were killed by all shades of people on their move West.
According to an account in an August 18, 1922 McComb, MS newpaper, 4,662 widows, 1,107 white Confederate Veterans, and 634 Negro Confederate Veterans were receiving pensions in 1920 and 1921 in Mississippi
Nathan Best was a Confederate military courier in North Carolinia from April 1863 through 1865. He surrendered in Newbum, North Carolina when the war ended. He served under Captain William Jordon Company K. Nathan lost his left arm when shot by the a Union invader as he was taking orders from one Confederate general to another. He was 81 when he applied for his pension July 19, 1930 and was approved Sepetember
1,	1930. In 1933 Nathan went to live at Beauvior Confederate Veterans Home until December 1939. According to his death certificate, Nathan died at his home, 332 Washington St, Biloxi, MS January 17, 1940. He was bom May 19, 1849 in Snow Hill, North Carolina. He was surivived by his wife Eliza. His age is listed as 90 years 8 months and 30 days. Burial was handled by Delphia Funeral Home of Biloxi, Mississipi. Nathan was buried in Biloxi.
According to his application James Bumey served as a Body Guard from April 4, 1863 to April 1865 when the war ended. He states on his application that he served under ?Jef Davis Prisident of the Confederacy?. He was in Baldwin County at the time of surrender. He applied for pension at age 96 August 26, 1930. He was approved September 1, 1930. James entered Beauvoir Confederate Veterans Home in 1932 along with Nathan Best. There was another Black Confederate from Tunica County, Mississippi named Childress at Beauvoir for a total of three African American Confederates at Beauvoir. James died on April 13, 1933 and was buried in Gulfport, Mississippi April 15, 1933 by Lang Undertaking Co. of Gulfport, Mississippi.
Butler Cox was living with his daughter, Mareci Cox, at 605 Delauney St in Biloxi June 2, 1922 when he applied for a Confederate pension. Butler was accepted September 6, 1922 at age 75. He served in Colonel Armstrong?s 43rf Mississippi Cavalry 1862, 1863 and 1864. He was in Columbus, Mississippi at the close of the war.
Joe Dixon served in General Nathan Bedford Forest?s Cavalry1 under Colonel George S. Gaines from 1861 until his capture and parole at the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. He was the oldest at 109 years of age to apply for a pension. He applied on the 18th of July, 1930, listed his place of residence as Harrison County and was approved as a