Eli Hilson

Quick Facts

Significance:

Mississippi Homesteader

Place of Birth:

North Carolina

Date of Birth:

1820

Place of Death:

McComb, Mississippi

Date of Death:

December 20, 1905

Place of Burial:

Lincoln County, Mississippi

Cemetery Name:

Greater Mt. Olive M.B. Church Cemetery

Eli Hilson Sr. was born around 1820 in North Carolina and brought to Mississippi. He was enslaved to the Weathersby family of Amite County, Mississippi. After the abolishment of slavery, Hilson claimed his homestead on August 1, 1870 in Lincoln County, Mississippi. 

Hilson's Homestead Application number was #4235 dated August 1, 1870 from the Jackson, Mississippi Land Office. He claimed 79.98 acres of land in Lincoln County, Mississippi. Hilson paid a $7.00 filing fee to the Register and Receiver to secure this homestead on the public domain.

The federal census of 1870 shows Eli with his family having personal estate value of $350.00 and real estate valued at $100.

Hilson failed to file proof of this settlement after five years due to ignorance of the requirements of the law. He submitted his Final Proof on February 6, 1879, nine years after his initial claim in 1870. This failure was noted on his Homestead Proof paperwork. Hilson paid a $5.00 filing fee for his final proof paperwork, as required by law, which was noted on the Final Receiver's Receipt number 1510.

Hilson signed the Final Affidavit Required of Homestead Claimants with an “X” because he could not read or write. As noted in the affidavit and confirmed by two witnesses, Alex Reed and Zach Dennis, the land was used for homesteading and agricultural purposes only.  

Hilson made significant improvements to the land by building a house for his wife, Elizabeth and 8 children. Four of these children: Gen. W, Jacob, Walt, and Eli are listed in the 1870 census. Hilson cleared 12-15 acres of the land and cultivated 10-15 acres to grow corn, potatoes, and cotton. The total value of improvements came to about $150.00. 

Land Patent #1510 was issued to Hilson on March 4, 1882, granting 79.98 acres in Section 7, Township 6N, Range 7E in Lincoln County, Mississippi.

Hilson's love for farming and land ownership was passed on to his 39-year-old son, Eli Hilson, Jr., who purchased his own 74 acre farm. Tragically, Hilson Jr. was murdered in December of 1903 by the White Cappers, a violent movement organized to intimidate black farmers into selling or abandoning their land. Hilson Jr. ignored prior warnings to leave his land and was shot in the head. His wife, Hannah, was sick and had recently delivered their 11^th child.

After farming his land for many years, advanced age caused Hilson Sr. to give up his land and it is unclear what became of the homestead. He died at the home of a surviving son on December 20, 1905, in McComb, Mississippi.  An obituary, entitled, A Well-Known Negro Passes Away, was published on January 4, 1905, in the Brookhaven Leader which included this passage: He was thrifty and industrious and up to a few years ago when he became enfeebled by age, always made a good living for himself and family and enjoyed the confidence and respect of his white neighbors.

Hannah, Eli Jr’s wife, lost the land two years after he was killed through mortgage foreclosure and the 74 acres sold for less than $500.00. The man who killed him was sentenced to life in prison.

Patent Details - BLM GLO Records

~ Contributed by Carolyn Harris Betts

About the contributor:  Eli Hilson, Sr. was my second great grandfather, the father of Laura Matilda Hilson Harris, my paternal great-grandmother, and the wife of Henry Harris.