William Guice

Billie Guyse took over the homestead from William after 19 years and kept until his death in 1950.

Guyse Family Foundation

Quick Facts

Significance:

Mississippi Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Georgia

Date of Birth:

1837

Place of Death:

Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi

Date of Death:

Between 1910 - 1920

Place of Burial:

Kosciusko, Attala County, Mississippi

The descendants of William Guice used various spellings of their surname, including Guice, Guyse, and Guise. In this write-up, the names associated with William Guice and his son, Billie Guyse, will be spelled as found on corresponding documents.

William Guice, born during slavery in 1835, was a Black American homesteader, landowner, and homeowner in the counties of Scott and Attala within the state of Mississippi.

Enumerated on the 1870 United States Federal Census, William was listed as a married 33-year-old Black male. Living with William was his wife, Elizabeth, listed as a 21-year-old, mulatto female and three mulatto children—Billie (age 5), John (age 2), and Eli (age 1). Also listed is William’s mother-in-law, Elizabeth’s mother, Betty Cheatham, listed as a Black, 40-year-old female.

On March 6th, 1874, William Guice filed his homestead application with his local General Land Office in Jackson, Mississippi. Providing a $7.00 application fee (roughly $200, inflation-adjusted to 2024), and an ‘X’ in place of his signature, his application was then assigned the number 7664. The homestead application listed a physical location of the parcel of land that reads: Northwest ¼ by Northwest ¼ of Section 9, Township Number 6 North, of Range Number 8 East.

In March of 1879, William met the five-year requirement needed to secure his 40 acres by continuously living on the land during that time period, paying the remaining application fee of $5.00 ($158 in 2024), clearing 16 acres, and cultivating the rest of the land with corn, cotton, peas, potatoes, and okra for farming.

Neighbors James Henderson and Berry Smith both gave testimony to corroborate William’s claims of life, family, and land cultivation. Their testimonies also verified claims of land improvement made by William that included a dwelling, a corn crib, horse stables, and a home for his mother-in-law, all valued at $200 worth of improvements ($6,313 in 2024).(Additional reference: Berry Smith was interviewed in the Mississippi Slave Narratives for Scott County. Ex-Slave Narratives, 1936-1940; n.d. Series 0436) 

Two years later, at age 45, William received his land patent for 39 ³¹/₁₀₀ acres of land in Scott County, Mississippi, under the land patent #1542. However, this claim to the land was short-lived. By 1900, just 19 years later, William and Elizabeth had relocated the family 60 miles north to the neighboring county of Attala, in the city of Kosciusko, Mississippi. By this time, according to the 1900 census, Elizabeth’s mother Betty had passed on, while the family showed 4 more children: Joseph (age 27), Seymour (age 22), Eli (age 18), Isabella (age 16), and a grandson, Albert (age 8).

Fortunately for the descendants of the Guice family, the land was now in the hands of the oldest child of William and Elizabeth, Billy, who now had a wife and family of his own. Over the next 50 years, Billie Guyse tended to his farm, took care of his land, and would go on to raise 14 children between two marriages. These unions spawned numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Among those, a MLB baseball player, World Series Champion, and MVP of the 2005 World Series, Jermaine Dye, as well as a Black Hollywood and Broadway star from the 1940s and 50s by the name of Sheila Guyse.

144 years after William received his land patent, the land is still in the Guyse family name. Specifically, under the ownership of Billy Guyse Sr., William’s great-great-grandson.

Contributed by: Eric Robinson for the Guyse Family Foundation.

More about the contributor: Eric Robinson developed a special interest in his family history at an early age, thanks to the guidance of his late uncle, Aaron Hodges. The Guyse Family Foundation was established to preserve and memorialize the historical events in the lives of William Guice and his descendants. This serves as a resource for the descendants of the Guyse family to establish contacts and strengthen communication with one another.
Foundation Motto: Tracing our roots and learning about our ancestors provides perspective and depth to our lives in the present.