Third Generation

18. Sarah Ann RUNNELS was born on Feb 9, 1780.^6,16 She was dismissed on Jan 18, 1834 on application from the Bethany Baptist Church, Lawrence Co., MS She died on Jun 2, 1839 in Lawrence Co., MS.¹⁶

Sarah Ann RUNNELS and William Bucner BISHOP were married on Jul 5, 1795.¹⁶ William Bucner BISHOP was born on Jun 8, 1768.¹⁶ He purchased land on Mar 23, 1818 in Lawrence Co., MS¹⁷

While searching for land records in Lawrence Co., MS on Dec. 8 and 9, 1997, Tom Walker found a "...much-worn untitled book of original land entries of Lawrence County, Mississippi. This book contained a complete list of the tracts of land in the original Lawrence County, Mississippi; the name of the original purchaser of each tract; the price paid for the tract; and the date the tract was purchased. The land record that I found was, evidently, an official copy of original land transactions recorded at the U. S. Land Office at St. Stephens, now in Alabama. The original record shows that, on 23 March 1818, William Bishop purchased from the United States, for $2.00 per acre ($320.00 total), one hundred sixty acres of land in Lawrence County, Mississippi. The land was descried as the Southwest part of Section 22, Township 7 West, Range 19 West. This was the same description of the land sold by William Bishop and his wife, Sarah Ann Bishop on 1 January 1834. The land owned by William Bishop is now in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi."



He appeared in the census in 1820 in Lawrence Co., MS.¹⁸ He appeared in the census in 1830 in Lawrence Co., MS.¹⁹ He was dismissed on Jan 18, 1834 on application from the Bethany Baptist Church, Lawrence Co., MS He appeared in the census on Nov 11, 1850 in Union Co., AR, enumerated with grandson Joseph Bishop family.. He died on Jul 22, 1852 in Union Co., AR.²⁰ The following Bishop men were neighbors in Lawrence Co., MS at the time of the 1820 Federal Census: Edmund; James R. [1]; James R. [2]; William [1]; and William [2]. The birthdates are calculated from census age ranges, and the "Beneta Letter."

Name Born as Early As Born as Late As
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ---------------------------------------
Edmund 1775 1795
James R.[1] 1775
James R.[2] 1794 1804
William[1] 1775
William[2] 1775 1795

The William that is subject of this information is William[1]. He had the following children at home at the 1820 census:

1 male born between 1820-1820: William[1] had a son, also named William, born in 1813
1 male born between 1804-1810: William[1] had a son, Hezekiah, born in 1808
3 females born between 1810-1820: William[1] had Elizabeth, born 1811; Mesoria, born 1815 and Asenath, born 1818.

William[1] had other children: James R.[2], born 1798, married by 1820; Mary, born 1799 (no records found, could have died young); and Fanny, born 1802, married by 1820. There may have been other children between 1802 and 1808 (after Fanny and before Hezekiah) who also died young/birth. However, no others were named in the Beneta letter.

My analysis of the census data is:

A - James R.[1] could be father of William[2]
B - James R.[1] could be father of Edmond
C - Edmund could be father of James R.[2]
D - James R.[1] could be father of James R.[2]
E - William[1] could be father of James R.[2]
F - William[2] could be father of James R.[2]
G - William[1] could be father of Edmund
H - William[2] could be father of Edmund

If it is accepted that William[1] is the father of James R.[2], then C, D. and F are eliminated. G can also be eliminated if you accept that the "Beneta Letter" names all of William's children.

James R.[1] is the only one that can be the father of William[2]. Edmond could also be brother to William[1] and James R.[1].

The William Bucner Bishop bible was found my Wanda Mason, Sarepta, LA. In the bible, William recorded the following: "I William B. Bishop bequeath this book at my death to my son William R. Bishop for the keeping of family records. I beseech William to bequeath this book to his girl grandchild and her to a girl grandchild for the keeping of records and so on to heirs."

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There was a William Bishop in the Natchez District, Mississippi in 1792 and 1802, enumerated in the Villa Gayoso District census.
Sarah Ann RUNNELS and William Bucner BISHOP had the following children:

+41	i.	James R. BISHOP.
+42	ii.	Mary E. BISHOP.
+43	iii.	Frances Ann (Fanny) BISHOP.
+44	iv.	Hezekiah W. (Kai) BISHOP.
+45	v.	Elizabeth BISHOP.
+46	vi.	William R. BISHOP.
+47	vii.	Misorian Maria BISHOP.
+48	viii.	Asinniatha E. BISHOP.
+49	ix.	Sarah Ann BISHOP.