Monday, December 8, 2008

Detail of the James Spears Bourland Gravestone


A detail of the James Spears Bourland monument in historic Bourland Cemetery in southwestern Itawamba County shows the traditional clasped hands (signifying farewell).

James Spears Bourland was a member of Itawamba County’s first Board of Police on which board he served as president. He was born October 19, 1798 in South Carolina. He was the son of Ebenezer Bourland (born ca. 1768 in Virgina) and Abigail Loving and the grandson of the immigrant John Bourland (born Londonderry, Ireland, married Catherine Randolph in Virginia during 1750).

James Spears Bourland married Mary Hudspeth around 1818 and soon removed to Monroe County, Mississippi with her parents. Records show that James Spears Bourland purchased 160 acres of land during 1826 in Monroe County (present-day Amory). He took an active part in the cession of the Chickasaw lands in northeastern Mississippi and by 1836 when Itawamba County was formed, he owned a sizeable farm west of the Tombigbee River (Cardsville community) in the new county of Itawamba. During his lifetime in Itawamba County he served in several official capacities and was known by many as Judge Bourland.

James Spears Bourland died on his farm at Cardsville on November 10, 1877 and was buried in the Bourland Cemetery near his home. His monument reads:

FAREWELL
Here Rests the Body of
JAMES S. BOURLAND
Born
Oct. 19, 1798
Died
Nov. 10, 1877
Aged 79 y’s 21 d’s
Separation is our lot, meeting
Our hope.

 

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