hattie curry milton
1898-1922
Life Story
A Life of Promise Cut Short
Early Life and Family Roots
Hattie Curry Milton was born on April 21, 1898, in Newton County, Mississippi, to Arthur Curry and Maggie Windham Curry. She grew up in the rural community of Beat 4, where the Curry family had established deep agricultural and family roots. Her father was a native of Jasper County, Mississippi, while her mother was raised in neighboring Scott County before the family made their home in Newton County.
Hattie spent her childhood in a hardworking household alongside her sisters, Tennie and Mattie Lee. From an early age, she learned the responsibilities of rural life, where every member of the family contributed to the success of the home farm.
By 1910, twelve-year-old Hattie was recorded as a farm laborer working alongside her parents and sisters while also attending school. Despite the demands of agricultural life, she learned to read and write—an important achievement for an African American girl growing up in rural Mississippi during the era of segregated education. Her literacy reflected both her determination and her parents’ commitment to ensuring their daughters received an education whenever opportunities were available.
Marriage and a New Beginning
As a young woman, Hattie married B. L. Milton. The couple established their home in Decatur, Mississippi, where they began building their life together. Like many newly married couples of their generation, they looked forward to establishing a household of their own while remaining closely connected to their extended families in Newton County.
Although little survives to document the details of their married life, the available records portray a young couple beginning what promised to be a hopeful future.
Illness and Untimely Death
That future was tragically cut short during the summer of 1922.
In late June, Hattie became seriously ill and came under the care of Dr. J. J. Gill. On July 1, she underwent surgery in an effort to save her life. Unfortunately, the medical intervention came too late.
Hattie died on July 3, 1922, at just twenty-four years of age.
Her Mississippi death certificate identifies the immediate cause of death as peritonitis resulting from appendicitis. Before the development of antibiotics and modern emergency surgery, a ruptured appendix frequently led to widespread infection of the abdominal cavity, making appendicitis one of the most dangerous medical emergencies of the early twentieth century.
Her husband, B. L. Milton, served as the informant for her death certificate, preserving the official record of her brief life.
Final Resting Place
Following her death, Hattie was laid to rest on July 4, 1922, at Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
She returned to the community where she had spent her childhood and where generations of the Curry family were buried before and after her.
Legacy
Although Hattie Curry Milton lived only twenty-four years, her life reflected the experiences of many young African American women in rural Mississippi during the early twentieth century.
She helped work her family’s farm while pursuing an education, learned to read and write despite limited opportunities, married, and began building a home of her own before illness unexpectedly claimed her life.
Though her years were few, Hattie remains an important part of the Curry family’s story. Her life reminds us that family history is not measured solely by longevity but by the enduring place each individual holds within the generations that follow.
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery
Photos/Albums
Sources
- Mississippi birth records, federal census records, cemetery records, and family records identify Hattie Curry Milton as having been born on April 21, 1898, in Newton County, Mississippi, to Arthur Curry and Maggie Windham Curry.
- 1900 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Arthur Curry; documenting infant Hattie Curry living with her parents and older sister Tennie in the Lawrence community.
- Arthur Curry was a native of Jasper County, Mississippi, while Maggie Windham Curry was the daughter of Sanday Windham and Hanna (Anna) Walker Windham, whose family originated in neighboring Scott County before settling in Newton County.
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Arthur Curry; documenting twelve-year-old Hattie Curry residing with her parents and sisters Tennie and Mattie Lee.
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi; identifying Hattie Curry as a farm laborer on the family farm while also attending school.
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi; recording that Hattie Curry was able to read and write, reflecting the Curry family’s commitment to education despite the limited educational opportunities available to African Americans during the era of segregated schools.
- Family records and Mississippi marriage records indicate that Hattie Curry married B. L. Milton, whose surname occasionally appears in local records as Miller, and that the couple established their home in Decatur, Mississippi.
- Mississippi Death Certificate of Hattie Milton (1922); documenting that she came under the medical care of Dr. J. J. Gill during her final illness.
- Mississippi Death Certificate, Hattie Milton; noting that she underwent surgery on July 1, 1922, in an effort to treat her condition.
- Mississippi Death Certificate, Hattie Milton; documenting her death on July 3, 1922, at the age of twenty-four.
- Mississippi Death Certificate, Hattie Milton; identifying the causes of death as appendicitis and peritonitis.
- During the early twentieth century, appendicitis frequently became fatal when the appendix ruptured, causing peritonitis, a severe infection of the abdominal cavity. Before the widespread availability of antibiotics in the 1940s, even surgical intervention often could not prevent death.
- Mississippi Death Certificate, Hattie Milton; identifying B. L. Milton, her husband, as the informant who provided the personal and family information recorded on the certificate.
- Mississippi Death Certificate, Hattie Milton; documenting her burial on July 4, 1922, at Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi.
- Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery Records, Lawrence, Newton County, Mississippi; documenting the interment of Hattie Curry Milton among members of the Curry family.
- Although Hattie Curry Milton’s life ended at the age of twenty-four, her biography reflects the experiences of many young African American women in rural Mississippi who balanced farm labor, education, marriage, and family responsibilities during the early decades of the twentieth century.
- Family records, federal census records, Mississippi marriage and death records, cemetery records, and genealogical research collectively document the life of Hattie Curry Milton as a devoted daughter, wife, farm worker, and member of the Curry family of Newton County, Mississippi.
Sources Consulted
1900 and 1910 U.S. Federal Census Records; Mississippi Death Certificate of Hattie Milton (1922); Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery Records; Mississippi Marriage Records; Newton County Genealogical Research Collections; Curry Family Records and Oral Histories.
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