infant daughter of annie louise nelson burrell
1928-1928
Life Story
The Silent Beginning: The Infant Daughter of Louise Nelson (1928)
In the genealogical record, some lives are measured not in decades, but in the quiet weight of a single day. For the infant daughter of Louise Nelson and Scofield Johnson, her entire history is preserved within the lines of Mississippi death certificate #28-19670—a brief record that carries a profound human story.
A Saturday in September
On September 29, 1928, in the rural landscape near Newton, Mississippi, twenty-year-old Louise Nelson Johnson went into labor. She was a young woman deeply rooted in the soil of Newton County, surrounded by family ties that stretched across generations.
Her husband, Scofield Johnson, was present and is listed on the official record as the father. The delivery took place at home, as was common for Black families in rural Mississippi during the 1920s, where access to hospitals was limited and childbirth often unfolded within the familiar walls of family dwellings.
The attending physician, Dr. Dudley Stennis, signed the medical certificate. His entry, brief and clinical, brought finality to a moment that must have carried immeasurable emotional weight: the child was stillborn.
The Record of a Life Unlived
Though she never drew breath, the official record preserved the essential details of her identity and lineage:
- Race: Recorded as “Colored”
- Parents: Louise Nelson and Scofield Johnson, both born in Mississippi
- Date of Birth and Death: September 29, 1928
The informant was Scofield Johnson himself. In providing these details to the registrar, J.L. Monroe, he ensured that his daughter’s presence—however brief—was formally acknowledged.
She was not given a first name on the certificate. Yet even in that absence, the record stands as a quiet affirmation: she existed, she belonged, and she was remembered.
Resting in Lawrence
Her final journey took place that same day. The infant was carried to the community of Lawrence in Newton County, where she was laid to rest at Union Chapel United Methodist Cemetery.
There may be no engraved marker to identify her resting place. No dates carved in stone. No epitaph to tell her story.
But her burial at Union Chapel—ground held sacred by generations—placed her among her people. In that soil, she remains connected to the Nelson and Johnson families, a quiet branch on a living tree.
A Place in the Record—and in Memory
This brief life, recorded in a single document, reminds us that history is not only made of long journeys and public milestones. It is also shaped by private griefs, by moments that leave no photographs, and by names that were never spoken aloud.
Yet through preservation, through careful remembrance, even the shortest lives are given their place.
And in that act, silence becomes part of the story—not an absence, but a presence that endures.
Photos/Albums
Resting Place
Union Chapel United Methodist Cemetery
Sources
- Birth, Death, and Burial: Mississippi State Board of Health, Certificate of Death for Infant Daughter Johnson (29 Sep 1928), File No. 274, Registration District 4. The record identifies the child as stillborn to parents Scofield Johnson and Louise Nelson. Dr. Dudley Stennis certified the death and Scofield Johnson served as the informant. Burial is recorded at Union Chapel in Lawrence, Mississippi, on 29 Sep 1928.
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