Biography - William Mitchell Dubard
Mr. William Mitchell Dubard was born November 8, 1947 near Dubard Station in Yalobusha (later Grenada) County. His father, William Dubard, came from Columbia, South Carolina and settled near Grenada in 1832. His mother was Cynthia L. Walker who was born in the vicinity of Columbia, Tennessee. He experienced responsibility early in life for a boy of eighteen years. Mr. Dubard functioned as executor of his fathers will and helped to care for his mother and younger sisters and brothers.
Octobrer 24, 1872 Mr. Dubard married Miss Annie Beard, daughter of Robert Carver Beard and Cornelia Hawes Beard who were old residents of this community. Mrs. Dubard moved from the country to the city of Grenada to educate the children and to have the advantage of attending the Methodist Church where Mr. Dubard served on the Board of Stewards and was a trustee for many years. He bought an antebellum home on Third Street.
Mr. Dubard operated farms in Grenada and Carroll Counties. When his sons, W. V. Dubard and I. A. Dubard were grown, he turned over the management to them although he still maintained a keen interest in farming.
It was Mr. Dubard's privilege to witness three great periods in the history of his native Mississippi. As a boy he remembered something of the life of the old South before the War Between the States growing up on a large plantation with numerous slaves. Participating briefly in the war he returned to the period of reconstruction when his friends and neighbors had to change from the old to the new form of life. As a matured and aged man he witnessed the modern age of invention and development. He possessed a marvelous memory and entertained his friends and aquaintances by the hour telling them of his experiences through the years. His friends were many among both the white and the black.
Mrs. Annie Beard Dubard died November 16, 1925 at the age of 71 years. Mr. William M. Dubard died March 21, 1944 at the age of 96 years in the home that he purchased when he moved to Grenada. He was the last Confederate veteran of Grenada and the towns oldest citizen. A friend and former Editor of the local newspaper said of Mr. Dubard, "He was a Christian gentleman ever holding high to the principle by which he regulated his dealing with his family and friends". Their children were:
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HELEN - Married R. L. Hinds of Tupelo, Mississippi. They had two children: Robert and Annie Frances |
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VASSAR - Married Zollie Young of Granger, Texas. They had four children: William, David, Vassar and Etoile. |
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ANNIE FAY - Married Clifton L. Lomax of Greenwood, Mississippi. They had four children: William, Cliff, Robert and Annie Fay. |
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LEWIS - Married Alma Beck of Drew, Mississippi. They had five children: Lewis, Jr., Annie Elizabeth, Alma Katherine, Eunice Marion and Helen. |
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ROBERTA - Married Ward Allen of Tupelo, Mississippi. They had two children: Annie Katherine and Roberta. |
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RUTH - Married B.J. Anderson from Hoschton, Georgia. They had three children: Annie, Allen and Brannan, Jr. |
Mrs. Roberta Allen was the last living child of Mr. and Mrs. William M. Dubard. She lived in Grenada on Third Street close to her childhood home. The grandchildren living in Grenada were: Mrs. W. A. Lomax, Mr. and Mrs. David Dubard, Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Dubard, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John E. McEachin, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hubbard, Mrs. Annie K.Allen Townes, Mr. and Mrs. B. J. Anderson, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Murphy who lived in the old Dubard home. Mrs. Murphy was the former Annie Anderson.
