Pike County Mississippi
MSGenWeb
HARPER
Jesse Harper, the son of Alexander Thornton and Elizabeth Jones Harper was born about 1780 in Lenoir, NC.
Jesse’s siblings were Samuel, Alexander, Jr., Seaborne J., Lewis, Sarah, Anna and Absalom.
Jesse and his brothers Absalom and Samuel served in the Hinds Battalion of Calvary, MS Militia, which was
formed in the Natchez area in 1813. The Militia fought the Creek Indians in Alabama and then served under
General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans. In 1805 Jesse was in Adams County, in 1812 he served
as a constable in Wilkinson County, and was among the early settlers in what was to become Pike County in 1815.
In 1819 Jesse was appointed Justice of the Peace in Pike County and was still serving in that position in 1823.
Jesse is listed in the 1820 Census of Pike County along with Alexander and Absalom. His brother, Samuel, is
listed in Marion County.
In 1833 Jesse was elected as a representative to the MS State Legislature and was elected as a state senator in
1835. He’s listed in the 1840 Census along with his daughter Nancy Harper Bullock and husband Zachariah.
Jesse is recorded as buying land in Pike County on November 10, 1840.
Jesse married twice, but the name of his first wife is unknown. They had five children:
Alexander, born 1811, Elmer born 1812, Edwin born October 7, 1815 and died October 4, 1895, Nancy born
March 19, 1818 in MS and died December 1, 1881 in Simpson County--she married Zachariah Bullock on
June 30, 1835 and they had 10 children, and Leticia born about 1823, married Absalom Harper. They had 4
children..
Jesse married second Sarah Allston Bacot in 1826 in Pike County, MS. She was the daughter of Laban and
Mary Letman Bacot. He died in Pike County on December 25, 1843. Jesse and Sarah had 7 children:
Labon Bacot Harper born about 1827
Samuel Houston Harper born May 14, 1828 in Simpson County, MS and died September 12, 1862.
Jesse Harper born about 1829
Mary J. Harper
George Poindexter Harper born about 1835
Lewis Preston Harper
Nancy Harper.