Loyd Rone was born in 1854 as the oldest child of John Shepard Rone and Matilda Plyler Rone. The 1860 United States Federal Census shows Loyd in the household with his father, mother, grandmother Elizabeth, and siblings Mary E. and Isaac. J.

Shepard's occupation is listed as farm management. It also notes that Loyd was born in South Carolina while siblings Isaac and Mary E. were born in North Carolina.

Unless there is an error on the census record (and genealogists know many were made) this would indicate that John Shepard moved his family briefly back to North Carolina between the 1850 and 1860 censuses, as the 1850 record has him, Matilda, and Elizabeth in Lancaster District, South Carolina.

Another interesting observation regarding the 1850 census is that Matilda (initial M on the census) is already living in the household at age 17. The Family BIble record has her and J. Shepard marrying in 1853 with Loyd being born in 1854.

Loyd (yes- it has always been spelled with one L) most likely worked on the farm with his father as was the custom of the day. It was here that he began learning the skills that would grow into a prosperous and successful farming, mill and lumber business after the family's move to Mississippi.

Shortly after or during the Civil War, the family began their move east toward Mississippi. In 1866 they had come as far as Alabama, where they stayed until 1869. Loyd's brother, Henry Valentine, was born in 1866 according to his gravestone. He and his sister, Sarah Alice,were born in Alabama according to the 1870 census. The family had arrived in Attala County, MS in time for the 1870 US census (Ancestry.com. 1850 United State Federal Census [database on-line. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc, 2005. Original dara: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Ninth Census of the United States, 1870. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1870)

The years between 1870 and Loyd's marriage to Ibbie Ann have little documentation. Almost certainly, he continued to farm with his father John Shepard until Shepard's health became such that Loyd probably assumed the business operations of the farm. Little is known of what kind of farming operation Shepard conducted beyond the growing of crops and livestock for sale and personal use. However, by 1885 we know by way of Loyd's business ledgers that he was actively engaged in the lumber business.

These ledgers and many more documents sat in Daddy Tom's barn from 1935 until re-discovered by my father prior to Daddy Tom's death in 1987. Daddy Tom gave the trunk full of materials to dad who kept it all tucked away in his workroom until June 2008. The story goes as follows: I was preparing a presentation on the genealogy trip my cousin and I had taken to North and South Carolina that spring, when at dinner one night my dad says to me, "Oh, by the way, I have some things you may be interested in." We go to the workshop and from a large flour sack on top of a tall cabinet he pulls out a dozen or more ledgers, envelops, old wallets, and dozens of loose pieces of paper. I CRIED.

Loyd Rone Story