Rounds, Ned and Ellen [Honey Island, Mississippi]

Ned Rounds (b. 1825) and Ellen Rounds (b. 1835) were slaves born in Kentucky who were either sold or taken down South. Owned by Peter James, Sr., they lived on the Stonewall Plantation in the Mississippi Delta.

After he was freed, Ned became one of the largest landowners in the community he helped found, Honey Island, MS. He could neither read nor write, but he could keep track of accounts: he served as a banker for residents of Honey Island. He was a wealthy man who had been a slave and was the son of slaves who were also born in Kentucky.

By 1910, the succeeding generation of the Rounds family had heavily mortgaged the land. The family wealth was lost, and family members began leaving Honey Island, moving to northern locations.

For more on the history of the Rounds family see Honey Island, by J. Hunter.