What caused the Alfred Burnett family to leave Mississippi?

In October of 1855 Alfred and Julia Burnett sold their land holdings in Mississippi and shortly thereafter moved to Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.  Sherrod Burnett’s Confederate pension application details he was living in Louisiana during 1855; leading us to believe the family relocated in late 1855.

Here are a few items that likely influenced the Alfred Burnett family to move west.

• Julia’s mother, Catherine Sheffield Seaman, passed away in 1853.
• Between 1850 and 1860, Julia’s brother George W. Seaman moved from Mississippi to Calcasieu Parish, LA.
• Yellow Fever struck the Biloxi, Mississippi area in June 1853 during which, 111 persons of the total 533 recorded cases, lost their lives. 
• On 16-Oct-1855, a hurricane hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast with winds at 125 mph (modern-day Category 3 storm level). 
• Other Gulf Coast Mississippi residents had immigrated to Lake Charles.  These included Daniel Goos, Fred Moeling and Thomas Bilbo.  Goos, Moeling and Alfred Burnett we members of the Masonic Lodge in Biloxi and as well in Lake Charles.
• The timber industry was beginning to boom in SW Louisiana.

While the motive for the Alfred Burnett family to relocate is undocumented, it appears that a combination of bad luck in Mississippi and opportunity in Louisiana was the reason.

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