Southern Graves

Five years in prison. That's a long time. Is it wrong of me to support this sentence? A lack of respect and violation was put upon so many individuals -- living as well as dead. A message should be sent. " Cemetery Thefts Net Five Years in Prison Chalmette man, 22, stole vases off graves. A Chalmette man has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing brass flower vases from a cemetery and selling them as scrap metal for pennies on the dollar. Patrick Centorbi, 22, pleaded guilty to theft this week and was sentenced to five years in prison by state District Judge Wayne Cresap, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Centorbi and three other men were arrested in April, charged with stealing about 200 brass vases from graves at St. Bernard Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Chalmette." READ MORE. Southern Graves Home

It's a shame it had to get so bad before anything was done, but it seems repairs have begun! Open, Cracked Graves Repaired At Cemetery Many Black Pioneers Buried At Site Neglected Cemetery Getting Long-Awaited Repairs Repairs Underway at Historical Cemetery Hilltop Cemetery Needs More Work More grave covers found cracked open. Southern Graves Home

Now I really believe this is a new trend. It was recently reported that a European futbol team was starting their own cemetery. Not long after, a cemetery decided to devote a section to Chicago Cubs fans. Now this: " Burial Plots for UGA Lettermen Available Near Stadium. Lettermen’s association to unveil "Bulldog Haven," an area within cemetery next to stadium. By Chip Towers The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Athens — Georgia football lettermen have always said, "once a Bulldog, a Bulldog for life." Now, it seems, that distinction can extend even into death. The Georgia Football Lettermen’s Club is doing something that, insofar as anybody can tell, has never been done before even in the football-crazed Deep South. It will unveil to its membership Saturday the opening of “Bulldog Haven,” a designated area of burial plots within famous Oconee Hill Cemetery next to Sanford Stadium reserved in death only for those who have worn the uniform, their coaches and thei...

About a year ago, we took a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I always like to find an old cemetery when I travel to different places. A good bit of history of an area can be learned with one local cemetery walk. The following is a bit of information I found out about Gatlinburg and one of its old cemeteries. It was late in the day when I visted, so the photos and video below were taken about dusk. A little known fact: Gatlinburg, located in Sevier County, Tennessee, was originally known as White Oak Flats. Edgefield, South Carolina native William Ogle (1751-1803) was the first to decide to permanently settle in the Gatlinburg area. With the help of local Cherokee, he readied logs to build a cabin. He went back to South Carolina to retrieve his family, but died of malaria before he was able to bring them back to Tennessee. William's widow, Martha Jane Huskey Ogle, moved her family near relatives in Virginia. Around 1806, Martha and her brother Peter Huskey journeyed to the (n...

" Veterans cemetery soon comes to Dublin. Southwest Virginia will soon have its first veterans cemetery in Dublin. Dozens gathered at the Dublin Lions Club Monday for a deed to be transferred for the new cemetery. The U.S. Army handed over nearly 80 acres to Governor Tim Kaine. The Virginia General Assembly has set aside $11 million for construction, which will be reimbursed by federal grants. The cemetery should be ready to open at the end of 2010. Veterans who want to be buried there can submit a pre-application." © 2008 WorldNow and WDBJ7 .

I recently made another visit to Elko Cemetery in Houston County, Georgia and took some more photos. It was really too bright out for me to get great photos, but I didn't want to waste the opportunity. I revamped the whole Elko Cemetery page for the Houston County, GA American History & Genealogy Project and moved it to Southern Graves . I added more photos and transcriptions, a bit more history about the town of Elko, and a link to more photos and transcriptions from this cemetery.

The Willow Grove Community Cemetery in central Texas was designated by the Texas Historical Commission as a Historic Texas Cemetery: Area Cemetery to Get Texas Historical Marker Community Celebrates Willow Grove Cemetery's Historical Designation Cemetery Historical Marker

Schelly Talalay Dardashti at Tracing the Tribe wrote a nice post entitled " Louisiana: Natchitoches Jewish Cemetery, Video ." It links you to a video the Natchitoches Preservation Network prepared, as well as more information about the cemetery and a listing of burials. Southern Graves Home

Be sure to watch the video. Family Cemetery Destroyed : Loved ones still waiting for answers. More than four years after a bulldozer plowed through a family cemetery in Logan County the families of the people buried there say justice still hasn't been served... Southern Graves Home

I hope everyone has the proper paperwork in order! Grave Dispute : A battle over burial plots has two families at odds in Madison County... Marshall Seeks Solution to Cemetery Confusion : 2 families claim same plot in town-run burial ground... Southern Graves Home

The Historical Marker Database recently uploaded a page for St. Andrew's Church Cemetery in Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia. Southern Graves Home

I have not yet read this book, but the story sounded so interesting. I thought I'd go ahead and post it: Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves "By the eve of the Civil War, there were four million slaves in North America, and Harrison County was the largest slave-owning county in Texas. So when China Galland returned to research her family history there, it should not have surprised her to learn of unmarked cemeteries for slaves. ''My daddy never let anybody plow this end of the field,'' a local matron told a startled Galland during a visit to her antebellum mansion. ''The slaves are buried there.'' Galland's subsequent effort to help restore just one of these cemeteries—Love Cemetery—unearths a quintessential American story of prejudice, land theft, and environmental destruction, uncovering racial wounds that are slow to heal. Galland gathers an interracial group of local religious leaders and laypeople to work on restorin...

I just finished creating a new page for Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston County, South Carolina at Southern Graves . Magnolia Cemetery is the final resting place for all crew members that perished aboard the H. L. Hunley Confederate submarine. I have uploaded a couple videos, as well as several photos and transcriptions. I also made some contributions to FindAGrave for Magnolia Cemetery. All total, Find A Grave has more than 3,000 listings for this cemetery. You can also search them from the Magnolia Cemetery page at Southern Graves .

It crumbled into dust! -- Interesting article: " Gustav-fallen oak in La. cemetery held casket. DENHAM SPRINGS, La. -- When the ancient oak fell in the cemetery at a 167-year-old church, its roots yanked an old coffin out of the ground. When the pastor and others tried to free it for reburial, it crumbled into dust." READ MORE Southern Graves Home

Chicago is not exactly a "southern" city, but I'm sure there are Cubs (you know, the baseball team) fans all over the U.S. I wonder if this could start a trend or fad? Read on for a few articles about the ground-breaking for a cemetery for fans of the Chicago Cubs. " At last, a burial option for fans who live and die with the Cubs. Cubs fans hoping for a World Series title before they die at least can be buried in a place that looks like Wrigley Field when they do. Ground-breaking for "Beyond the Vines," an internment area that will be built to look something like the ballpark's ivy-covered brick center field wall, is scheduled for Friday morning at Bohemian National Cemetery on Chicago's Northwest Side, said Dennis Mascari, who purchased the plots to carry out the concept. Mascari said several people already have contacted him about placing their loved ones in urns in what he calls the "eternal skyboxes" that will be available at the cem...

From the Footnote Press Room : " Footnote.com Takes Social Networking into the Past 10 Sep 2008 Where: Lindon, UT San Francisco -- September 10, 2008 - Losing a loved one can result in a range of emotions, from the grief and sorrow to comfort, which often comes from reminiscing stories and memories with family and friends. The challenge arises when there is no single place where all of these stories can easily come together to be shared, enriched and preserved. Now at Footnote.com , anyone can find or create Footnote Pages where users connect and share stories, photos, and information about the people important to them. To kick-off the new Footnote Pages , Footnote.com today released over 80 million of these pages created from data from the Social Security Death Index. Most visitors will find existing pages about several deceased friends and family members already on the site. Footnote.com was selected from over 1,000 applicants to launch Footnote Pages at this year’s TechC...

The Social Security Death Index is now available FREE at Genealogy Bank . From their blog : " GenealogyBank has the most comprehensive; the most complete version of the SSDI online and now it is free online for genealogists to search... GenealogyBank has not only the most complete SSDI online – it has expanded & enhanced the data – adding the day of the week when the person’s birth or death occurred and the GPS coordinates that many genealogists like to have for their records. No other site updates the SSDI weekly..." Southern Graves Home

Louise Behrens (1860-1932), also buried in Bethany Cemetery; Charleston County, South Carolina, was an organizer and first president (1905-1932) of the South Carolina State Firemans Association. Here's an obituary for Mr. Behrens from the 13 October 1932 New York Times : " LOUIS BEHRENS DIES; A FAMOUS FIREMAN Charleston (S.C.) Man Had the Longest Service Record of Any Fire Chief in Nation. ONCE ON THE FORCE HERE Friend of Kenlon and "Smoky Joe" Martin a Hero During Earthquake in Southern City in 1886. Special to The New York Times. CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 12 -- Fire Chief Louis Behrens, with a service record of fifty-six years, longer than any other fire chief in the United States, was found dead this morning in his bed in fire headquarters. He had retired the night before in unusually fine spirits and his clothing was found as usual arranged in a position to be put on quickly in case of an alarm. Chief Behrens, a familiar figure at national fire conve...

Now for some interesting graves/interments from Bethany Cemetery in Charleston County, South Carolina. My first subject is George A. Wagener. Immediately upon researching Mr. Wagener, I find a discrepancy regarding his date of birth. A couple of websites on the Internet have his birth date as 25 December 1845. According to his gravestone in Bethany Cemetery, George was born 15 December 1846: George Wagener was born in Charleston, South Carolina to General Johann Andreas and Marie Eliese Wagener. During the Civil War, George and his brother Julius were soldiers in Company A, First Regiment, South Carolina Militia - German Artillery. A captain of their company was their uncle Frederich Wilhelm Wagener. [Note: George's father and uncle are also buried in Bethany Cemetery. All are in or near the German Artillery section, signified by a very tall monument, with a soldier standing lookout on top.] George married Eleanor Keys 1870 in Anderson, South Carolina. She was born September 4, 184...

"By Ebony Horton Published: September 3, 2008 NEWTON, Ala.—Stories Altha Newman’s family had passed down about slaves buried in Newton’s Klondyke Community were transformed into reality after an unexpected discovery in the late 20th century." READ MORE. Southern Graves Home

Bethany Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina is a 50+ acre cemetery owned by St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. It was founded in 1856. A large amount of the individuals interred are German. The landscape is picturesque and there are many beautiful stones. I have made some contributions to FindAGrave from Bethany Cemetery, including photos and gravestone transcriptions. Surnames include the following: BARRENTINE, BEHLMER, BEHRENS, BISCHOFF, BITTESOHN, BLASE, BULCKEN, CHAMBERS, GOTJEN, GROOMS, HARMS, HASTEDT, HEINSOHN, KNEE, KORNAHRENS, LILIENTHAI, MEYER, ORNSTON, REENSTJERNA, SCHNELL, SPINCKEN, STEENKEN, STUMP, VINSON, WAGENER, WITCOFSKEY, and YERBY. Search for cemetery records in Bethany Cemetery, SC at by entering a surname and clicking search: Bethany Cemetery, SC (11,237 names) All of Find A Grave (156.1 million names) Restrict search to Surname Search all my contributions here: Search Stephanie Lincecum's cemetery records at by en...