Southern Graves

John F. Lewis b. Feb 4, 1830 d. Dec 29, 1879 Felton Cemetery Montezuma, GA Lavinia Butts Lewis b. Feb 16, 1837 d. April 17, 1906 Felton Cemetery Montezuma, GA

1st Lieut. R. T. Coley Co I, 18 GA Inf, CSA 1839-1907 Redding T. Coley enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in Company I of the 18th Georgia Infantry on 22 June 1861 at Dooly County. He resigned from that position on 22 August 1863. Some of the battles his unit fought in include Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, and 2nd Manassas in Virginia; Sharpsburg, Maryland; Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Coley's government issued Confederate tombstone is located in Felton Cemetery at Montezuma, Georgia. Photo © 2010 S. Lincecum

Above this beautiful floral carving on a ledger marker is an inscription for Annie Maxwell Miller (1882-1912). This tribute to her is located in Felton Cemetery at Montezuma, Georgia. Photos © 2010 S. Lincecum.

During a recent visit to Felton Cemetery in Montezuma, Georgia, I paused at the graves of the Elijah Banks Lewis family. E. B. Lewis was a United States Representative from Georgia for several years. His was not the tombstone I noticed, however. I was drawn instead to the graves of his two sons. They dwarfed the surrounding tombstones and contained what I imagine are likenesses of the young men. I was somewhat surprised at what research would uncover about the lives of each of these individuals. From a youthful hero to an accidental shooting. From appendicitis to suicide. The tragedies that befell this family were chronicled in the local newspapers... Macon Weekly Telegraph March 18, 1895 " A YOUTHFUL HERO. Saved a Drowning Boy at the Risk of His Own Life. Montezuma, March 16 -- Yesterday while a crowd of boys were viewing the washout on the Beaver Creek Turnpike Frank Hague, 8 years of age, fell into the water and was carried by the mad current through a sewer pipe ...