Southern Graves

On Sunday, 12 September 2010, more than one million records were indexed by over fourteen thousand volunteers for FamilySearch. That's pretty amazing. While I was indexing this morning, I came across a sad story. It was the about the death of Charles E. Stevenson. Charles Stevenson was born 14 February 1900 in Washington, DC to William and Emily Stevenson. At some point in young adulthood he joined the United States military. By the time of his death on 22 June 1930 in Los Angeles, California, Charles was occupied as a musician. On his death certificate, Charles's death was described as Carbon Monoxide Poison, Suicide. More details were found on his body removal and burial permit. His death there was described as violent... "Carbon monoxide poisoning - Suicidal - Automobile motor operating with tube connected to muffler and placed into car." I wonder if his parents were alive at the time of his death, as the informant for his biographical information was t...

Becoming a FamilySearch Indexer has been on my "to do" list for quite some time. In the past, there never seemed to be a large enough block of time in one sitting (that I wanted to set aside) to get started. Even though I knew that train of thought was a little selfish, it didn't spur me into action. Then I read Amy Coffin's FamilySearch, Football and Milestones post. Her talk of football (I watch it all weekend, too) and indexing her 11,000th name made me wonder how many names I could have indexed by now if I had started back when the thought first entered my brain. Add that to the scenario of me being off from my real job and having a block of time to work with, and you got a new indexer! Another thing Amy mentioned in her post was, as a genealogist, being attached to records. Wondering what the stories were behind those names. I chuckled when I read that because I know exactly what she means. Even though I am not related to 99.9% of the stories I bring...

I was caught off guard when I first saw William Beall's Confederate States Army tombstone at Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia. I do believe that is the first MUS I have ever seen. It took me far longer than it should have to realize that MUS stood for Musician . Another stone for Mr. Beall states he was born 25 December 1849. He must have enlisted in the CSA about the age of 12-15 years. Those boys that were "too young to fight" were often given the rank and position of Musician. That would mean Mr. Beall was likely a fifer, drummer, or bugler. Based on what I've read, we can possibly narrow the role of Mr. Beall to a fifer or drummer. Supposedly the bugle is more associated with cavalry or artillery, while the fife and drum connect more with infantry. Furthermore, the drum was much more common than the fife. A bugler could be found attached to a commander in battle, giving orders to the soldiers since his instrument could be hea...

Is that possible? Yep, I felt it. Cheryl Marie Coffey Apr 30, 1979 May 23, 1997 Evergreen Cemetery at Fitzgerald, Georgia I'm thinking that is an image of her signature.  Very cool.

Happy Labor Day! I had to work this three day weekend, but I hope the ones who have it off are enjoying the summer fling finale. I am including a few more links than usual in this "In Case You Missed It" post. I'm now using the three most convenient (to me) stats and analytics programs to get the most popular posts over a specific period of time. They are all essentially Google entities -- Feedburner, Google Analytics, and Blogger Stats. I found several "ties" in trying to gather the top ten list, so I just decided to include them all. Also, as a content note / reminder, the most popular posts over the life of this blog (according to Blogger Stats) can be found on the right sidebar. Here are the most popular posts from the last thirty days. - Southern Cross of Honor - Minnie Lou (Tombstone Tuesday) - Marion's Lyre (Tombstone Tuesday) - Colorful (Wordless Wednesday) - In Hoc Signo Vinces: the Knights Templar - Life is a Span (Today's E...

Gen. William Joshua Bush Private with the 14th Georgia Infantry unit from Wilkinson County, the Ramah Guards; he enlisted July 9, 1861 and discharged October 22, 1861. Men often enlisted for 90 days. Enlisted in the Georgia Militia October 1864, surrendered at Stephen's Station, Georgia in 1865. Participated in battles of Cross Keys, Milledgeville, Atlanta and Duncan's Old Field. Last of the 368,000 Georgia Confederate veterans to die -- November 11, 1952 at age 107. Achieved his rank of general after the war in veteran's groups. [Evergreen Cemetery Tour Map and Guide, Fitzgerald (GA) Convention and Visitors Bureau]

T. T. Buckalew b. June 1, 1847 d. Apr 21, 1912 Some day we'll understand. Thomas T. Buckalew was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia. At one end of his ledger marker is a tall draped obelisk. At the other end is a government issued military tombstone. This is the story of his death, as told in the 22 April 1912 edition of the Macon Telegraph : " TRACK COLLAPSES, ENGINEER KILLED. Pinned Between Engine and Tender, Body Still Hangs. ON A, B. & A TRESTLE. Track Washed by Rains -- No Passengers Injured. FIREMAN IS BADLY HURT. Train Only Going Four Miles and Hour on Six-Mile Schedule When Trestle Gives Way -- Engineer T. T. Buckalew, Whose Home Was in Fitzgerald, Had Reputation for Caution. FITZGERALD, April 21 -- Engineer T. T. Buckalew was killed and his fireman, Henry Hardy, seriously injured this morning at 11:15 o'clock when the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic passenger train, due here from Thomasville at...

I usually reserve the posting of random obituaries I find for another space, but this one I felt compelled to share here. It's a fascinating read, but the skeptic in me wonders how much of it is really true. Inter Ocean , Illinois 28 October 1896 (Viewed online at GenealogyBank .) THE OBITUARY RECORD Martin Simeon Davis J. Davis Martin Simeon Davis, well known in the hat and fur trade of Chicago, died at 2 o'clock yesterday at his residence, No. 2803 Michigan avenue, in his fifty-eighth year, after an illness of nearly three years. He had been a man of unusual size and noted for his great physical strength, but gradually wasted away until his death. Mr. Davis was the son of Moses Davis of Niles, Mich., and with his father built all the water work on the Michigan Central Railroad through the swamps between Niles and Chicago when that road was first laid into this city. Moses Davis, his father, was a first cousin of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, ...

Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia Beth M. Davis was the historian for the city of Fitzgerald, GA. She was the driving force behind the Blue and Gray Museum. According to her obituary ran in the Macon Telegraph and Atlanta Constitution , Beth was born in Statham, GA to Thomas Jefferson Malcolm and Sally Victoria Robertson Malcolm. For more information about her contributions in preserving the history of the "Union Colony in a Confederate hotbed," visit the city of Fitzgerald, Georgia website .

The treestone in place for Camilla Nunnery (1875-1926) at Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Georgia shows she was a member of the Supreme Forest of the Woodmen Circle . This was a women's auxiliary to the Woodmen of the World fraternal organization and insurance benefit society. The emblem for the SFWC is a shield with stars and stripes and crossed axes. According to a 1913 publication of The Fraternal Monitor (Volume 23, Issue 8) - "...The emblem used is the Shield. The colors adopted are lavender and green, instead of the National colors in the Shield. The emblem signifies that which protects or defends, and, therefore, symbolizes the grand and noble principles embodied in fraternalism -- Love and Protection." From Woodmen.org : "The Supreme Forest Woodmen Circle occupied an important place in Woodmen of the World history from the time of its incorporation in 1895 until it merged with the organization on January 1, 1965. For 70 years, the Circle and Woo...