Southern Graves

HER BODY STILL WARM At midnight last night Marya Webb, the girl who died at 82 Forsyth street, was still warm. The girl had been dead then thirty-six hours, but no change in her temperature had been detected. The skin was still apparently moist and the people who were about the body during the day assert that the girl is not dead. During the day several physicians examined the body and all of them pronounced the girl dead. Her mother, however, will not credit these statements, and when an undertaker is suggested becomes perfectly frantic. She will probably be buried today unless some signs of life are detected, which is hardly possible. [ The Atlanta Constitution (Georgia), 21 November 1885.] THE BODY BURIED Maria Webb's Body Grows Cold and She is Laid to Rest Maria Webb, the girl whose body remained warm too long after she quit breathing, was buried late yesterday afternoon. There is now no doubt about her death. Her body maintained the same temperature from her death...

© 2007-2013 S. Lincecum

Thomas N. Theus A Confederate Soldier Died Nov 28, 1903 Eliza Wilhelmina The Devoted Wife Of Thomas N. Theus Died February 21, 1895 " DEATHS Thomas Nichol Theus. SAVANNAH, Ga., Nov. 28 -- Thomas Nichol Theus, a well known Savannahian who was prominently related in Georgia and South Carolina, died at an early hour this morning. He made a dying request that he be buried in Confederate gray, and he himself named six pall-bearers, all Confederate veterans." [ Macon Telegraph (Georgia), 29 November 1903, pg. 2 -- Viewed online at GenealogyBank .] Bonaventure Cemetery Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia Photos © 2007-2013 S. Lincecum

Capt. Robert H. Anderson 9th U.S. Infantry Died Manila, Philippine Islands November 7th, 1901 1861 - 1901 STEADFAST CAPT. ANDERSON DEAD. Died of Pneumonia at Mobile -- Was Appointed From Georgia. Washington, Nov. 7 -- A cablegram received at the war department today from General Chaffee, at Manila, announces the death from pneumonia of Captain Robert H. Anderson, of the 9th infantry. Captain Anderson was appointed to the army in 1884 from civil life, being credited to Georgia. Savannah, Ga., Nov. 7 -- Captain Robert H. Anderson, of the Ninth regular infantry, was born in this city in 1861. His father was General Robert H. Anderson, of the Confederate army, and for many years chief of police of Savannah. Young Anderson was appointed a second lieutenant in the army by President Arthur, in 1884. He served gallantly in Cuba, and afterwards in China and the Philippines. His family connection in this section are extensive and prominent. He leaves a widow and two children...

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia Photo © 2007-2013 S. Lincecum DEATH OF COLONEL AARON WILBUR. -- Colonel Aaron Wilbur, for many years a prominent citizen of this city, died at his residence last evening, at 10 o'clock. He was a native of Vermont, but removed South soon after he became of age, and located in Richmond, Virginia, from which city he removed to Savannah in 1853, since which time he has been engaged in the insurance business. His energy and well known business capacity secured for him the position of manager of the Southern branch of the Knickerbocker Life Insurance Company of New York. He was also President of the Home Insurance Company of Savannah, and a Director in the Merchants' National Bank. During the war he was appointed by Gov. Brown on his staff, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, which position he held for some time. At the close of the struggle he engaged extensively in business and succeeded in saving from the general wreck that follow...

View from the upper walkway near memorial. When visiting Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia, one of the things you can do is walk around an upper deck that circles the fort on the interior. There are several cannons strategically placed, giving you an idea as to how things were during the early part of the Civil War before the surrender to Federal troops. Along the walkway, I saw this plaque: This memorial commemorates the act of Lieutenant Christopher Hussey of the Montgomery Guards and Private John Latham of the Washington Volunteers, the first volunteer regiment of the state of Georgia. While under fire during the bombardment of April 11, 1862, they recovered the Confederate colors which had been shot down and raised the flag on this parapet. Subsequent research lead me to the Historical Record of the City of Savannah (pub. 1869). Page 85 gives a bit more detail about the incident described above: The asterisk by Lt. Hussey's name lead to this: Entry...

In Memory of ROBT. ROWAN of No. C arolina , Lieut in 1st Regimt of Artilrst & Engirs of the U. States Troops who died March 3d 1800, Aged 25 Years. I wonder how many visitors have paused at Lieut. Robert Rowan's tombstone. How many times it's been photographed. I'll bet the numbers are staggering. You see, young Robert's final resting place is a cemetery on Cockspur Island , right outside Fort Pulaski -- a defender of the ports of Savannah, Georgia during the Civil War. This is also the place where 13 of the Immortal 600 were buried. Lieut. Rowan, however, had nothing to do with the Immortal 600, or any part of the Civil War for that matter. He was already dead. Robert Rowan died at the young age of 25 in the year 1800. A full 60+ years before the drama at Fort Pulaski. Back when the fort on Cockspur Island was Fort Greene, built in 1795 and named for Revolutionary War patriot Nathanael Greene. Robert Rowan's death did make the newspaper -- ...

Did you know the famous boxer, Ezzard Mack "Cincinnati Cobra" Charles, was born in Georgia? Me, neither. He is the March 7th subject of the Georgia Historical Society and Georgia Public Broadcasting collaboration, Today in Georgia History . FindAGrave Memorial Photo by Anonymous 

Edwin Freeman Ussery Georgia SP - 2 World War II Korea September 19, 1922 August 6, 1955 Edwin Freeman Ussery was born in Hart County, Georgia. 1 He died in service to his country while in Korea, 6 August 1955. Specialist Ussery was honored with an upright marble headstone placed at Blue Heights Baptist Cemetery in Mountain City, Rabun County, Georgia. 2 Sources: 1. "Georgia, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1942," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V2MR-CMQ : accessed 03 Mar 2013), Edwin Freeman Ussery, 1941. 2. Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database & images on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Entry for Edwin Freeman Ussery.

William J. Trusty (1919-1949) William Jack Trusty rests at Blue Heights cemetery in Mountain City, Rabun County, Georgia. The stone I photographed was a government issue granite marker. I was not familiar with all of the abbreviations on the stone, but was able to decipher it easily after reading the headstone application on Ancestry . From Wikipedia As part of his service for the U.S. Army during World War II, Corporal Trusty was a member of Company B, 638th Tank Destroyer Battalion.  He enlisted 23 September 1942 and received an honorable discharge 18 October 1945. This information was great, but it didn't tell me why William J. Trusty died at the young age of 30 years. In viewing several family trees online, the consensus seemed to be that he died in Pontiac, Michigan. However, not one of those I saw offered a source for this vital fact. Going ahead with this data, though, I did find a blurb in The Daily News (Ludington, Michigan - 25 July 1949, pg. 3): PONTIAC ...

So sayeth Rabun County, Georgia Ordinary James F. Smith back in 1913. But Lottie (maiden name Rogers according to online family trees) did marry Nathan Andrew Hunnicutt. She swore to that fact when filing for a widow's pension only several days after the death of said husband. She got a few other folks to sign sworn statements to that end, as well.  (Application available for viewing at Ancestry.com .) Under the heading of Questions for Applicant , Lottie stated she and N. A. Hunnicutt were married 3 December 1865 in Rabun County, Georgia. About 3 weeks before Lottie's 14th birthday. Lottie also claimed to have only $225 worth of worldly goods and property, including two small town lots and a house on Park Street in Mountain City making up the majority with a value of $200. More information about N. A. Hunnicutt's service to the Confederate cause was actually provided by a witness, I guess since Lottie and Andrew weren't married until after the surrender in 186...

Confederate Civil War Service Record for W. L. Dickerson In 1863, as a private in Company F of Georgia's 52nd regiment. What landed him on Pea Patch Island was the fighting he did at The Battle of Champion Hill on the 16th of May, down in Mississippi. William Loren Dickerson was captured by the Union Army during that battle, and a few weeks later arrived at Fort Delaware. According to an article at Wikipedia , citing the Philadelphia Inquirer , Fort Delaware "contained an average population of southern tourists, who came at the urgent invitation of Mr. Lincoln." At the time of Pvt. Dickerson's imprisonment, the camp population was about 11,000. By the end of the war, the number had jumped to 33,000. Though the conditions were classified as decent, one private described them as "bad, hopeless and gloomy enough without any exaggeration." I suppose I can say W. L. Dickerson was "lucky" enough to spend less than a month at the prison camp be...