Southern Graves

A couple of months ago, I posted about the death of my 4th cousin, L. B. Lincecum, who was killed by 33,000 volts of electricity . At the time I had newly requested a photo of his burial site via FindAGrave, and today, contributor Lewis Bean fulfilled my request. **Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!** After viewing the image of Buster's tombstone, I sighed with a bit of sadness and disappointment. See that empty oval to the left of his name? I'm 99.9% sure it once contained a photo of dear cousin L. B...and the genealogy roller coaster took me for another ride. L. B. (Buster) Son of L. G. Lincecum Jan 5, 1906 Jan 10, 1930 Columbia Cemetery West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas Photo contributed by Lewis Bean via FindAGrave.

Along the outer wall that parallels Memorial Drive SE in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery is a historical marker that tells the story of the final result of the acts of seven of Andrews Raiders, as well as James J. Andrews himself: Photo by S. Lincecum "280 feet south of this location on June 18, 1862, seven of the Union Army's brave Andrews Raiders were hanged and buried. On April 12, 1862, 22 Andrews Raiders seized The General, a tender and three boxcars at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and raced toward Chattanooga on the Western & Atlantic Railroad in an effort to burn bridges and otherwise dismember a supply artery vital to the Confederacy. They had covered 87 miles when The General was overtaken by valiant pursuers led by Conductor Fuller. Of the Raiders, only these seven plus James J. Andrews, their leader, were executed by the Confederate Army. In 1866, remains of the seven were exhumed from this location and reinterred at the National Cemetery at Chattanooga. A...

© 2013 S. Lincecum

Several days ago, I concluded a short run of posts about Anthony Murphy , a man who figured prominently on the Confederate side of the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. That same day, over at the Rose Hill Cemetery blog, I posted about Peter Bracken , another prominent figure in the chase. Since it seems I have a little theme running here, I'll now share with you the burial site of Jeff Cain, engineer of the famed General seized by Andrews Raiders. Jeff Cain (1827-1897) Photo © 2013 S. Lincecum Jeff Cain, as does Anthony Murphy, rests in Atlanta's Oakland cemetery. He actually isn't far from yet another famous interment, golfer Bobby Jones. The back of Mr. Cain's tombstone gives a rendition of his role in the chase, though it is somewhat misleading: Jeff Cain. The historic engineer of the W. & A. R. R. manned the famous General on the thrilling wartime run. It was he who drove the locomotive in the historic chase of the Andrews raders May 12, 1862. Here...

Anthony Murphy TWO SONS SLIGHTED IN MURPHY'S WILL ...was the headline that ran in the Macon Telegraph (Georgia) little more than a month after the death of 80 year old Confederate veteran and builder of Atlanta, Anthony Murphy . The short article continues: Widow and Other Son Divide an Estate of Half a Million in Value. ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 2. -- The will of the late Anthony J. Murphy, famous as one of the captors of the Andrews Raiders in 1862, was admitted to probate in Ordinary Wilkinson's court this afternoon. It disclosed the fact that two of the sons were cut off with only $2,000 each, which they lose if they contest the will. The estate, which is valued at $500,000, is divided equally between the widow, three daughters and a third son, Charles Murphy. Wait! Wasn't there another son? An article in the Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) goes into a bit more detail. The will of Anthony Murphy, Atlanta's pioneer citizen who recently died, was recorded ye...

On the morning of 29 December 1909, much of the east coast of the United States woke up to find this on the front page of their newspaper: ANTHONY MURPHY DEAD. From the Tampa Tribune (Florida), all over the state of Georgia, to the Charleston News and Courier (South Carolina), and even up to the Washington Post (District of Columbia) -- Most ran the same general obituary, but some had a nuance or two. Each and every one described Mr. Murphy's participation in the Great Locomotive Chase to some degree. The Macon Telegraph (Georgia) added that Murphy was a builder of Atlanta and that he left a fortune estimated at between two and three hundred thousand dollars. Died Wealthy was part of the headline in the Augusta Chronicle (Georgia). It stated, "The war left Murphy penniless, but he set out to work again cheerfully and when he died, had amassed a fortune of half a million dollars in the saw mill and lumber business." The Charleston News and Courier (Sou...

Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA © 2013 S. Lincecum Anthony Murphy's claim to fame is most likely his participation in the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. Yet he was alive for more than 29,200 days, and that was literally just one of them. From Memoirs of Georgia (Southern Historical Association, 1895): Anthony Murphy, capitalist, Atlanta, Ga., son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Keyes) Murphy, was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, Nov. 6, 1829. [Tombstone says Nov. 29.] ...They emigrated to the United States in 1838, and settled first in Schuylkill county, Pa...Anthony was nine years of age when his parents emigrated to this country; he lived with them until he was eighteen years of age, and was educated at the public schools. At the age mentioned he went to Trenton, N.J., where he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade. After serving three years he went to Piermont, N.Y., worked there a year in the Erie railway shops, and then went to the Pittsburgh (Pa.) shops, where he wo...

Thomas J. Peavy and Sarah L. Mills were my 2nd Great Grand Uncle and Aunt. They, along with at least three of their seven children, were laid to rest in Barber Cemetery at Concord, Gadsden County, Florida. Thomas J. Peavy (1842-1921) Sarah L. M. Peavy (1851-1935) Maggie E. Peavy (1872-1896) Olliver D. Peavy (1875-1899) Annie I. Peavy (1884-1899) Died just 5 days after her brother Olliver.

Photo by S. Lincecum I've been a frequent visitor of Byron City Cemetery (Georgia) for several years now. And every visit includes stops by the graves of cousins, one being that of Moultrie Alfred Warren, Jr. He was a third cousin of mine by way of his mother, Sadie Almira Peavy Warren. Engraved on Moultrie's ledger marker, in addition to his birth and death dates, is "Professional Engineer." And those aforementioned dates reveal Moultrie died at the young age of 43 in 1956. I have often wondered what was the cause -- now I know . Via FamilySearch.org A World War II draft registration card from 1940 shows a 27 year old Moultrie Alfred Warren, Jr. living in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia and employed by the United States government and the science organization of Geological Survey ( USGS ). In 1947, Moultrie became engaged to Ruth Tomlinson, daughter of Homer R. Tomlinson. Moultrie and Ruth were a very studious couple. Ruth was a graduate of Winthrop ...

Less than a week ago, I logged on to Ancestry to find a newly added database entitled Web: Tennessee, Relocated Cemeteries Index, 1787-1975 . In case you were not aware, an Ancestry database that is prefaced with the word "Web" is usually readily accessible on the internet without a subscription. While the convenience of searching through Ancestry is nice, since I'm already a subscriber, I went directly to the source and gave it a browse. After all, I was not even aware it existed online! The database is part of the Tennessee Valley Authority website as TVA's Cemetery Relocation Database : To carry out its mission in the Tennessee Valley, TVA had to alter the landscape. The agency’s major construction projects required relocating roads and utility lines, as well as inundating many acres of countryside. As an extension of these construction projects, TVA undertook the difficult and delicate task of relocating thousands of graves. Surveys were conducted of all c...