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Local Registrar Knew Old Lady Wisdom for Years

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100_1326Martha Jane Armstrong was born 12 August 1833 in Gwinnett County, Georgia.  She was a daughter of Martin W. Armstrong and Martha Jane Fincher, both of Georgia.  Daughter Martha married, less than a month after her nineteenth birthday, John L. Wisdom.

Martha J. Wisdom died April 1922 in Buford, Gwinnett County.  Her death certificate gave her age at death as 88 years, 8 months, and 8 days.  The draped urn topped tombstone Martha shares with her husband, however, gives her date of death as 22 April 1922, turning those 8 days into 10.

I'm no doctor, but I dare say "old age" was the simple cause of death for Martha Jane Wisdom.  Yet Local Registrar George L. Brogdon decided to explain it this way:

There was no doctor in the case.  I have known this old lady for years and her health has been failing for some time.  And the family said she died in a few minutes after they discovered something unusual was wrong with her and they didn't have time to get a doctor.

As already noted, Martha shares a tombstone at Level Creek Church Cemetery in Gwinnett County with her husband John (1827-1902).  She also rests near her mother Martha Fincher Armstrong (1812-1891), her brother Paton Pentecost Armstrong (1847-1883), and her son M. L. Wisdom (1854-1878) – all resting in box tombs.

100_1327

Martha F. Armstrong
was born July 27, 1812,
and died Oct 5, 1891.

Dear Mother, thou are gone to [rest?],
Thy toils and cares are o'er.
But sorrow, pain and suffering now,
Shall never distress thee more.

She Laid Down The Cross To Take Up The Crown
Saying "I Am Ready, Let Me Go"

100_1329

M. L. Wisdom
Son of J. L. & M. J. Wisdom
Born Aug 9, 1854
Died Aug 25, 1878


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Darla M Sands said…
What a lovely epitaph.

I can't help recalling a favorite tombstone in my old hometown. Stoneworkers either carved or poured the thing to appear like a stone tree stump. I can picture the cemetery plot even now, in an old section near a ravine. What a favorite stomping ground that was.

Be well!
August 12, 2016 at 7:49 PM
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The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)