Southern Graves

Macon Telegraph (Georgia) Sunday, 16 September 1877 - pg. 4 TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. COUNCIL CHAMBER. COCHRAN, GA., Sept. 11, 1877. THE wind bloweth where it listeth, and no man knoweth from whence it came or whither it goeth, God who is able to give holds also the power to takeaway. Knowing His infinite wisdom, we question not His justice, nor murmur at his dispensation, although in our short sightedness do fail to see His purpose. At a meeting of the town Council of Cochran, the following preamble and resolutions were this day adopted: WHEREAS, Our highly appreciated and beloved Mayor, William Wade, has succumbed to the final destiny of all mankind, and paid Nature's last debt in yielding up his life to that dreadful scourge Typhoid fever, and recognizing the band of God in our deprivation of a citizen so useful to our town; so influential in his tendency to promotion of good conduct, so devoted to family and friends; so firm yet gentle in his nature, so exacting yet forgivi...

Benjamin Virginius Holland was in the wrong place at the wrong time in March of 1888. A cyclone touched down in Telfair County, Georgia, a place where he had previous business interests. He was no match for the "air demon," and at the young age of thirty-three, his life was taken. Following from the 22 March 1888 Savannah Morning News . AN AIR DEMON. Four Lives Snatched Away at Lumber City. HALF CALHOUN IN RUINS A Brakeman Killed While on the Way to Athens. ALL AUSTELL IN ALARM Darts From the Sky Kill Two in Dougherty. CRUSHED BY A CHIMNEY. Horrible Fate of a Man the Wind's Howl Didn't Wake. ALL THE STATE VISITED. The Wind Accompanied by a Heavy Downpour. LUMBER CITY, GA., March 21. -- A disastrous cyclone visited this part of Telfair county at 4 o'clock this morning, crossing the line of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia railroad at 9 1/4, known as Whiddon and Holland's turpentine distillery. This distillery is now owned by Rayals,...

Cedar Hill Cemetery Cochran, Bleckley County, Georgia Images © 2013 S. Lincecum

If you walk cemeteries in the southern United States often enough, you are bound to come across some seashells along with the expected gravestones. And I don't just mean cemeteries along the coast. You can find the pair in various combinations even hundreds of miles inland. Whether there's a single conch shell on top of a traditional tombstone or hundreds of cockle shells attached to a fully mounded gravesite, you might see the practice as purely for decoration. And you wouldn't be wrong. But could there be more to it? Could those shells perhaps be more significant? The answer is "yes," and here are a couple of prevailing thoughts on the matter. The Watery World of the Dead Elaine Nichols in 1989 was an archeologist, collector, and editor for a museum exhibit entitled, "The Last Miles of the Way: African-American Homegoing Traditions." According to her, for many enslaved Africans and their descendants in America, "The world of the dead wa...

Manly W. Peacock, son of Albert, was born 6 March 1877. Two of his brothers were Jefferson D. Peacock , mentioned previously in this space, and Zebulon Vance Peacock, a former mayor of Cochran in Bleckley County, Georgia. Upon his death in 1903, Manly was buried in a family lot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Cochran. Manly's death was front-page news. Sensational details follow. Macon Telegraph (Georgia) Sunday, 8 November 1903 - pg. 1 DUEL TO DEATH IN DODGE COUNTY MANLY PEACOCK INSTANTLY KILLED BY H. G. EVERETT, AFTER THE LATTER WAS PERHAPS FATALLY SHOT -- TROUBLE GREW OUT OF A SUIT IN WHICH EVERETT CHARGED THAT PEACOCK HAD ALIENATED HIS WIFE'S AFFECTIONS -- SUIT WAS TO HAVE BEEN TRIED THIS WEEK -- ALL THE PARTIES AMONG THE MOST PROMINENT IN THAT SECTION OF THE STATE. RHINE, Ga., Nov. 7. -- H. G. Everett shot and almost instantly killed Manly Peacock here last night disputing a law suit. The lie was passed. Peacock shot Everett in the groin. Everett then shot Peacock in ...

Jefferson D. "Jeff" Peacock, son of Albert, was born 1 March 1860, possibly in Virginia. At age twenty-three, Jeff married Ella M. Ashburn at Dodge County, Georgia. Less than six years later, Ella's husband was dead. Burial was in a family lot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Cochran, Bleckley County, Georgia. A few particulars from the front page of the 21 September 1889 Macon Telegraph (Georgia) follow: FOUND DEAD IN HIS BED. Mr. Peacock of Seville Dies Suddenly at Hawkinsville. HAWKINSVILLE, Sept. 20. -- [Special.] -- Mr. Jeff Peacock of Seville was found dead in his room at the Joiner House here this morning. He complained before retiring of feeling cold and ordered a fire made in his room. This morning about 10 o'clock a gentleman called at the hotel to see him and the porter went to his room to wake him. Getting no response to his summons an entrance was forced, when the unfortunate gentleman was found dead in his bed. Death undoubtedly resulted from heart disea...

An urn topped tombstone placed for George H. Gillon stands tall in Cedar Hill Cemetery at Cochran, Bleckley County, Georgia. George was just 27 years of age at the time of his death. A few particulars from the 27 March 1889 Macon Telegraph (Georgia): COLLISION ON THE EAST TENNESSEE. Engineer George Gillon Instantly Killed – Several Passengers Hurt. At Stockbridge on the East Tennessee road yesterday afternoon there was a collision between the southbound passenger and the northbound freight trains. Engineer George Gillon of the passenger train was instantly killed and his fireman was seriously wounded…There were also a number of passengers wounded, but the names could not be ascertained. The officers of the road report that the wires were working badly, and that they could get no definite information as to how the collision occurred or how many were hurt. The passenger train was abandoned and no train came through until this morning. Mr. George Gillon, whose home is in Atlant...