Carrie Zona Penland was born in April 1895 at Gilmer County, Georgia to Thomas Young Penland (1850-1941) and Huldy Corline Orr (1859-1902). She was a sister of Georgia State Representative Samuel Oscar Penland (1882-1961) and wife of East Ellijay merchant Fred A. Reece (1893-1942). Carrie and Fred were married in Gilmer County on 19 December 1916. The couple had four children: Margaret, Ruby, Fred, and Frances. On a Sunday in mid-February 1924, a couple months before her 29th birthday, Carrie committed suicide. Atlanta Constitution (Georgia) 20 February 1924 Mrs. Carrie Reece Mother of Four Ends Own Life Ellijay, Ga., February 19. -- (Special.) -- Following funeral services Monday for Mrs. Carrie Reece, who committed suicide at her home at East Ellijay Sunday, the husband and four children began the work of rebuilding the shattered home. Mental disorder on account of a religious obsession is said to have been responsible for the act. The children said that the mother came into the...
Telling the Tales of Tombstones