Southern Graves

An urn-topped obelisk in Cedar Hill Cemetery at Cochran, Bleckley County, Georgia, serves as a single monument to Charles Mullis and his three wives -- each getting their own panel, collectively making up the four sides of the base. Charles Mullis was born on 7 November 1813 in North Carolina. By 1837, he was residing in Pulaski County, Georgia, where he married his first wife, Cynthia Miller (1820-1857), on 1 November.  Charles next married Julia P. about 1860. She was about 29 years his junior, being born in Georgia on 30 August 1842. Julia died on 14 October 1882, and Charles married for the final time the next year. He united with Sarah E., who was born on 3 February 1840. This time, the wife outlived the husband. Charles Mullis died on 9 September 1887 in Cochran, as was reported in the Macon Weekly Telegraph  (Georgia). Death of a Wealthy Citizen COCHRAN, September 10. -- Mr. Charles Mullis, of this place, aged 77, died yesterday afternoon of erysipelas and senile decay....

Homicide at Cochran, Georgia! William Thomas McVay was born on 24 August 1835. He married Martha Ella Linder in Laurens County, Georgia, on 4 November 1858. In 1862, W. T. enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private. He was promoted through the ranks, culminating in the position of 1st Lieutenant of Company F, 14th Georgia Infantry. During the decade of Reconstruction, William transitioned from a Confederate officer to a prominent merchant in the newly established community of Cochran, Georgia. Officially incorporated in 1869, the town was built around a stop on the Macon and Brunswick Railroad. Merchants like McVay were crucial to the town's early economy, linking local cotton and agricultural products to the wider regional markets. Being a successful merchant in a small, post-war Southern town (not to mention his veteran status) likely meant William was an individual of considerable influence and standing in the local community and surrounding counties. A snippet from an articl...

Behind the Greene County courthouse in Greensboro, Georgia, stands an old rock jail. It was built in 1807 and remained in use until about 1895. From the historical marker beside it: "Built of granite about two feet thick, it is two stories in height and has a trap door in the floor of the upper story where condemned prisoners were hanged. An iron bar supported the trap door. When the signal was given, the hangman pulled the lever that controlled the bar and the culprit was launched into eternity." I recently read a 2019 story by Tyler Wilkins in the Lake Oconee News  (Georgia) about the old gaol , and was surprised to learn only one documented execution took place there. Here's how the Atlanta Weekly Constitution  covered it on 4 November 1873: Quick PSA : Since most newspapers of the time were white-owned and reflected racist views, they were biased. So please question and treat with great caution the papers' descriptions of the alleged crimes, victims, and perp...

  Greensboro City Cemetery, Greene County, Georgia © 2013-2025 S. Lincecum Southern Christian Advocate  (Augusta, Georgia) Thursday, 28 July 1859 MRS. SARAH D. WILLIS was born in Petersburg, Va., and died in Greensboro, Ga., on 13th April, in her 64th year. She had been a member of the M. E. Church 38 years. Amid the vicissitudes of a long and chequered pilgrimage, she was "soothed and sustained by an unfaltering trust" in the Redeemer. Her piety was noiseless and unobtrusive. Conscious of many infirmities, she meekly and modestly glided down the hill of life, giving offence to none, loving God supremely. Her last days were distinguished by suffering and sorrow. Adieu, dear, dear mother! Thy soul, purified in the furnace of grief, chastened and sanctified by tribulation and grace, is at rest in heaven. Your children may be scattered -- wanderers on the earth -- their graves may be in distant lands, but the resurrection will reunite. O! when the glorious day shall dawn, may mo...

James Blake Nickelson was born 4 October 1808 in Georgia. On 5 March 1833 in Richmond County, James married Anna Maria Willey. For the November 1850 Greene County, Georgia Federal census, James was occupied as a merchant, and he and Anna had five children: Ann, Julia, Margaret, H. Clay, and James. Greensboro City Cemetery, Greene County, Georgia Image © 2013-2025 S. Lincecum Upon the death of James Blake Nickelson, two obituaries were published in the 31 March 1852 Augusta Chronicle  (Georgia): OBITUARY. Died at Greensboro on the morning of the 22d inst., JAMES B. NICKELSON, Esq., aged about 44 years, after a protracted illness of several weeks. A man of the highest integrity and worth, constant and faithful in the discharge of every duty, a citizen without reproach, a brother kind and affectionate, a husband without fault, and a father whose energies were devoted to the interests and happiness of his children; the community of which he was a member will long feel his loss, and rem...

Samuel Davis Born April 16, 1787 Died Sept 7, 1875 For more than thirty years he was a member of the Baptist Church, and died trusting in Jesus for eternal life. For him death had no terrors but was a welcome messenger of deliverance. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace." Greensboro City Cemetery Greene County, Georgia Greensboro Herald  (Georgia) 16 September 1875 Obituary. Samuel Davis was born in Halifax Co., N.C., in April, 1787. Sometime in the year 1807 he left his father's home, and, unattended, came across the mountains into Georgia, making his way on foot to Greene Co., thus early displaying that energy and resolution which characterized his whole life. He settled in Greensboro' in the year 1835, and by his sterling integrity and unswerving honesty he secured and retained to the day of his death, the respect and confidence of the entire community. In 1845 he united with the Baptist Church, and for thirty years was a ...