Southern Graves

John Clayton Walden was born 26 March 1846 in Georgia to John M. and Elizabeth Walden. On 8 May 1862, at just over 16 years of age, the younger John was mustered in as a private in Company E (captained by C. H. Richardson ) of the 57th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry. John's Civil War service record listed him as being 17 years old at the time. Bet he fudged a little bit. In his history of the 57th titled Hell's Broke Loose in Georgia  [affiliate link], Scott Walker wrote the following about the Battle of Champion Hill / Baker's Creek: As the men of the Fifty-seventh Georgia crossed Baker's Creek late on the night of May 16 [1863] and raced through the dark for the Big Black River [Mississippi], they were no longer strangers to such tragedy and horror. Their memories were scarred forever by the early days of the Vicksburg campaign. And this portion he wrote about the Siege of Vicksburg: As soon as [General] Grant resigned himself to a siege, he ordered his engineer...

I knew these gentlemen were connected, but just now come across a source that ties them together nicely and decided to share here. I first mentioned Dr. Eben Hillyer here a couple of years ago. And less than two months have passed since I mentioned Dr. Shaler Granby Hillyer in this space . Dr. Eben Hillyer, buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery at Rome, Floyd County, Georgia was the nephew of Dr. Shaler Granby Hillyer buried at Forsyth Cemetery in Monroe County, Georgia. The following is from volume two of Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons Arranged in Cyclopedic Form edited by "ex-governor" Allen D. Candler and published 1906 by the State Historical Association in Atlanta. Hillyer, Eben, M.D. , a retired physician and honored citizen of Rome, is a representative of one of the old and influential families of Georgia, which state has ever been his home. He was born in Athens, Clarke county, Ga., Aug. 12, 1832, a son of Junius and J...

I still sometimes get surprised by what trying to tell tales of tombstones can uncover. Yesterday, I was interested in John Redfiern (or Redfearn, and later Redfern) of Washington County, Georgia mainly for the way he pronounced and spelled his surname. Then I discovered – thanks to Joy Smith and her public family tree – this nugget from Washington County, Georgia Tombstone Inscriptions (pub. 1967) compiled by Elizabeth Pritchard Newsom. It was under the heading of "A Strange Headmarker." The second was a strange but enduring object used as a headstone to mark a grave. It was a glazed piece of turned clay pottery shaped like a bell jar, about sixteen to eighteen inches tall and nine to ten inches in diameter at the base. Near the base the sides flared into a slight lip or flange, and this, covered with earth, gave it great stability. The domed top offered the greatest possible resistance to breakage from falling trees and limbs which damage many slabs and monuments. The bot...

Trammell Starr was, by nearly all accounts, a well-respected citizen of North Georgia.  He was a lawyer and held political office, representing Whitfield County beginning in 1894. But there's also this proposed smear that created headlines across the country in the last month of 1894: Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 15 December 1894 - pg. 1 [via GenealogyBank ] A LURID TALE. A Witness States, Under Oath, That a Ku Klux Society Flourishes in Georgia at the Present Time. Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 14. – In the trial of the Whitfield county whitecappers in the United States court today, evidence of a highly sensational character was given by one of the witnesses.  The case on trial is that of the United States against C. C. Brown, Berry Turner and W. B. Callahan.  The witness who furnished the sensation was C. F. Ogles, a well known citizen of Tilton. Mr. Ogles…said that in the spring of 1892 he met with a crowd of men in an old barn at Tilton to form an organization for mutual pro...

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (I Peter 1:18-19) What's more valuable than silver or gold? A pure and innocent child, without spot or blemish. That's why lambs are in cemeteries.  To represent the innocence and purity of those little lives lost. Proof that Mary had a Little Lamb. (Yep.  I had to go there.) In a cemetery located in southern middle Georgia, the city of Perry, is a tombstone placed for "Little Sissie" – Mary Derrille Culler.  She was a daughter of Dr. & M. S. Culler, who died at the age of just 1 year and 9 months.  The lamb sculpted and placed atop her stone is one of the most lifelike I have ever seen. A tidbit of religious history I found interesting was with Douglas Keister's entry for the Lamb in his book, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography (2004).  He wro...

I haven't written about symbols in the cemetery in quite some time.  Today, I'm highlighting the anchor . In addition to the "heavy object attached to a rope or chain used to moor a vessel to the sea bottom" definition for the word anchor, a dictionary offers this: … a person or thing that can be relied on for support, stability, or security; mainstay. … to keep hold or be firmly fixed. Unless there is an obvious naval or nautical connection, an anchor in the cemetery generally represents hope .  This symbol can be traced back to the Bible  and Hebrews 6:19 -- Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Matthew Henry provided the following commentary on the anchor as a symbol of hope, Biblically speaking: What use the people of God should make of their hope and comfort, that most refreshing and comfortable hope of eternal blessedness that God has given them…We are in this world as a ship at sea...

Most people 'round me call an entrance to a cemetery just that.  An entrance.  Entryway.  Gate or gateway.  Maybe archway, if that applies.  If trying to be more specific, the term lichgate might be used.  Also spelled lychgate , or even as two separate words (lych gate) , the first part is an Old English word for corpse. The humble gate, by itself, has Christian funerary typology.  Douglas Keister, in his book Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography , writes: …gates represent the passage from one realm to the next.  In scenes of the Last Judgement, gates are always central in the picture.  Often Christ is seen breaking through these dividing barriers between the damned and the righteous. A "true" lichgate (example pictured at right) is defined as "a roofed gateway to a churchyard, formerly used during burials for sheltering a coffin until the clergyman's arrival." It also covered pall-bearers waiting on the bie...

Capt. Robert H. Anderson 9th U.S. Infantry Died Manila, Philippine Islands November 7th, 1901 1861 - 1901 STEADFAST CAPT. ANDERSON DEAD. Died of Pneumonia at Mobile -- Was Appointed From Georgia. Washington, Nov. 7 -- A cablegram received at the war department today from General Chaffee, at Manila, announces the death from pneumonia of Captain Robert H. Anderson, of the 9th infantry. Captain Anderson was appointed to the army in 1884 from civil life, being credited to Georgia. Savannah, Ga., Nov. 7 -- Captain Robert H. Anderson, of the Ninth regular infantry, was born in this city in 1861. His father was General Robert H. Anderson, of the Confederate army, and for many years chief of police of Savannah. Young Anderson was appointed a second lieutenant in the army by President Arthur, in 1884. He served gallantly in Cuba, and afterwards in China and the Philippines. His family connection in this section are extensive and prominent. He leaves a widow and two children...

I posted briefly about the first of this series about four months ago . Since then, I have finished the entire 3.5 book saga. My conclusion? They're great reads. I've heard tell that there are possibly more on the way, and I for one hope that rumor is true. Here's what I posted about book 1 of the Graveyard Queen series back in May: First in the "Graveyard Queen" series is entitled The Restorer by Amanda Stevens. This read is a work of fiction about a cemetery restorer, Amelia, that finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation in the well-known southern city of Charleston, South Carolina. There actually are mentions and descriptions of cemetery art and symbolism. The main character also has the fortune / misfortune of seeing ghosts. A good combination of criminal minds, local history (some fictional), and paranormal activity, all set in a southern cemetery, with a little bit of romantic tension thrown in for good measure. What more can you ask...

Though I don't always make time for it, I really do enjoy reading for fun. Mom gave me a Kindle a couple of Christmases ago, and I've been trying to use it faithfully to get more reading done. My most recent book completions have been cemetery related. The first, Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves by China Galland, is a bit of a documentary type read. It's about a woman (the author) who tries to bring attention to and save African American cemeteries, specifically the cemetery called Love in Harrison County, Texas. It's shameful to admit, but this book sat on my to-read list for about four years! A line from an official blurb about the book sums it up nicely: "...Galland's subsequent effort to help restore just one of these cemeteries — Love Cemetery — unearths a quintessential American story of prejudice, land theft, and environmental destruction, uncovering racial wounds that are slow to heal..." The author recruits a group ...

Laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery at Asheville, North Carolina are members of the Colonel Stephen Lee family. Transcription of the obelisk topped tombstone: Mrs. Caroline Lee Died Dec 18th, 1855 Age 48 Years Caroline Lee Died Aug 10th, 1857 Age 21 Years Emily K. Lee Died June 15th, 1893 Age 62 Years In Memory Of Col. Chas C., Thomas, Stephen, and Joseph. Sons of Stephen & Caroline Lee, Who Died In The Southern Cause. Blessed Are The Dead Who Die In The Lord. In Memory Of Col. Stephen Lee Born in Charleston, SC June 7th, 1801 Died in Asheville, NC Aug 2nd, 1879 Here is what the Riverside Cemetery Walking Tour has to say about Col. Stephen Lee: "Colonel Stephen Lee, a distant relative of General Robert E. Lee, left Charleston to open a school in Asheville in 1846. His school, known as 'Lee's Select School for Boys' became famous across the south for its discipline and curriculum. He spent his entire life teaching at his school except for...

I just received my Association for Gravestone Studies newsletter and am delighted to find out that all back issues of the Markers journal have been digitized and put online. Here's the blurb from the newsletter: " Back issues of Markers available online As part of AGS's partnership with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst to house the AGS Archives, the University has digitized all back issues of Markers and made them available online. Here is the link: http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/umarmot/?p=991 " Also wanted to let you know I am working on getting the Bussey Family Cemetery online. This cemetery is located in Talbot County, Georgia. Here's a direct link to the work in progress -- Bussey Family Cemetery . A transcription is also available in the USGenWeb Archives. It was recorded in 1972. My transcriptions were completed last year, so some new burials are included.

World Vital Records has recently added the Unpublished Roll of Honor by Mark Hughes to its subscription site. This book is an addition to the 27 volume Roll of Honor (link leads to Nos. I - VI) compiled by the U.S. Quartermaster's Department 1865-1871. The first compilation was "a listing of the names of over 300,000 Union soldiers buried in national cemeteries, garrison cemeteries, soldiers' lots, and private graveyards, more than two-thirds of the men having been disinterred from their original burial sites on or near the various battlefields." [Description on Genealogical.com website.] The Unpublished Roll of Honor includes "records of national cemeteries omitted from the original series, records of headstone requests (often for soldiers who were buried in private cemeteries), and records of post cemeteries that eluded the original compilers. All told, something like 8,500 men are listed here with (usually) their rank, company, and unit. The data is arrange...

I recently purchased the book, Forever Dixie: A Field Guide to Southern Cemeteries & Their Residents , by Douglas Keister, and I've been enjoying the read. One of the cemeteries profiled is Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana. Within this article was mention of the Walker Mausoleum. Here is where I learned of Mr. Charles A. Orleans: Monument designer and contractor Charles A. Orleans (1839 - 1923) came to New Orleans in 1878 following a string of business failures in the building trade in Chicago, New York, and Paris. Almost immediately after his arrival in New Orleans, he turned to the business of building tombs and monuments...By 1894, he claimed in an advertisement that he had erected three-fourths of the principal granite vaults and monuments in New Orleans during the previous sixteen years. I became interested and searched online, hoping to find more examples of his work. I didn't find much. What is most oftened cited as the work of Mr. Orleans is the fire...

I have not yet read this book, but the story sounded so interesting. I thought I'd go ahead and post it: Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves "By the eve of the Civil War, there were four million slaves in North America, and Harrison County was the largest slave-owning county in Texas. So when China Galland returned to research her family history there, it should not have surprised her to learn of unmarked cemeteries for slaves. ''My daddy never let anybody plow this end of the field,'' a local matron told a startled Galland during a visit to her antebellum mansion. ''The slaves are buried there.'' Galland's subsequent effort to help restore just one of these cemeteries—Love Cemetery—unearths a quintessential American story of prejudice, land theft, and environmental destruction, uncovering racial wounds that are slow to heal. Galland gathers an interracial group of local religious leaders and laypeople to work on restorin...