Southern Graves

As I mentioned before, Hannah Dowis began giving birth to her family in 1891 at about the age of 16 years. She kept at that job for 27 years, ending with the birth and death of an infant son 27 October 1918. The first child to pass away was Susie Dowis, who was just days old, in 1894. More than 100 years later, the last child of Hannah's to reach adulthood would breathe her last breath. Photo by Jack Johnson via FindAGrave Lola Dowis Teague was born 1 January 1916, and she died 27 September 2001. Her final resting place is next to her husband in Memory Hill Cemetery at Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia. Lola's obituary was carried in the Macon Telegraph as well as the Atlanta Journal Constitution . She died in Macon at the age of 85. She was a native of Gwinnett County, but had lived in Milledgeville for many years. Her husband was the late James D. Teague, Jr. Lola was a retired Health & Physical Education teacher with Baldwin County High School. Sh...

One of the nineteen children of William and Hannah Dowis buried in the family plot at Duluth Church Cemetery in Gwinnett County, Georgia is their son John Victau. He was more commonly known as Victor or Vic Dowis, and he attended the Duluth Baptist Church as a young man. Victor died at the prime of life age of 30 years. In fact, his death came just over a month before his 31st birthday. He left behind a wife and children, including a daughter born just days before his death. I first found there was an interesting story surrounding the death of Victor with a simple search at Ancestry . Several user-submitted family trees mentioned a tale of murder and revenge. Most were telling the story from the "other" side, the side of the Simpson brothers. Both were victims of a traffic stop gone bad, at the hands of Victor Dowis. In 1922 Duluth, Georgia, Victor Dowis was a deputy sheriff. An article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (viewed online at Fold3 ) dated 21 Febru...

William Calvin Dowis (1861-1933) married Hannah Jane Burdett (1875-1927) and began their farming family in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1800s. By the early 1900s, they had moved a short distance north to Duluth in Gwinnett County, Georgia. There they continued to farm and attended the Baptist Church in town. Upon their deaths, William and Hannah were laid to rest under the trees in the Duluth Baptist Church cemetery. In the far corner of their southern-styled, gravel covered family plot is a large marble memorial standing taller than the rest. On it is a listing of all nineteen of the Dowis children. It seems Hannah started giving birth around the age of 16 and didn't stop until she was 43. Along with the children's names, their birth and death dates, as well as their burial locations are also recorded. It's a genealogist's dream discovery. The Children of William Calvin Dowis and Hannah Jane Burdett Solomon Dowis: b. 5/19/1891, d. 11/4/1967, bur. Westv...

Infants of W. C. & H. J. Dowis All three passed away just before the age of 3 months. The first two were twins. All were laid to rest at Duluth Church Cemetery in Gwinnett County, Georgia. As a reminder, the lamb symbolizes purity, innocence, and gentleness. It is one of the most common images found on infant gravestones. Burdett, Infant son of W. C. & H. J. Dowis Aug 31, 1910 Nov 17, 1910 Bertha, Infant daughter of W. C. & H. J. Dowis Aug 31, 1910 Nov 17, 1910 Calvin Jr. Son of W. C. & H. J. Dowis Sept 25, 1914 Dec 21, 1914 Suffer little children to come unto me. Stay tuned to learn more about the rest of the DOWIS children -- there are 16 more! Photo © 2010-2011 S. Lincecum.