Southern Graves

Pretty slimy sounding topic for the letter H , huh? Well, this blog is, in addition to the celebration of life, about death.  And the vile, viral hemorrhagic fever is what caused the death of then 27 year old Emmett B. Graham in October 1900.  A basic definition of this disease is as follows from the U. S. National Library of Medicine : Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a group of illnesses caused by four families of viruses. These include the Ebola and Marburg, Lassafever, and yellow fever viruses. VHFs have common features: they affect many organs, they damage the blood vessels, and they affect the body's ability to regulate itself. Emmett was a son of Judge John T. and Lucretia Graham.  Though young Mr. Graham was unmarried, he had numerous friends.  And he was respected enough at his place of business, that "the store was promptly closed on the announcement of his death." As you might imagine, a report of Emmett's death can be found in the local newspaper....

As promised, I have some more information about the Goodwins of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Goodwin Cemetery is located on Highway 120 in Duluth, GA. I fit a visit in last year while attending the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo. Since it is referred to as the Goodwin Cemetery, I tend to think this little silent city was begun for the Goodwin family. There are several other surnames to be found, however, and I do not know if they all connect to the Goodwins. There are African American burials as well as white, though they do appear to be segregated. According to the Gwinnett County Historical Society , the genesis of the Goodwin family in the area dates back to the late 1700s and Philadelphia: "Mary Ann Roach came to America in the late 1700s as a stowaway on an Irish freighter. In Philadelphia, she met and married John C. Goodwin who was also an Irish immigrant. Records from around 1800 show the couple living in Rutherford Co., NC and having 5 children. A son, Joseph, acqu...