Southern Graves

The Helen Hunt episode of Who Do You Think You Are? did not take us to any deep south locales, but I won't hold that against her. I think a mention on this blog is still well deserved. Since the episode aired, I have read some criticisms -- the show was boring, all Ms. Hunt did was mumble, and her reactions were too subdued (to name a few). Conversely, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I like that there were a lot of questions her father could not answer -- how many times has that happened to us "real folk?" I like that Ms. Hunt had felt connections to places in the past but didn't know why, and was now learning those connections were real and tangible. She even mentioned she felt as though little pieces inside her were "waking up." George S. Hunt (1829-1896) Augusta M. Hunt (1842-1932) Evergreen Cemetery Portland, Maine Photo by timcdfw via FindAGrave The women's history lessons learned were awesome. I like how Ms. Hunt had a certai...

In March of 1875, at least three tornadoes touched 18 counties in the state of Georgia. In Harris county, at least six members of the Capt. John H. Kennon family were killed. They were laid to rest in the Waverly Hall cemetery. An account of the disaster in the 30 March 1875 Macon Weekly Telegraph says this: "...At Mt. Airy, the house of Capt. John Kennon was whirled around, and portions of it carried half a mile. Mrs. Kennon was killed with her two grown daughters, a son aged seventeen, a daughter of twelve, and a baby. Their bodies were scattered along the road for 50 to 150 yards, and everything else was gone. The bones of all were broken and they had received severe gashes..." Here is an additional article that describes more of the storm. I transcribed the whole article for those that might have genealogical interests. After this transcription is a link to even more articles from other newspapers detailing the destruction of the storms. Augusta Chronicle ...