Southern Graves

2014 was a bit rough. I lost three grandparents and an uncle. It started in January with the death of my paternal grandmother Betty Sue Campbell Lincecum, and ended in November with the death of her husband (and my paternal grandfather) Billy Joe Lincecum. About March of this year, I was blessed to receive several photo albums, artifacts, and Lincecum genealogy research files. These treasures were most likely put together by Grandpa, and I appreciate my dad and his sister for trusting me with them. One of the first albums I began to digitize was labeled as " ? - 1954 " and has a Pepperrell A.F.B. cover: Along with many, many photos of my grandparents, their friends, and my father at just a couple months old, was this image: Knowing it was likely a memorial of some kind, I thought it would be perfect to write about in this space. A quick Google search revealed this as the National War Memorial of Newfoundland , a post World War I monument built before Newfoundla...

A couple of days ago, I put in a photo request at FindAGrave to help adorn the memorial of Dr. Addison L. Lincecum. This Dr. Lincecum, my third cousin, died almost 48 years ago. He was a son of Lucullus Lincecum and Fanny Rainwater, as well as a husband to Letha Gandy. Per his death certificate , Addison's last residence was at Gandy Bend in Lavaca County, Texas. This was the old homeplace of the Gandy family, Letha Gandy being the last to live there. Addison's death certificate also states he was buried in the Gandy Bend Cemetery. I would like to visit some day, but in lieu of that visit, I'm happy to have come across a newspaper article describing the location -- not only the old home, which is not an uncommon write-up to find, but also the old cemetery. Vignettes of Old Victoria : Gandy Bend Landmark by Sidney R. Weisiger was published in the 23 April 1972 Victoria Advocate (Texas). The author gives a nice description of the land and home at Gandy Bend, and ...

A couple of months ago, I posted about the death of my 4th cousin, L. B. Lincecum, who was killed by 33,000 volts of electricity . At the time I had newly requested a photo of his burial site via FindAGrave, and today, contributor Lewis Bean fulfilled my request. **Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!** After viewing the image of Buster's tombstone, I sighed with a bit of sadness and disappointment. See that empty oval to the left of his name? I'm 99.9% sure it once contained a photo of dear cousin L. B...and the genealogy roller coaster took me for another ride. L. B. (Buster) Son of L. G. Lincecum Jan 5, 1906 Jan 10, 1930 Columbia Cemetery West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas Photo contributed by Lewis Bean via FindAGrave.

I recently signed up for Newspapers.com and was pleased with the number of results listed after my usual "test" search of LINCECUM. One of the first entries I read was an item about the death of my 4th cousin Lucullus B. Lincecum: Newspapers.com Clipping " BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS FAIL TO OFFSET VOLTS Harlingen, Texas, Jan. 10 -- Two blood transfusions failed to save the life of L. B. Lincecum, 25, of San Benito, who died here at 2:30 this afternoon from the results of an electrical shock, from a 33,000-volt line. The young man was employed by the Central Power and Light Company, and suffered the injury Dec. 29, near Sebastian, where he came in contact with a high line carrying more voltage than used in death chairs. Lincecum was on the cross arm of a pole, and his head touched the line, while he held a wire going to the ground. R. A. Ewing of the power department of the Central Power and Light Company, with which Lincecum was employed, gave a pint of blood in a t...

[I decided to celebrate Freethinkers Day by bringing up a post I wrote a couple of years ago for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. It's about a freethinker in my own family, Gideon Lincecum.] Every family has at least one -- the radical, the revolutionary, the trailblazer, the pioneer, the free-thinker. In my family, the most documented individual these words describe is Gideon Lincecum. Gideon (1793-1874) was my first cousin, seven times removed, and he's the closest thing I have to a directly connected celebrity. [That is, if you don't count Tim Lincecum, famed pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. While I'm sure we are at least cousins, I can't yet prove it.] Much has been written about the life of Gideon Lincecum. Google him and see for yourself. A Wikipedia article begins this way: "Gideon Lincecum was an American pioneer, historian, physician, philosopher, and naturalist. Lincecum is known for his exploration and settlement of...

I first learned of a recently added database at Ancestry.com - U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 - from Valerie at Begin with 'Craft' . I have at least a couple of ancestors buried in military cemeteries, so I tested the search with my surname of Lincecum. Only one hit was returned, but it was an expected one -- Val Dies Lincecum II at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas. Val Dies Lincecum, Jr. was a son of Val Dies Lincecum and Mary Elizabeth Murray. Val, Jr. was born 29 July 1912 and died 21 December 1957. The report of interment included the same birth and death information I had. A big plus for me was seeing the first name of Val, Jr.'s wife, Ina Marie. Even though I had his death certificate, this was news to me. His death certificate only stated he was married, offering no names, and the informant was listed as "Official Records, Brooke Army Hospital, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas" (his place of death). Something I found a b...