Southern Graves

Several days ago, I concluded a short run of posts about Anthony Murphy , a man who figured prominently on the Confederate side of the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. That same day, over at the Rose Hill Cemetery blog, I posted about Peter Bracken , another prominent figure in the chase. Since it seems I have a little theme running here, I'll now share with you the burial site of Jeff Cain, engineer of the famed General seized by Andrews Raiders. Jeff Cain (1827-1897) Photo © 2013 S. Lincecum Jeff Cain, as does Anthony Murphy, rests in Atlanta's Oakland cemetery. He actually isn't far from yet another famous interment, golfer Bobby Jones. The back of Mr. Cain's tombstone gives a rendition of his role in the chase, though it is somewhat misleading: Jeff Cain. The historic engineer of the W. & A. R. R. manned the famous General on the thrilling wartime run. It was he who drove the locomotive in the historic chase of the Andrews raders May 12, 1862. Here...

Anthony Murphy TWO SONS SLIGHTED IN MURPHY'S WILL ...was the headline that ran in the Macon Telegraph (Georgia) little more than a month after the death of 80 year old Confederate veteran and builder of Atlanta, Anthony Murphy . The short article continues: Widow and Other Son Divide an Estate of Half a Million in Value. ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 2. -- The will of the late Anthony J. Murphy, famous as one of the captors of the Andrews Raiders in 1862, was admitted to probate in Ordinary Wilkinson's court this afternoon. It disclosed the fact that two of the sons were cut off with only $2,000 each, which they lose if they contest the will. The estate, which is valued at $500,000, is divided equally between the widow, three daughters and a third son, Charles Murphy. Wait! Wasn't there another son? An article in the Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) goes into a bit more detail. The will of Anthony Murphy, Atlanta's pioneer citizen who recently died, was recorded ye...

On the morning of 29 December 1909, much of the east coast of the United States woke up to find this on the front page of their newspaper: ANTHONY MURPHY DEAD. From the Tampa Tribune (Florida), all over the state of Georgia, to the Charleston News and Courier (South Carolina), and even up to the Washington Post (District of Columbia) -- Most ran the same general obituary, but some had a nuance or two. Each and every one described Mr. Murphy's participation in the Great Locomotive Chase to some degree. The Macon Telegraph (Georgia) added that Murphy was a builder of Atlanta and that he left a fortune estimated at between two and three hundred thousand dollars. Died Wealthy was part of the headline in the Augusta Chronicle (Georgia). It stated, "The war left Murphy penniless, but he set out to work again cheerfully and when he died, had amassed a fortune of half a million dollars in the saw mill and lumber business." The Charleston News and Courier (Sou...

Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA © 2013 S. Lincecum Anthony Murphy's claim to fame is most likely his participation in the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. Yet he was alive for more than 29,200 days, and that was literally just one of them. From Memoirs of Georgia (Southern Historical Association, 1895): Anthony Murphy, capitalist, Atlanta, Ga., son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Keyes) Murphy, was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, Nov. 6, 1829. [Tombstone says Nov. 29.] ...They emigrated to the United States in 1838, and settled first in Schuylkill county, Pa...Anthony was nine years of age when his parents emigrated to this country; he lived with them until he was eighteen years of age, and was educated at the public schools. At the age mentioned he went to Trenton, N.J., where he was apprenticed to the machinist's trade. After serving three years he went to Piermont, N.Y., worked there a year in the Erie railway shops, and then went to the Pittsburgh (Pa.) shops, where he wo...