Southern Graves

Milford Wriarson Howard was born 18 December 1862 in Floyd County, Georgia to Stephen O. and Martha Maddry Howard. He was the eldest of six children born to the couple. The family was quite poor, and Milford was put to work by age 11. Consequently, he had very little formal education. Nonetheless, at the age of 18, Milford began to study law and was admitted to the Georgia bar about a year later. He then moved to Fort Payne, Alabama to start a practice. It was there he met and married Sarah "Sallie" Lankford. Some years later, in 1894 and again in 1896, Milford was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He declined to run again in 1898 and instead turned his sights to more creative projects. By 1920, Milford and family were in Los Angeles, California. He wrote a story titled The Bishop of the Ozarks , and it was made into a silent film in 1923. Milford played a starring role. Sallie Lankford Howard died of cancer in 1925 and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park ...

It's part of a world-wide living, breathing Holocaust Memorial dedicated to the 1.5 million children who perished as a result.  Fittingly, the 600 daffodils were planted beside a playground in the downtown city park, in the shadow of the Fannin County courthouse. THE DAFFODIL PROJECT Resilient, bright and filled with hope.  These daffodils are a part of the world-wide living Holocaust Memorial that aspires to plant 1.5 million daffodils in memory of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust and for children who suffer in humanitarian crises around the world today. "How can a person…not be moved by compassion? And above all how can anyone who remembers remain silent?" - Elie Wiesel Dedicated on this 10th day of November, 2013 By the citizens of Blue Ridge, Fannin Co. Why the Daffodil? The official project website explains why the daffodil was chosen: The shape and color of the daffodils represent the Yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear during t...

As mentioned in my previous post about the Cotting-Burke mausoleum at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, there once was a temporary resident housed there.  That person was none other than former congressman, former vice-president of the Confederacy, and Georgia governor, Alexander Hamilton Stephens. Alexander H. Stephens was born 11 February 1812 in Crawfordville, Georgia.  He is often described as small and sickly.  In fact, in 1843, at the age of 31, he only weighed 96 pounds.  But he had a boldness about him that could not be denied.  Famed Georgia historian, Lucian Lamar Knight, noted Mr. Stephens as being " game to the core ." I think it's safe to say Alexander Stephens was a much beloved citizen of Georgia.  Upon his death in March of 1883, it is estimated that approximately 25,000 people lined the roadways and followed his funeral procession to Oakland Cemetery. Per Lucian Lamar Knight in Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends : The funeral ...

I'm a military brat , and proud of it. The military brats subculture has emerged over the last 200 years.  The age of the phenomenon has meant military brats have also been described by a number of researchers as one of the America's oldest and yet least well-known and largely invisible subcultures.  They have also been described as a "modern nomadic subculture".  [ Wikipedia ] My two grandfathers, Asa Logue (left) and B. J. Lincecum, and my father.  Not pictured is my maternal grandmother.  She also served.  All saw war, though not all saw front-line combat. I never considered myself as part of a subculture , but I suppose it's true.  Being America's oldest subculture makes sense, as the United States Army turns 241 today.  Since America' birthday is considered to be 4 July 1776, the United States Army is actually a year older than the country. And though I did not plan to include this sentiment when I first decided to write this post, here it ...

Gibraltar Cross of Sacrifice : "In Glorious Memory Of Those Who Died For The Empire." Photos taken by my grandfather, Billy Joe Lincecum, approximately sixty years ago.  Captions are a transcription of those he penned. A War Memorial on Gibraltar with the Rock in the background. The view that is famous.

The Appalachian Highway runs right through Blue Ridge, Georgia – a town we moved to just a few short months ago.  I learned about the Memorial Day Ceremony happening at Veterans Memorial Park, just two turns off said highway, only yesterday, and was excited to attend. I went a bit before it started, though, and visited the city park in downtown Blue Ridge.  I remembered a monument to the veterans of Fannin County was there, too, and I wanted to get an image for you. In grateful recognition of the gallant service and supreme sacrifice of these soldiers of Fannin County in the World War, this monument is erected by the people of Fannin County. The monument was originally dedicated 21 October 1937.  Later, soldiers from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam were also honored here. In grateful tribute to the soldiers from Fannin County who gave their lives in World War II and Korean War. "Who saves his country saves himself, saves all things, and all things saved do bless h...

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...

3,000 Confederate dead representing every southern state are buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia. The cemetery was first established for soldiers killed in an 1863 railroad collision that occurred north of Marietta. It grew to hold the remains of soldiers from nearby battlefields. Some were even collected after the war ended. [Source: historical and information markers at cemetery.] A monument to these Confederate dead was dedicated in July of 1908. Lucian Lamar Knight in Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends (pub. 1914) states: "Fourteen little girls, representing various States whose soldiers were sleeping in the sacred area around the monument unveiled the shaft and revealed the finished work of the artist, while the great throng gazed upon the scene in mute admiration." The south side of the monument bears this inscription, in raised letters: "To Our Confederate Dead. Erected and Dedicated, By Kennesaw Chapter,...

As this previous post suggests, I have been participating in my own personal scanfest of late. Since March of this year, I have uploaded 7.7 GB to my cloud drive. That's 4,430 images and 25 videos. (Some of the files came from my digital camera, to be fair.) If only I were close to being caught up! I have been curious for years about one of the photos I scanned just this morning. It's a picture of me, on a rainy day, standing in front of some sort of monument / memorial. I think I was about 8 or so years old. All I knew for sure is we were in Europe. (I so stink at geography.) I searched images online using characteristics seen in the photo: "American monument shaped like a star" (or something to that effect). I tried to place it in France first, but got close enough to find the truth with Germany, I think. Anyway. I discovered I was standing (in my yellow slicker, no less!) in front of the Mardasson Memorial. Check me out: The Mardasson Memoria...

Yesterday, I shared with you a couple of photos and information regarding the monument to General Nathanael Greene in Savannah, Georgia. That monument, more than 70 years after it was originally raised, became a tombstone for General Greene and his son. Did the same thing happen with the monument to Count Pulaski? Though originally planned for Chippewa Square, the cornerstone for the monument to Casimir Pulaski was relaid in Savannah's Monterey Square in 1853, with the finished product being dedicated a couple of years later. From Lucian Lamar Knight's Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends : "...It is fifty feet in height; a column of solid marble resting on a base of granite and surmounted by a statue of the goddess of liberty, holding a wreath in her outstretched hand..." The Goddess of Liberty atop the Pulaski Monument Photo © 2010-2013 S. Lincecum "...On each of the four corners of the base is chiseled an inverted cannon, emblematic ...

Along the outer wall that parallels Memorial Drive SE in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery is a historical marker that tells the story of the final result of the acts of seven of Andrews Raiders, as well as James J. Andrews himself: Photo by S. Lincecum "280 feet south of this location on June 18, 1862, seven of the Union Army's brave Andrews Raiders were hanged and buried. On April 12, 1862, 22 Andrews Raiders seized The General, a tender and three boxcars at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and raced toward Chattanooga on the Western & Atlantic Railroad in an effort to burn bridges and otherwise dismember a supply artery vital to the Confederacy. They had covered 87 miles when The General was overtaken by valiant pursuers led by Conductor Fuller. Of the Raiders, only these seven plus James J. Andrews, their leader, were executed by the Confederate Army. In 1866, remains of the seven were exhumed from this location and reinterred at the National Cemetery at Chattanooga. A...

View from the upper walkway near memorial. When visiting Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia, one of the things you can do is walk around an upper deck that circles the fort on the interior. There are several cannons strategically placed, giving you an idea as to how things were during the early part of the Civil War before the surrender to Federal troops. Along the walkway, I saw this plaque: This memorial commemorates the act of Lieutenant Christopher Hussey of the Montgomery Guards and Private John Latham of the Washington Volunteers, the first volunteer regiment of the state of Georgia. While under fire during the bombardment of April 11, 1862, they recovered the Confederate colors which had been shot down and raised the flag on this parapet. Subsequent research lead me to the Historical Record of the City of Savannah (pub. 1869). Page 85 gives a bit more detail about the incident described above: The asterisk by Lt. Hussey's name lead to this: Entry...

Deep Cut at Allatoona Pass The Civil War Battle of Allatoona Pass in Bartow County, Georgia was fought in October 1864. I visited this battlefield last year and was amazed at how little seemingly had changed in the almost 150 years since the fighting. Visible still were earthworks, trenches, wagon roads, and the massive deep cut through which the railroad once passed. I posted a bit of information and photos at the Peachy Past blog . The casualties from the war, including both sides, numbered over 1,500 dead. Several soldiers were buried where they fell, unknown to this day. One marker in front of the 1838 Clayton-Mooney House memorializes 21 unknown Confederates. For many years, one solitary grave was marked in the deep cut as an unknown hero. The Western & Atlantic Railroad employees maintained the grave for quite some time. And Georgia Governor Joseph M. Brown, who supposedly often visited the Allatoona Pass, was inspired to write a poem about the unknown soldier...

"The monument to the 'Unknown Confederate Dead' marks the final resting place of approximately 3,000 unknown Confederate soldiers who died during the Atlanta campaign in 1864. In 1869, the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association had the 'battlefield dead' soldiers that had been buried in hastily-dug trenches near the battlefields brought to Oakland [cemetery] and independently reinterred in the square guarded by the Lion of Atlanta... ...The Lion is carved from marble supplied by the Georgia Marble Company of Tate, Georgia. The monument weighs 30,000 pounds and was carved from the largest block of marble ever quarried in America until that time (1894)... The figure represents a lion that has received its death wound, and in his agony he is grasping and attempting to draw towards him the battle flag of the Confederacy." 1 The sculptor was T. M. Brady of Canton, Georgia. He was inspired by a suggestion that the monument emulate the Lion of Lucerne . In to...

As mentioned yesterday, this sundial and bench are located in the Fairview Memorial Garden at Fairview Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia. The sundial tells us to "count none but sunny hours," and has an image of a winged hourglass . On the bench is another sentiment to ponder: You Who Would Learn Death's Secrets 'Ere You Go, May Probe And Probe But Yet You Cannot Know. So Pause And On This Dial Cast An Eye To Watch The Shadows As They Come And Go. For This It Means: A Clan Will Soon Be Gone, Who All Thru Life To Old Fairview Was Drawn, They Pass Like Shadows As The Sun Moves On, And One By One Comes Back To Rest Here-On.