Southern Graves

[This was originally posted at the Peachy Past blog . I thought it might be of interest to Southern Graves readers.] S carcely a vestige today survives in the way of a memorial to tell of the brief sojourn in this State of the pious Moravians.  But the early annals of Georgia are too fragrant with the memories of this sweet-spirited sect to justify any omission of them in this historical retrospect…The missionary activities of the Moravians among the Georgia Indians were successful in a marked degree; and, with little opposition from the red men of the forest, who learned to trust them with implicit confidence, they penetrated far into the Blue Ridge Mountains and established at Spring Place, in what is now Murray County, a mission which exerted a powerful influence among the native tribes, converting not a few chiefs and warriors, and continuing to flourish down to the final deportation of the Cherokees, in 1838… [Georgia historian, Lucian Lamar Knight, abt 1914] A couple of in...

This is a symbol I don't think has been profiled here before.  I came across it just yesterday when visiting Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery in Blue Ridge, Fannin County, Georgia. Elizebeth Puckett Born July 10, 1884 Died June 26, 1952 Grandma We Love You Always This symbol is recognized as an emblem of belief available for placement on U.S. government headstones and markers. According to Wikipedia , "The Native American Church (NAC)…is a Native American religion characterized by mixed traditional as well as Protestant beliefs and by sacramental use of entheogen peyote.  The religion originated in…Oklahoma in the late nineteenth century after peyote was introduced to the southern Great Plains from Mexico.  Today it is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the United States, Canada, and Mexico…" Furthermore, "[a]n entheogen is a chemical substance used in religious context that often induces psychological or physiological c...

Though very befitting, this tombstone was my first depicting this well-known image. The original, sculpted in plaster, was created by James Fraser. According to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma, which holds the seventeen foot tall piece, "James Earle Fraser grew up on the plains in Mitchell, South Dakota. There he had unique encounters with pioneers, hunters and fur trappers, and he befriended many of the Plains Natives. He often heard stories about the "doomed fate" of the Native people and sympathized with their suffering as westward expansion threatened to consume their lands." (Read more here .) The End of the Trail BEN F. PERRY, JR. 1883 - 1933 Oakland Cemetery at Atlanta, Georgia Photo © 2011/2 S. Lincecum

Sorry for the delay in posting the latest popular posts. The weather is starting to cool, and I am out and about more than usual in recent months. As a reminder, the most popular posts over the life of this blog (according to Blogger stats) are in the right sidebar. I believe readers have found this feature useful, since some of the most viewed posts over the last thirty days can also be found in that list. I sincerely appreciate all of you looking around for more content. I have almost 500 posts you can wade through. :-) Back to the current "most popular" list: - Undertakers, Coffins, & Furniture - Southern Cross of Honor - FamilySearch Indexing Find for Saturday Soldier: Charles Stevenson - William Weekley Drowned in the San Diego Bay (& My First Experience as a FamilySearch Indexer) - In Hoc Signo Vinces: the Knights Templar - Funeral Mound of the Mississippians - Love, Life, and Truth - More than 100 Photos from Evergreen Cemetery Now Onli...

[This was originally written for the Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal and posted there last week. I'm hoping a repost here will provide some additional exposure for the Ocmulgee National Monument for readers who may have missed it.] Take a look at this photo: Archeologists estimate this mound that appears to be just dirt and grass contains about 100 human remains. It is a funeral mound of the Muscogee (Creek) Native Americans that settled along the Ocmulgee River more than one thousand years ago in what is today Macon, Georgia. This mound and several others are located within the boundaries of protected lands known as the Ocmulgee National Monument. It is estimated that people have lived in the Macon area for thousands of years, dating back to the Ice Age. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on a much later era. The “Mississippian Period” approximately dates from the year 900 to 1650. At the earliest it was a new way of life on the Macon Plateau, believed...

Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County Mississippi alerted many of us to this story. I'm passing it along with very few words to add. I simply cannot believe how greedy, disrespectful, and callous all persons involved in the decision-making process for this destruction of local, state, regional and cultural history can be. As Terry said, "Read it and weep." Oxford, Alabama Destroying A 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound To Build A Sam's Club