Southern Graves

I still sometimes get surprised by what trying to tell tales of tombstones can uncover. Yesterday, I was interested in John Redfiern (or Redfearn, and later Redfern) of Washington County, Georgia mainly for the way he pronounced and spelled his surname. Then I discovered – thanks to Joy Smith and her public family tree – this nugget from Washington County, Georgia Tombstone Inscriptions (pub. 1967) compiled by Elizabeth Pritchard Newsom. It was under the heading of "A Strange Headmarker." The second was a strange but enduring object used as a headstone to mark a grave. It was a glazed piece of turned clay pottery shaped like a bell jar, about sixteen to eighteen inches tall and nine to ten inches in diameter at the base. Near the base the sides flared into a slight lip or flange, and this, covered with earth, gave it great stability. The domed top offered the greatest possible resistance to breakage from falling trees and limbs which damage many slabs and monuments. The bot...

Eliza S. Davis was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts 15 July 1808 and died in Macon, Georgia 3 January 1841. Just 32 years young. What is to blame for her untimely death? According to an obituary in the 5 January 1841 Macon Georgia Telegraph , "consumption" was the cause. In short, consumption used to be a common term for tuberculosis . This was because it seemed to consume people from within, with a long relentless symptom of "wasting away." According to the World Health Organization, when the disease becomes active, 75% of the cases are pulmonary TB, that is, TB in the lungs. Symptoms include chest pain, coughing up blood, and a productive, prolonged cough for more than three weeks. Systemic symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, appetite loss, weight loss, pallor, and fatigue. Mrs. Eliza S. Davis was laid to rest in the Old City Cemetery of Macon, Georgia. Her epitaph describes her as A good Wife, good Mother, good Daughter and good Christian . This...

I just received my Association for Gravestone Studies newsletter and am delighted to find out that all back issues of the Markers journal have been digitized and put online. Here's the blurb from the newsletter: " Back issues of Markers available online As part of AGS's partnership with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst to house the AGS Archives, the University has digitized all back issues of Markers and made them available online. Here is the link: http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/umarmot/?p=991 " Also wanted to let you know I am working on getting the Bussey Family Cemetery online. This cemetery is located in Talbot County, Georgia. Here's a direct link to the work in progress -- Bussey Family Cemetery . A transcription is also available in the USGenWeb Archives. It was recorded in 1972. My transcriptions were completed last year, so some new burials are included.

Mr. James Allen, with the help of Larry Childs, has completed a monumental task. Over 9,700 photos from Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia are now online. I know from experience the amount of time and energy that requires, and I personally thank these gentlemen for the effort. Researchers will be forever grateful for their hard work. See it here in the USGenWeb Archives .