Southern Graves

Five counties in northeast Georgia—Madison, Elbert, Oglethorpe, Oconee, and Clarke—were the entire world for three generations of the Eberhart family. Landscapes ranged from deep rural isolation to a bustling, rail-connected, manufacturing mecca. The more than three decades between the birth of John Eberhart, about 1841, and that of his son Stokely (Stokes) in 1878 were a whirlwind. The railroad arrived—bringing the outside world with it; the Civil War emancipated, devastated, and nearly starved; and Reconstruction came and went. Stokes probably thought the stories he heard about the gains African Americans made shortly after the Civil War were tall tales and not to be believed. Just months before he was born, Georgia adopted a new state constitution that instituted a poll tax used to disenfranchise Black voters. The lives of Stokes and his children, including a son named John Lee, were defined by a complex navigation of agrarian labor and the rigid, often violent, social codes of the ...

Behind the Greene County courthouse in Greensboro, Georgia, stands an old rock jail. It was built in 1807 and remained in use until about 1895. From the historical marker beside it: "Built of granite about two feet thick, it is two stories in height and has a trap door in the floor of the upper story where condemned prisoners were hanged. An iron bar supported the trap door. When the signal was given, the hangman pulled the lever that controlled the bar and the culprit was launched into eternity." I recently read a 2019 story by Tyler Wilkins in the Lake Oconee News  (Georgia) about the old gaol , and was surprised to learn only one documented execution took place there. Here's how the Atlanta Weekly Constitution  covered it on 4 November 1873: Quick PSA : Since most newspapers of the time were white-owned and reflected racist views, they were biased. So please question and treat with great caution the papers' descriptions of the alleged crimes, victims, and perp...

Standing on the hallowed ground, merely a visitor scanning the stones, I rarely know what befell the remains buried below. Until I do the research. And even though I've researched many lives, I'm always startled when I learn someone met a violent end. Today, that someone is G. Matthew Bulloch. Atlanta Constitution  (Georgia) Saturday, 27 June 1908 - Page 9 CORDELE MAN WAS STABBED Prominent Business Man Stabbed to Death in Thomas County. Cordele, Ga., June 26 -- (Special.) -- G. M. Bulloch, one of Cordele's most prominent business men, was stabbed to death this morning about 9 o'clock at Ochlochnee, Thomas county, by Jim Thompson. From the best information obtainable, the two men had a few words concerning a land trade between Bulloch's father and Thompson's brother, whereupon it is said Thompson stabbed Bulloch in the heart, killing him instantly. Thompson has been placed in jail at Thomasville. A party of Bulloch's friends left at once for the scene of th...

**Caution: this post may not be for the faint of heart; possible controversial topic ahead.** Alfred Cranford (1871-1899) Photo by Sharon Kadlick via FindAGrave The funeral of Alfred Cranford was held today. His wife stood by his grave, but showed no sign of emotion. It is feared that her mind has become unbalanced as a result of the terrible ordeal she has just passed through,... ["Palmetto Citizens In Arms",  Augusta Chronicle (Georgia), 15 April 1899, pg. 1] Alfred was buried at the Cranford Family Cemetery in Newnan, Coweta County, Georgia. His cause of death was murder by axe, and the act was perpetrated in front of his wife and children. Witnesses placed blame on Sam Hose, and the infamous manhunt resulting in a horrific lynching commenced. ANOTHER HORROR AT PALMETTO Alfred Cranford, Murdered By Negro Brute and Wife Assaulted. FELLED HUSBAND WITH AXE. Both Crimes Committed in Presence of Four Small Children -- Brute Ran From House and Made His Esca...