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 ...

Edward W. Abernathy was born on 15 May 1887 in Appleton, Missouri, a village located along the south bank of Apple Creek, the boundary line between Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. Appleton Bridge, originally built in 1879, connects the two counties. We know E.W.'s birthplace thanks to his World War I draft registration. Edward's parents, Henderson William Abernathy and Rachel M. Hemrich, were residing in Apple Creek Township, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri seven years before his birth. A June 1900 U.S. Federal census record places the teenaged Edward in Salem Township, Perry County, Missouri. On 26 January 1909 in Perry County, Edward Abernathy married Mary L. Cox in Perry County. Mary was one of more than ten children born to Elizabeth Cotner and Rev. William Marion Cox. The younger couple would go on to have at least eight children of their own. Although we can be certain that the Abernathy family experienced times of joy and sorrow in every decade, the 1930s proved to be...

(AI Generated Image) On 1 April 1866 in Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas, 18-year-old Nannie Hawkins and 23-year-old Lafayette Abernathy welcomed baby Emma into the world. Nancy A. "Nannie" Hawkins was a daughter of Sarah and William A. Hawkins. Lafayette was one of at least eight children born to Emily and Alphonzo Abernathy (1809-1893). Emma Abernathy married Exile C. Eagleton (1863-1924), a native of Tennessee, on 1 January 1890 in Fannin County. He was a son of Mary Ethlinda "Ethie" Foute (1836-1917) and Rev. George Ewing Eagleton (1831-1899), both also from Tennessee. Emma and Exile had nine children over eighteen years: Nancy Ethie (1890-1973) Lafayette Ewing (1892-1918) Statire Jane (1893-1902) E. C. (1896-1974) Mary Ross (1897-1975) Marcus D. (1899-1966) Amelia Abernathy (1900-1979) Foute Wilson (1905-1984) Marvin Dunlap (1909-1969) City Hall, Ladonia, Tex. abt 1909. From DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University . The 1910 census notes Emma as the mother...

(Plainview Cemetery) Harry Joseph Abernathy was a man of the southeast Missouri soil whose life bridged two distinct eras. Born in the tiny hamlet of Shrum in Bollinger County, Harry belonged to a generation that witnessed their rural birthplaces fade from the map. Named for a local landowner, the hamlet was once a distinct community in Crooked Creek Township. However, like so many small Missouri towns, it fell victim to modernization; the Shrum post office, which had opened in 1900, was discontinued in 1937 as rural mail routes consolidated. Its closure shuttered the town's identity nearly fifty years before Harry himself passed away. As a farmer in the Ozark foothills, Harry was not merely an agriculturalist but a survivalist. Through the lean years of the Great Depression, his labor stood between his large family—spanning two marriages and at least six children—and the economic hardships of the times. As any lifelong farmer knows, the circle of life and death is a constant. Whet...

When Gladys Marie Campbell Abernathy died in early 1941, she was just 37 years old. On paper, her death certificate lists a "coronary occlusion" as the cause, but the location of her passing reveals a much more heartbreaking reality. Gladys died inside Missouri’s State Hospital No. 4 in Farmington, a facility for the mentally ill. While the official record cites a heart issue, the contributing cause—"Manic Depressive Psychosis"—hints that this young mother of six wasn't just battling a physical ailment, but likely suffering from what we now recognize as severe postpartum psychosis. Gladys's mother Hattie died on 8 June 1933, at the age of 49. Gladys was 29 at the time and had given birth to her fourth child just six months prior. To understand the sheer weight Gladys was carrying, consider that over the course of thirteen years, she bore six children. She seemingly never got a break from birthing and nursing. When the 1940 Federal Census was enumerated in Ap...

Manly W. Peacock, son of Albert, was born on 6 March 1877. Two of his brothers were Jefferson D. Peacock , mentioned previously in this space, and Zebulon Vance Peacock, a former mayor of Cochran in Bleckley County, Georgia. Upon his death in November 1903, Manly was buried in a family lot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Cochran. 📰 Framing the Tragedy: Yellow Journalism in 1903 Manly's death "caused much excitement" in cities and towns across the state. The sensationalized reports are perfect examples of the journalistic style prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often called "yellow journalism," this style prioritized sensationalism, drama, and circulation over strict factual accuracy, leading to the kind of contradictions and unverified claims you will see in these articles. Macon Telegraph (Georgia) Sunday, 8 November 1903 - pg. 1 " DUEL TO DEATH IN DODGE COUNTY MANLY PEACOCK INSTANTLY KILLED BY H. G. EVERETT, AFTER THE LATTER WAS PERH...

Decades before penicillin was widely available to the public, Cherry White had an accident with a fork. It cost her her life. Newspapers all across Georgia and neighboring states carried the story: Stuck Fork in Hand and Died: Miss Cherry White Loses Life from Peculiar Accident Death from Poisoning is Fate of Girl Student Wounded By a Fork, Young Girl Dies Cherry Ann White was born in Georgia on New Year's Eve in 1889, just a couple of weeks after the gold-domed State Capitol building in Atlanta was completed. She was the first daughter born to Coley B. and Elizabeth A. "Lizzie" White, and named after her paternal grandmother, Cherry Ann Coley. Also in 1889, the Georgia General Assembly established the Georgia Normal and Industrial College. Located in Milledgeville, just over 60 miles from where Cherry's family resided in Cochran, its mission was to educate and train young white women to become teachers and to provide industrial education in areas such as sewing, cook...

The World War I veteran was shot in his left side with a pistol. Thomas Glover "Tom" Padgett was born on 10 July 1888 in Twiggs County, Georgia, to William B. and Annie Davis Padgett. He was inducted into the United States Army at Jeffersonville, Georgia, on 26 June 1918. Tom served overseas from 24 August 1918 to 2 April 1919. It was noted on his World War I service card that Tom was "slightly" wounded about 1 November 1918, and was honorably discharged on demobilization, 24 April 1919. Years later, by 1935, Tom had a room in a boarding house on West Franklin Street in Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina. Gastonia was once one of the nation's largest textile-manufacturing hubs. Though no occupation was listed for Tom in the 1940 census, he was surrounded by neighbors working in cotton mills. In February 1943, Tom was shot and killed in his room at the boarding house. While his death certificate officially records the date as February 16th, contemporary news...

Born just months after the Civil War ended, Thomas B. Pace Jr. lived through Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the upheavals of early 20th-century America. His death in 1931 came at the dawn of the Great Depression, a time when the values inscribed on his gravestone—charity, compassion, faith—were desperately needed. Thomas, and two of his siblings highlighted here, were laid to rest in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Cochran, Bleckley County, Georgia. Thomas Pace Jr.'s Life of Civic Virtue Thomas B. Pace Jr. Son of Thomas B. Pace and Catherine, His Wife Born Sept 30, 1865 Died Sept 18, 1931 Here is to the remains of our brother, Thomas B. Pace, who at all times and places gave his strength to the weak; his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, and his heart to God. This epitaph, presumably composed by his surviving siblings, reflects a life dedicated to civic virtues, especially in the tumultuous era in which Thomas lived. An obituary ran in the Athens Banner-Herald ...