Don't Go Over the River, But Do Go Through the Woods

     "If you get to the river you've missed it."  Those were part of the directions sent to me by my cousin, Mitch, as we arranged to meet and track down the grave of my 4th Great-Grandfather, Willis Craft, in Elbert County, Georgia.  I had learned of this grave very early on my genealogy research, almost 10 years ago.  A few years back, I'd found a map with the location of the grave: out in the middle of the woods with no roads labeled.  I honestly never thought I'd be able to find it.

     Earlier this month, my cousin posted a photo of a Craft cemetery to Facebook.  I asked about it and, though it was out in the middle of the woods in Elbert County, Georgia, it was a different cemetery.  However, he was able to ask around and he found a lady who knew where the grave was.  He went out to find it, then took me out to see it today.

     I drove two hours, along with my mom, to reach a rural intersection just a short distance from the Savannah River.  I met Mitch and Diane and followed them down a series of gravel roads, which was part of a subdivision that had been partially developed but currently looks stalled. When we reached a cul de sac we got out and walked a few hundred yards into the woods.  On the top of the rise set a single grave that I'd been hoping to find for almost a decade.

     I had seen a black and white photo of the grave before, in which it was laying down.  This stone had been repositioned and was now upright.  Because of this, the death date is now buried.  Despite this, I would think that the upright position is better for the stone in the long run. And I do have the old photo, which shows the date.

     Willis is buried alone, while his wife and a few of his children (who died within a decade of Willis) are buried not too far away at the Rock Branch Baptist Church.  We speculated about why that was, but could only think it was sentimental.  Did he want to be buried on his own land with a view of the river?

     Standing at the grave, you could see water through the trees on two sides.  We trekked a bit further and found that we were in a bit of an inlet off of the Savannah River.  And boy was it beautiful!  It must have been amazing to live on this land in the 1800s, right along the river.  Hungry?  Go fish!  Mitch told me that the story is that the families used to farm on the islands in the river.  I certainly wouldn't complain to live on this land.

     Mitch also took me over to see the cemetery that he's posted pictures of on Facebook.  It was the burial place of Anderson and Lucy Craft, as well as a few others.  I took pictures of those graves and have updated everything on FindAGrave, including GPS coordiantes.

     Overall, it was a great day.  Who wouldn't drive two hours to meet up with a cousin you've never met before out in the middle of nowhere to go tromping through the woods to find a cemetery?  I'd love to have the chance to do it again soon.

My Longest Unbroken Line of Ancestral Gravestones

     This week, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings challenges us to post about our longest unbroken line of ancestral gravestones.  How far back can we go and do we have photos.

     I have to think about this for a second. I know it's not my direct maternal line or it's offshoots: my Great-Grandmother Ruby Waters Huyler does not have a headstone.  Other lines have much older headstones, but have missing generations in between. Some have memorial markers, but not actual gravestones. So, what's the longest line?

     It's a tie! Both my Albea and Powell (via Craft) lines have graves with known locations and markers.  Both lines go back to my 5x Great-Grandparents. On the Albea line, that's Thomas Albea who was born in 1778 and died in 1844. On the Powell line, that William R Powell who was born in 1772 and died in 1847.

     I visited the graves of all but one of these ancestors. Wiley Powell died in Virginia during the Civil War and was buried at a veterans cemetery there. A FindAGrave volunteer kindly sent me a photo.

Roy Albea (and Betty Huyler)	Thomas Craft (and Sarah Britt)
C Vernon Albea  (& Auline Witt Albea Wilson)	BE Craft (and Ruth Evans)
William Albea (& Nina Sprouse)	Effie Powell (and G "Bob"Craft)
Thomas Albea	John Powell (and Emma Taylor)
Tilman Albea (and Julia Glaze)	Wiley Powell (and Mariah Adkins)
Thomas Albea (and Rachel Johnson)	William R Powell (and Sarah Franklin)

Whose Funeral Is This? Pt 2

     A little bit back, I posted some photos of a funeral. These photos belonged to my maternal grandparents, but no one knew who the deceased was. I thought that I'd take the photos apart and look for clues.

Clues

     Well, the first clue is what the type of photo these are. They were in with photos of similar size and physical compensation, such as one of my grandmother as a child, dated about 1937. They are also black and white. If I had to compare them to other photos in my collection, I'd say they are closest in composition to the postcard style of photos.


     Moving on the elements in the photos, you can partially see the deceased's face:





     So, this is a man, he has a full head of hair (side part?) and seems to be of slim or average build. It seems to me that this isn't an old man. If I had to guess, I might say he was anywhere from 30 to 50.  He was dressed in a suit, but from this angle it's hard to pick out any details about it.


     Next, I looked at the different elements in the room where the viewing is being held.

     First, looking at the walls, we can see some sort of circular wall moldings. This is not the sort of thing that you would find in a home, but looks like just about every funeral home that I've ever been to.


     Also in the room are a number of lamps. The tall floor lamp on the left is much like a lamp that we have in our home that had belonged to my Dad's Aunt Ollie. We had it refurbished and the repair guy said that it dated from the late 30s to 40s. So, I'd guess that this funeral took place no earlier than the 1930s, but could have been as late as the 1950s. Who knows when this funeral home might have updated their decor?


     Next, there seem to be a large number of flowers. It seems that this would be a large number of flowers today, and might have been considered an even larger number of flowers in the past. There are also a large number of wreaths, with can be rather expensive.


     I wonder if the coffin might give clues as well? I bet it would, but I'm at a loss as to uncover the information.


     Next, the final photo:






     This photo, taken at the cemetery, offers a number of clues as well. In looking at the trees lining the cemetery, it looks like there are leaves on the tree, so we can probably say that it's mid/late spring, summer, or early fall.


     Next, there is a recently dug grave next to the person being buried in the photo. Grass is growing on the grave, but the shape of the grave is still distinct from the other ground around it.  I'd guess that this grave could be between one month to one year old.  Could this be a spouse?


     You can also see a headstone behind the grave of the person being buried. It's possible that this might be a family marker, or a grave for another individual buried in the next plot. But if it were for a non-family member, why would the flower arrangements seem to frame the stone? I'm leaning toward this stone being a marker for the family plot.


     Finally, we have a strange, double canopy going on. I'm not sure what the lower canopy is - I've never seen this before.
    

Conclusion

     Well, even after evaluating these photos, I'm still not able to identify who the deceased is.  Looking through my database, I just can't find anyone who fits these clues. But, as my research continues, I can keep these photos in mind. Maybe one day I'll be able to say whose funeral this is.

Whose Funeral Is This?

     My Grandmama had a large number of photos from her mother, Ruby Waters Huyler. She was also given a large number of photos and keepsakes from her aunts, who had no children themselves.  Most of those photos are of the Waters family, who lived in Atlanta, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina. There are a lot of photos of unknown folks that I honestly don't know if I'll be able to ever identify most of them.

     Amongst the photos are three that I'm very interested in identifying: photos of a funeral. 

     As you can see, two of the photos were taken at a inside location, a funeral home or church perhaps, and the third was taken at the cemetery. There are a lot of clues in these photos that might help to identify the time period and location: a profile of the deceased, the large number and type of flower arrangements, the other burial in the cemetery, etc. I'm going to take a day to analyze the photos and then post about what I find. If you see anything in these photos that might be helpful, point it out!  

Tombstone Tuesday - Sprouse

My Great-Great-Great Uncle, Tullie Frederick Sprouse was born on 16 Sep 1870 in South Carolina. He was the son of William Washington Sprouse and Nancy K. Armstrong and the brother of my Great-Great Grandmother, Nina Sprouse Albea.

Tullie died on 29 Oct 1944 in Greenwood County, South Carolina. He was buried on Halloween. Talk about setting a mood - a funeral on Halloween!

Tombstone Tuesday - Carson

James P. and Mary Beaty Carson are buried at Bethel Cemetery in Smyrna, Cobb, Georgia. Both James and Mary were born in Cobb County and were married on 7 August 1869 in that same location. Their children were Nancy, Wyatt, Fiddlin' John, James, Sally, Charlie, and Eddie. Sally Carson married my Great-Great-Great Uncle, James H. Smith. Their son, Fiddlin' John Carson, was a famous country musician.

I found these graves quite by accident. Bethel Cemetery is also the location of the graves of my Great-Great Grandparents, Louise and Leverett Waters and their son, Jack. When I arrived at the cemetery, I saw that it was somewhat small, and decided to do a photographic transcription of it. A year or so later, I realized the relationship to the Carson graves.

Tombstone Tuesday - Sprouse

I found these photos on a tree at ancestry.com, thanks to their new member connect feature.

William W. and Nancy (Armstrong) Sprouse are my Great-Great-Great Grandparents. They were born in South Carolina and raised their children Abbeville County. Late in life the crossed the nearby border into Georgia, and were buried in Goshen Baptist Church Cemetery in Lincolnton, GA.

Tombstone Tuesday - Craft

Martha Franklin Craft was born in Georgia in 1809 and died in 1880. She was the wife of Willis Craft. They lived together in Craftville, Elbert County, GA. I descend from their son, William A. Craft. Martha is buried at Rock Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Elbert County, GA.

Tombstone Tuesday - Powell

Maria (or Mariah) Powell was born 5 Aug 1821, probably in South Carolina. She married farmer Wiley Powell of Elbert County, GA. Together they had at least 10 children, including my ancestor, John Franklin Powell. In 1864, Wiley died of disease while fighting in the Civil War. Mariah lived on and left behind documentation in pension applications. She died on 6 Feb 1912 in Elbert County at age 90. She is buried in Rock Branch Cemetery in Elbert County, next to a memorial marker of her husband.

Tombstone Tuesday - Funston

Joseph "Joe" Funston Jr. was my Great-Uncle and is buried in the Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta, Cobb, Georgia. He married my Great-Aunt Ollie Britt (1924-1966). Joe was born in Pennsylvania, but the couple traveled a lot, living in California for a time. Joe was in the army and served in World War II. He died on 3 Mar 1958 in Dodge County, GA

Tombstone Tuesday - Britt

My Great-Great Grandmother, Ledora Barfield Britt is buried in Hawhammock Baptist Church Cemetery near Swainsboro, Emanuel, Georgia. She was the daughter of William and S. Frances (Boatright) Barfield. She married Nathan Britt and their children were Ollie, Sarah, Helen and Evoid.

Tombstone Tuesday - Witt

Thanks to a volunteer at FindaGrave.com this week, I have a new tombstone to share. It's the grave of my GG-Aunt, Velma Witt Cromer.

Velma was the daughter of William David Witt and Frances Iola Quattlebaum. She was born on 29 Jan 1905, most likely in Greenwood County, SC. She married Edward Cromer and died on 9 Sep 1981 in Clayton County, GA.

Tombstone Tuesday - Quattlebaum

This hard to read headstone belongs to John Peter Quattlebaum (1817-1906) and is located in the Quattlebaum Family Cemetery in McCormick County, South Carolina.

The cemetery is pretty easy to find, with a sign right on Highway 67. It's a good thing this sign is here, otherwise I might not have been able to find the cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday - Waters

A little then and now for today's Tombstone Tuesday. This is the grave of my Great-Great Grandparents, Leveret and Louise (Smith) Waters. They are buried in the Bethel Church Yard in Smyrna, Cobb, Georgia.

Tombstone Tuesday - Britt

My Great-Grandfather Nathaniel Britt was born and raised in Emanuel County, Georgia to William Britt and Amelia Parish. He married Ledora Barfield of the same location. Their children were Ollie, Evoid, Sarah, and Helen.

Nathaniel died of prostate cancer and is buried in Melwood Cemetery in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He is buried next to his daughter, Ollie.

Tombstone Tuesday - Wilson

James L. Wilson was the second husband of my Great-Grandmother, Auline Witt. They were married around 1946 and owned and ran the Frederick Hotel in Atlanta (400 Whitehall St.). 

James thought that Auline wasn't a real name, so he called his wife Arlene. They are buried together at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.