Died of Consumption, Mrs. Eliza S. Davis, Aged 32 Years

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 photo, from which the opening photo was cropped, was taken by James Allen and submitted to the USGenWeb Archives.

Elizabeth is Going Home

Sometimes I come across a tombstone that at first glance appears simple, or common. When I pause and take it all in however, I find that is not the case at all. Like with Elizabeth Gossett's stone pictured below. It contains symbolism, a good bit of genealogical information, and a personalized epitaph. Art and data rolled into one.

A hand with a finger pointing up indicates Elizabeth's soul has risen to Heaven.

Though not seen in the photo, here is a transcription of her entire epitaph: Elizabeth / Wife of I. F. Gossett / Born Mar 23, 1823 / Died Mar 26, 1903 / She was a member of the M. E. church 62 years. / Her last words... I am going home.

Elizabeth was laid to rest near her parents, Casey and Susan Crowe. Their stone is behind hers in the photo. All are buried in Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Thursday's Child: Jewel M. Craig

Our Pet
Jewel M.
Daughter of G. P. & G. Craig
Born June 7, 1884
Died Aug 1, 1890

The conflict o'er our Babe's at rest,
She sweetly sleeps on Jesus' breast.
Sleep on sweet Jewel until we come,
To greet thee in thy heavenly home.

Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia

Photo © 2011 S. Lincecum

Bonaventure's New Gravesite Locator

A week ago I had the good fortune to be in the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia. And with every trip to Savannah, of course, a visit to the equally beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery is a must. I managed to time my visit closely with the unveiling of the new information kiosk and gravesite locator now available to visitors. According to the City of Savannah Home Page, "The new touch-screen kiosk provides self-service access to interment records and maps of Bonaventure, Colonial Park, Laurel Grove and Greenwich Cemeteries. Cemetery visitors will be able to look up names on the kiosk to determine the exact location of interments on cemetery maps. For a small fee, users will also be able to print the information and maps. Burial records date back to 1750 and are updated daily."

Furthermore, "The kiosk was funded by the City, the Bonaventure Historical Society and a National Park Service Preserve America Grant. It is located on the front porch of the Bonaventure Administrative Building at the main entrance to the cemetery off Bonaventure Road."

I gave the new locator a whirl when I visited Bonaventure a day after its unveiling.

The Welcome screen gives a bit of history of
Bonaventure and tells how the kiosk came about.

From the Welcome screen you have a few options from which to choose. You can go straight to the Gravesite Locator, learn more about the Savannah Cemeteries included in the database, get Directions to the Cemeteries, learn more about the Historical Society, and more about Visiting Savannah. All this information is available in four languages, English, German, Spanish, and French.

Gravesite Locator search screen

I typed in my maternal grandfather's last name of LOGUE, as it's one of my "Georgia surnames."

Results Screen

I selected Mrs. Susie E. Logue (d. 1925, bur. Bonaventure).

Map Screen

I was rewarded with more information about Mrs. Logue, as well as a map to her grave location. I could zoom in and out on the map and view different map types, such as a full map or just the particular section of interest. I could have printed the information, but chose not to.

I am so excited to see this type of information readily available to cemetery visitors. I know it was an expensive and monumental task for those that participated in getting the data and kiosk to Bonaventure, and I for one thank all involved. I might just have to join the Bonaventure Historical Society to show my appreciation. And I hope other cemeteries are willing and able to follow in Bonaventure's footsteps.

It's Time for You to Get Low

Get Low, billed as "a true tall tale" is a great movie I just finished watching about an hour ago. It was released July 2010, and just released on DVD via redbox yesterday.

Get Low is about a man who throws a "funeral party" for himself before he dies. Felix Bush, played by Robert Duval, is a hermit who claims to want to hear what others have to say about him. Truthfully, he throws the funeral because he has something to tell. And that's all I'm going to say; you'll have to watch it to learn more!

Felix "Bush" Breazeale surrounded
by flowers at his own funeral.

When I learned this great film is loosely based on a true story, well, I had to search for that story. And I found it. Felix Bushaloo "Bush" Breazeale threw his own funeral party in 1938 Roane County, Tennessee.

Here are portions of an article from the 27 June 1938 Times-Picayune in Louisiana (viewed online at GenealogyBank).

Bewhiskered Farmer Scans Heavens Happily as He Hears Own Funeral

Kingston, Tenn., June 26 -- Uncle Felix "Bush" Breazeale, bewhiskered Roane county farmer, sat beside his hand-made coffin today in a sweating, milling throng of more than 8000 people and heard his "funeral" preached...

...Then for three hours he shook hands with thousands and "autographed" books and cards with his "mark," a scrawled X...

...Uncle Felix, dressed in a new suit and straw hat, rode from his home in the hearse with the coffin he hewed from a walnut tree...

...After the crowd had left, Uncle Felix returned to his little farm where he lives alone except for an old mule.

Mr. Felix "Bush" Breazeale lived approximately another five years before passing away 9 February 1943. He was 78 years old. He was buried, with no fanfare, in the Cave Creek Cemetery of Roane County. His grave was unmarked for more than forty years, but there is now a modest granite memorial.

Photo by Karen Ann King Starkey via FindAGrave

Official Get Low Movie Site

Uncle Bush's Picture Book

Felix Bushaloo "Bush" Breazeale FindAGrave Memorial

[I also found it interesting, because I'm from the Peach state and all, that the movie was filmed at several locations in Georgia. I was particularly proud to see Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Park was used. I hope it generated some much needed revenue for them.]

Shadrack Green, Mexican War Veteran (Tombstone Tuesday)

Shadrack L. Green
Co B
GA Mtd Vols
Mexican War
Oct 13, 1800
May 13, 1864

Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia

Photo © 2011 S. Lincecum

Shadrack served with the battalion of Georgia Mounted Volunteers in Mexico during the latter part of the war, as well as during the U. S. occupation following Mexico's surrender and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Cause of Death: Puerperal Eclampsia (Amanuensis Monday)

The Jackson Four

Yesterday I introduced you to "the Jackson four," a group of three siblings and their sister-in-law buried in Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia. Today I would like to focus on the sister-in-law, Mittie P. Jackson:

In Memory of
Mittie P. Jackson
Wife of B. M. Jackson
Born Nov 7, 1882
Died Feb 12, 1919
Here is one who is sleeping in faith and love,
with hope that is treasured in Heaven above.

While searching for information about Mrs. Mittie Jackson, I was fortunate to find her death certificate via FamilySearch.org and the Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927 database. In it, her cause of death was described as "puerperal eclampsia." This condition lasted for 1 & 3/4 days, and a contributory cause was her pregnancy of five months. An online free medical dictionary (with the American Heritage Medical Dictionary listed as the source) describes this condition as "Convulsions and coma that are associated with hypertension, edema, or proteinuria, occurring in a woman immediately following childbirth."

All I could think of upon reading the death certificate and the subsequent definition is How awful! Mittie was only 36 years old when she died. Somewhat ironically, she was laid to rest in the Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Valentine's Day, 1919.

Here's more information transcribed from Mittie's death certificate:

- Full name: Mrs. Mittie Whitworth Jackson
- Died 12 Feb 1919 at Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia
- Born 7 Nov 1882 in Georgia
- Occupation: Housekeeper
- Father: J. B. Whitworth (born Georgia)
- Mother: Caroline Lampkin (born Georgia)
- Informant: Byron Jackson of Lawrenceville, Georgia [I think this is her husband.]
- Cause of Death: Puerperal Eclampsia (1 & 3/4 days); Contributory: Pregnancy (5 months)
- Burial: Fairview at Lawrenceville, Georgia 14 Feb 1919

The Jackson Four

From left to right:  Mittie P. Jackson (1882-1919), Roscoe W.
Jackson (1883-1963), Daisy May Jackson (1894-1944) and Lyndon
W. Jackson (1887-1946).

These members of the JACKSON family are resting in the Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia. According to a couple of online family trees and census records at Ancestry, Roscoe W., Daisy May, and Lyndon W. are all children of Charles Montgomery Jackson and Mary E. Wardlaw. Mittie P. Jackson was a daughter-in-law. Charles and Mary were also laid to rest within the same cemetery.

High Voltage Burial (Wordless Wednesday)

Goodwin Cemetery in Duluth, Georgia: A Bit of History & a Link to More Photos

As promised, I have some more information about the Goodwins of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Goodwin Cemetery is located on Highway 120 in Duluth, GA. I fit a visit in last year while attending the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo. Since it is referred to as the Goodwin Cemetery, I tend to think this little silent city was begun for the Goodwin family. There are several other surnames to be found, however, and I do not know if they all connect to the Goodwins. There are African American burials as well as white, though they do appear to be segregated.

According to the Gwinnett County Historical Society, the genesis of the Goodwin family in the area dates back to the late 1700s and Philadelphia: "Mary Ann Roach came to America in the late 1700s as a stowaway on an Irish freighter. In Philadelphia, she met and married John C. Goodwin who was also an Irish immigrant. Records from around 1800 show the couple living in Rutherford Co., NC and having 5 children. A son, Joseph, acquired...property in Gwinnett Co. in May, 1835 from his father-in-law, William T. Graham."

Marriage records at Ancestry show Joseph Gooden (sic) married Elmina Graham 12 May 1830 in Rutherford County, North Carolina. When Joseph's father died, his mother came to live with him. Six generations of Goodwins have lived in the area.

Though the stone ledgers atop the box tombs are very difficult to read, I think Mary Ann Roach Goodwin is buried in this cemetery. I do know Elmina Graham Goodwin was laid to rest there, as her tombstone still stands and is fairly easy to read. Her epitaph reads, in part: Having served her generation by the will of God she fell asleep.

Julia A. Goodwin (1793-1881), Elmina's sister-in-law, was also laid to rest in Goodwin Cemetery. Census records state she was born in Pennsylvania, and her parents were born in Ireland.

Also buried within are Robert Emmet Goodwin and Frances Goodwin. I'm confident Robert was a son of Elmina's, and I think Frances was her daughter. Robert died at age 11, and Frances was just 20. Robert's epitaph reads, in part:

Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore,
Shall rise in full immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.

I have uploaded more than 30 photos from Goodwin Cemetery to my Pacasa web albums collection. Photos may be viewed individually or as a slideshow. Some captions are included, and the ability for you to add comments is enabled. Surnames include Barnes, Brewster, Douglas, Farmer, Goodwin, Harrell, Harris, Howell, Scott, Stokes, Waters, Weathers, and Williams.

Goodwin Cemetery

Box Tombs of Goodwin Cemetery (Wordless Wednesday)

Military Monday: Corporal Archie Harris, Jr.

Archie Harris, Jr.
South Carolina
Cpl US Army
Korea
Dec 26, 1927 - Nov 30, 1972

Archie died in Dekalb County, Georgia. He was laid to rest in Goodwin Cemetery at Duluth, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Photo © 2011 S. Lincecum.

Sunday's Symbol: The Anvil

"The anvil symbolizes the primordial forging of the universe...In Christian symbolism, the anvil is an attribute of St. Eligius, the patron saint of blacksmiths." (Douglas Keister, Stories in Stone: The Complete Guide to Cemetery Symbolism)

This anvil is carved into the granite ledger marker placed for Christopher Columbus "Lum" Howell (1879-1965) at Goodwin Cemetery in Duluth, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Photos © 2010-2011 S. Lincecum

All is Well (Today's Epitaph)

Julia A. Goodwin
Born Oct 1, 1793
Died Nov 6, 1881
All is well.

Julia was born in Pennsylvania to Irish parents. Census records suggest she never married. By 1880 she was living in Goodwin's District, Gwinnett County, Georgia with her sister-in-law Elmina Graham Goodwin. Julia was laid to rest in the Goodwin Cemetery, presently on Highway 120 in Duluth, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

We'll be discussing the Goodwins of Gwinnett County again soon.

Jennie in Autumn (Wordless Wednesday)