The Ferrells of Paulding

WM. B. FERRELL

BORN
at Republican Grove, Va.
June 5, 1828

DIED
at Paulding, Miss.
Oct. 2, 1890

AGED
63 Ys 3 Ms 27 Ds

William Bolivar Ferrell was the son of Elizabeth Tucker Reeves and William C. Ferrell of Halifax County, Virginia. After Elizabeth's early death around 1830, W. C. Ferrell took his sons and relocated to Paulding in Jasper County, Mississippi. A daughter, Elizabeth, remained in Virginia, marrying and raising her family there.

OUR MOTHER JULIA Wife of W. B. FERRELL DIED Oct. 10, 1874 AGED 37 Yrs 2 Mos

W. C. FERRELL born May 20th A.D. 1798 and died August 14th A.D. 1842 Erected by his son, W. B. FERRELL

Julia, the wife of William Bolivar Ferrell, was the daughter of Capt. Jesse Hyde and Lucinda Overstreet. Although her gravestone gives her age at death as 37 years and 2 months, that does not agree with her accepted date of birth, 12 April 1839.

In Memory
of
Capt. JESSE HYDE

Born in Wilkes Co., Ga.
June 1799

Died in Jasper Co., Miss.
10 July 1876
(Date Illegible in Photo)

Military Monday - Elisha Clapp

CAPTAIN
ELISHA CLAPP

Participated in the Battle of
San Jacinto ~ Later a Captain
in the Texas Army ~ Came to
Texas in 1822 ~ ~ Died in 1856

His wife
REBECCA ROBBINS
CLAPP

Died in 1875

Elisha Clapp enlisted in Capt. Henry Wax Karnes's cavalry company of the Texas Army on April 7, 1836, and participated in the battle of San Jacinto. On May 31, 1837, Texas' President Sam Houston nominated him for a commission as captain and appointed him to the command of the ranger company from Nacogdoches County.

The Elisha Clapp Cemetery is located in the Trinity River bottoms of Houston County, Texas and a historical marker has been placed beside his grave.

The TSHA Handbook of Texas Online has more information regarding Elisha Clapp.

Tombstone Tuesday - the Chandlers

Lucinda Jane Wingo Chandler and John Hyran Chandler are buried in the Greer Cemetery of Wingo, Graves County, Kentucky.

Lucinda was born shortly after the family's move from Pittsylvania County, Virginia to the Jackson Purchase area of Kentucky which had just been opened for settlement.

Wednesday's Child - Baby Dora

Baby Dora

In addition to the professional, carved gravestones in Moore's Chapel Cemetery there are numerous field stones used as grave markers and several homemade stones such as this one for baby Dora Rabe.

The only Rabe family in the area came to Leon County, Texas a short while before the 1880 census was taken. In that census Christain and Caroline Rabe, both born in Prussia, are recorded there along with their six children ranging in ages from 14 to 2 years old. All six children are listed as having been born in Missouri so the family must have moved to Texas between 1878 and 1880.

Baby Dora was not listed on that census so she was apparently born after 1880 and before 1889 for her mother Caroline's gravestone records her death on Good Friday of 1889.

Military Monday - William Holifield, War of 1812

WILLIAM
HOLIFIELD

Pvt
KY Detached
Militia
War of 1812

Apr 7, 1784
Jun 23, 1860

Battle of
New Orleans

William Holifield and his wife, Elizabeth Copeland Holifield, along with other family members are buried in the Old Bethel Cemetery just east of Pryorsburg in Graves County, Kentucky.

Original Gravestone

(Photo of original gravestone by westkygenealogy for Find A Grave)

Wednesday's Child - Jackson Hall

INFANT

Son of
D. & M.W. HALL

DIED
Aug. 11, 1875

Though his gravestone simply lists him as the infant son of David and Martha W. (Elsey) Hall, his name was Jackson. He was one of the four babies born to David and Mattie between 1874 and 1880 who died under the age of two years old. By 1882, Mattie had also died.

Jackson is buried along with the other members of his family in the Blandville Cemetery in Blandville, Ballard County, Kentucky.

Moore's Chapel Revisited

Another visit to Moore's Chapel Cemetery on the back of the Johnson farm at Peeler's Switch (more commonly known as Oakwood), Leon County, Texas.

Sarah (Nippert) McGuffin
Feb. 26, 1851
Aug. 4, 1896

FAREWELL

A. NIPPERT

BORN
Aug. 10, 1818

DIED
Mar. 28, 1882

AGED
66 Yrs. 7 Mos.
19 Dys.

FAREWELL

TEXANA
NIPPERT

BORN
Nov. 27, 1863

DIED
Jan. 28, 1883

AGED
19 Yrs. 2 Mos.
1 Day

Wednesday's Child - Willie C. Ferrell

WILLIE C.

Son of
W.C. & M.M. FERRELL
DIED
Dec. 21, 1884
Aged 2 Weeks

Little Willie C. Ferrell was the son of William Chiles Ferrell and Minnie Mae Mattison. He is buried in the cemetery at Paulding, Mississippi with other Ferrell family members.

Tombstone Tuesday - Lucinda Hyde

GONE HOME

OUR
MOTHER

LUCINDA

Wife of
J. HYDE

DIED
Aug. 20, 1878

Lucinda Overstreet Hyde, wife of Capt. Jesse Hyde. Buried in the Paulding Cemetery, Jasper County, Mississippi.

The Pryors of Pryorsburg

Jonathan Pryor and his brother, James, were among the earliest settlers to Graves County, Kentucky. From the records of land grants west of the Tennessee River in Kentucky, Jonathan and James Pryor had each purchased over 3000 acres before 1830. It is said that together they owned all the land between Pryorsburg and Mayfield at one time.

This cemetery is on land once owned by Jonathan Pryor. Even with GPS coordinates it is difficult to find yet it is within the small town of Pryorsburg.

ELIZABETH

Wife of
JONATHAN PRYOR

BORN
Mar. 27, 1788
DIED
July 7, 1857
Aged 69 y. 4 m.
27 D.

(Error in Days)

The graves of Jonathan Pryor, Jr. and his wife Frances E. Rozzell Pryor along with their fourteen year old son Jerimiah are also in this cemetery.

In memory of JONATHAN PRYOR BORN July 13, 1820 DIED Oct. 29, 1857 AGED 37 Yrs. 3 mo. & 9 dys.

In memory of FRANCES E. Wife of JONATHAN PRYOR BORN June 17,1818 DIED May 17, 1858 AGED 39 Yrs. 9 Mo.

JERIMIAH

Son of
J. & F.E. PRYOR
BORN
Mar. 21, 1843

DIED
Jan. 18, 1858
AGED
14 Yrs. 8 mo.
27 Ds.

(Age is almost illegible)

(It should be noted that this cemetery now includes a stone for Jonathan Pryor, Sr. which is not original and has an incorrect date of death as 1857 although he was recorded living in the 1860 census. The stone is of recent addition and accordingly is not included here.)

Tombstone Tuesday - the Bosticks

F. M. BOSTICK

DIED
Dec. 19, 1851

Aged 48 yrs
11 mo 28 ds

LUCY

wife of
F.M. BOSTICK

Born
Dec. 6, 1805

Died
April 9, 1865

Aged 59 yrs
4 mo's & 3 da's

Originally from Halifax County, Virginia, Frances Moore Bostick and his wife, Lucy White Palmer, were among the earliest settlers to Graves County in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Area. They are buried with other early pioneers in the Greer Cemetery at Wingo, Kentucky.

Hilton Head to Vicksburg, finally

You might think that one trip to the Civil War Battlefield at Vicksburg, Mississippi would be enough, but it is such a surprisingly beautiful park in addition to being adjacent to Interstate Hwy. 10, that neither my cousin Debby nor I seem to be capable of driving through Vicksburg without stopping.


Prior to this particular trip through Vicksburg, I had learned that our 2nd cousin, 3x removed, Capt. Harris Wilkerson, Jr. who served the Confederacy in the 1st Regiment, Missouri Cavalry during the seige of Vicksburg, had returned to Vicksburg and married after being paroled and released following the war. Dying there in 1879, he was buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery adjacent to the park. This new information made simply driving through Vicksburg without stopping at the Battlefield or the cemetery out of the question.

Also adjacent to the park is Soldiers' Rest C.S.A. Cemetery which began in 1866 when the remains of over 1600 soldiers who died in the Vicksburg campaign and seige were re-interred there.


Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Page 294 -
...Captain (J. W.) Barclay and Lieutenant (Harris) Wilkerson, of Bowen's division, with 50 brave fellows of that command, are entitled to special mention for their gallant conduct on the night of May 30, in burning the sunken gunboat Cincinnati, which they accomplished as far as was practicable with an iron-clad vessel in her condition. They brought off her flag, which I presented to them...Respectfully, your obedient servant, J. C. PEMBERTON, Lieutenant- General, Headquarters, Gainesville, Ala., August 26,1863

From the Historic Roll of the 1st Missouri Cavalry - Harris Wilkerson was engaged in the Battles of Sugar Creek, Bentonville, Elkhorn, Farmington, Iuka, Corinth, Grand Gulf, Bakers Creek, Big Black, and Vicksburg. He served during the Campaign in Georgia - was in the siege of Atlanta, fight on Peach Tree Creek, Jonesborough & all the fighting from Rome to Lovejoy’s Station, Battle of Allatoona, Tilton, Franklin & was made a prisoner at Franklin and incarcerated at Johnsons Island. Served six months in the M.S.G. (Missouri State Guard) in Gen. Harris' Report and was in the Battle of Lexington.

Traveling home to Texas on that particular day, there was only only time to photograph a few family gravestones and monuments from the Missouri lines on the battleground, but the Cedar Hill Cemetery is filled with amazing gravestones and monuments. I envision many more visits there in the future and doubt that I will ever be able to just drive through Vicksburg without stopping.

New Braunfels' Hortontown Cemetery

Fall days are perfect for little road trips into the Texas Hill country. An early morning stop was the Hortontown Cemetery in New Braunfels. German immigrants from Hanover began to settle New Braunfels in 1845. Thousands had died from disease on the beaches of Indianola waiting for wagons to transport them to their land grant in the hill county. When no wagons came, they eventually walked all the way to the area on the Guadalupe River where New Braunfels is located. Many more died during the walk to New Braunfels, but once settled in their new home, they began to build homes, establish farms and prosper. Later groups would travel further and reach their land grant in Fredricksburg, Texas.

Hier Ruhen in Frieden
(Here Rests in Peace)

Wilhelmine Richter Geb. (Born) Bruckisch Geb. (Born) Juli 29, 1833 Gest. (Died) Juli 10, 1892

Heinrich Richter Geb. (Born) Jan. 29, 1809 Gest. (Died) Mai 20, 1892

Ruhe in Gott
(Rest in God)

Ferdinand Beicker
Marz 26, 1829
Nov. 14, 1901

St. Martins Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1850 and is the oldest Lutheran church in Texas. The church was originally built on a nearby site and was moved to its current location adjacent to the Hortontown Cemetery.

There are many more photographs from this cemetery, if I can prevail upon a friend to do a few translations.

Wednesday's Child - Della Lee Chandler

DELLA LEE

Daugh. of

J. H. & L. J.
CHANDLER
DIED
Aug. 16, 1868
AGED
1 Yr 2 Mo's 23 Da's

Della Lee Chandler was the daughter of John H. and Lucinda Jane Wingo Chandler who lost several other children in infancy or early childhood. Della Lee is buried in the Greer Cemetery in Wingo, Graves County, Kentucky with her parents, maternal grandparents and two brothers.

Tombstone Tuesday: A different sort of tombstone

JAMES LUTHER SLAYDEN

Kentucky 1853 - Texas 1924
Member of Congress 1897-1919
One who loved his fellow men
and labored for
universal peace

When I set off several years ago to find the grave of distant cousin James Luther Slayden at the Mission Park South Cemetery, the style of his stone was surprising to say the least. The small boulder on the right is the gravestone of his wife, Ellen Maury Slayden.

Ellen Maury Slayden is credited with conceiving in 1891 the idea for the Battle of Flowers Parade held yearly in San Antonio in memory of the fallen heroes at the Alamo and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, where Texas had gained its independence from Mexico. She was famous in her own right and the dairies she kept while in Washington were published in 1962 under the title Washington Wife.

More about the Slaydens at The Handbook of Texas Online.

Mausoleums and More

A gorgeous fall day in south Texas prompted a visit to Mission Park South Cemetery on San Antonio's south side. No gravestones of pioneers migrating west, here the overall impression is of the opulence of the 1920's - those grand days before the Great Depression.

Hilton Head to Vicksburg III

The last cemetery stops of the trip home to Texas were in Mississippi where Debby and I made a few stops to find the graves of distant cousins. It seems that Paulding, Mississippi where some of our Reeves family's descendants had relocated was only a few miles out of our way so we made a little detour to the cemetery there.

Paulding in Jasper County had been a metropolis during the Ante-Bellum period but was devastated by Reconstruction. When the railroad passed it by, the days of prosperity were over for the community. The passing of the community's affluence is evident in the cemetery where older graves with elaborate iron fences were neglected and overgrown that day.

FLORA A. ACKER

wife of

WALTER ACKER

Died Aug. 6th, 1874

Aged 25 years 1 month

and 11 days

Kentucky's Red River Meeting House

The cemetery at the Red River Meeting House just south of Russellville in Logan County, Kentucky contains the graves of numerous soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The "Shaker Movement" of the Presbyterian Church began at the Red River Meeting House and the great revival of 1800 produced the first ever camp meeting. It is said that thousands came in wagons and stayed for days.

The cabin currently located at the site was built in 1994 to replace the original which collapsed in 1856.

Sacred
to the Memory
of
EVAN McPHESON
Born in the Highlands
of Scotland in 1787
Immigrated to this country
in 1809 and Died
in 1849

At right - the back of the stone
is said to be the
23rd Psalm in Gaelic





(Thanks to my cousin, Debby Johnson, for her photos.)

Bogus Grave Memorials on Find A Grave

No tombstones today - I thought instead I would get on my soapbox in regard to the current abundance of bogus grave memorials on Find A Grave. I have always felt that Find A Grave was a wonderful resource and have submitted all of the cemetery photos I take to that site. I also search Find A Grave in the course of researching various individuals. It’s a great source of birth and death dates for those who lived long before birth and death certificates existed.

However lately I see more and more bogus grave memorials entered there. Yesterday I discovered a fictitious grave memorial for a great great uncle. One of his descendants had previously submitted a photo of his gravestone and entered a memorial for the cemetery where he is actually buried which is in the same county. There was another bogus memorial in the same Kentucky cemetery by the same person (not a descendant) for another great great uncle from the same family who had actually died in another state.

Am I the only one who is concerned about this practice and how rampant it is becoming on Find A Grave? Find A Grave doesn’t seem to care and apparently has no restrictions as to whether entering a memorial should require the presence of a legitimate grave in the cemetery. They also don’t make it very easy to contact them to complain – hence my post here.

It concerns me that these practices will eventually ruin the site as a tool for researchers if they haven’t already. I’m not sure whether I will stop submitting my photos there but I may investigate the new Cemetery Transcription Project of the US GenWeb Archives as an alternative to Find A Grave.

Anyone else have an opinion?

January 2014 - Update
This week I've encountered another incident concerning a bogus Find A Grave memorial. I received a message through Find A Grave requesting that I add a relationship link to the memorial I had placed several years ago for Thomas Slayden at Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield, Kentucky. The link was supposedly to his father Stokley Slayden, memorial number 123010442, at a cemetery in Weakley County, Tennessee. Several years ago a memorial (84242079) had been entered for Stokley Slayden at the Baltimore Cemetery in Graves County, Kentucky where both he and his wife Nancy are buried. The person who made the duplicate memorial in Weakley County had copied the photo from the legitimate first memorial and used it for the bogus one. I wrote the person and nicely told them that I had linked the grave of Thomas Slayden to his father's actual grave in the Baltimore Cemetery and that they should delete their duplicate. Today I see that they have now added their duplicate memorial along with the purloined photo to the Baltimore Cemetery.

There are genealogists who praise Find A Grave and promote it, but I personally have serious misgivings about the entire site based on the numerous incidences of fraudulent memorials.

I have to wonder how many people have made trips, possibly from some distance, to visit a cemetery where the grave as listed on Find A Grave doesn't exist.

The Brick Church

The Brick Church of current day Alamance County, North Carolina began as the German reform church known as "Der Klapp Kirche" (The Clapp Church). It was established by my 7th great grandfather Jorg Valentine Klapp and his brother John Ludwig, who with their parents and siblings left Rotterdam on the ship the James Goodwill arriving in Pennsylvania on September 27, 1727.

Living in Berks County, Pennsylvania until around 1745, Valentine moved south to North Carolina where he settled in the Beaver Creek section of Guilford County. John Ludwin Clapp and other family members soon followed.

The original wooden structure was replaced by a brick building in the 19th century. Some of the burials in the church cemetery date to the 18th century.

Sacred
to the Memory of

BARNEY CLAPP

who departed this life
Sept. 27, 1844

Aged 80 years 8 Ms and 10 days

A soldier of the Revolution

In Memory of

ELIZABETH CLAPP

Born January
the 24, 1811

and died October 22
1840

DANIEL FOUST

Born
Oct. 18, 1783

Died
Feb. 28, 1882

Aged 93 Ys 4 Mo & 15 Da