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.