But a bunny's gotta get out of the hutch every now and then! And visiting a cemetery or two makes for a relatively safe place to get a little sun and exercise without risking bumping into people. So using researching in more detail the family branch covered in the last post, Br'er has been able to keep busy and get out and about a bit.
And he found some sad and scandalous things!
Picking up from the search for the grandparents of a couple of newly learned of cousins, that effort lead to building out the extended family tree for that branch. Naturally more questions and mysteries came up from that effort.
All of this research centered around one couple T J and Etta. These are the cousins' great-grandparents. Etta had a brother, Emmett, who purchased an eight grave lot some time in or before 1914. Emmett's lot is the central link that drove all the research when I found Beulah (T J's sister and thus a distant cousin to me) buried in it.
First up - The Sad: The cemetery provided me with a copy of all the burials in Emmett's lot. Looking at the dates, the first was an infant girl with the same family name as T J and Beulah (before she married). This is NOT the same family name as Emmett, nor Beulah's married name. I was able to locate a tiny funeral notice in the city newspaper stating that Etta Mae, T J and Etta's daughter passed away at age two. This in early 1914. Etta Mae is the first internment in Emmett's lot.
The next burial came in May 1915 when Beulah passed away (she was a mere 22 years old). Being his sister's husband's sister it had to be a great kindness for Emmett to allow her to be buried in his lot.
The third burial came mere months later when T J and Etta lost a second child, a son named Joseph Alfred. Again, only a tiny funeral notice marked his passing. Unfortunately there is no record I can find of his birth. He was born after the 1910 Census was taken. So whether he was minutes, hours, days or some years old when he passed will never be known now. But he was no more than five years old. Probably younger. Probably a year or less because he is not referenced in his sister's funeral notice from the prior year.
In a touching footnote, at some point in the process, Etta Mae was exhumed and re-interred next to her brother who in turn lay next to his Aunt. That had to be a heart wrenching decision.
None of these three graves are marked. This, along with the graves being provided by someone else, tells me T J and Etta probably did not have the funds to purchase even a minimally inexpensive marker for their children. I cannot place markers, but I can note their resting places.
Second up - The Scandal: Etta's name was Frances Henrietta. With the exception of her appearing once in her father's household in the 1900 Census where she is listed as Fannie H, she appears on the Census as Etta. This being the 1910, 1920, and 1930 Censuses.
In 1930 she is living with T J and some of their children. And they have a boarder - J B.
The 1940 Census has TJ with his wife Frances. And T J shares a headstone with a Frances R who passed away in the early 1980s. Research by others (and indeed my own) had Rebecca R and Etta as the same person.
One problem. There is an Henrietta who died in 1940 married to J B, the boarder from 1930! And her death certificate clearly states that *she* is the Etta originally married to T J .
Both things cannot be true.
Further research (that clearly no one was willing to do before) reveals that Frances R listed with T J in 1940 has to be a different woman. Her age is different (though age is 'fluid' in Censuses, especially for women), she lists as being born in a different state, and there are suddenly two daughters (one an adult) with a last name never encountered before in the household with T J and Rebecca.
That SOB! T J remarried and to a woman with the same first name as his first wife!
We don't know exactly what happened, but I choose to read it that Etta took up with the boarder, J B, and it broke up her marriage. Some time between 1930 and 1940 T J and Etta divorced with both remarrying before 1940. Etta died before the 1940 Census leading to further confusion of the facts.
One problem. There is an Henrietta who died in 1940 married to J B, the boarder from 1930! And her death certificate clearly states that *she* is the Etta originally married to T J .
Both things cannot be true.
Further research (that clearly no one was willing to do before) reveals that Frances R listed with T J in 1940 has to be a different woman. Her age is different (though age is 'fluid' in Censuses, especially for women), she lists as being born in a different state, and there are suddenly two daughters (one an adult) with a last name never encountered before in the household with T J and Rebecca.
That SOB! T J remarried and to a woman with the same first name as his first wife!
We don't know exactly what happened, but I choose to read it that Etta took up with the boarder, J B, and it broke up her marriage. Some time between 1930 and 1940 T J and Etta divorced with both remarrying before 1940. Etta died before the 1940 Census leading to further confusion of the facts.
Whatever the actual facts, getting divorced and marrying someone who had been living with you under the same room with you and your husband in the 1930s had to be scandalous.
Br'er and Mrs Br'er also made an excursion out to another relatively nearby cemetery to view the Holocaust Memorial established there. It was striking. Those constructing it make no bones about their thoughts and intent.
The six white posts visible at the top are a modified Menorah with each one representing one million Jews killed in the Holocaust. They are piped for natural gas. Inside is what was apparently intended to be an eternal flame. None of them are lit today.
The cemetery itself warranted its own small Wikipedia entry.
We were surprised to learn there are distinct segregated sections. Adjacent to the memorial is a Jewish section. There are also Chinese and Greek sections. The cemetery was established in 1904. Being in Atlanta, finding a large Chinese population is unusual to that time.
The Greek section was most interesting as well with all the markers being almost entirely in the Greek language using Greek Letters. Old Br'er's tongue damned near fell off trying to pronounce those names!
Mrs. Br'er is very interested in cemetery symbology and iconography. We passed one memorial that she missed the probable inferences for entirely.
There is potentially a long going on here. And I could be wrong in my interpretations. But here goes.
Directly translated the name in the latin alphabet appears to be Chantzaras or Kantzaras.
The "X", in the Greek Alphabet, is Chi. So the X in the marker is both the initial of the departed's last name and traditionally the symbol for Christ - Christos.
Atop the Chi is something that can be interpreted as one of two primary things. It is either a sphere or an ovoid.
As a sphere it could be construed as an Orb, a typical symbol for kingship.
As an ovoid it could be construed as an ova or egg. In the Greek tradition the egg is a sign or rebirth, new life, or resurrection. It is a staple of Easter celebrations appearing in numerous foods and displays. Bear in mind that in the Greek church Easter is a far more important and spiritual celebration than Christmas.
Atop the orb/sphere/ovoid is a dead or weeping eagle. For that I got nothing. But for the other items I see several religious statements.
I had to chuckle imagining the 'discussions' over one marker we passed.
Obviously cigarettes and cards were important to Mama. Was this her wish? Something the kids decided to do? (Papa predeceased her, so unless he did this before he died and Mama let it stand...) Were there arguments over it? The imagination reels!
