Is there such a thing as renting an Embarrassment of Pandas?

One thing Old Br'er tries to do while scampering about the graveyards is insure that there is as good a photo as possible for every marker. In the long run, these photos may end up being the only thing that survives for a grave. Especially one in a remote and unvisited location. True tales of cemeteries being destroyed by developers and land owners are ubiquitous. Legion even.

The Oglethorpe County Historical Society has published (with several updates and revisions) a compendium of the older graveyards and cemeteries within the county borders. It lists (as does Find A Grave) a tiny cemetery near the family cemetery where Br'er has several ancestors buried. It lists only one name and notes 3-5 unmarked graves. Most importantly there are no photos in Find A Grave. Only GPS coordinates for the cemetery and a general description of its location.

Not much to work on. But never be daunted!

The GPS coordinates and description are for a spot a hundred of so yards off the road. Well, it is officially called a road. Opinions on the accuracy of that statement vary. Once upon a time gravel had been spread over the red clay, but it had long since vanished leaving the occasional piece of rock bespeckling the hard packed mud. If you have ever seen a dirt race track then you have a perfect image of this road.

We pulled up roughly in line with the spot and found a wide-ish spot sufficient to park the car and still leave room for another vehicle to safely pass us.

Naturally the road was about 10 feet lower than the acreage we needed to access. And it had rained recently. Goats would have had a challenge scaling the slope in front of us. TW opted to remain with the car. You know, in case a band of gypsies suddenly appeared and tried to steal it. But she emphatically insisted that I venture on. 

She is magnanimous that way.

Now I am accustomed to having to force my way through underbrush and trees on these excursions. What I had never before experienced was acre upon acre of bamboo. I felt like I was in a old Kung-Fu movie. Crouching Rabbit, Hidden Redneck.

Oddly enough, the bamboo was actually easier to navigate. There were few briars and vines. And few trees. 

Cue war movie flashbacks.

What is needed here is an Embarrassment of Pandas. Yes. That is the correct term. Just as there is a Herd of Deer, a Pride of Lions, or a Murder or Crows, a group of pandas is an Embarrassment. This place is so large and overgrown with bamboo that it needs a hundred or so pandas to eat the vegetation and clear the land.

After weaving through the poles and sloughing through the mud I make it to the coordinates. And.... nothing. All I see is more vegetation. I make a search in an increasing spiral for several yards in all directions but still nothing. At least nothing upright and visible. There is a layer of leaves of detritus several inches thick. Anything laying flat would be well hidden. In fact, the muck on the ground is so think that it would be possible to step directly on a marker and not know it. Finding anything here would require a long, detailed, disciplined grid search involving probes and removing the ground cover.

That isn't happening today!

I gave it a good shot. Honor has been served. But now I have a bug to see what else I can learn about this guy.

Off to the research chamber!

I never cease to be astonished at what I find when I start digging into the lives of people long deceased.

I must state up front that not a lot of material has survived. But what does paints an intriguing picture!

John Biggers was born some time in 1812 in Georgia. He married Leticia Yerby 3 Dec 1840. He was about 38 years old and she about 20. There is no record of their having children. Nor is there a clear record of Leticia's parentage.

For the time John was a well propertied man. In 1850, the last enumerations before his death, he shows having hundreds of acres of land, scores of livestock, crops, and, yes, slaves (5 males and 5 females ranging age from 7 to 37. Sadly, no names were recorded so it is virtually impossible to link them to later records after emancipation) assessed for taxation at several thousand dollars. 

John died relatively young. 10 Jan 1856 when he was about 44 years old. Obviously Leticia inherited his entire estate, their not having any children. One Malcom Landrum was the Executor of the will.

Well! The Widow Biggers married almost exactly six and a half months later in July 1856. To whom, you might wonder. Why to Malcom Landrum! And shocker, she was 13 or 14 years older than him. A 19th Century Cougar, perhaps? Or was she seeking security? We can only speculate.

Leticia and Malcom were also childless. 

Leticia passed away somewhere between 7 June 1870  when she appeared on the 1870 US Census taken that day and 1879 when Malcom Landrum married Irene Yerby. The year of their marriage is indicated by the 1900 Census where they are recorded as having been married 21 years.

Frustratingly I cannot connect Irene and Leticia. I would think they probably are related, though. How many Yerbys can there be in the area in and around Oglethorpe County, Georgia in the early 1800s? Might they be sisters? Cousins? Not related at all?

I hate not being able to answer these questions!

Still, this was not the most intriguing bit of detail that cropped up! 

Malcom Miller Landrum, second husband of Leticica, was a Minister. And as I previously noted, they do not appear to have ever had any children. Nor do there appear to have been any children born to Malcom and Irene.

But! I cannot say that Malcom never had any children! 

What?! Was Malcom married a third time? Not that I can determine. 

Allow me to elucidate!

I came across a death certificate for a John Henry Allen. It states that he was born 30 Mar 1882 and died 16 Dec 1922 leaving a widow named Olivia. His mother is listed as Mary (could be something else - the handwriting is unclear) Allen.

His father? Malcom B Landrum. Interesting! Malcomb is one variant spelling of Malcom, as is Malcolm and Malcolmb (trust me - I have LOTS of experience with variant spellings of Malcom!) All my searching cannot find a Malcom B Landrum in the area, only Malcom M Landrum. Considering how often I encounter minor errors on official records, I have little problem accepting the Malcom on John Henry's death certificate as the Malcom who married Leticia and Irene. 

So it looks like Malcom may well have fathered a child out of wedlock! A preacher of all people! (Yeah, like that is an unheard of event at any time in history)

But that is not the whole part of the scandal.

John Henry Allen is listed as Black. Malcom Landrum was white.

I can only think that no one found out at the time. Imagine the backlash of a white preacher having an illegitimate child by a black woman in the South in the 1880s. 

I wonder if Irene knew of Malcom's philandering. Did she know of John Allen's existence? Were there other dalliances and other children?

So many questions that  I will never know the answers to!

Update:

I spoke a little too soon.

Leticia and Irene were 1st cousins! Leticia's father, Burrell, and Irene's father, Everett, were brothers. They were sons of William John Yerby (1728 -1786) and Frances Margaret (McTyre) Yerby (1729–1825)

Whew! I feel better now.