Anyone who has set off on an adventure to locate some long forgotten cemetery doubtless has at least one tale to tell. In truth they probably have scores of them. And not all have happy endings.
Mrs. GYRabbit and ol' Br'er struck out - literally and figuratively - a few weeks back to locate the grave of one of Br'er's distant kin. Something like a 2nd Cousin 4th removed, or in that neighborhood. You see Br'er has been researching his family tree for a while now. Having traced back each ancestor's individual line about as far as he can (not being from a rich, aristocratic line has many drawbacks, not the least of which being births, deaths, and marriages simply were not deemed important enough to record properly), he 'branched out' on the tree and began documenting all the various descendants from the deepest ancestor. You can imagine how many people that entails when you start 5, 6, 7, or more generations back and some relations bred like, well, rabbits!
Our destination? Double Springs Baptist Church Old South as it is recorded in Find A Grave. Now this is not to be confused with Double Springs Baptist Church Old North that seems, based on the GPS coordinates entered by whomever recorded them, to sit literally in the same spot.
The South cemetery has 18 graves recorded (including Br'er's relative). Most have marker photographs so there is hard evidence for them. In contrast the North site has a scant 5 graves recorded with only 2 having photographs of markers.
I should mention a few salient facts.
First, satellite imagery reveals that there is nothing visible from above. The area is wooded and nothing resembling a cemetery is visible, nor is there anything that remotely looks like a church in the general area. Of the 23 total recorded graves between the two locations, the last recorded burial was Br'er's relative in 1907! Most of the others petered out in the 1880s. She was widowed in 1868 and her husband was laid to rest in the same cemetery, so it makes sense that she would be buried there as well, even if the church had closed up shop by then. Just over a century later and the only remaining evidence of the church appears to be the graves.
Second, this excursion sets out in August. In Georgia. In temperatures hitting the 90s with humidity levels normally reserved for a sauna.
I never said Br'er was a bright bunny.
Third, being a wooded, overgrown site, there is a real danger of various fauna that can be bad: Snakes, ticks, gnats, mosquitos, and other vermin are a thing. So are fauna from hell. Br'er may have been born and bred in the briar patch but he has evolved past that and no longer finds comfort dealing with such fauna. Long sleeves, heavy jeans, thick shoes and socks, and other "protections" of various sorts are employed.
Arriving as close to the flagged spot as the auto can get us, we start off into the brush in search of our quarry. The coordinates are a few yards off the road, so are readily accessible.
But there is nothing there. Now Br'er has a bit of experience with these things and knows all too well that unless one is employing high quality electronics (and Br'er ain't) then there can be discrepancies of several yards between different devices and maps for the exact same coordinates. No need to panic. It is just a simple matter of following a fixed search pattern and expanding the search grid until the actual goal is located. I mean we are just a couple of fools out on a lark, not SEAL Team 6 calling a sniper in on a terrorist hiding in a closet at the local orphanage. Our need for precision is not nearly so great.
Off Br'er scampers into the wild. Bounding over fallen logs, weaving through vines, evading brambles, and scurrying up and down hills. Overall at least 3 acres of semi-dense woods are eventually covered. Probably more. The search area is about 100+ yards long (following the road) and 150-250+ yards deep.
Not a damned thing found. The whole time Br'er is fixated on the fact that there are photos! The cemetery has to be here somewhere!
After a good hour or two even stubborn Br'er is forced to abandon the search. Sweat is literally dripping off his clothing and he is starting to smell toast (a sign of a stroke).
Plans are made to possibly, maybe return in more moderate weather and take another shot at things.
But Br'er can't let it go. He drops a note to the photographer who uploaded the marker pics, relates he woeful tale of failing in the search, and asks if more precise directions to the site might be shared.
He hears back rather quickly. "You were close! The site is about 300 yards back from the road."
I leave it to your imagination the specific stream of profanities Br'er issued at that news.
Yup. A return trip is on come cooler temperatures. Finding the site and updating the GPS coordinates for all the graves is now a moral imperative.
Showing posts with label Griffith Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Griffith Family. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Now you tell me!
Br'er's family is no different than millions of others. Unless one is born to wealth, position, or peerage - or you had an ancestor that had time and interest in such matters - there is little knowledge of one's ancestry beyond grandparents or perhaps great grandparents. Such matters simply were not of any importance. And, if like so many, live spans were not overly long then you were not even exposed to prior generations.
Out of sight, out of mind. Stories and information was (is) not passed from generation to generation.
So it was in Br'er's family. But in spades.
How does this apply to cemeteries and graveyards? Well, sit back and relax. We will get there eventually. Have faith. I shall bring it all together eventually.
It is first necessary to give some history from Br'er's paternal family.
When Br'er's Mother was gestating little Br'er, Br'er's Father's Father - Paternal Br'er Grandpa, one James Malcom Griffith - announces that the child to be is going to be twins. Naturally this prompted many questions, the primary among these being, "How do you know that?" What followed shocked all involved. Obviously Br'er wasn't in a position to hear this firsthand. I paraphrase the conversation based on all the retelling of the story I heard over the years.
"Twins skip a generation. I was a twin so I expect twins to crop up in the grandchildren (NB: There were already 7 grandchildren by the time Br'er was coming along and nary a set of twins among them)."
Br'er's Father snapped his head around and stared at his Father in utter amazement. "You're a twin?!" It was the first time in his 20 something years that he had ever heard anything about his Father being a twin. Mind you Br'er's Father had extensive relations at the time. Many Uncles and Aunts, and enough cousins to field multiple baseball teams. Yet no one ever mentioned Daddy's twin brother.
What Br'er's Grandpa then related was that his twin brother John Macon Griffith died. (James Malcom and John Macon may seem to be odd names for twins - Br'er GYRabbit has more than one case of oddly named family in his background) Now he never seemed to be clear on the details. Whether stillborn, or a live birth but surviving minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months was never made clear. All things considered it was probably less than a day. Oddly Br'er's Grampa's Mother was still alive at this time (and for several years after), yet no one chose to ask her for any of the details. So the precise history was lost.
Br'er's Grandpa went on to explain that his brother was buried in a cemetery near the 'old home place'. This family cemetery had never been mention to Br'er's Father before either. There had been a few tales of family life during Grandpa's childhood on the farm, but all the pieces had never been put together before. The farm, the cemetery, deceased family, all of it had remained separate, disjointed facts until the tale of the twin came out. Naturally a trip or two to find the site were required. So at least Br'er's parents knew where everything is/was now. And what few graves were marked there.
As time wore on Br'er's Mother took up the mantel of tracing the family tree. In doing this she learned that Br'er's 2nd Great Paternal Grandfather (Br'er's Father's Paternal Great Grandfather) was buried in the same family cemetery as Grandpa's twin brother! And Grandpa has a sister, Alice Alberta Griffith, born few years after him who did not survive a year (again, the details are lost to the ages), and she, too, is buried in the same family cemetery. Naturally none of these three had any grave markers beyond maybe a field stone.
Br'er's 2nd Great Paternal Grandfather, James Macon Griffith (Another J M Griffith. Sensing a pattern emerging?) , had served in the Confederacy and thus was due a VA issued marker. Mamma now had a mission: Obtain the VA marker and have it erected in the cemetery. And she succeeded.
But there was a slight problem. Where, exactly, in the cemetery should his marker be erected? It wasn't as though there exactly any maps of who lay where in the two dozen or so known unmarked graves scattered about the property.
Enter the granddaughters! James Macon had three surviving granddaughters at the time the marker was obtained. And two of them had attended his funeral. We relied on their memories for an approximate location of his grave and placed his marker there. Bear in mind that we are talking about memories from 70 or so prior while they were small girls (under age 10) and the family home was some 150 yards away from the cemetery.
So it was one spring day in the 1980s that several descendants - grandchildren (the three sisters), great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren plus a few nieces and nephews of various great grand levels - of James Macon Griffith gathered to dedicate, if that is the correct term, a combination headstone and cenotaph for their shared ancestor.
It was noted lest anyone there might not realize it, but with the granddaughters we had the last living memories (for they did remember their grandfather, at least a little) of the actual man. Not the stories we others carried. Not anything recorded in a book or a tape. No, actual memories of the man made and experienced while the man was alive. As this was about 160 years after his birth that is remarkable indeed!
As the years continued and more family history was recovered we learned how these people came to be in that place. You see, James Macon (a serial monogamist - her had three wives in all, just no more than one at a time - he was twice a widower) had married one Nancy James Smith. Her father, Arthur W Smith, had originally owned most of the surrounding land. It was for his family and descendants that the cemetery was created. And he is interred there with one of the few actual markers. Note the fancy iron fencing! All the rage in the Gay 90s! (He passed in 1892)
Imagine Br'er GYRabbit and Father's surprise to learn who their 3rd and 2nd Great-Grandfather was and where he was buried. Br'er Father was in his 50s when he learned all this. It still takes him so effort to grasp all the new information.
As is evident in the photos, this is still a very rural area. We have taken up the task to do what we can to insure that these graves (the Smith Cemetery in Oglethorpe County, GA if one is interested in finding it in FindAGrave) are not lost. Placing flowers, clearing brush, and marking boundaries as best they can be determined, among other activities.
I am still working on tracking the land ownership to determine if it is probable that any direct ancestors beyond Arthur W Smith may be interred there. There are clear man-made rock 'walls' in one section that I am trying to gather more information on. These are in a sad state and difficult to properly see as things sit. They appear to be typical southern grave walls from the early 19th century. Someone has listed a Brinkley Smith (1777-1807) and his spouse, Susannah (Tiller) Smith (1785-?) as buried in the Smith Cemetery. However neither appears in "Cemeteries of Oglethorpe County, Georgia", 6th Edition, 2017 published by the Oglethorpe County Historical Society. Much more research on the Smith line and these two people is needed before even beginning to make a case for their graves being here.
Slated for future work is searching to see if anything of the family farm house remains (fireplace, foundation, etc.) so that it can be geo tagged for later reference.
Out of sight, out of mind. Stories and information was (is) not passed from generation to generation.
So it was in Br'er's family. But in spades.
How does this apply to cemeteries and graveyards? Well, sit back and relax. We will get there eventually. Have faith. I shall bring it all together eventually.
It is first necessary to give some history from Br'er's paternal family.
When Br'er's Mother was gestating little Br'er, Br'er's Father's Father - Paternal Br'er Grandpa, one James Malcom Griffith - announces that the child to be is going to be twins. Naturally this prompted many questions, the primary among these being, "How do you know that?" What followed shocked all involved. Obviously Br'er wasn't in a position to hear this firsthand. I paraphrase the conversation based on all the retelling of the story I heard over the years.
"Twins skip a generation. I was a twin so I expect twins to crop up in the grandchildren (NB: There were already 7 grandchildren by the time Br'er was coming along and nary a set of twins among them)."
Br'er's Father snapped his head around and stared at his Father in utter amazement. "You're a twin?!" It was the first time in his 20 something years that he had ever heard anything about his Father being a twin. Mind you Br'er's Father had extensive relations at the time. Many Uncles and Aunts, and enough cousins to field multiple baseball teams. Yet no one ever mentioned Daddy's twin brother.
What Br'er's Grandpa then related was that his twin brother John Macon Griffith died. (James Malcom and John Macon may seem to be odd names for twins - Br'er GYRabbit has more than one case of oddly named family in his background) Now he never seemed to be clear on the details. Whether stillborn, or a live birth but surviving minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months was never made clear. All things considered it was probably less than a day. Oddly Br'er's Grampa's Mother was still alive at this time (and for several years after), yet no one chose to ask her for any of the details. So the precise history was lost.
Br'er's Grandpa went on to explain that his brother was buried in a cemetery near the 'old home place'. This family cemetery had never been mention to Br'er's Father before either. There had been a few tales of family life during Grandpa's childhood on the farm, but all the pieces had never been put together before. The farm, the cemetery, deceased family, all of it had remained separate, disjointed facts until the tale of the twin came out. Naturally a trip or two to find the site were required. So at least Br'er's parents knew where everything is/was now. And what few graves were marked there.
As time wore on Br'er's Mother took up the mantel of tracing the family tree. In doing this she learned that Br'er's 2nd Great Paternal Grandfather (Br'er's Father's Paternal Great Grandfather) was buried in the same family cemetery as Grandpa's twin brother! And Grandpa has a sister, Alice Alberta Griffith, born few years after him who did not survive a year (again, the details are lost to the ages), and she, too, is buried in the same family cemetery. Naturally none of these three had any grave markers beyond maybe a field stone.
Br'er's 2nd Great Paternal Grandfather, James Macon Griffith (Another J M Griffith. Sensing a pattern emerging?) , had served in the Confederacy and thus was due a VA issued marker. Mamma now had a mission: Obtain the VA marker and have it erected in the cemetery. And she succeeded.
But there was a slight problem. Where, exactly, in the cemetery should his marker be erected? It wasn't as though there exactly any maps of who lay where in the two dozen or so known unmarked graves scattered about the property.
Enter the granddaughters! James Macon had three surviving granddaughters at the time the marker was obtained. And two of them had attended his funeral. We relied on their memories for an approximate location of his grave and placed his marker there. Bear in mind that we are talking about memories from 70 or so prior while they were small girls (under age 10) and the family home was some 150 yards away from the cemetery.
So it was one spring day in the 1980s that several descendants - grandchildren (the three sisters), great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren plus a few nieces and nephews of various great grand levels - of James Macon Griffith gathered to dedicate, if that is the correct term, a combination headstone and cenotaph for their shared ancestor.
It was noted lest anyone there might not realize it, but with the granddaughters we had the last living memories (for they did remember their grandfather, at least a little) of the actual man. Not the stories we others carried. Not anything recorded in a book or a tape. No, actual memories of the man made and experienced while the man was alive. As this was about 160 years after his birth that is remarkable indeed!
As the years continued and more family history was recovered we learned how these people came to be in that place. You see, James Macon (a serial monogamist - her had three wives in all, just no more than one at a time - he was twice a widower) had married one Nancy James Smith. Her father, Arthur W Smith, had originally owned most of the surrounding land. It was for his family and descendants that the cemetery was created. And he is interred there with one of the few actual markers. Note the fancy iron fencing! All the rage in the Gay 90s! (He passed in 1892)
Imagine Br'er GYRabbit and Father's surprise to learn who their 3rd and 2nd Great-Grandfather was and where he was buried. Br'er Father was in his 50s when he learned all this. It still takes him so effort to grasp all the new information.
As is evident in the photos, this is still a very rural area. We have taken up the task to do what we can to insure that these graves (the Smith Cemetery in Oglethorpe County, GA if one is interested in finding it in FindAGrave) are not lost. Placing flowers, clearing brush, and marking boundaries as best they can be determined, among other activities.
I am still working on tracking the land ownership to determine if it is probable that any direct ancestors beyond Arthur W Smith may be interred there. There are clear man-made rock 'walls' in one section that I am trying to gather more information on. These are in a sad state and difficult to properly see as things sit. They appear to be typical southern grave walls from the early 19th century. Someone has listed a Brinkley Smith (1777-1807) and his spouse, Susannah (Tiller) Smith (1785-?) as buried in the Smith Cemetery. However neither appears in "Cemeteries of Oglethorpe County, Georgia", 6th Edition, 2017 published by the Oglethorpe County Historical Society. Much more research on the Smith line and these two people is needed before even beginning to make a case for their graves being here.
Slated for future work is searching to see if anything of the family farm house remains (fireplace, foundation, etc.) so that it can be geo tagged for later reference.
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