Digging Up Your Family

Cemetery Repair!

A few weeks ago I was in the City Cemetery here in McDonough, Georgia looking for the headstone of Cornelia Tomlinson, as requested by a descendant. I walked all over the section and eventually found her.

 

 

 

 

This absolutely, positively breaks my heart.

At first I was just angry at the city for allowing this to happen.

Second, I called around until I had a meeting with the mayor.

Then I had a meeting with the city administrator.

Now I have the go-ahead to start repairing the old section of the city cemetery, and will be researching and contacting as many descendants of the folk interred there as I can.

And that last part is kind of important. Apparently, a few years ago they were going to work on repairing the headstones. Some guy rode up and started yelling at them to get off his property. In the city cemetery. For someone that was buried. He didn’t want the stone fixed (it’s really mind-blowing, right?).

I will not only be charting the cemetery and doing repairs (with the help of a few people, and possibly some of the kids who like to destroy cemeteries –basically giving them a reason to stop and regret), but I will also be making headstones for two unknown people:

 

…as well as offer headstones for the people buried in the paupers section.

For more information on the two unidentified people, I found THIS LINK.

I will soon provide a donation link on Digging Up Your Family, as well as at The Georgia Anna Project, if anyone is interested in donating towards supplies needed for the memorial stones.

This doesn’t mean I will no longer be researching my family! It’s in my blood!

Edward Wesley Block

Arizona Pioneer and Cemetery Research Project (www.apcrp.org) member.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF EDWARD WESLEY BLOCK

DECEMBER 8, 1938 TO SEPTEMBER 1,2013

Ed Block was born December 8, 1938, in St. Helens, Oregon, the oldest son of John and Elsie (Bandeen) Block. When Ed was a small boy, the family moved to Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Washington High School in 1955 and enlisted in the Army, He served two years active duty in Germany.
He enrolled in Portland State University and graduated with a B.S. in Psychology in 1963. Later he was in the M.B.A. program. Ed married Kathy (Katherine Buehler) on June 5, 1964. Most of his career he was with Multnomah County Juvenile Court in Portland.

Throughout most of their 48 years together, Ed and Kathy traveled extensively to Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, and Australia, as well as most of the U.S. Upon the retirement of both (Kathy taught special education), they moved to Lake Havasu City full-time in 2002. In the S.W. they enjoyed adventures with their 4x4 Toyota and a small beat-up trailer to the back county to prospect for gold, bow hunt for javelina, hike, go spelunking, study astronomy, explore ghost towns and pioneer cemeteries, and do photography. Ed was a booster in the Arizona Pioneer and Cemetery Research Project and participated in research and preservation of pioneer cemeteries in Arizona.

Ed died at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada around 12:30 PM on Sept. 1, 2013, from complications of a stroke. He will be dearly missed by his wife Kathy, his brother Bill Block of Prescott Valley, Kathy's brother and sister-in-law John and Karyn Buehler of Portland, Oregon, and many friends and neighbors. He was always ready to lend a helping hand. His organs were donated to the Nevada Organ Donor program and a surgical team was on hand to share with others, so part of his spirit will live on in others.

Ed was pre-deceased by his brother Lyle B. Block, and his parents.
Ed wished to be cremated and his ashes placed at a favorite prospecting spot.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his memory to APCRP.
Neal Du Shane
1224 Canvasback Court
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525

Memorial celebration of life is pending, info will be available from:
Lietz-Franze Funeral Home
21 Riviera Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ
928-855-4949

Shannon Cemetery, Hurricane Mills, Tenn.-Willhite, Craft, Baker, Shannon and Pickard

Well, this is one of the more interesting posts I’ve done on a cemetery. When my mom and I were up in Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee with my great-aunt Kat a little over a month ago we were directed to the Shannon Cemetery (also known as the Pleasant Valley Cemetery) by my cousin Ann. We went there to find Crafts, and we ended up finding a lot of Willhites, too. I wasn’t able to take photos of all of the headstones in the cemetery, but I did get all of the Willhites, Crafts and a few others, including Pickards (which tie into my Cathey and Craft lines!).

The following are the photos I was able to get. I can’t wait to go back! I put as much information about the family relations as I could find. Also, if I was able to find a cause of death (from death certificates or records) I added that.

note: my relationship to the Willhite family is:

Me

Virginia Marie Stalls (my mom)

Ruth May Craft (grandmother)

Henry Corbit Craft (great-grandfather)

Eppy (Epanetes) Willhite (gg-grandmother), daughter of William M. Willhite and Mary McGibboney.

 

Jennie Willhite 1892-1909, daughter of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.

Cause of death was consumption.

 

Unknown Child Willhite, born 1896, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.

 

James Calvin Willhite, Jr (Buddie) 1926-1931, son of James Calvin Willhite, Sr and Bessie Mae Page.

Cause of death was purulent pericarditis (secondary to pneumonia).

 

Willie Bryan Willhite 1914-1943, son of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.

Cause of death was lobar pneumonia.

 

Jimmie C. (James Calvin)Willhite (Sr) 1903-1967, son of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.

 

Bessie Mae Willhite 1910-1968, daughter of Jefferson Nathaniel Page and Adelia Bowman.

 

C.C. (Christopher Columbus) Willhite 1869-1937, son of James E. Willhite and Easter S. Baker.

Cause of death was carcinoma of lower lobe of right lung

 

(Mary) Stella Willhite 1882-1917 (death certificate lists parents as Calaway Hodge and Elline Hodge, but I have yet to find either of those names on a census with Stella, let alone Stella herself in 1900).

Cause of death was tuberculosis of the lungs.

 

Unknown Willhite, died October 1908.

 

Infant Willhite 1906-1906, daughter of Christopher Columbus Willhite and Mary Stella Hodge.

 

Dorris Willhite, born and died June 28, 1927, son of Bell Willhite and Ollie Page.

 

Easter Willhite 1847-1924, daughter of William Baker and Mary Ann Willhite.

Cause of death was scrofula of lungs and old age.

 

James E. Willhite 1839-1912 (there appears to be an issue with who his parents are-there are several James E. Willhites all born about the same time, but no one has actual birth dates for any of them. He was born in White County, according to his death record.)

note: my cousin Ann told me that James E. Willhite's parents are William M. Willhite and his first wife, possibly Jane Bennett (I think I have that right!).

Cause of death was old age.

 

Bell Willhite 1900-1974, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.

 

Ollie (Adelia) Page Willhite 1901-1981, daughter of Jefferson Nathaniel Page and Adelia Bowman.

 

Mary E. (Elizabeth) Willhite 1869-1942, daughter of Jimmie Jones and Unknown.

Cause of death was pulmonary tuberculosis.

 

W.H. (William Harrison) Willhite 1866-1936, son of James E. Willhite and Easter Baker.

Cause of death was cancer of the liver.

 

Ella Willhite 1900-1917, daughter of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.

Cause of death was cerebrospinal fever with typhoid complications.

 

J.J.(Jesse) Boss Willhite 1887-1913, son of William Harrison Willhite and Mary Elizabeth Jones.

 

(John) J.D. Willhite 1855-1894, son of William M. Willhite and Mary McGibboney.

 

Cynthia E. (Ellen) Willhite 1842-1934, daughter of William Harris and Margaret Shannon.

Cause of death was was not listed on her death certificate, but it was probably old age.

 

Mary Craft Smith 1901-1982, daughter of James Monroe Craft and Mary Alice Green.

 

Evie Craft Beecham 1910-2008, daughter of James Monroe Craft and Mary Alice Green.

 

Frances Baker 1885-1915, daughter of Unknown, wife of Perry Baker.

 

Dr. James J. (Joseph) Shannon (Jr) 1862-1929, son of James Joseph Shannon, Sr and Nancy Young.

Cause of death was chronic interstitial nephritis.

Josie B. Shannon 1880-1969, daughter of John D. Willhite and Cynthia Ellen Page.

 

(Henry) Franklin Pickard 1899-1904, son of James David Pickard and Dicey Elizabeth Dunn.

 

Obie Pickard 1899-1901, son of John Franklin Pickard and Elvie Miranda Dunn.

The Search Continues…

At this point I have pretty much exhausted my searches for direct family members in 1940 with the exception of my granddaddy, his parents and grandparents in Memphis, Tennessee.  I will just need to wait for the census records to be indexed because I just cannot figure out where everyone was!

I spent most of yesterday making phone calls in order to find records pertaining to Acra Archie Cathey’s death.  Since the murder happened in Madison County, Tennessee I called the Madison County Archives, the Madison County Circuit Court and the Madison County Sheriff Department.  The gentleman at the archives searched and then called to let me know he hadn’t found anything but would resume his search on Monday.  The Sheriff Department said that they had nothing and assumed I was looking in the wrong county.  The circuit court told me that I would have to call the archives (which, by the way, the archives said that if they don’t have anything then the circuit court should).

Since originally Gibson County, Tennessee was where everyone thought his body had been found I made a phone call to the Gibson County Sheriff Department (though I may need to call the Humboldt Police, since I think that may have been the department that responded to the initial call).  I left a message for an investigator, and I am waiting for a call back.

The final calls I made were to the FBI.  It is the family’s understanding that the evidence found had been sent to the FBI for testing.  I first called the Jackson office in Madison County.  The agent I spoke with initially seemed slightly excited, asking if I had new evidence.  He then seemed slightly down when I told him I didn’t have new evidence but was instead searching for information.  He had said that I would have to request information from the headquarters.  I tried to look it up, but I couldn’t find who to contact.  So I called the Memphis headquarters of the FBI and left a message for an agent.  Man, the FBI are super prompt!  I got a call back within an hour from an agent.  He told me exactly how to request the information.  So later today I will do that.  I’m really hoping that the evidence was sent to the FBI so that I could get the report on what they found, if anything.

I’m bound and determined to find out what happened.  Since I am fairly certain that all parties involved are now deceased (from Acra to the investigating Sheriff, including those that murdered Acra) I feel that it should be a bit easier to find the information than it is seeming to be.  In fact, because no one seems to have any records on the case, it makes me believe the family story that there may have been a political cover-up.  And that really saddens me.  To think that this man, a man who was loved so much by everyone he knew, was brutally murdered and then thrown out on the highway, the murder weapon and other evidence found in a suspect’s vehicle and the suspect(s) released-no other information about it to be found-a man who had a wife and young children who, after his death, felt the need to leave the State of Tennessee out of fear…to think that his murder may never be resolved is heartbreaking.  I hope to find the truth before his last living children pass.

Last Saturday my great-aunt Kat, my mother and I went to the cemetery where Acra is buried.  We left two red roses on his grave.  Kat stood there and cried.  She said her Uncle Acra was the sweetest, kindest man and she sure did miss him.

The Road to Nolan Cemetery

The road to Nolan Cemetery, Hurricane Mills, Humphreys County, Tennessee. 

 

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: Cemetery Vandalism

Vandalism in Old Sharon Baptist Church Cemetery in Henry County, Georgia.

It just makes me so angry.

 

This can be repaired, if the families and the church will step up to help.  People are standing by waiting for funding and permission to repair and clean up the cemetery.  This never should have happened in the first place.  This is a problem for the people who live around this cemetery, the families who have ancestors buried here, and for the people who raised their children to think that damage like this is ok.

Old Sharon Baptist Church Slave Cemetery, Henry County, Georgia

I had the joy of meeting with Ed, the leader of the local Boy Scout troop, and his son yesterday to tromp around the Old Sharon Baptist Church Cemetery in hopes of finding the slave cemetery that I had read was somewhere.  We found it!  Ed went and knocked on the door of the couple who right next to the cemetery.  The woman Mrs. Morgan took us out to the edge of their property where the stone wall from the cemetery runs and showed us the slave cemetery.  She said that she had marked the spot years ago with an Azalea bush, and her husband had put posts in the ground to mark where it was also.  Due to poor health they weren’t able to keep up with it as well as in the past.  She was really happy to talk to us about it and show us the stones.

Today my husband and I went out to take photos of the stones.  Mrs. Morgan and her husband came out and talked to us for a few minutes, reminding us to check for ticks when we returned home because the deer are out roaming around and she feeds them apples.

I’m excited for the find of this cemetery.  The story is that there is also a Union soldier buried there.  He apparently was killed in a battle that happened just across the street from the cemetery. 

Mrs. Morgan is excited that someone is going to be cleaning it up and keeping it up.  Once it’s cleaned up I hope to make a plaque of some sort to mark the area.

My husband and I counted 25 separate areas of stones, but I guarantee there are more people because when you walk around you step into depressions in the ground.  Once the leaves are cleared away and it’s cleaned up we should be able to see other grave areas.

I will be posting photos of the Old Sharon Baptist Church Cemetery at some point.  It’s pretty horrible and I really want to get it cleaned up and the stones repaired.  Kids have been vandalizing it for years, and I can’t describe the condition it’s in accurately.  My husband and I will be going through and doing a survey of it over several days (it’s that bad).  Hopefully someone will help fund the Boy Scout troop in my area, as well as finding the descendants of the people buried in the cemetery to give the Boy Scouts permission so that the troop can go in and clean and repair all of the stones and fencing.

Anyway, photos of the stones we found in the Old Sharon Baptist Church Slave Cemetery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headstones: History in the Making

Several weeks ago my great-aunt Kat had mentioned to my mom that she had always wanted a headstone for her mother’s grave and was never able to get one, whether due to monetary issues or distance from the cemetery itself.  It was something that I had thought about a few times before, getting a headstone for my great-grandmother, so I started looking around.  And I found that headstones are far, far more expensive than I thought they were.  A basic small headstone was hundreds of dollars.  That wasn’t going to do, so I started looking around again.  Then my mom sent me a link to a website that tells how to make the stones.  It looked easy enough, so we (my mom, my husband and I) started making the stones about three weeks ago.  This past Sunday my mom and I drove up to Tennessee to set the stones.  Aunt Kat got misty.

The following is the journey to make the headstones.

The headstones set in Double Springs Presbyterian Cemetery, Humboldt, Gibson County, Tennessee.

 

The website that my mom found was The Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project.  Neal Du Shane of APCRP is so helpful.  I am so grateful for him for being in contact with me and giving me tips and tricks along the way to make the stones successful.

Anyway, here’s how we made the stones.

 

Supplies

2x4s

Long screws

Flat sticks, like 1 1/2” wood trim

Press-in letters (I ordered from Magnetic Poetry, as suggested by APCRP)

Pencil

Very strong plywood boards

Garbage bags or other plastic

Newspaper

Wheelbarrow

Shovel

Quikrete Type S Mason (mortar) Mix 80lbs bag (make sure it’s MORTAR mix)

Water (about 5 liters)

Small hand cement tamper

Hand cement trowel

Rubber mallet

Small bucket of water

Cloth rag or paper towels

Vegetable oil cooking spray

Seal Krete Clear-Seal Gloss Concrete Sealer

Wrought iron accoutrements and nails, if so desired

 

Be sure to make just one stone at a time.  Neal figured out that the time one has from when the mortar is mixed to work with it is roughly 30-45 minutes.  He is not joking.  It’s a short amount of time, so you have to work quickly, but efficiently. All supplies laid out and ready to go!

 

Building the Frames

Each stone was to measure 21”x16”.  My husband Brett cut 2x4s into lengths so that the inside of the frames would measure correctly, then used long screws to put the frames together.

 

Setting the Letters

I started by taping paper together into 21”x16” rectangles.  Then Brett cut the trim pieces of wood into lengths of 23” (which is the measurement of the outside of the frames).  I then laid the ironwork on the paper in the place it would be on the stones and marked the stick.  I then began setting the letters and marking them on the stick to get them as centered as possible. 

 

Set Up

Once the letters were set we were ready to begin making the stones.  We started by setting a strong piece of plywood on a dolly to make it easier to move around.  Plastic was laid on the plywood, followed by several layers of newspaper (it was figured that the newspaper might help absorb some of the moisture from the mortar).  The frame was then placed on top of the newspaper.  Letters and numbers were set out along with a written copy of the exact lettering (just in case I messed it up on the sticks!)

 

Preparing the Mortar

Brett poured the bag of mortar in the wheelbarrow.  When he had the shovel ready I started pouring in water.  I started with about 3 liters, then added until it was, as Neal said, the consistency of peanut butter (for the record, we had a discussion on whether or not Neal meant homemade peanut butter once the oil was poured off or popular name brand like Jiff or Skippy.  We decided that it was probably in between, but more Skippy than homemade…so smooth, but not something that was sloshy and pourable).  Brett put a lot of back work into it to get it mixed.  Once it was mixed up he started shoveling the mix into the frame, while I spread it into the corners to make sure it was distributed evenly.  Once it was all in Brett went to rinse the wheelbarrow and shovel while my mom tamped it all down to break all of the bubbles out and bring the “cream” (as Neal called it) to the top.  We then smacked all around the outside of the frame with the rubber mallet to make sure the mortar got into the corners well and then Brett smoothed the top with the trowel, which brought more “cream” to the top.  Once the top was perfectly smooth we were ready for the ironwork and the lettering. The mortar we used.

My mom tamping out the mortar.

 

Placing the Decoration and Letters

Placing the ironwork was done by eyeballing.  I then laid it in place and smooshed it down as far as I could into the mortar.  I then used the mallet to lightly tap it in a little deeper.  Nails were placed in spots to anchor in the ironwork.  I then placed the stick across the frame in the correct spots and began using my marked guides to press in the letters.  My mom sprayed each letter with the cooking spray to prevent the mortar from sticking.  As each letter was removed from the mortar she would rinse it in the bucket of water and dry to prepare it for it’s next use.  Me laying out the guide stick.

 

Curing the Mortar

When the ironwork and the lettering were in place it was time to let the mortar cure.  Since the stones were on the plywood on the dolly we just had to roll the dolly to the drying location, then pick up the plywood and place it in a dry spot for a few days.  After about 48 hours Brett unscrewed the frame and the stone was moved to set on it’s side leaning on the wall so that air could flow freely around it and finish curing it. 

 

Sealing the Headstones

After a week of curing it was time to seal the headstones.  We took them outside and began using a very hard rock to smooth the edges and corners of the stone.  After they were dusted off I used a small roller brush to apply a very thin coat of sealer.  I allowed it to dry for about an hour, then applied more.  I made sure to get a lot of sealer around the ironwork (to prevent staining from rust) and I made sure to coat the inside of all of the lettering.  Then I let the sealer cure in the sun for a while, moving it to a dry place (the garage) to finishing curing for a week. Sealer drying on the bottom of the stones.

 

Placing the Headstones

My mom and I drove the headstones up to Tennessee for placing.  And the way the stones are placed all depends on the cemetery.  Some want rebar and all to be used, some just want pea gravel.  I was told pea gravel, but when we got there the Rust family said to place them in the spots and they would do the permanent placing with concrete for us. 

 

And that’s how Kat’s family got their stones!

A few notes concerning the stones:

• I can’t actually tell you how much water we used, but it was more than 5 liters.  When I measured out the 5 liters it left a lot of dry mortar.  So I would start with that, but add more if needed.
• Neal said that he found an easier way to get the mortar in the corners and get the bubbles out (and bring the “cream” to the top):  use bladeless saws on the sides to vibrate the frame!
• The “cream” actually leaves a very shiny coat to the top of the stone.  The reason we used a sealer was because the cemetery required us to do it, but you don’t actually have to do it (unless you want to, I suppose).
• We actually did one stone, Porter’s, as a tester.  And his came out very well.  When we first did Katie’s stone I wasn’t happy with it at all, so we pried the ironwork off it and started over again.
• They are very heavy.  One 80lb bag of mortar makes one headstone.  So the headstones are 80lbs each.

 

The approximate cost to make five headstones (assuming you already have basic tools such as screws, mallet, trowel, nails, wheelbarrow, shovel, garbage bags, newspaper, cooking spray and rags):

• 2x4s = about $16
• 1 1/2” flat trim = about $6
• Press-in Letters = $12.95 plus shipping, so we will just say about $13
• Plywood boards = about $10
• 5 bags of Quikrete = about $30
• Sealer = a gallon can is about $24 and we used roughly 1/4 gallon, so about $6
• Accoutrements = Hobby Lobby has a large selection of wrought iron pieces for about $5 each, so about $25
• Total approximate cost to make five headstones is about $106.  That may seem like a lot, but as you can see here one single basic granite marker has a starting cost of $147. 

The five we made are not perfect.  Letters are slightly wonky, some edges aren’t perfectly straight (from the smoothing process).  But these stones will last for hundreds of years.  And they were handmade with love.  Each epitaph was carefully selected for the person on who’s stone they were placed.

I am really glad that we were able to do this.  And knowing that my family is pleased makes it all the better.

Betty Rust (helps oversee the cemetery), JJ Rust (carried the stones from the car to the gravesites), Billy Rust (helps oversee the cemetery), my son in his stroller, my mom, my 2nd cousin Polly, my great-aunt Kat, Polly’s husband James.

 

HENRY C.C. CRAFT

MAY 4, 1895

DECEMBER 27, 1971

IN JESUS’ NAME,

AMEN

(note:  I asked Kat about her father’s middle name and it is Corbit.  I thought it was Corbett since I had seen it spelled that way on certain records, but it is for certain Corbit.  He went by CC or Corb, so CC seemed appropriate for his headstone.  Henry CC Craft is my great-grandfather)

 

KATIE CLADY CATHEY CRAFT

DEC. 18, 1897

NOV. 25, 1935

HER MEMORY IS

ENSHRINED IN OUR

HEARTS FOREVER

(note:  Katie Clady Cathey Craft is my great-grandmother)

 

JESSE PORTER

CRAFT

MARCH 11, 1929

APRIL 27, 1941

SAY A PRAYER

WHEN PASSING

(note:  Jesse Porter Craft, known as Porter in the family, is my great-uncle)

 

LOUIS CRAFT HARRIS

DEC 12 1919

JAN 2 1949

BLESSED ARE THE

PURE IN HEART

(note:  Louise Craft Harris is my great-aunt)

 

WRETHA JANE HARRIS

JAN. 26 1939

MAR. 7 1939

IN LOVING MEMORY

(note: Wretha Jane Harris is Louise’s daughter.  She is my first cousin once removed)

Catheys in Bomar Hill Cemetery *UPDATED*

UPDATE at bottom of the page!

I am still searching for the grave of William Glenn Cathey.  It’s driving me insane not knowing where he is buried.  I really thought I was onto something when I left the house this morning, but I am now left with a headache and aggravation (and more determination to find his grave!).

Ok, so as I mentioned before there is a book out called Reflections From Our Past, A Pictorial History of Houston County, Tennessee (© 2001) that has the information in it that William Glenn Cathey passed away on July 4, 1906.  It also says that he is buried in Nolan Cemetery in Hurricane Creek Mills, Tennessee.  Two problems:  1) No one, and I mean no one as in funeral homes, courthouses, libraries, etc, have ever heard of Hurricane Creek Mills, Tennessee and 2)  there are many Nolan Cemeteries in the area, two in Humphreys County (where Hurricane Mills is located and Hurricane Creek Road…you can see where this is headed).  I called the Humphreys County Courthouse.  I called two funeral homes.  I called one gravedigger (yes, really…the guy digs graves for a living and apparently knows all of the cemeteries between Montgomery County and Gibson County).  I called the Houston County Library (they have a copy of the book, and may have known who submitted the information for publication).  I called the Humphreys County Library.  The information I got:

there is a Nolan Cemetery in Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee about a half mile north of the courthouse.

according to Google Maps there is a Nolan Cemetery south of McEwen, Humphreys County, Tennessee off Hurricane Creek Road and Indian Creek Road.  No one at any location I called ever heard of that Nolan Cemetery.

there is a Nolan Cemetery in Stewart County, Tennessee.

So pretty much I am waiting for someone to get back to me about this mysterious Hurricane Creek Mills, Tennessee location.

So today’s field trip.  Well, before I get into that I have to backtrack.  For a while now we have been seeing the name Will Cathey, year of death 1906, listed as having been interred in Bomar Hill Cemetery in Stewart County, Tennessee.  But since there was no photo of the headstone, nor anything on how this information was found, we kinda sorta ignored it, but kept it in the back of our minds.  Finally, I sent an email to the person who posted it (screen name Roe Lane at Find A Grave) and received an email back with a map of Bomar Hill Cemetery and information of its history. 

Bomar Hill Cemetery is also known as Scarborough Cemetery, Gansner Cemetery and Cemetery 101 (by the Tennessee Valley Authority).  Around 1940 plans were underway for the the filling of Kentucky Lake.  The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) set out to move graves if the families chose to do so.  Gansner/Scarborough Cemetery became known as Cemetery 101, with each grave separately numbered.  Family members were tracked down and given the opportunity to move their loved ones to other cemeteries, or just leave them be.  About half of the interred from Cemetery 101 went to other cemeteries (oddly enough, right across the inlet…not far at all).  But the other half stayed right where they were (are).  There are six Catheys in the Bomar Hill Cemetery.  They were not moved at all.  HOWEVER, when I called TVA I was told that each grave had paperwork with it with the next-of-kin information!  The TVA then said that they had sent all of the paperwork to the National Archives.  Boo.  Then I was given a phone number for the National Archives, with a contact name, and it’s the National Archives here in Georgia, just one county over from me!  Yay!  So today’s field trip was the drive to the National Archives in Morrow, Georgia.

I had sent an email yesterday, so when I arrived they already had the box pulled with the TVA cemetery files.  So I set to work going through the folders, reading the paperwork involved.  It was kind of heartbreaking.  Page after page of graves that were unknown persons that the courts had decided to move to other cemeteries.  Those that were moved had a disinterment page with the information on what shape the coffins were in, what shape the bodies were in, if new “containers” were used.  The worst were the children.  Each would have something like:  coffin rotten, body badly decomposed, skull intact, infant, placed in 3’ container.  I was actually very happy when I got to the Cathey pages so I didn’t have to read those anymore, though I wish I had made a copy of one to show on here.

Anyway, I get to the Catheys, specifically Will Cathey, and find out that he is not William Glenn Cathey.  Unless he had a whole ‘nother family, that is.  I’m just going to list the Catheys in Bomar Hill Cemetery, along with the paperwork, and the next-of-kin listed.  I have looked up these names and I cannot place them anywhere for some reason!  I haven’t been able to find them in the Cathey Family History and Genealogy (Boyt Henderson Cathey © 1993), but I also don’t know the maiden name of the Mattie Cathey on the list.  I would love to find out how these Catheys tie into my line!

 

This is a map of Bomar Hill Cemetery, prior to moving graves.

 

The Catheys in question are highlighted

 

The individual records for each person:

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-1

Infant Cathey

Died 1902 (age Infant, presumed born in 1902)

Next-of-kin: Glen Cathey (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lucy M Stavley (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lena C Watkins (Cottage grove, Tenn, R3), Ada Courtney (Dover, Tenn) – siblings of Infant Cathey

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-2

Sam Cathey

Died 1902 (age 5, presumed born in 1897)

Next-of-kin: Glen Cathey (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lucy M Stavley (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lena C Watkins (Cottage grove, Tenn, R3), Ada Courtney (Dover, Tenn) – siblings of Sam Cathey

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-3

Ethel Cathey

Died 1910 (age 10 months, presumed born in 1909/10)

Next-of-kin: Lillian C Watkins (Dover, Tenn, R2) – mother of Ethel Cathey

 

 

 

* (this is the one I was most interested in seeing)

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-10

Will Cathey

Died 1906 (age 35 years, presumed born in 1871)

Next-of-kin: Glen Cathey (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lucy M Stavley (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lena C Watkins (Cottage grove, Tenn, R3), Ada Courtney (Dover, Tenn) – children of Will Cathey

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-11

Mattie Cathey

Died 1910 (age 55 years, presumed born in 1855)

Next-of-kin: Glen Cathey (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lucy M Stavley (Stewart Co, Tenn), Lena C Watkins (Cottage grove, Tenn, R3), Ada Courtney (Dover, Tenn) – children of Mattie Cathey

Gansner Cemetery Number 101 G-12

Franklin Angelo Cathey

Died 1906 (age unknown)

Next-of-kin: Mrs Maud Cathey (1794 Livernois, Detroit, Mich) – mother of Franklin Angelo Cathey

 

 

UPDATE:  Ok, I figured it out…it took a moment, though.  Will Cathey is the second cousin of my William Glenn Cathey.  It goes back to their great-grandfather George Cathey Sr (1765-1840) married Martha Wilson.  Two of their children were John Cathey and George Cathey Jr.  John married Winnie Bradley.  One of their sons was John Cathey Jr who married Rebecca Vickers.  John Jr and Rebecca had a son named William S Cathey.  And that’s the Will Cathey in Bomar Hill Cemetery.  Now, back to George Cathey Jr.  He married Eliza Carter.  One of their sons was named Archibald Cathey.  Archibald married Isabella Lankford.  Archibald and Isabella had a son named William Glenn Cathey who is my great-great-grandfather.  And that makes Will and Will second cousins!  Ta da!

Little Joseph N Edge 1873-1874

Yesterday I went with my mother over to the New Hope United Methodist Church Cemetery in Locust Grove, Henry County, Georgia to help with a Find-A-Grave fulfillment.  When she finished we walked around and look at the headstones and plots.  One of the saddest, which became sadder once I got home, was the grave for little Joseph N Edge.  It appears, due to lack of headstones in the area, that he is pretty much buried by himself, with the headstone for who I assume are his parents about 16 feet or so away.  I’m not certain that there is no on else buried around him, but it looks very lonely.  Once I got home I looked him up, to see if he was on anyone’s family tree, or if I could find a reason for death.  I can find no records for him.  I can find nothing.  Not even a space on someone’s tree.

I don’t want him to be forgotten. 

The headstone itself is wearing away, but it is still fairly readable.  The top says JOSEPH N.

 

The front of the little stone is mostly legible, with a few letters that are not.  I ran my fingers over the stone to make out the initials on the top line, but I still am not sure if the first initials are R.R., A.A., or a variation of them.  My first thought was R.R., so I will transcribe it with that, and if someone knows otherwise I hope they let me know.

SON OF R.R. & J.D.

EDGE

MAR. 1, 1873

SEPT. 1, 1874

A little time on earth he spent.  Till God for him His angel sent.

 

The little footstone had his initials J.N.E.

 

I wish I had taken a wide shot to show how lonely this little headstone is.  Nearly as lonely as this grave:

IN

MEMORY OF

W.E. CROWELL

BORN OCT. 20

DIED OCT. 25

AGE 66 YEARS

5 DAYS

 

W E CROWELL

PVT CO G

63 REGT GA VOL INF

CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY

OCT 20 1824    OCT 25 1890

 

I hope he isn't laying there by himself.