Digging Up Your Family

Resseau Family Cemetery

Today on the way to the lake house my husband and I stopped off at the Resseau Family Cemetery on Georgia Highway 212 in Putnam County, Georgia.  We had passed it many times but never stopped until today.  I wasn’t sure how many graves were actually in the cemetery since it is surrounded by brick wall.  When I walked up to it and climbed over the wall I discovered eight headstones, though I was wondering if there might be more graves.  It is really a nice little family plot, though I wish it were under better care.  The plot was filled with leaves and some silk flower arrangements that I suppose had once been on the graves were scattered about.

I posted the photos in chronological order according to death date.  I find it interesting that the first five died so close together.

 

 

WILLIAM RESSEAU

JUNE 1, 1852

MAR. 24, 1912

HARRIET R. JONES

BORN 1834

NOV. 12, 1912

ALICE IRENE RESSEAU

MAR. 16, 1902

APR. 19, 1913

WILLIAM CARLTON

RESSEAU

AUG. 10, 1880

APR. 22, 1913

MARTHA RESSEAU

APR. 12, 1856

APR. 24, 1913

GEORGE W. RESSEAU

BORN 1864

JAN. 29, 1953

GEORGE N. RESSEAU

JULY 27, 1905

FEB. 17, 1982

CARLTON EUGENE RESSEAU

NOV. 1, 1932 – SEPT. 1, 2004

SHERIFF OF PUTNAM COUNTY

1977 - 1995

Mullins Cemetery, Meriwether County, Ga

UPDATE:  I had initally written that Virginia Wood and Mary Ann Wood married in South Carolina, however this was incorrect and I tried to correct the information on Ancestry.  Both married in Meriwether County, Georgia.

Getting to Mullins Cemetery in Meriwether County, Georgia has been an interesting feat.  I initially contacted the Millers, who had posted some information about the cemetery online, back in October.  So many life events were occurring at the time that I decided to wait until the end of November to attempt meeting them to see the cemetery.  We first decided to go on Tuesday, November 29, but it rained and we couldn’t go.  This is because the road that the cemetery is on is dirt, not much gravel, and gets very muddy and slick when it rains.  We then planned on going the following Tuesday, December 6, but couldn’t because it rained…again.  What are the chances that it’s sunny every day except Tuesdays?  So we planned the trip for the following Monday, December 12 (yesterday).  It rained…again.  Seriously, it has been sunny since last Tuesday, but it rained yesterday. 

We went anyway.

My mom and I met the Millers in Warm Springs, Meriwether County, Georgia and we followed them out to the cemetery.  The road was soft in spots, and slick, but we went slow and managed not to get stuck.  We had been told that if we didn’t know what to look for we’d miss it, and they were right!  The trees are thick around the cemetery and there are deer stands all over the place.  It was pretty creepy, actually.

So, the following are the photos I took (and there are a lot of them so just  keep scrolling for more information)! 

(note:  getting a good shot of the cemetery proved to be difficult for me with my camera, so all photos were taken with my cell phone.  editing was done on each photo to resize and make them easier to see, hence the differences in color and tone per photo.)

 

Ann McQueen is my 4th great-aunt.  She is the sister of my 4th great-grandfather Peter McQueen.  Ann is the first wife of Stephen Wood, though I do not know when or where they married since I have yet to find the marriage record.   The top of the headstone has her married name WOOD.  The front of her headstone reads:

ANN McQUEEN

WOOD

SEPT. 22, 1793

NOV. 10, 1834

The footstone has her initials A.M.W.

 

Stephen W Wood was married first to Ann McQueen, second to Ann C McGill (though Ann C McGill doesn’t appear to be buried in this cemetery).  The top of his headstone has his last name WOOD.  The front of his headstone reads:

STEPHEN W.

WOOD

JAN. 7, 1792

JUNE 15, 1862

His footstone has his initials S.W.W.

 

 

I can’t find any information for George W Wood, though I suspect he may be a child of Stephen W Wood and Ann McQueen.  His headstone reads:

GEO. W. WOOD

1828-1863

Mortally wounded at the

battle of Gettysburg.

 

 

William H Wood is another person I can’t find any information on.  He also might be a son of Stephen W Wood and Ann McQueen.  The top of his headstone has his last name WOOD.  The front of his headstone reads:

WILLIAM H.

WOOD

DEC. 27, 1826

APR. 16, 1868 

His footstone has his initials W.H.W.  

 

 

Virginia Wood is the daughter of Stephen W Wood and Ann McQueen.  Virginia married David Hill Mullins on May 7, 1853 in South Carolina.  Of course, the record I found for the marriage doesn’t list where in South Carolina, getting me no closer to finding the parents of Ann McQueen.  The top of her headstone has her married name MULLINS.  The front of her headstone reads:

VIRGINIA WOOD

MULLINS

JULY 31, 1833

JAN. 29, 1919

Her footstone has her initials V.W.M.

 

 

David Hill Mullins is the husband of Virginia Wood.  Together they had 5 children.  I took several photos of his headstone to try to show as much detail as possible.  The top of his headstone has a design, as does the bottom beneath the inscription.  The front of his headstone reads:

DAVID H. MULLINS

DEC. 9, 1821

FEB. 4, 1880

The very bottom of the headstone has his last name MULLINS.  His footstone has his initials D.H.M.     

 

 

Patrick Henry Mullins was the husband of Mary Ann Wood (Mary Ann Wood is the daughter of Stephen W Wood and Ann McQueen and the niece whom Peter McQueen left everything to in his will).  They married on March 30, 1853 in South Carolina, though I can’t see where in South Carolina on their record, either.  Patrick Henry Mullins was a tobacconist.  He died of a brain inflammation in Randolph County, Alabama.  I’m not sure if his body was sent back over the state lines to Meriwether County, Georgia or if this is just a memorial for him.  The front of his memorial reads:

In memory of

PATRICK H. MULLINS

BORN

In Henry Co. Va.

July 12, 1824

DIED

March 8, 1860

The back of his memorial reads:

Sleep brother dear, and take your rest;

God called you home, He thought it best;

‘Twas hard, indeed, to part with thee,

But Christ’s strong arm supported me.  

 

 

William Mullins is the son of David Hill Mullins and Virginia  Wood.  I’m not sure how the top of his headstone ended up laying across his grave, but I am very eager to see it set right again.  The top of the headstone is carved with a cross and design of what I think are oak leaves and ivy leaves.  I don’t know if anything is on the back of the monument, but the front reads:

In

Memory of

WILLIAM

MULLINS

Born

June 13, 1865

Died

Feb. 11, 1904

 

 

David Winston Mullins is also the son of David Hill Mullins and Virginia Wood.  If I researched him correctly then he spent at least 39 years at the Georgia State Sanitarium in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia.  He is listed on the census as an inmate there in 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930.  His death certificate in 1939 was issued at the hospital.  I’m waiting on a return call from the hospital (now Central State Hospital) for more information.  There is nothing on top of the headstone and there is no footstone.  The front of his headstone reads:

DAVID WINSTON

MULLINS

OCT. 13, 1867

SEPT. 20, 1939

 

 

There is a crypt (crypt?  is that what these are considered?  I don’t know…) that is broken on the top and one end is leaning.  I looked inside to make sure a body wasn’t just laying there and to make sure it hadn’t been dug up.  It didn’t look like it, just sunken on one side.  I look forward to this having repairs, too.

 

 

There are two rock mounds kind of in the middle of the cemetery with a walkway of sort in between them.  Whether these, too, are graves or if they are just piles of rocks from when the graves were dug is currently unknown.  I am hoping to receive a call back from the Meriwether  County, Georgia Courthouse with more information.

 

The Millers mentioned that sometime soon they plan on taking a week to go down and clean the cemetery up, make repairs to the fence and fence posts (that are damaged terribly), reset headstones, repair the crypt and pretty much try to show the respect that has been severely lacking.  I plan on helping when it’s time.  Seeing this was really sad. 

Gumm Cemetery, Baldwin County, Ga

My husband and I have passed this cemetery many, many times on the way to visit the lake house and I always wanted to stop, but never really had the chance until this last week.  There are few headstones (only nine) and one footstone without a headstone.  Two of the headstones are blank and there is an unmarked crypt (crypt?  is that what it’s called?  I dunno!). 

 

The first of the unmarked headstones is really neat.  At first I thought it had just slumped over or had at some point been leaned up against the tree, but then my husband pointed out how the tree had kind of grown up around it.

 

Next to the first is the second unmarked grave.  I sure wish I knew who they are!

 

The next headstone is for Gladys Binford Stacey.  Her headstone reads: JAN 22 1920, JAN 16 2006, OUR ANGEL.  I looked her up, but was unable to find anyone matching her names and those dates.

 

The next headstone is for Jacob Gumm.  His headstone reads: Horton’s GA, Mil. War, 1812.  He had fought in the Creek and Mexican wars.  Jacob Gumm’s wife was Katherine Hightower.  His father, also Jacob Gumm, was a Revolutionary War soldier.  The local chapter of the DAR and the Baldwin County government ceremoniously donated his headstone and footstone in 1916.  There is a lot of information about him and his father all over the internet.  

 

Nearly directly behind Jacob Gumm is a tiny headstone that is quite unreadable.  I felt along the front and was able to make out what it reads:  Carrie Burnette, Jan. 29, 1895, May 6, 1896, In heaven.  No further information.

 

Just beside Carrie is another grave, this one without a headstone, but there is a footstone.

 

In front of the footstone is a headstone for Edith Long Binford.  Her headstone reads: Mar 28 1899, Oct 17 1981.  She was the daughter of Lena Long, no father listed.  She had several siblings (according to census records).  No further information.  

 

Next to Edith is the headstone for James M Gumm.  His headstone reads: Born, Dec 14 1809, Died, June 2 1872, A Christian Gentleman.  The first thing I found on James M Gumm was that he was a signing witness on the will of Martha Yates Babb.  Robert Gumm was the executor of her will and is stated as her friend.  James was a trustee of the Black Springs Academy in Baldwin County.  No further information.

 

The last grave is the unmarked crypt.  I tried to brush off some of the leaves and “stuff” on it, but it was a lot of moss and fungi, so I left it.  I didn’t want to ruin anything.

 

I sure wish I knew who the unmarked are.  I don’t think that the Binfords are related to the Gumms, though I can’t say for certain.  According to the census records that Edith was on the area was called “105 District Gumm”.  I can see Edith on the census records in that area from 1900 to 1920.  In 1910 there is a Gladys Burnette living with the Long family. 

I wonder how many others are buried in this cemetery?  Does anyone out there have any further information on these families?