Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I miss you.
Until we meet again!
- author unknown
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Friday, March 13, 2009

Brooks County Cemeteries

Mom, Grandpa and I took an impromptu road trip to Brooks County, Georgia today. Our first destination was the Brooks County Museum and Cultural Center in Quitman. I did a little research and located a book called A Survey of Brooks County Cemeteries that we were able to purchase from the museum. Armed with 355 pages of cemetery details, we headed to Concord Cemetery, which is located about 5 miles north of Quitman on Morven road. There is absolutely no sign (road or cemetery) to alert you of the small grass road that travels back through a short path cut out of a wooded forest of pine trees. Suddenly the forest ends, opening up into a vast open space and the cemetery. Of interest to us was the tombstone of Mary Frances Watson Pedrick (8.7), my great-great-great grandmother.




The Concord Cemetery is small and it is particularly easy to pick out the Pedrick plot. Frances is to the right of the three towers ... I have to do some research to determine how these other Pedrick's fit into our family.


With a couple hours of daylight remaining, we decided to hunt for another cemetery that we found in our new book. The Old Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery listed Elizabeth Alderman Newton (8.9), my great-great-great-great grandmother! With the help of a very kind local, we were able to find the cemetery off Highway 122 with no trouble at all. Heading west from Barney to Pavo, we traveled through two flashing lights (red) and just before the third flashing light (yellow) is a dirt road called Bethel Church Road and a sign for the church. About a mile down the road is a beautiful old white church and well kept cemetery.




After reviewing about three graves, Mom pointed out a huge rat snake that was sleeping in a sunken grave. This of course made my entire experience a little uncomfortable as I then expected to see snakes in every hidden nook. Still gives me chills.

Anyway, this cemetery includes numerous Alderman's, which I still need to research, but we were specifically on the lookout for Newton's. Behind the church on the left side, there is a huge memorial stone that shows the location of William Newton's (8.8 son) burial. The stone can actually be seen in the picture above, the tall memorial furthest to the left. Check out all of the information on it ... a gold mine.

We were unable to locate a headstone for Elizabeth Alderman Newton, but have a feeling she is near the memorial above. I will call the church to see if they can help me learn the location of her burial.

All and all it was a very successful road trip!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Valdosta Cemetery

On January 1, 2009, I visited the Sunset Hill Cemetery (also known as Valdosta Cemetery) in Valdosta, Georgia. It can be found on Oak Street, not far South from the intersection of Baytree Road. Eula Newton Barfield was my great-great aunt and the sister of Charles Edwin Newton, my great-grandpa. She married Robert Essie Barfield. In front of their tombstones is a bench that states "neath this seat lie five infant Barfields." It is thought that they had quintuplets, but none of my live relatives recall hearing that story before. They are located in section C-204, which is pretty close to the entrance.











Eula Newton Barfield






Robert Essie Barfield


Monday, January 5, 2009

Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery
Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia




On November 7, 2008, Mom and I took a road trip and stopped at a cemetery in Fitzgerald, Georgia. Located at this cemetery are my great grandparents, Charles Edwin Newton and Margaret Julia Burney Newton. Buried next to them are my grandmother's (Frances Newton Hall) best friend, Eunice Roberts and her husband, Pete. From the entrance, the tombstones are on the left.


Charles Edwin Newton, Grandma's father




Margaret Julia Burney Newton, Grandma's mother




Sunday, December 7, 2008

J C Harvey and V Pack





This is an outline of Joseph Columbus Harvey, his wife Virginia Pack and their children ... have some work to do on this still.
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Joseph Columbus Harvey was born 4 Nov 1854 in Arkansas to Dr. Joseph T and Sarah Enos Harvey. On 20 October 1872 in Saline, Arkansas Joseph married Virginia Pack. She was born on 13 June 1856 in Arkansas to ?? and Mary J Pack (pictured below).
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According to the 1910 Census, the couple had 6 children, 4 were living. I can account for the following five children: Annie (1874), William Lee (1877), Leta E (1884), Josephine F (1887) and Mary Yula (1891). I believe their sixth child might have been Frankie, but I am not sure of the year she was born.



Joseph passed away 15 Jul 1907. Virginia lived an additional 17 years and died on 20 Feb 1924. Both are buried at the Rosemont Cemetery, Section 3 in Benton, Saline, Arkansas.
1) Annie Harvey was born May 1874 in Arkansas. On _____ she married a gentleman by the name of Emile Trebing. Emile was born in Kentucky, Jan 1867 to parents who were both born in Germany. He was a graduate of the Kentucky School for the Blind and in 1888 was elected principal music teacher at the Arkansas School for the Blind. With the exception of the two years that he studied music at the Cincinnati Conservatory, he was the Director of the Music Department until his death in the summer of 1940.


The following excerpts are from the Arkansas School of the Blind history on Zoominfo.com:





"Professor Trebing is described by students and co-workers as kind, patient, jolly and energetic. He was loved by students for his friendly and even-tempered disposition and for his dedication ... He accompanied the choir and composed music for his students to perform at concerts which were held frequently for the public. Two of his compositions for choral groups which have endured are "The Christmas Round" and "National Airs" which have been performed by students of the school over the years."



"Professor Trebing was a highly-gifted, partially sighted instructor of music who taught piano, organ, strings, woodwinds and music theory at ASB for 52 years ... Students describe "Professor" as a big, jolly, lovable teddy bear. He possessed an extraordinary ear for music. Those who knew him well say that he could play a piece of music immediately after hearing it. He and his wife were very active in the community. Professor Trebing was the organist at First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Trebing secured funding for a residence for blind women (The Trebing Home) at the time when the need for such a facility was acute. They were also largely responsible for the founding of the Association for the Blind, which became the ASB Alumni Association."





Annie was mentioned in the "Studies in Musical Education History and Aesthetics" as the President of the State Music Teacher's Association of Arkansas. She is also mentioned in the "Music Supervisors Journal" (Vol. X, No. 4) as Chairman of the Committee on High School Credit Course of the Arkansas State Music Teacher's Association.



This short article about Annie in the "State and National Music Associations, Second Annual Report" shows her dedictation to bring music into her community.




The "Arkansas Biennia Report of the Auditor of State for the years 1907-1908" (shown below) shows Annie was salaried as a Principal Teacher of Vocal Music.
Emile appears on this same report as a Musical Director.




It appears that Emile and Annie had only one child, a son named Emile Harvey Trebing, Jr who was born 20 Nov 1901. The family stories claim he broke his back when someone jumped on him in a pool and that his mother cared for him at home until his death on 29 May 1928.






Emile Trebing died 28 Jun 1940 and his wife Annie lived almost 15 years as a widow. She died on 8 Jan 1955 and the family of three were buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas.








2) William Lee Harvey (1.10), called "Lee," was born 19 Mar 1877 in Benton, Arkansas. Around 1893 he relocated to Sanford, Florida before 1912 where he lived as a resident through the end of his life. He was 34 years old when he married Alice Frances Robbins (1.11), age 22, in Sanford, Florida on 7 Feb 1912. Lee and Alice three children, William Lee, Jr (b: 7 Nov 1912), Alice Virginia (1.5) (b: 28 Feb 1914) and Hazel Folsom (b: 16 Dec 1915).






















William Lee, Sr. and William Lee, Jr.
































William Lee, Sr. and his three children, William, Alice and Hazel.













Lee lost sight in one eye from a thrown rock, so he attended and graduated from the Arkansas School for the Blind in 1897. He had a profession of musician and was also a piano tuner. For many years he was a member of the Al G Fields minstrel troupe and traveled abroad with several other minstrel shows. He was a cornetist and pianist.



Lee had been ill for two years before passing away at 10am on Saturday, 30 Jun 1951. His wife, Alice, passed away on 4 July 1959 and both are buried at the Evergreen Municipal Cemetery in Sanford, Seminole, Florida.


3) Josephine "Joe" F Harvey was born 24 June 1887 in Benton, Saline, Arkansas. She was 18 years old when she married Tilford "Tip" Lee Hockersmith, age 33, on 4 Mar 1906. At the time they were both residents of Benton, Saline, Arkansas. Together they had three children, Tilford Lee (b: 20 Nov 1907), Mary Virginia (b: 6 Nov 1914) and James Harvey "Boo" (b: 31 Mar 1915, d: 5 Oct 1994). Sometime after the birth of their last child, Joe and Tip were divorced and she later married William P (Mason) Gaylord (b: 13 Mar 1876, d: 17 Oct 1971). Joe was the first woman city treasure of Benton, Saline, Arkansas. Both Joe and William are buried at the Old Rosemont Cemetery in Benton, Saline County, Arkansas. She died 19 Mar 1976.







4) Leta E Harvey was born 21 Oct 1884 in Arkansas and was 25 years old when she married Jesse Andrew Dowdy, age 36 on 20 Feb 1910. Both were residents in Benton, Saline, Arkansas at the time of their marriage. Together they had at least one child, a daughter named Maxine (b: about 1914). Jesse was born 12 Apr 1874 and died 4 Mar 1923. He is buried at the Old Rosemont Cemetery, Section 7 in Benton, Saline, Arkansas. Leta died 32 years after her husband on 4 Nov 1955 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee.



Lee Harvey, Mary J Pack-Boyd (mother of Virginia Pack),
Josephine Hockersmith-Gaylord and Maxine Dowdy.



5) Mary Yula was born on January 7, 1891 and died on June 20, 1894. She was just over 3 years old.





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Joseph Columbus and Virginia P Harvey are buried at the Old Rosemont Cemetery, Section 3 in Benton, Saline County, Arkansas. Also buried there are Mary Yula and Frankie. I assume that Frankie might be their sixth child and perhaps he or she died at a young age as well.





Sunday, November 23, 2008

Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery (Orlando, FL)

Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery
400 Woodlawn Cemetery Road
Gotha, Florida 34734
(407) 293-1361


On November 23, 2008, Mom, Aunt Andie, Grandpa and I visited the Woodlawn Cemetery in Gotha, Florida. This cemetery is HUGE, and we had a tough time finding what we were looking for. Unfortunately, we were not able to locate Charles Alexander Hall (Grandpa's brother). I also did not realize that Grandpa's sister, Miriam is likely buried at this cemetery as well, so did not have plot information on her.

Erna Virginia Austin Hall Thomas (1:13), Grandpa's mother, is buried in Section K, near The Last Supper marble wall.


James Thomas Hall (1:12 son), Grandpa's half-brother, is buried under the trees in Section E 60-4



Robert Edward Hall (1:12 son), Grandpa's brother, is buried 8 rows from the back, on the road. He is in Section P 14-86 in the Praying Hands section.


Here are links to direction and plot maps to this cemetery:
http://karen.kasjaniuk.googlepages.com/WoodlawnCemOrlandoFLplotlayout.pdf
http://karen.kasjaniuk.googlepages.com/WoodlawnCemOrlandoFLplotmapM27.pdf