52 Ancestors – Samuel William Holland Jr. (96-2016)

Hillcrest Cemetery Veterans Memorial paver bricks.
Samuel's brick is in the second column, third brick down.

Samuel William Holland Jr., son of Samuel Jackson Holland and Patsy Reba Seibers, was born May 1946 at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. At the time of his birth, Samuel had three older siblings:

• William Luther Holland, son of Samuel Jackson Holland and Opal Stone
• Juanita Fay Holland, daughter of Samuel Jackson Holland and Daisy Lee Shields
• Barbara Jane Holland, daughter of Samuel Jackson Holland and Patsy Reba Seibers

Samuel was born with his intestinal tubes grown together and was unable to digest milk. He spent most of his short life in the hospital. His mother stayed with him during the day, his 13 year old sister Fay stayed with him at night. Baby Samuel only survived for two months before he passed away on July 29, 1946 at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta. Upon his death, his parents purchased two plots at Hillcrest Cemetery in East Point, Fulton County, Georgia (section 3, block G, lot 10, spaces 1 and 2). He was buried in space 1 in an unmarked grave. In May 1972, his father passed away and was laid to rest beside him at Hillcrest in space 2.

I'm a little confused by baby Samuel's name. The Georgia, Death Index (1919–1998) and the Hillcrest Cemetery Memorial Association (HCMA) both list baby Samuel as “Samuel William Holland Jr.” which confuses me because his father’s middle name was “Jackson,” not “William.” Is it common practice to call a child Jr. if you only use the first name? If so, that’s news to me.

Several years ago, the HCMA set up a Veterans Memorial Brick Program to raise funds for a veteran’s memorial to be constructed alongside the main entrance drive at Hillcrest. In addition to honoring a veteran, you could recognize a loved one buried in an unmarked grave at Hillcrest. It bothered me that baby Samuel didn’t have a tombstone so I made a donation for a paver brick to be engraved with his name. The veteran’s wall is finished now and the association recently sent me the photo of the paver shown in this blog post.

According to their Facebook page, the HCMA is a nonprofit organization created in 2001 to “maintain and preserve the abandoned Hillcrest Cemetery in East Point, Georgia.” They do not own the property but assist families where they can. “Nearly all maintenance and improvements, other than routine mowing, are provided by volunteers. Donations to HCMA are used for hiring professional lawn care companies for mowing and related tasks.” I’m thankful for the services HCMA provides to the Hillcrest families. I know they’ve been very helpful to me when I asked questions about baby Samuel’s gravesite and to my request for a photo of the paver bricks.

Unfortunately, there are no known photos of baby Samuel.

He was my uncle.

*Photo by Hillcrest Cemetery Memorial Association