Muzette Cheney

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Muzette Cheney, daughter of William “Henry” Cheney and Martha “Mattie” C. Callahan, was born on October 17, 1879, most likely in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. She was the oldest child of 10—Muzette Cheney, Guy Pleo Cheney, Thomas R. Cheney, Lora Cheney, Sarah A. Cheney, Lucille Cheney, Pauline Cheney, Clara I. Cheney, Carl Brisco Cheney, and Henry J. Cheney. Muzette is my 2nd cousin of husband of 2nd cousin 3x removed. We have no common relative.

Muzette’s father Henry was a “widely popular citizen” in their community and a “veritable pillar” of Bairds Baptist Church in Bairdstown, which is where the census enumerator found the family living on June 5, 1880. Muzette was six months of age and the record noted that she was born in December. Her father was a farmer; her mother was keeping house. There were two servants living with the family in the home—a 17-year-old black female named Ida Brisco and a 47-year-old black female named Josie Craddock. They lived next door to Muzette’s maternal grandparents Thomas and Ann Jane (Briscoe) Callahan.

In August 1886, six-year-old Muzette performed at an exhibition held in the grove of the Bairdstown Academy. The exhibition took place on what was described as a pleasant evening and was attended by “ladies and gentlemen from Union Point, Crawford, Woodstock, Wilkes county, Gray Lands and other places.” It included a series of performances by the “popular Crawford band” and theatrical sketches of comedy and drama. An article published in the Georgia Home Journal on August 6, 1886 mentioned Muzette’s performance by name:

The “Sick Doll,” was a triologue, by little Miss Muzette Cheney, doll’s mother, and Miss Willie Wilson, doll’s friend, and Terry Wingfield, doctor. None of these were over seven years of age. The wee ones, in the delicate drapery of lawn set with nature’s own ornaments of bright flowers, their cheeks aglow with life and pleasure, their merry eyes sparkling with happy excitement, their locks—brown and golden—bewitchingly combed about their pure white brows, had to the reporter’s eyes the witchery of fairies.

The 1890s were hard on the Cheney family with Muzette’s mother losing two infants—Clara, born March 1891 and died September 1891 and the youngest child of the family, Henry, born August 1895 and died December 1895. Little Henry was apparently sick for some time before his death. As the oldest child (and daughter), Muzette would have helped her mother with the smaller children so the deaths of these infants were probably hard on her. Both infants were buried at Bairdstown Cemetery there in Bairdstown.

In January 1900, Muzette left home and moved to Smithville, Lee County, Georgia, to take a job as a school teacher. Smithville, a part of Albany, Georgia, is 168 miles from Bairdstown and a long way from home. On June 12, 1900, she was enumerated in Smithville, living alone and working as a school teacher. In this census record, the enumerator noted that she was born in October, not December as in the 1880 census record.

Muzette contracted typhoid fever sometime in 1904. Sadly, she died from the disease at 6 o’clock in the morning on July 8. Her funeral was held the next day at 10 o’clock in the morning at Bairds Baptist Church in a service officiated by Rev. J. D. Mell. Muzette was only 24 years old when she was laid to rest in Bairdstown Cemetery.

There is a tall obelisk monument and a stone marking Muzette’s grave in the cemetery. Although hard to read in my photos, the photo uploaded to her Find-A-Grave memorial clearly shows the words on the monument. The obelisk monument reads:

There’s a beautiful region above the skies

And I long to reach its shore.

For I know I shall find my treasuer [sic] there

The loved one gone before.

The stone lays flat on the ground and contains her birth and death dates, along with the names of her parents. I don’t know if it is part of the obelisk monument that has come loose or if it was an actual upright stone at one point and has fallen over. 

References

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 29 May 2020), memorial page for Muzette Cheney (17 Oct 1879–8 Jul 1894), Find a Grave Memorial no. 42428307, citing Bairdstown Cemetery, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, US ; Maintained by Shelley Miller (contributor 47081838).
• McRee Jr., Fred W., “Oglethorpe County, Georgia Deaths, 1874–1938,” Oglethorpe Echo, pp. 77, 135 and 310–311, July 15, 1904.
• “Pleasant Evening: An Exhibition by Prof. Wingfield’s School Friday Evening,” Georgia Home Journal, Greensboro, Georgia, August 6, 1886.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe, Georgia, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, ED 21 Militia District 976 Smithville Town, Lee County, Georgia, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Village of Bairdstown, District 232, Oglethorpe, Georgia, 1880.
• Union Recorder, Milledgeville, Georgia, January 9, 1900.

Mack Sneed, a veteran of the Spanish-American War

Monday is Memorial Day, a federal holiday where we honor military personnel who died while in the service of our country. A week ago, I didn’t know Mack Sneed existed. Tonight, I want to honor him by telling his story, at least as much as I know.

Mack Sneed, son of William “Robert” Sneed and Mary Catherine Fine, was born in Sevier County, Tennessee in October 1874. His mother may have gone by the name Polly. Robert and Mary had eight children; I’ve found seven—William P. Sneed, George H. Sneed, Mary Catherine Sneed, Roda Elizabeth Sneed, Lou Allen Sneed, Mack Sneed, and Westley Clophas Sneed. Mack is my 2nd great grand uncle. His sister, Roda Elizabeth Sneed, is my 2nd great grandmother. My great-grandmother Hattie Rhinehart Shields named one of her sons Mack, most likely after her uncle Mack Sneed.

On June 18, 1880, seven-year-old Mack lived with his family in Richardson Cove, Sevier County, Tennessee. Most family members were enumerated with just an initial vs. a name. Mack’s father and brother George worked on a farm; his mother was keeping house. Neither parent could write; George was unable to read or write. The census enumerator didn’t note whether Mack could read or write.

At the age of 25, Mack traveled to Louisville, Kentucky on November 4, 1899 and enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private by Lt. Fleming. His enlistment was for a period of three years and Mack was to serve in the 1st U.S. Infantry, Companies C and G. The enlistment register noted that he was a farmer of medium build and was 5’ 9 1/2” tall. Mack had blue eyes and a fair complexion. Prior to his enlistment in the Army, the 1st U.S. Infantry was sent to Cuba in 1898 at the beginning of the Spanish-American War. American troops remained in Cuba when the war ended later that year and was still there when the Philippine-American War started in 1900.

On June 8, 1900, Private Mack Sneed was enumerated with the “Military and Naval Population” serving with Company G of the 1st Infantry Regiment at the Pinar del Rio Barracks in Cuba. His official residence was Emerts Cove in Tennessee. Mack was able to read, write, and speak English. On June 26, 1900, Mack was counted for a second time when the census enumerator visited the home of Mack’s mother Mary in the 2nd Civil District of Sevier County. His mother was widowed so his father was dead. I have yet to determine when or where his death occurred. Mary’s occupation was farmer. This census record told me she had given birth to eight children, seven of which were living. Mack was enumerated as a 25-year-old single male and a soldier. His brother West Sneed was single, 21 years old, and working as a farm laborer. A 17-year-old female name Josie L. Sneed, born February 1883, was living in the home and enumerated as Mary’s granddaughter. At this time, I don’t know which of Mack’s brothers was her father. I have assumed that Mack wasn’t living at home when the census was taken on June 26 because three days later, he died of pernicious malarial fever in Cuba on June 29, 1900. Mack was apparently part of the U.S. occupation in Cuba at the time of his death. Disease was rampant in Cuba and Mack contracted malaria while there. His death was reported in multiple newspapers in the United States, including The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky; The Richmond Item in Richmond, Indiana; The Indianapolis Journal in Indianapolis, Indiana; and even in German in the Der Deutsche Correspondence in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mack's name is in the 4th line from the bottom.
“Five Dead of Fever,” The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, July 5, 1900

Mack's name is in the 4th line from the bottom.
Der Deutsche Correspondence, Baltimore, Maryland (July 7, 1900)

Mack’s body was returned to New York on March 18, 1901 via the USAT McClellan, a U.S. transport ship. His body was then carried to Arlington, Virginia, probably by train, and he was buried in section 22, grave 15043 at Arlington National Cemetery. His grave is located in a Spanish-American War section located at McPherson and Lawton Drives, behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

USAT McClellan, c. 1917 or earlier

Report of Interment

Mack’s mother filed for a pension on May 18, 1901.

Mack’s time in the Army was short, just under eight months. He didn’t die during battle but from disease, but death is death and he possibly would have made it back home had he not contracted malaria.

Mack's grave at Arlington National Cemetery
Photo from Arlington National Cemetery, Find a Gravesite.

Screen capture of  Arlington National Cemetery map.
The green dot marks where Mack is buried.

I live 30 miles from Arlington Cemetery. Were we not in the middle of a worldwide pandemic because of COVID-19, I would take a ride to the cemetery this weekend to visit Mack’s grave. Instead, I’ll say a prayer for him tonight. Thank you for your service Private Sneed.

November 2020 update: Sharing Mack's story during the Genealogy Blog Party honoring veteran and military ancestors.

References

• 1st Infantry Regiment (United States); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)#Philippine%E2%80%93American_War.
• Arlington National Cemetery, Find a Gravesite, Mack Sneed; https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Find-a-Grave.
• “Death of Soldiers in Cuba,” The Richmond Item, Richmond, Indiana, July 5, 1900.
• Der Deutsche Correspondence, Baltimore, Maryland, July 7, 1900.
• “Five Dead of Fever,” The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, July 5, 1900.
• “Five Yellow Fever Fatalities,” The Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Indiana, July 5, 1900.
• Report of Interment, Pvt. Mack Sneed.
• U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798–1914.
• U. S. Federal Census, Richardsons Cove, Sevier County, Tennessee, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, 2nd Civil District, Sevier County, Tennessee, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Military and Naval Population, Pinar del Rio Barracks, Cuba, 1900.
• U.S. Returns from Regular Army Infantry Regiments, 1821–1916, Mack Sneed.
• USAT McClellan, c. 1917 or earlier. U.S. Navy - Photo #: NH 101987, Naval Historical Center, public domain; https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8184770.
• “Yellow Fever—Claims Five American Soldiers in Cuba,” The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, July 5, 1900.

William Newman Caldwell

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

William Newman Caldwell, son of Clayton C. Caldwell and Margaret L. Pounds, was born in February 1854 in DeKalb County, Georgia. I believe he went by Newman. To my knowledge, there were eight children in the Caldwell family—Ann Caldwell, Emmy Caldwell, Margaret Melvinie Caldwell, John Caldwell, Henry Caldwell, William Newman Caldwell, Robert Caldwell, and Mary Elizabeth Caldwell. His maternal uncle was named William Newman Pounds so I’m guessing that he was named for him but I have no way of confirming that.

Newman wasn’t in my database but I knew other Caldwell’s were so I started digging, looking for a connection. It took the better part of a Sunday before I found it—Newman is the step grandson of my 4th great grand aunt. We have no common relative. The connection trail goes this way: my father Samuel Terrell Lankford > his father Carroll Harvey Lankford > his mother Alice Beman Lankford > her father James C. Lankford > his mother Caroline B. Hobbs > her mother Mary Elizabeth Lankford > her father Nathan Lankford > his daughter Marion Lankford > her husband John T. Pounds > his daughter Margaret L. Pounds > and finally her son William Newman Caldwell.

Sometime after the birth of Mary in about 1859 and before the census was taken in 1860, it appears that Newman’s father Clayton died. On September 21, 1860, Newman lived with his mother and siblings in the Berkshire community of the 405th District of Gwinnett County, Georgia. They lived next door to his maternal uncle Richard Davis Pounds and his family.

On July 15, 1870, Newman was living with his sister Margaret, her husband, and children Nancy (3) and William (1) in Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia. He was enumerated as William Newman, age 16, working as a farm laborer. Newman was unable to read or write at the time. Margaret’s husband, John Yarbrough, was working as a farm laborer as well.

Newman married Samantha Elizabeth Seay, daughter of John A. Seay and Samantha Thomas, in DeKalb County on August 1, 1878. Newman was six years older than Samantha.

On June 7, 1880, Newman and Samantha lived in Rockmart, Polk County, Georgia. He was working on a farm while Samantha kept house. The census taker enumerated his as Wm. N. Colwell. Eight and a half years later, Newman and Samantha were finally blessed with a son they named William Melvin Caldwell. William was born in Georgia on January 18, 1889.

On July 9, 1900, Newman, Samantha, and Melvin lived in Stone Mountain, DeKalb County, Georgia. Norman and Samantha had been married for 22 years. This census record confirms that they had only had the one child, Melvin. Newman was a farmer. Samantha’s birth year was listed as 1860, different than the 1858 that was engraved on her tombstone. Newman’s mother Margaret died in Georgia on February 19, 1905. She was buried at the Pounds Cemetery in Lilburn, Gwinnett County, Georgia.

On May 3, 1910, Newman, enumerated as William N.,” was still living in Stone Mountain. He was a farmer on a home farm. Newman and his wife had been married for 31 years. His son Melvin had apparently just gotten married and he and his wife Willie lived in the home as well and was working on the home farm. Newman was surrounded by family with his brother Robert and his family living on one side of his house and his widowed sister Mary and her family living on the other side. One thing of interest on the 1910 census sheet—Newman’s house was dwelling number 93. Dwelling number 88 was the DeKalb County chain gang with 20 prisoners and one worker living there.

On January 10, 1920, Newman, his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and six grandchildren all lived together on Bairdstown Road in Woodville, Greene County, Georgia. The house, which he owned, was classified as a farm. Newman was enumerated as a farmer and his son as a laborer. Newman’s grandchildren were twins John and William (8), Roy (7), Fred (5), Jane (3), and Melvin (5 months). This would have been a busy household.

Newman’s sister Margaret died in Armuchee, Floyd County, Georgia of Influenza type C on February 8, 1930. She was buried at New Armuchee Cemetery in Armuchee. Two months later, the census enumerator visited. On April 15, 1930, both Newman, his wife, and his son William and his family were still living in Woodville, however, were now living in separate houses on Woodville Road. His son William and his family lived four houses away. There were three more grandchildren in the family—Mae (6), Mildred (4), and Curtis (2 months). At age 76, Newman was renting his home and had finally retired.

Newman died from bronchitis and cardiac asthma in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia on April 10, 1935 after nearly a month’s illness. His son William was the informant on his death certificate. Newman was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown.

References

• U.S. Federal Census, District 405, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1860.
• U.S. Federal Census, Rockmart, Polk County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Stone Mountain, DeKalb, Georgia, 1900, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Woodville, Greene, Georgia, 1920, 1930.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 25 April 2020), memorial page for Margaret L. Pounds Caldwell (14 Jun 1821–19 Feb 1905), Find a Grave Memorial no. 88547776, citing Pounds Cemetery, Lilburn, Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Linda Hinkle (contributor 47082158).
• Certificate of Death no. 11482, Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough, Georgia Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• Certificate of Death no. 10005, W. N. Caldwell, Georgia Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Giving back, part 1—Oregon fires

“So many people helped my kids when they were growing up,” … “I just thought that it would be nice to give back. I just want to be that kind of person to other people.”   

                                                                                    – Fay Lankford

Photo by Jonathan Heeter, Clayton County News Daily, June 21, 2002

I remember reading this quote in a Clayton County News Daily article written in June 2002 by Jonathan Heeter and finally understanding what drives my Mama, Fay Lankford, to volunteer. 

In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, I’m kicking off a short series I have planned to highlight some of her volunteer activities. Mama has helped others for many years. My earliest memory is from the early 1960s when she volunteered for the March of Dimes. Initially she stuffed envelopes for the Marching Mothers who went door to door in their neighborhoods, collecting money for the program. Later she was the local chairwoman, gathering the money they collected. She sold newspapers for our school’s Parent Teacher Association and helped the band boosters with “dime a dip” suppers where parents brought in covered dishes and then sold single servings for a dime. After she retired, she joined her local senior center. But she didn’t just attend, she helped them grow and develop programs for the seniors. She joined the Kiwanis and helped them raise money to benefit school children and battered women. She volunteered during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. And she volunteered with the Red Cross whom she helped locally and nationally. This post is about one of the national events she volunteered for.

It was July 2002 and my husband, two sons, and I were in Atlanta visiting my family. Near the end of our visit, Mama got a call from the Red Cross. The Biscuit Fire, the “largest wildfire in the recorded history of Oregon” was raging and they needed help. The fire had started in California and Oregon after a series of lightning storms started “hundreds of small wildfires.” There were limited crews to fight these new wildfires as firefighters were already busy fighting major fires in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Because of that, the fire that started in California and Oregon “began to burn out of control.” Meanwhile, another large fire known as the Florence Fire was burning “approximately 30 miles north of the border.” It “eventually joined what was known as the Sour Biscuit Fire, which was burning very close to the border.” Together, they became the Biscuit Fire and history was made. According to Wikipedia, “the Biscuit Fire was a massive wildfire in 2002 that burned nearly 500,000 acres in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest, in southern Oregon and northern California, in the Western United States.” It was not contained until the end of that year.

Satellite picture of the Biscuit Fire (2002)
The original uploader was Big Smooth at  English Wikipedia.
Public domain

The Red Cross was calling its volunteers to help feed people affected by the wildfires. Mama was a trained member of the American Red Cross Disaster Action Team and didn’t hesitate to say yes when they called her. As soon as she hung up the phone, she started packing her bags. She was scheduled to leave the next day for a two-week mission. Originally, Mama was supposed to make the trip with her best friend Sue Jester, who was also a trained member of the team. They were told to meet someone who would have their plane tickets at the Atlanta Airport. Literally at the last minute, plans changed and Sue was told to go to Texas for another emergency so Mama boarded her flight out of Atlanta heading to Oregon alone. Once she arrived in Portland, Oregon, she boarded a six-seat single engine plane, which took her to Oregon City. The Red Cross had reserved a car and motel room for her so after picking the car up, she checked into the room and rested up for the second half of her trip. The following morning, Mama was on the road headed south on Interstate 5 by 8 am after eating a continental breakfast at the motel. She drove all day (272 miles), arriving in Medford, Oregon around 4 pm, about 30 miles from the California coast. At that point, she turned the rental car in and was assigned to an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV), which would be her mode of transportation for the next two weeks.

The Red Cross assigned her and two men who lived just outside of Portland, to work as mass care technicians. Over the next two weeks, they spent their days traveling in the ERV, delivering hot meals to the people affected by the wildfires. The ERV was equipped with slots to hold the pans of food prepared by the Baptist Men’s Ministry, a group of men working through their church to help people in need. The Baptist men came in for a two-week mission, cooking things like fried chicken, various kinds of beans, corn, and spaghetti, outside on the church grounds. Mama’s routine quickly became one of eating the breakfast provided at the motel, waiting for her Red Cross team to arrive in the ERV, and then traveling to the church. On their way to the church every day, her team of three stopped at the “drive in and go” coffee shop to buy a cup of coffee. Mama remembers these as small coffee stands everywhere on the side of the road. She also remembers that the men always ordered the exotic coffee, which was probably coffee filled with flavored creams, maybe whipped. She normally only drinks her coffee black, but said during this time, she added sweet cream. Now as far as I know, she only drinks black coffee and it better be hot so I questioned her adding cream when she told me this part of her story. She laughed and said “well, it was pretty good.” Coffee in hand, they finished their drive to the church where the Baptist men were preparing the food. The team was assigned a route every day, sometimes the same as previously traveled. Mama and one man stayed inside the ERV preparing containers of food to hand to the second man who stepped outside the ERV once it stopped. His job was to pass the food to people. Mama remembers one day they were assigned to go to the Indian reservation. The Baptist men made a bunch of sandwiches that day instead of hot meals. Once the sandwiches were loaded on the truck, along with Budweiser cans filled with water, they left for the reservation. Upon arrival, the team was surprised to find out they weren’t allowed on the reservation—they had to leave the food at the gate. Also, to their surprise, the Indians wouldn’t accept the water because it was in beer cans. So, the team left the sandwiches and drove back to the church to pick up gallons jugs of water and returned to the reservation.

Truckload of steaks for volunteers (photo taken during the 1999
North Carolina floods but was the same as done in Oregon) 

Lunch for the Red Cross team was whatever they served the masses each day. Near the end of the two-week tour, another church group invited all of the workers from the church Mama’s team worked with to join them for a steak dinner. Like lunch, a dinner of grilled steaks, beans, and potato salad was cooked outside and served from their truck tailgates. Mama said you never saw such pretty steaks in your life and it was so good, especially after all the fried chicken they’d eaten.

At the end of the two-week mission, Mama’s team took the truck to a drive through car wash and hosed it down, wiping it clean inside and out, before turning it in. She then got another rental car and she and her two team members headed north, towards Portland where the men lived. She dropped them off at their homes and continued to the airport where she caught a flight back to Atlanta.

While in Oregon, Mama didn’t get much time off but does remember going shopping at a Harry and David store during some downtime. She bought a jar of jam. On another day, the Red Cross offered a rental car to Mama’s team. Mama said one man’s wife had come to Medford to visit him so he wasn’t available, but Mama and the other man decided to go see the redwood trees which were within driving distance. At the last minute, someone from the Red Cross office needed the car and the offer was rescinded.

They were kept at a safe distance at all times. Mama said she could see the smoke in the distance everywhere, but never saw any actual fire. She received a certificate from the Red Cross signed by the National Chairman of Disaster Services and the Executive Vice President of Disaster Services recognizing her valuable service on the Oregon and California wildfires in July 2002.

This was not her first rodeo—part 2 will tell how Mama helped the Red Cross support North Carolina after the floods caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

References

• Biscuit Fire of 2002, The Oregon Encyclopedia, Portland State University and the Oregon Historical Society; https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/biscuit_fire_of_2002/#.XqDRMchKiM8.
• Biscuit Fire; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_Fire.
• Heeter, Jonathan, “Volunteering Becomes a Way of Life for Woman,” Clayton County News Daily, June 21, 2002.
• NASA Biscuit fire image; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Biscuit_fire.jpg.
• Personal memories of Fay Lankford.

Matilda Armathine Holland

Matilda Armathine Holland, daughter of Elijah Major Holland and Jemima Kay, was born in Anderson County, South Carolina on September 25, 1865. Most records list her as Armathine, so I believe that’s the name she went by most of her life. There were seven children in Armathine’s family—Elizabeth Holland, Sarah Ann Elzira Holland, Doctor Carroll Holland, William Perry Holland, Matilda Armathine Holland, Robert E. Lee Holland, and Anda Holland. She is my 1st cousin 3x removed. Our nearest common relatives are John Holland and Elizabeth H. Majors. Her father Elijah was the brother of Leroy Thomas Holland, my 2nd great grandfather.

On August 16, 1870, Armathine and her family lived in the Belton Township of Anderson County. Her father was working as a farm laborer and had a personal estate valued at $745. Her brothers, Doctor (age 13) and Perry (11), were both working as day laborers. There is a male named Perry Holland, age 20, living in the home. I believe this may be Armathine’s uncle. My records show that her father had a brother that I list as George W. P. Holland, born about 1849 so the age would be right. I have no other information on him at this time but will certainly add him to my list to research. The family lived two houses from Rev. Robert and Frances (Holland) King, great grand uncle and aunt of Armathine. Rev. King was the 2nd pastor of Neals Creek Baptist Church in Anderson. Frances was the daughter of the Rev. Moses Holland, a drummer during the Revolutionary war and present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He was Armathine’s 2nd great grandfather and my 5th great grandfather.

On June 28, 1880, Armathine and her family lived in the Broadway Township of Anderson County. Her father was farming with her brother Perry, enumerated as William, working on the farm. Armathine’s brother Doctor had married and was living next door with his wife Christianna and daughter Effa.

Sometime after the 1880 census was taken and by early 1883, Armathine married James Monroe Geer, son of James Geer and Martha Emeline Vandiver. They had two children together—James Furman Geer, born on September 12, 1883 in Anderson County and a second son, born on March 18, 1885. The unnamed son only lived for one day and was buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

From what I gather, the Geer family were very involved in the church. On April 29, 1888, Armathine played the organ for the church choir at a Sunday School Union meeting held at Neals Creek. The church was filled to capacity, including many who listened from outside the church after being unable to get a seat inside. “The Rev. Mr. Whilden, an ex-missionary to China, and now pastor of the Williamston Baptist Church, addressed the Union on missionary work and exhibited two Chinese Idols.” Following the event, the congregation gathered outside for dinner furnished by some of the attendees.

The 1890’s were hard on Armathine. Just before Christmas 1891 (December 18), her husband came down with what was described as “a short but painful illness with pneumonia.” He died on December 18 at the home of Col. J. P. McGee in Hall Township in Anderson County at the age of 30 years. The notice published in the Anderson Intelligencer on December 24 noted that he “was an industrious, upright young man.” He was buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Anderson. The decade ended with the death of Armathine’s mother on June 9, 1899 “at her home in Broadway Township” after being “an invalid for several years.” Her obituary, published in The Intelligencer, noted that her death “came as a relief to her sufferings.” At the age of 70, Jemima Holland was laid to rest at Neals Creek Church Cemetery in Anderson where she “had been a devoted member” for many years. Jemima’s obituary noted that she had six surviving children at the time of her death. I haven’t been able to document it yet, but I believe it was Armathine’s older sister Elizabeth that had died.

On June 1, 1900, a widowed Armathine and her son Furman were living with Jesse McGee, a 74-year-old widowed farmer and the same person whose home her husband died in at the beginning of the decade in the Hall Township of Anderson County. Armathine was enumerated as a housekeeper and the mother of two children, one of which was living. Furman was enumerated as a 16-year-old servant and farm laborer. Armathine’s son Furman married Beulah C. Poore, daughter of Thomas Drayton Poore and Nancy Louise Martin, on January 15, 1908. At the time Furman was a “popular driver of the Ligon hose wagon of the fire department.”

On April 22, 1910, Armathine continued to live with Jesse McGee in the Hall Township. She was enumerated as Mrs. M. A. Geer, widowed, and a maid/servant/housekeeper for Jesse. I believe that Jessie McGee died in 1911 at which time Armathine would have had to find a place to live. From at least 1915 to 1917, she was living at 108 East Market Street in Anderson.

On January 13, 1920, Armathine lived with her son Furman and his family on Jefferson Avenue in the city of Anderson. The Anderson city directory shows that she was living at 406 Jefferson Avenue in 1922, 1931, 1934, and 1936.Furman was a mechanic for a motor company and his wife Beulah was a saleslady at a dry goods store. Armathine had four grandchildren—James, Frances, Louis, and John Geer.

On April 11, 1930, Armathine still lived with Furman and his family on Jefferson Avenue. Furman was now a proprietor for an auto body shop. Beulah was no longer working, instead the grandchildren had started working. At 18, Frances was now working as a saleslady in a department store, 16-year-old Louis was working as a salesman at a drug store, and 12-year-old John was a newspaper delivery boy.

On April 16, 1940, Armathine was still living with Furman, however, they had moved to West Market Street. This was the first time Armathine was enumerated by her first name, Matilda. Furman was now working as a produce salesman. Her grandson John and his wife Edith were living in the home. John was now a cake mixer in a bakery and Edith was a waitress in a tea room.

Armathine died on October 9, 1950 at Six Mile Hospital in Six Mile, Pickens County, South Carolina. At the time of her death, she lived on Pine Street in Westminster, Oconee County, South Carolina. It appears that as a child, she went by Armathine. However, her death certificate, with son J. F. Geer as the informant, listed her as Matilda Holland Geer. Her obituary, which also listed her a Matilda, noted that “she was an invalid for the past fifteen years and a patient in the hospital for the past four months. Her husband, James M. Geer, died sixty-one years ago. She was a native of Neal's Creek Community in Anderson County and was a faithful member of Neal’s Creek Baptist Church.  She came to Westminster to live several years ago.” Armathine was survived by her son Furman, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Her funeral was held at Neals Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. M. J. Stancell officiating. Armathine was buried at Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Anderson. She was 85 years old.

What an unusual name she had. I wonder if she liked or hated it.

Geer plot, Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Anderson, South Carolina

References

• Anderson, South Carolina, City Directory, 1909, 1915, 1917, 1922, 1931, 1934, 1936.
• Case of Absentmindedness, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, April 5, 1877.
• Comes to Oconee for Bride, Keowee Courier, Pickens, South Carolina, January 22, 1908.
• James M. Geer death notice, The Anderson Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, December 24, 1891.
• Matilda Holland Geer, Standard Certificate of Death (number unreadable), Division of Vital Statistics—State Board of Health, State of South Carolina.
• Obituary, Jemima Holland, The Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, June 14, 1899.
• Obituary, Matilda H. Geer, Anderson Daily Mail, Anderson, South Carolina, October 10, 1950.
• Sunday School Union, The Anderson Intelligencer, Anderson, South Carolina, May 3, 1888.
• The Historical Marker Database, Big Creek Baptist Church; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=8441.
• Tombstone, Matilda Armathine Holland Geer, Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Anderson, South Carolina.
• Tombstone, Son Geer, Neals Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Anderson, South Carolina. 
• U.S. Federal Census, Anderson Ward 2, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1920, 1930.
• U.S. Federal Census, Anderson, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1940.
• U.S. Federal Census, Belton, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1870.
• U.S. Federal Census, Broadway, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Hall Township, Anderson County, South Carolina, 1900, 1910.