The Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery contains three very interesting markers. Two are of Stephen and Narcissus Spooner. The other one is for Marion Blankenship.
Stephen Morrow Spooner, 1823-1901, was a farmer in Miller County, Georgia. There was once a Spooner, Georgia in this area. My assumption is the town was named after this family.
One interesting story about Stephen Spooner is that I. 1871, he killed Dr. James Barrow Guest over a disagreement according to one news article I found. I cannot Iocate a follow-up article that states whether or not there was a trial. I do know he was living at home in 1880. His property contained 550 acres and it’s value was assessed at $1000 in the late 1870’s.
The Spooners’ 3rd great-grandson, Kevin Daniels, informed me that two different sculptors created their monuments.
Courtesy of Ancestry
Marion Kenneth Blankenship was not your average Elvis Presley impersonator. “Kenn” was was a very talented musician and singer who was nominated for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
Porcelain portrait and marker for their beloved Fancy
Mary (1858-1860) and Emma (1860-1861) Hartmann were the young daughters of Catherine and Claus Hartmann. Like so many young children in the 1800s, they lost their life at a young age. John Walz is the sculptor on this marker.
Rosalie Raymond White, who died at seven months old in 1882, was one of seven children of Blake and Rosalie White. Only two of their children lived to see adulthood.
Rosalie was the White’s first child. Her likeness is carved in relief on a bassinet. Some suggest this is a death mask, which is a likeness created directly from a mold of the person’s face. At any point of the year, different flowers are planted in the bassinet.
The Victorians often used symbols and words to indicate someone “sleeping.” The bassinet represents this concept.
The front facade of the church is largely unchanged.
Established in the 1680s, the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the country. The current church building was built in 1831 and has largely stayed the same in its almost 200-year history.
The church’s graveyard contains graves as old as 1787. The headstones illustrate this long history ranging from slate markers to more modern granite ones. The most famous burial is Julia Legare.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Some of the lovely ironwork is draped with Spanish moss. One of several obelisks in the cemetery. The torches pointing downwards represent a life “snuffed out” or ended. Cornelia Adelaide Seabrook, d. 1856-The symbol with the child riding on the back of an angel means the child heading towards heaven.
If you’ve ever visited St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, you were likely looking for the final resting place of JonBenét Ramsey. Another reason is to visit the supposedly haunted grave of Mary Meinert (1863-1898).
The striking marker of the mother holding her two babies stands out in the cemetery. At night, people claim they can hear the cries of a weeping woman, who they believe is Mary. Some say that if you get close enough that you can see the tears on her face. Others claim to hear a young child crying for their mommy or that the twin babies switch positions in her arms. On Halloween night, you can circle the marker three times and ask, “Mary, Mary, how did your children die?” and she will appear.
According to her obituary, Mary left behind six children, two of them being twin girls that were only four weeks old. By the 1900 census, Henry Meinert is listed as a widow with four children. I am unable to determine when the two twin girls passed away. The mother died of a lung ailment, but it was likely a birth complication.
Obituary from the Marietta Journal‘ on May 26th 1898 (page 1)
The Death Angel Darkens a home
Death has again invaded the happy home in Marietta and took a pure and good wife and a loving devoted mother. Mrs. Marion Meinert wife our esteemed fellow citizen Mr. Henry Meinert. The sad event occurred last Saturday morning about 11:30 o’clock. The deceased had been sick some four weeks, her lungs being involved.
She was one of the most patient, lovable women in Marietta. She had a heart that sympathized with suffering humanity and one who did more charitable work in visiting the poor and sick ministering unto their need that did Mrs. Meinert. She was a truly a disciple of Christ and went about doing good.
She was in her 34th year of her age at the time of her death. She leaves behind her husband and six children, of that number were twin girls four weeks old.
The funeral services were conducted at the family residence on last Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock, Rev J.H. Patton officiating. There was a number of our citizens present.
The casket was literally covered with flowers, some arrange in beautiful designs, offerings of friends. The internment took place in the Episcopal cemetery. We tender our sincere sympathy to the bereaved husband, children, relatives in this their sad hour of their grief.
Located in the Marietta City Cemetery, this memorial for Mary Annie Gartrell (1853-1906) was erected by her sister Lucy. The grieving sister visited her sister’s grave twice a week, often on foot and in black, for the next 48 years. She became known as the “Lady in Black.”
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