Wednesday's Child: Annie Lawton

Annie is the daughter of Mary Craig and Major General Henry W. Lawton, who led the pursuit of Geronimo in 1886.

Buried: Ft. Huachuca Post Cemetery, Cochise County, AZ. Section 3, Lot 55

Based on a letter written by her mother, (linked below) weeks after Annie's death it is a good guess that she was under the age of 2.

Annie's parents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Died April 26, 1887

Please take time to read this heartbreaking letter that Mary wrote to her mother the month following Annie's death. Perhaps Annie was named after her grandmother, Mary's mother, Annie Craig.

Major General Lawton was killed in 1899. In the 1900 Jefferson County, KY federal census Mary Lawton is widowed with 4 children at home. The census record states she has 4 of 7 children living. If Annie is one of them I wonder where the other two were buried since they moved around a lot with his military career.

Information links for Major General Henry Lawton

1 Henry Ware Lawton
2 Henry Ware Lawton

Sgt. Carter...Dead

Frank Spencer Sutton...best remembered as Sgt. Carter from Gomer Pyle, U. S. M. C.

During a visit to see my son I took a cemetery walk at the Greenwood Cemetery. The older sections contain many beautiful monuments. Near the back of the cemetery I found the burial location for the Spencer and Sutton family at the edge of the sloping lot.

Abilene TX Reporter
June 30, 1974

Sutton was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, the only child of Frank Sims Sutton and Thelma (née Spencer). When he was eight years old, his father became employed as a Linotype operator at the Nashville Tennessean in Nashville. Frank Sims Sutton died from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on March 16, 1938, leaving behind his wife and 14-year-old son. 


While preparing for a performance of the comedy Luv at the Beverly Barn Dinner Playhouse in Shreveport, Louisiana, Frank Sutton died of a heart attack on June 28, 1974, at the age of 50. He was buried in his hometown of Clarksville. Source: Wikipedia

Horace King: Slave & Master Bridge Builder

A part of my hometown history...

I learned about the relationship of John Godwin and his former slave, Horace King, during my search for cemeteries in Phenix City, Alabama. While Phenix City is my birthplace I was raised across the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, GA.

During a trip home I found the Godwin Cemetery and visited the grave of John Godwin and photographed the headstone placed there by his former slave, Horace. I knew I also needed to find and visit Horace's grave in LaGrange, GA. On my latest trip home I made time to travel to LaGrange to find and visit the grave of Horace King.

I was saddened by the sparseness of the cemetery and found Horace and his son, Marshall, buried beside a tree next to the creek bed. There were few marked graves in this large piece of ground outside of the confederate cemetery referred to as Stonewall Jackson Cemetery.

I kneeled down and cleaned the debris from their graves and told him how I had learned about him and wanted to visit him. That much has been written about him and the new 13th Street bridge connecting Alabama and Georgia is called the Horace King Friendship Bridge.

Standing at the head of Horace's grave looking
toward the Confederate Cemetery

After I returned to Kansas I discovered his wives are buried in the Godwin Cemetery. I will visit them when I return home in a few months. The documentary listed below states the King wives are buried close to the Godwin plot by the two cedars. I reviewed my photos and see the location.

Horace King 9/8/1807 - 5/28/1885
His headstone is marked wrong with the year 1887
1st wife: Francis L. Goode
2nd wife: Sally Jane McManus


Alabama Heritage

New Georgia Encyclopedia

Born as a slave of African, European, and Native American (Catawba) ancestry in Chesterfield District South Carolina, King moved with his master, John Godwin (1798-1859), a contractor, to Girard, Alabama, a suburb of Columbus, where Godwin had the contract to build the first public bridge connecting those two states. King probably planned the construction and directed the slaves who erected that span. Godwin apparently realized King's intuitive genius as a builder and nurtured those skills. During the early 1840s King served as superintendent and architect of major bridges at Wetumpka, Alabama, and Columbus, Mississippi, without Godwin's supervision.

John Godwin allowed King and his other slaves a great degree of freedom, and in 1846 he freed King, perhaps to protect this valuable asset from his creditors. King might have simply bought his freedom, but the relationship between the former master and slave remained the same. After Godwin's death in 1859, King erected a monument over his grave that declared "the love and gratitude he felt for his lost friend and former master."

Horace: The Bridge Builder King documentary by Tom C. Lenard

As shared by his descendents, researchers and historians on YouTube

Part 1. Be sure to watch all 6 segments.

Other links with information on Horace King:

Horace King Historical Marker
Horace King Historical Marker
Wikipedia
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Structure Magazine
BlackPast.org
Alabama Heritage this link has photos of his children
Troup County Archives

Book: Bridging Deep South Rivers: The Life and Legend of Horace King 

Read Post 2

Naismith - Inventor of Basketball

James Naismith - Part 1
Inventor of Basketball
Memorial Park Cemetery
Lawrence, KS


 KSHS

 There are many places online to read more on Mr. Naismith

Wikipedia

James A. Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891 and is often credited with introducing the first football helmet. He wrote the original basketball rulebook, founded the University of Kansas basketball program, and lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Naismith studied physical education in Montreal before moving to the United States, where he developed basketball in late 1891 while enrolled at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith also studied medicine in Denver, taking his MD in 1898 before moving to the University of Kansas. Following a number of years as a faculty member and part-time basketball coach—during the sport's fledgling years (1898–1907)—at the University of Kansas, Naismith moved on to further academic obligations at that university, where he also served as the Athletic Director for the Kansas Jayhawks. He became a U.S. citizen in 1925.

Kansas History Website

James Naismith devised a set of thirteen rules of basketball:

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed.
4. The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.
6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.
10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have the power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes' rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners.

Kansas State Historical Society

James Naismith was born November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Ontario, Canada to John and Margaret (Young) Naismith. Orphaned at the age of nine, he was raised by his uncle, Peter Young....

On June 20, 1894, Naismith married Maude Sherman. They had five children....

 His original basketball rules were fewer than 600 words; today the rules contain more than 30,000 words....

Inventors.About.com

U.S. patent #1,718,305 was granted to G.L. Pierce on June 25, 1929 for the "basketball" used in the game. Click link to see a photo.

Such a simple stone.

I was expecting a typical memorial park style cemetery but was saddened at how "blah" it was. Most of the flat stones had dying weeds on them which looked liked they had been sprayed long past when needed. I know we have had many hot days here in the midwest but this was a parched and sad looking cemetery.

Memorial Park, Oak Hill & Maple Grove Cemetery Interments

Memorial Park Cemetery Map [PDF]

Marion Bailey - The Photographer

Marion Bailey - Part 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marion Bailey - Part 2 [final]

Ethel, Marion, Edna, Mary, Edith

Grave of the Presidents

In 1977 I took a school trip to Washington, D. C. I remember visiting the grave of George and Martha Washington but no longer have the photographs taken that day. Seems all but 3 or 4 of those photos have disappeared over the years.

So, thanks to the school trip photos taken in 1978 by my husband, Barry, I share the following:

Mount Vernon. Photographed 1978

The grave of the first and greatest of the presidents is that which needs the briefest description. So familiar is every American with the scene and story of Mount Vernon. The vault, which was built in obedience of the provisions of Washington’s will, is a roomy brick vault, with an arched roof, very simple in design and construction, and so substantial as to promise to endure for another century. Through an iron gate the two sarcophagi are seen; on a marble tablet in its arch is the inscription:

Within this enclosure rest the remains
of
General George Washington

The coffins, which lie in the open vestibule of the vault proper, are of Pennsylvania marble; that of Washington bears an American shield, the other but two words – “Martha Washington.” A few feet behind them is the vault door, bearing the inscription: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

Hutchinson News 9/19/1878 

Tomb of George Washington. Taken 1978.

From the will of George Washington:

The family Vault at Mount Vernon requiring repairs, and being improperly situated besides, I desire that a new one of Brick, and upon a larger Scale, may be built at the foot of what is commonly called the Vineyard Inclosure, on the ground which is marked out. In which my remains, with those of my deceased relatives (now in the old Vault) and such others of my family as may chuse to be entombed there, may be deposited. And it is my express desire that my Corpse may be Interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral Oration.

What President graves have you visited and photographed? I've been to Washington, Kennedy, Eisenhower and Roosevelt.

Happy Birthday, Coca Cola

In 1866 John Stith Pemberton, a pharmacist, produced a syrup that we know today as Coke. Originally it was a coca wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca.

Hero of Frontier Days

Thomas J. Smith was the Marshall of Abilene, Kansas for 5 months in 1870. While attempting to make an arrest he was shot and nearly decaptiated with an axe. Using Google I found bits and pieces on his murder.

 

Abilene Cemetery


Thomas J. Smith
Marshall of Abilene, 1870
Died, a martyr to duty, Nov 2nd, 1870
A fearless hero of frontier days,
Who in cowboy chaos
established the supremacy of law.

In 1871 Andrew McConnell and Moses Miles were convicted in the death of the Marshall. Andrew was convicted of first degree manslaughter, received 12 years and was discharged on 1/12/1881. Moses was convicted of first degree murder, received 16 years but was pardoned by the governor and discharged 1/2/1877 after serving only 6 years.

The following links give us a photo and insight to the short life of Thomas.

• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWsmithT.htm
• http://www.odmp.org/officer/12490-city-marshal-thomas-j.-smith
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Smith
• http://www.kancoll.org/articles/tomsmith.htm
• http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-tomsmith.html

Questions I'm left with:
What became of Andrew?
What became of Moses?
Why was Moses pardoned?

Famous File: Jack Banta

I am borrowing the label "Famous File" from Tammi over at Escape to the Silent Cities. My famous file posts could be local or national.

Jack Banta
Pitcher
Brooklyn Dodgers
1947 - 1950
Born: 6/24/1925 Hutchinson, Reno Co., KS
Died: 9/17/2006 Hutchinson, Reno Co., KS
Buried: Penwell Gabel Cemetery & Mausoleum

'49 World Series pitcher dies

HUTCHINSON — Jack Banta, who played on the Brooklyn Dodgers with Jackie Robinson and made three relief appearances in the 1949 World Series, died at 81. His death was confirmed Tuesday. Banta, who had heart problems and recently broke his hip, entered a Hutchinson hospice Saturday and died the next day, wife Jackie Banta said.

Banta pitched briefly for the Dodgers in 1947 and 1948. His best season was in 1949 when he went 10-6 and won the pennant clinching game. Banta, who threw sidearm, pitched in the World Series against a New York Yankees team featuring Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.

Banta pitched in relief in Games 3, 4 and 5 and gave up a home run to DiMaggio. The Yankees won the Series in five games.

He worked for a grocery supermarket company in Hutchinson for 33 years before retiring in 1989.

A graveside service is scheduled for Thursday in Hutchinson.

Salina Journal, 9/20/2006

Links to online information on Jack Banta:

Link 1
Link 2

President Cleveland's GYR Foot

"... a graveyard rabbit that was killed in the dark of the moon."

Tyrone [PA] Daily Herald
10/27/1887, Page 7

Did the graveyard rabbit foot bring President Cleveland luck?

He was our 22nd President [1885 - 1889], but did not win his re-election. He did, however, become our 24th President [1893 - 1897].

-------------------------------------

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/grovercleveland22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland

Founder of St. John, Kansas

William Bickerton

1815-1905

Successor to Joseph Smith

.

He was born in Northumberland England and came to the United States when age 17. He was baptized in the church of Jesus Christ in 1845 and ordained an Evangelist by Sidney Rigdon. When this organization dissolved he was commanded by the Lord to continue the church in its purity and served as President. Moved upon by the Lord, he brought the first settlement to Stafford county, founded St. John, and was honored as its first citizen. Noble, visionary, generouse, forgiving all speak of him. He walked with God.

Based on the family tree I found at Ancestry.com I was able to find the following census listings:

.

1900 Stafford Co., KS, 85, widowed, born Jan 1815

1895 Stafford Co., KS [state], 80

1880 Stafford Co., KS, 63, divorced

1870 Allegheny Co., PA, 55, with spouse Charlotte, farm laborer, $12,000, $500

1860 Allegheny Co., PA, 44, with spouse Dorothy, Cole [coal?] boss, $600, $50

1850 Allegheny Co., PA, 30, with spouse Dortha, minor

.

There is also a NY Passenger listing for a William Bickerton born about 1815 that arrived in NY from England on June 30, 1831.

Chief Kicking Bird

Ft. Sill Post Cemetery
The grave of Kiowa Chief Kicking Bird is located behind the grave of Quanah Parker.



Kicking Bird, a Kiowa chief, was the grandson of a Crow Indian who was captured and adopted by the Kiowas, his adoption being due to his great bravery and wisdom in councils. The Indian name of Kicking Bird was Tene-angpote. On Aug. 15, 1865, he signed an agreement with representatives of the United States to accept a reservation near the present city of Wichita, Kan., and he was a party to the treaty which was made at Medicine Lodge on Oct. 21, 1867, fixing the boundaries of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation in the present State of Oklahoma. Then the government, in 1873, failed to carry out the agreement to release certain Kiowa chiefs then imprisoned in Texas, Kicking Bird lost faith in the United States and was preparing to join an expedition against the Tonkawa tribe and the white buffalo hunters when he found out that his rival chief, Lone Wolf, was about to join the hostile Indians to commit depredations upon the frontier settlements. He gave up his own expedition and induced about two-thirds of the Kiowa tribe to remain at the Fort Sill agency. In the negotiations which followed he was treated as the head chief of the tribe. Kicking Bird was a man of positive character and labored for the welfare of his people. He aided in the establishment of the first school among the Kiowas in 1873. His death occurred suddenly on May 5, 1875, and it was thought by some that he had been poisoned by some of his enemies. His name Kicking Bird was adopted as a pseudonym by Milton W. Reynolds, the Kansas writer.

Blackmar, Frank W. Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912

Remembering The Clutter Family

On my last road trip I was able to visit the Clutter Memorial in the Holcomb Community park. Their murders were chronicled in the book "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. The memorial comes a few months before the 50th anniversary of their deaths. The family was murdered in Holcomb and buried in Garden City at Valley View Cemetery.

Mr. President

Place of Meditation

Abilene, KS

.

Eisenhower's buried here:

David Dwight: 10/14/1890 - 3/28/1969

Mamie Doud: 11/14/1890 - 11/1/1979

Doud Dwight: 9/24/1917 - 1/2/1921 [died of scarlet fever]

.

.

Also on the grounds is this statue.

His parents are buried North of town in the Abilene Cemetery.

The Horse & Buggy Doctor

Dr. Arthur E. Hertzler is buried in the Halstead Cemetery. Behind his grave stands his daughter's headstone. To the right of his grave is the bench pictured below.

.

He was born in Iowa in 1870 and moved to Kansas with his parents when he was young. In 1902 he established the Halstead Hospital. In 1938 his memoir, entitled The Horse and Buggy Doctor was published. It gave a personal account of his experiences as a country doctor during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dr. Hertzler retired in February 1946 and died later that year.

Crash Victim Noted Figure of the Stage

The last curtain will fall tomorrow in Hutchinson for Auriol Lee, 62, internationally known theatrical director and actress...

On July 2, 1941 Auriol Lee, died in a car crash on Highway 50, a mile west of the K-96 junction. Headlines of the accident were:

Woman Dies In Accident - The Hutchinson News, 7/2/1941, p 1

Crash Victim Noted Figure of the Stage - The Hutchinson News, 7/6/1941, p1

Her resting place will be on the Kansas prairie 5,000 miles from her native England because her wish was to be buried where she died, simply and quietly. Funeral arrangments were made by John Van Druten, a British playwright whom she collaborated with and her neice, actress Virginia Fields, whose real name was Margaret Cynthia. Other survivors included her sister, Mrs. St. John Fields. Auriol Lee has been married once to an English actor, Frederick Lloyd. They were divorced.

A list of her plays can be found here.

A list of her films can be found here. Not listed here is her third motion picture she had just completed in California, "Before the Fact", with Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Auriol was bound for New York to attend the wedding of the daughter of Dwight Deere Wiman, a producer. She was buried at the Fairlawn Burial Park.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bains News Service, publisher. "Auriol Lee (1st act)." Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 2 July 2009 .

Dalton Gang

Elmwood Cemetery located in Coffeyville, Kansas.

...The left sign states that Dick Broadwell's family took his body back to Hutchinson, KS. There are no local cemetery records indicating he was interred in Hutchinson. The Broadwell family left Hutchinson and are buried in Oklahoma.