Death has taken thee, and thee far country to which we journey seems nearer to us, and the way less dark for thou art gone BEFORE.
Garrett Smith was a brother-in-law to Needham Smith.
...Im Seventh And should my Wife Ardilla marry before the youngest child arrives at the age of twenty one I desire and will that she receive out of my Estate the same as one of my three daughters, mentioned in the fifth item and when my daughter Martha arrives at the age of twenty one years or marries, my Wife Ardilla if single shall receive the same as she would have receive had she married.
Im Eighth I desire that the residue of my estate then be divided equally between my Wife Ardilla Smith, and the children of my Deceased daughter Harriet Walker, Deborah Ann Roquemoses, Mary Ann Burney, Drupina Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Martha Smith and William Thomas Speight.
Im Ninth I constitute and appoint my Son in law Milton L. Burney, Garratte Smith and Alexander Smith executors to this my last Will and testament this 7th day of July 1854.
...Fourth I desire that the residue of my Estate be kept together and that my Wife Ardilla, my daughters Drupina Smith, Elizabeth Smith and Martha Smith and my Grand Children William Thos Speight, Franklin Bryant Walker George Henry Walker and Betsy Joel Walker, be supported out of the income or product of the Estate until my youngest daughter Martha shall arrive at the age of twenty One or marries provided they all remain single until that time, the support to cease of each one at their marriage and the education of those not completed to be completed and the expences of the same be paid out of the products of my estate, the remainder of the income to be laid out by my executor as they may Judge most conducive to the interest of said Estate.
In the name of God Amen, I Needham Smith of the County of Houston and State of Georgia being of sound and disposing mind and memory, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs while I have strength to do so, make and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all wills by me at any time heretofore made, And first I commit my soul to the God who gave it and my body I desire to be buried in a Christian like manner, And my worldly estate I dispose of as follows.
First I desire and direct that all my just debts be paid without delay by my Executor hereinafter named.
I mentioned yesterday about a number of points I took away from Dr. Henderson's class at the 2012 Georgia Family History Expo. Another item she spoke of was a poem that resonated with me, but I certainly couldn't get it all down in class. Doing a Google search, I think I found it. I'm sharing it here since I think it might resonate with you, too.
The Georgia Family History Expo, 2012 edition, came to an end yesterday evening. I had a wonderful time throughout it all. More classes were attended and enjoyed, including courses dealing with colonial Georgia records, African-American cemeteries, and possible Cherokee ancestry.
Some of the further reading suggested by Robert S. Davis in the colonial Georgia records class include Georgia Journeys: Being an Account of the Lives of Georgia's Original Settlers and Many Other Early Settlers and Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774. I was also reminded of the Colonial Wills on Georgia's Virtual Vault.
Dr. D. L. Henderson did not disappoint with her Tale of Two Cemeteries talk. She gave a great overview of the African American burial grounds at Oakland Cemetery as well as those at South View Cemetery. A book she suggested is now on my to-read list: The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts.
Half of the 2-day Georgia Family History Expo has come and gone. For those of you who couldn't make it this time around, here's a recap of my day 1. Even though the opening session was not set to begin until early afternoon, I was out and about before 9 am. Every year thus far, I have stayed in a different city in order to be closer to different cemeteries. This time around, Alpharetta was the chosen locale. I had already planned to visit Resthaven off of Main Street in downtown, but I received a pleasant surprise which added an addition to my schedule. Turns out, my hotel is right across the street from a small family cemetery.
I cannot wait to hear Dr. D. L. Henderson speak at the Georgia Family History Expo this Friday and Saturday in Duluth. According to her speaker bio, Dr. Henderson "is the historian for South-View Cemetery and serves on the advisory boards of the Historic South-View Preservation Foundation and the Historic Oakland Foundation. In June 2012, she received the Atlanta Urban Design Commission’s Jenny D. Thurston Memorial Award to an Outstanding Preservation Professional."
I've posted about some of the stones in Oakland Cemetery previously on this blog. Most recently with Shadrach Inman Made Two Fortunes. And believe you me, there will be more. I simply adore this cemetery.
While continuing to revisit some photos taken at Bethany Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina, I came across the stone for John H. Gotjen, Jr. (1904-1926). I had not posted about him before because I could not fully read his entire epitaph. I only recently had decided to go ahead and post what I knew, but before I could do so a bit of serendipity happened.
I posted John Gotjen's information on FindAGrave back in 2008, and I recently received additional information from fellow contributor (and Naval aviator researcher) Mike Weeks. He was able to fill in where I had only blanks, and he added a death notice to boot!