Over the years, I have fallen in love with some folk-carved tombstones that I have found in my research. Interestingly, as more sources and family ties were found, more stones appeared. Someone in the area of northern Murray County, Georgia, was carving tombstones for friends and relatives. Direct links of kinship cannot always be found, but in every case, there does seem to be a link to the larger family clan. The families are: Green, Elder, and Holloway.
Abner Harrison Green (1858 - 1934) is supposed to have carved his mother's tombstone: Martha (Reece) Green, "was bond June 3 1838 dide May 6 1881." Find A Grave Index 35691454: Martha Reece Green, 1881; Burial, Cisco, Murray, Georgia, United States of America, Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery. Abner's own Family Search Person ID is LZD9-8DQ. An Ancestry user said that Abner carved his mother's stone.
The style of his mother's tombstone is much like some other hand-carved tombstones I have been trying to trace, but I cannot find any connection between these people and the Green family (yet). However, Mary Ann (Pankey) Holloway's son, John W. "Davis" Elder, married Rhoda Caylor. There might be a link somewhere along that line. While searching Huckabaas I found something that led to the Elder family. They might have just been neighbors. One thing is clear. While researching any one of these individuals, clicking around through their kin and sources, it always seems to lead back to one of the other individuals of interest, even if direct relationships cannot be found.
These people have hand-carved stones in a similar, folk style:
Martha Reece Green, 1881
Family Search PID: 285L-1FL
Find A Grave Index 35691454. Birth: 3 Jun 1838. Death: 6 May 1881. Burial, Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery, Cisco, Murray, Georgia, United States of America.
Johnathan J. Hugh Holloway
Family Search PID: M59M-34B
Find A Grave Index no. 107381605: Jonathan J Holloway. Burial: 1925, Deep Springs Baptist Church Cemetery, Dalton, Whitfield, Georgia, USA. Birth: 19 Oct 1851. Death: 21 Jun 1925.
Johnathan J. Holloway
1894 - 1894 (born and died same day)
(son of Johnathan, above, and his second wife)
Family Search PID: L1F8-QP4
Find A Grave Index 17097128: J. J. Holloway. Birth: 4 May 1894. Death: 4 May 1894. Burial: May 1894, Deep Springs Baptist Church Cemetery, Dalton, Whitfield, Georgia, USA.
Mary Ann (Pankey) Holloway (first wife of Johnathan, above)
1843 - 1880
Family Search PID: MBQ1-T7S
Find A Grave Index no. 34545081: M. Holloway. Burial: 1880, Sumach Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery, Crandall, Murray, Georgia, USA. Death: 1880. More info: Maryan Holloway, age 35, 6m, 3d. She would have been born in 1845, calculating from date of death. Died 1880. "Sleaping with Jesus." This is from the carving found on both sides of the stone.
William E. C. Green, 1856 - 1939
Family Search PID: LJJN-RY5
Find A Grave Index 157873997: William E.C. Green. Photo of a folk-carved stone. Birth: 05 Apr 1856. Death: 26 Jul 1939. Burial: 1939, Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery, Crandall, Murray, Georgia, USA.
There is no way to prove that some or all of these stones were carved by one carver, or specifically, by Abner Harrison Green, but I want to study the styles and the kinship among those who have the pretty, hand-carved tombstones.
Other Folk-Carved Stones, probably unrelated:
The infant, Ruth Headrick, has a little folk-carved stone, but the style of lettering is much straighter and is in all caps. I know of no obvious link between my Headricks and Abner Harrison Green. I don't think that Abner Green carved Ruth's stone. It was probably done by one of the Headricks. Ruth's Family Search PID is KL7D-JZT. Her Find A Grave Memorial is 35232136: Ruth Headrick. Burial: 1899, Crandall, Murray, Georgia, USA. Birth: 21 Feb 1899. Death: 21 Feb 1899.
There is also an old stone over in Gilmer County, but I cannot remember the details. I have a vague recollection that it looked similar to the stones carved by Green, but I cannot be sure.
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