Saturday, July 3, 2010

William Reid - Old Poplar Springs Cemetery

Recently at this site, I blogged about the Old Poplar Springs Cemetery located on the Pontotoc-Union County line. This cemetery has been abandoned, and although my attempt to find it was successful, the cemetery was so overgrown and snake-y that I had to abandon any thoughts of photographing the grave of William Reid.William Reid was my husband's great-great-great-great-great grandfather. That's a lot of greats! The descendancy goes like this: William Reid --> Joseph Reid --> Harriet Reid Bowen --> Amanda Bowen Johnson --> Fisher Johnson --> Glader Johnson Mills --> my husband. Harriet Reid Bowen, and her husband William Elisha Bowen, came to Itawamba County from Pontotoc County following the Civil War.

Imagine my surprise when I was looking for the grave of William's son, Joseph, and found a photograph of William's grave at Find-a-Grave. How wonderful! The photograph was made in the fall of 2006, and the cemetery looks a lot cleaner than when I found it a few weeks ago.

Imagine my greater surprise to see that William's grave is marked by a Loyd grave marker. The William P. Loyd family were potters in Itawamba County who obtained a patent in 1879 for their unique style of grave markers. These grave markers can be found all over Northeast Mississippi and into neighboring Alabama counties. The inscription at the bottom of William's marker reads: "He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and drew a pension for his gallant service until his death at age 78yrs, 10mo, 29dys."

If you've never visited Find-a-Grave, please do so. It is amazing what volunteers all over the country have done in creating a central location for contributed information about graves and cemeteries. I've even uploaded some pictures of my own to the site and should do even more. The photograph of William Reid's grave was added in the fall of 2009 so it gives me hope that when I return later this year I can get some pictures of my own.

7 comments:

Arvel said...

Though I don't recall your husband being the son of Glada , the tombstone is a wonderful testament not only to the Reids but also to the industrious Lloyds.

Mona Robinson Mills said...

Oops, Arvel! Leave it to you to find that error. My husband is Glader's grandson. Glader's son was Paul.

Anonymous said...

To add another wrinkle on the name Reid - do you think this family name might be the head of the family who founded the Reed Dept. Store in Tupelo, MS all those years ago? It seems that someone told me that the store has now been closed - and when we last visited the Tupelo area in Aug. 2003, all those brass plates and door handles on each of those doors shone so brightly!bettye

Mona Robinson Mills said...

No, Bettye, that's a different set of Reeds entirely. Reed's Department Store is still open and going strong in Tupelo.

Anonymous said...

Would this William Reid, b. 1795, be the brother of Eli Reid, b. 1799 in SC who lived in Hamilton, Marion Co. AL?

Mona Robinson Mills said...

It is possible, but I haven't made the connection. Supposedly, the William Reid buried at Old Poplar Springs Cemetery was the son of Thomas Reid and grandson of William Reid, Sr. These Reids were from Spartanburg District.

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