Edwards-Stanfield-Turnipseed Family Cemetery, Henry Co, GA EDWARDS-STANFIELD-TURNIPSEED FAMILY CEMETERY, Henry Co, GA Submitted: 04/30/01 GPS Location: N33º23.792W084º19.013 Compiled & made Available to The UsGenWeb Archives by: Linda S. Sanders http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00034.html#0008338 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm (See additional information at end of listings) This cemetery is located in LL 228 of the 6th district of Henry County, Lovejoy, GA. I75S to Exit 235 (GA Hwy. 19/41, Tara Blvd.). Travel south for several miles. Turn right on Speedway Boulevard, immediately before the entrance into Atlanta Motor Speedway. Approximately ¼ mile, there is a small bark-coated trail leading into the woods. Cemetery on left. This cemetery is inactive. According to available records John M. Ponder & J.W. Edwards are buried in this cemetery. In addition, several children of W.P. & Nettie Stanfield (daughter of Thomas Doyle McKinney & Epsy Caroline Henson) are buried here, with no evidence of them. However, there are at least 10 unreadable markers and/or fieldstones that could be any of the above. The relationship of the Stanfields to the other families in this cemetery is unknown. Introduction: History of those buried in this cemetery are as follows: James Whitsell Edwards & Thomas J. Edwards (see below) were the sons of Littleberry B. Edwards and Sarah Whitsell Edwards. Sarah married 2nd Major John M. Ponder (son of James). Their children buried here are George M. and Susan E. Ponder who married James Henderson Hand. The children of Susan and James Hand are also buried here. James married Sarah (Sallie) Henderson Crawford, daughter of Richard and Isabel Henderson; widow of a Mr. Crawford (son of George & Delilah). Thomas married Martha Jane Crawford, daughter of Sarah (Sallie) Henderson Crawford. Their children buried here include an infant daughter and Mary L. (This amounted to Martha marrying her step-father’brother). Adam Frederick Turnipseed (son of George & Nancy Hamiter Turnipseed) married Elizabeth F. Hennessee. Their relationship to the other families in this cemetery is unknown. Alphabetical Index Name Birth Date Death Date Notes Crawford, Martha 12/13/1829 04/11/1886 1st wife of T.J. Edwards Edwards, Infant 07/09/1855 07/15/1855 infant daughter of M J. & T.J. Edwards, Mary L. 05/01/1862 02/15/1863 Edwards, Sallie 12/02/1809 09/26/1899 wife of J.W. Edwards, T.J. 1820 11/11/1899 Hand, Infant 04/18/1868 04/18/1868 child of J.H. & S.E. Hand, Minnie L. 04/18/1868 11/04/1868 daughter of J.H. & S.E. Ponder, George 02/09/1839 08/14/1875 son of J.M. & S.E. Stanfield, Andrew J. 01/09/1859 02/27/1881 son of E.J. & P.E. Stanfield, E.J. No birth or death date inscription Stanfield, George T. 08/11/1857 08/18/1881 son of E.J. & P.E. Stanfield, Infant 08/02/1900 08/02/1900 of W.P. & Nettie Stanfield, Infant 09/29/1916 09/29/1916 son of W.P. & Nettie Stanfield, Infant 11/01/1898 11/01/1898 of W.P. & Nettie Stanfield, Priscilla Elizabeth 02/01/1836 04/27/1904 wife of E.J. Stanfield, Tolula Z. Cannot read 12/30/1881 daughter of E.J. & P.E. Stanfield, W.H. 12/24/1854 08/31/1903 Stanfield, William Louis 12/03/1901 06/25/1902 son of W.P. & Nettie Stanfield, William M. 06/25/1838 03/26/1899 Turnipseed, Adam F. 05/28/1823 03/02/1890 Turnipseed, Elizabeth F. 11/09/1821 12/09/1877 wife of A.F. ======================================================================================== The following information was graciously provided by a direct descendent of the family: Joseph Henry Hightower Moore Compilation date: 6/17/87 EDWARDS GRAVEYARD (EDWARDS-LITTLE-PONDER-HAND-TURNIPSEED-STANFIELD) Near Bear Creek Road, Hampton, Henry County, Georgia Researched by Joseph Henry Hightower Moore Among the several private family burying grounds not included in Vessie Thrasher Rainer's Henry County, Georgia, Family Graveyards, Privately published in 1980, is the Edwards Graveyard located in Land Lot 228 of the 6th District, Henry County. This graveyard can be approached from U.S. Highway 19/41, known in Henry County as Bear Creek Boulevard and in Clayton County, as Tara Boulevard, By turning west onto Bear Creek Road. The graveyard is located some distance north of Bear Creek Road, and cannot be seen from the road. The site itself is now inaccessible, or nearly so. In 1964 a racing track and stables for horses called Hampton Downs, later Holiday Downs, was built between Bear Creek Road and the Edwards Graveyard, but the one-mile racetrack is now overgrown with young trees and the stables are in ruins. The unpaved drive to the stables still exists. From the stables, the Edwards Graveyard lies just within an old tree line about midway of the former racetrack and just north of it. It is just within the line of Land Lot 228. The Edwards-Graveyard was first researched by this compiler in 1964 and again in November, 1971. In or about 1964, the late Mr. Perry Welch of Hampton identified it as the old Hand Graveyard, and stated that for many years his first wife, the former Jessie Turnipseed, had periodically cleaned and cared for the site as her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Adam Frederick Turnipseed, were buried there. Mr. Welch also stated that he always understood that this graveyard predated the nearby cemetery at Mt. Pleasant M. E. Church, which evidently came into use about 1850. Grave inscriptions make it impossible to precisely date either burial ground. The earliest inscribed stone at Mt. Pleasant bears a death date in 1851 while the earliest in the Edwards Graveyard bears a death date in 1855, but it must be remembered that inscribed gravestones did not come into frequent use in this section until the 1850's. Prior to then, it was almost universal custom in this area to mark graves with field stones or with mortar and sea shells, occasionally with boxed monuments of stone or brick, and sometimes with carved wooden markers that even- tually rotted away. Hence it is that very old graveyards may reveal carved stones from no earlier than 1850. This compiler has identified this site as the Edwards Graveyard rather than as the Hand Graveyard, as Mr. Welch gave it, because deed records indicate that at the time it came into use it was on the plantation of James Whitsell Edwards and, in addition, the oldest inscribed graves are of members of the Edwards family. James Whitsell Edwards and his brother, Thomas J. Edwards, and various members of their families are buried here, including their mother and stepfather, Major and Mrs. John M. Ponder. Mrs. Ponder was the former Sarah Whitsell of Wilkes and Oglethorpe Counties, GA, and the widow of Littlebury B. Edwards who died in Olethorpe County about 1827. He had drawn land in the 1821 Georgia Lottery, securing his grant in 1824, in Henry County. It is not certain whether his widow was married to Major Ponder before or after her move to Henry County. The marriage record is not found in Henry County and in the 1831 Tax Digest, Major Ponder is shown as owning 1and in Franklin County, Ga., while Sarah Whitsell's brother-in-law, Thomas Edwards, is shown as the guardian of her minor children: James Edwards, William G. Edwards, Thomas J. Edwards and Martha S. Edwards. At that time Sarah and her children, Thomas Edwards and Major Ponder were all living in the 3rd District of Henry County, on and near Thompson's Creek and Towaliga River. In 1833 their friend and neighbor, the Reverend William Moseley, was appointed guardian for the Edwards children, which suggests that Thomas Edwards had either died or moved from the county. William G. Edwards, another brother-in-law of Sarah Whitsell, had also settled in Henry County, above the later community of Luella. (The William G. Edwards Graveyard on his homestead on Ga. Hwy. 155 is not to be confused with the Edwards Graveyard of this account. Children and grandchildren of William G. Edwards married into some of the same families and connections as did the children and grandchildren of Littlebury B. Edwards. This and the use of the same given names among both branches of the Edwards family causes confusion in research. Members of both branches, for example, married into the Crawford family - near relatives of the Crawford's of Lovejoy's Station in Henry and Clayton Counties and into the Hightower family of Fayette County and into the Couch family of Coweta and Spalding Counties.) Sarah (Whitsell) Edwards Ponder was born in 1794, probably in Wilkes County, and died sometime between 1850 and 1860. Her grave was likely among the first to be placed in the Edwards Graveyard. She and her connections formed a significant settlement in the early days of Henry County. These connections included a group of Greene County, Ga., families who settled southeast of present Hampton on and near Thompson's Creek and Towaliga River: Whitsells, Fears, Barnetts, Andrews, Griffins, Johnsons and allied families. These people included ancestors and relatives of President Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas. (See articles in Georgia Magazine, "What's Your Family Line?" by Adelle Bartlett Harper, issues of June-July, 1964, and August-September, 1964, including research of Vessie Thrasher Rainer on these families in Greene and Henry Counties, primarily on the Johnson and Barnett lines.) Of the four children of Sarah Whitsell and Littlebury B. Edwards, only one moved away from Henry County. This was William G. Edwards. (not to be confused with his uncle of the same name) who in 1843 married Jane H. Hightower of Fayette County and subsequently removed to Ashley County, Arkansas and to Texas. James Whitsell Edwards married in Henry, County in 1838, Sarah (Henderson) Crawford, daughter of Richard Henderson and believed to be the widow of a son of George Crawford who lived variously in Henry, Monroe and Spalding Counties, Ga., and in Chambers County, Ala. George Crawford was in Chambers County, Ala., in 1850 and in the Census of that year is shown as 75 years of age, hence born in 1775, and a native of Virginia. He died in Griffin, Ga. in 1858 and was buried in Monroe County, presumably by his first wife who was the mother of his children. His widow, Melvina Crawford, subsequently became the second wife of Dr. James Madison Couch of Griffin. (His brother, Dr. William Bartley Couch of Spalding County, was the second husband of Susan Ann [Edwards] Hightower, daughter of James A. Edwards of Henry County and grand-daughter of William G. Edwards of Henry County, and widow of Simeon C. Hightower of Fayette and Henry Counties.) Thomas J. Edwards, the youngest son of Sarah Whitsell and Little bury B. Edwards, married in Henry County in 1842, Martha J. Crawford, daughter of George Crawford. After her death he married second, in 1886, Sarah (Glass) Harris, widow of Green B. Harris and daughter-of Pleasant Glass of Butts County, Ga. T. J. Edwards was a leading planter in Henry County and built Edwards' Mill, whose old millpond is now. known as Lake Amah Lee near Hampton. Soon after 1847 he built a fine house in the Greek Revival style at his plantation and, in later years had a town-house in Hampton, where he died. He was a Justice of the Peace, a trustee of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in 1860, and later instrumental in the formation of the Hampton Baptist Church, the land for which was given by his son John L. Edwards. Martha S. Edwards, the only daughter of Sarah Whitsell and Little- bury B. Edwards, married in Henry County in 1839, James Frederick Glass, son or ward of Manson Glass of Fayette and Clayton Counties, who came to Georgia from Virginia. Frederick and Martha (Edwards) Glass settled north of McDonough in Henry County on present U. S. Hwy. 23/State Hwy. 42 and are buried on their homeplace. They were both under age at the time of their marriage and until reaching their majority, Manson Glass was guardian for James Frederick Glass, and the Rev. William Moseley continued as guardian for Martha (Edwards) Glass. This was owing to the substantial estates to which each of the young people was to be heir. They were ancestors of the Henry County branch of the Glass family. Major John M. Ponder was a native of South Carolina and may have lived for a time in Franklin County, Ga., as he owned land there in 1831 when he was living in Henry County. Sarah (Whitsell) Edwards was undoubtedly his second wife as Daniel H. Ponder, who married in Henry County in 1844 Amanda E. Little, is believed to have been his son by a prior marriage. Another son may have been Edwin W. Ponder who married Sarah E. Hand in 1839. Two children appear to have been born to Major Ponder, and Sarah (Whitsell) Edwards: Susan E. Ponder who married James Henderson Hand in 1856, and George M. Ponder, who is known to be a child of this marriage. This compiler has not conducted thorough research on the Ponder family, nor can he state when it was that Major and Mrs. Ponder moved from the waters of the Towaliga in 3rd District to their final home in the Mt. Pleasant M E. Church community in the 6th District, but assumes the move was made during Mrs. Ponder's lifetime and prior to 1856, when Major Ponder took part in a large Fourth of July Celebration at Bear Creek Station (Hampton). (See "Fourth of July at Bear Creek, Henry County, Ga." in The Empire State newspaper, Griffin, Ga. issue of July 16, 1856, and quoted in Vessie Thrasher Rainer, Henry County, Georgia, The Mother of Counties, 1971, page 78. Major Ponder read this toast: "The ladies -- may they be diligent in training the minds of their rising offspring to revere and cherish the principles of our glorious-Republic.") Major Ponder, along with his stepson Thomas J. Edwards, Andrew Henderson, William Alexander and Benjamin Hail, was a trustee of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in 1860. On 31 March 1861, his neighbor Richard Henderson appointed him executor of his will. (Henry County Wills, Book A, page 392, "my friend John M. Ponder.") Major Ponder was evidently deceased by 1868 when Richard Henderson died, as the court found it necessary to appoint Richard A. Henderson administrator of the Henderson estate. This compiler has been unable to locate the deed in which James Whitsell Edwards purchased Land Lot 228 in which the Edwards Graveyard is located, but he was in possession of Land Lot 221, where his home still stands on Little Road, prior to 1850, and it is likely that he had the graveyard tract at the same time. Major Ponder was living in this neighborhood, and adjacent to the J. W. Edwards property, by 1858 when Richard Henderson purchased his final home in Land Lots 229, 252 and 253, as the Henderson deed makes reference to Ponder's fence. (Henry County Deeds, Book 0, page 743-745, dated 27 Nov. 1858. Henderson had purchased land in Lot 229 in 1834, but the above deed refers to him in 1858 as being of Spalding County, indicating that after his second marriage in 1847, to Rebecca Porter, he had moved from his Henry County land. The reference in his 1858 will to his Holliday Place was to his home in Spalding County, as it was not until six months later that he moved into the Mt. Pleasant community, where he died in 1868. He made a codicil to his will in 1861 changing his bequest of the Holliday Place.) On 31 March 1860, James W. Edwards sold to Major Ponder a tract of 110 acres, being the south part of Land Lot 228 including the graveyard, but no reference was made to it since the land was considered to be in the same family and Mrs. Ponder was already buried in the yard. (Henry County Deeds, Book P, page 157.) It was customary to make deeds only when a land purchase was fully paid for, hence it is possible that Ponder had been in possession of this land for some time prior to 1860. After Major Ponder's death, this land passed to his son, George M. Ponder, and on 15 Nov. 1874, he sold it to James Henderson Hand, whose homeplace joined it on the west. Hand was a son of Isiah (Isaiah) Hand and Hannah L. Henderson, who had moved from Henry County to Tallapoosa County, Ala., about 1844. He had returned to Henry County and on 28 May 1856 was married to Susan E. Ponder, daughter of Major J. M. Ponder. (Henry County Marriages, Book 1851-1868, page 97.) On 22 Dec. 1884, J. H. Hand deeded this land to his wife Susan, including his homeplace, being a total of 234 acres in Land Lots 227, 228, 229 and,253, together with one horse and buggy, one ox and wagon, three cows and calves and thirteen head of hogs. This deed was evidently made in lieu of a will and it may be assumed that James H. Hand was buried in the graveyard without a carved stone. He was born in Henry County in or about 1835. Susan E. (Ponder) Hand is presumed to be buried beside him. (See Henry County Deeds, Ponder to Hand, Book S, page 515; J. H. Hand to S. E. Hand, Book V, page 578.) The paternal grandfather of James Henderson Hand (and father of Isiah Hand) was Joseph Hand, Revolutionary soldier, who came from South Carolina and settled first in Jasper County, Ga., then in Henry County, where he received a grant in the 1821 Lottery. This was Land Lot 246 of the 6th District and Joseph Hand died and was buried in the Hand Graveyard on that place in 1834. His sons Isiah Hand, John C. Hand and Simeon Hand were all among the group of Henry Countians who later removed to Tallapoosa County, Ala. (The Joseph Hand Graveyard in Land Lot 246 is one of the oldest burying grounds in Henry County and likely served several neighboring families. The site contains no carved gravestones, however.) On his mother's side, James Henderson Hand was a grandson of Richard Henderson and his first wife Isabel Jamison. (See "Henderson- Moore Graveyard" in Ancestors Unlimited Edition, Vol. 9, No. 2 June, 1987.) Thus the Edwards, Ponder, Henderson and Hand families formed a close-knit settlement among themselves and other relatives and connections in the Mt. Pleasant community west of Hampton. The home of James H. Hand stood until very recent years at the intersection of Bear Creek Road and Mt. Pleasant Road. It is shown on military maps drawn by Union forces in 1864. (See Plate XL, Official Military Atlas of the Civil War. The house is identified by the name "Hahn.") Nearby and within sight was the residence of Richard Henderson from 1858 to his death in 1868. This home was standing in 1964, but destroyed thereafter. Both the Hand and Henderson houses were variations of the classical Greek Revival cottage style and in their day were comfortable and attractive country places. The house site of Major J. M. Ponder has not been identified by this compiler. Others buried in the Edwards Graveyard were residents of this immediate locality. Adam Frederick Turnipseed came to Henry County in 1850 from Richland District, S. C., with his brothers Henry, Levi and Reddick Washington Turnipseed and their cousin Mathew Turnipseed. Henry, Levi and R. W. Turnipseed are buried at nearby Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Adam's burial in the Edwards Graveyard suggests that his wife belonged to one of the other families buried there. The Littles in this graveyard were connected with the Edwards, and the Stanfields lived in this neighborhood and may have been connected with others buried here. The Henry County Tax Digest for 1831, Capt. James Fields' District, lists William B. Stanfield in Land Lot 222, which diagonally touches Lot 228. He was probably the father and grandfather of Stan- fields in this graveyard and is likely buried here himself. Henry County records show William B. Stanfield was commissioned a Justice of the Peace in 1831. GRAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS When the compiler first visited this graveyard in 1964, it was noted that a number of graves were marked only with field stones or masonry. No count was made of these graves, but they may represent as many as half the total burials in the yard, if not more. It was also noted that a number of graves marked with field stones were located outside that portion of the yard which had once been kept clear of underbrush. Tradition has asserted that these were the graves of slaves and freedmen, who in early graveyards were customarily buried adjacent to the white families. Census and tax records reveal that all the white families buried in the Edwards Graveyard had owned slaves. The 1860 Census for Henry County gives the following owner ship: James H. Hand, one slave; James W. Edwards, nine slaves; Thomas J. Edwards, twenty-two slaves; E.J. Stanfield, one slave; and William Stanfield, two slaves. Sarah Elizabeth (Edwards) Little, wife of Adam E. Little, was living with her husband and children in Union District of Spalding County in 1860, but when her husband died in North Carolina in Confederate service, she returned with her children to the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Edwards. Several slaves were included in her family. Immediate neighbors to the graveyard, included Richard Henderson with thirteen slaves; J. C. Clinton, three slaves, and Joseph G. Clower, three slaves. In 1850, Major John M. Ponder had three slaves. No count was found for him in 1860. Any slaves or freedmen buried in or adjacent to this yard would likely have belonged to one or more of these families. Following are all the grave inscriptions found by this compiler. EDWARDS In Memory of INFANT DAUGHTER of M. J. & T. J. Edwards, Born July 9th, 1855, Died July 15th, 1855. Sleep on little babe, rest sweetly until God bid thee rise. [This is the oldest inscribed death date found in the yard.] In Memory of MARY L., Daughter of M. J. & T. J. Edwards, Born May 1st, 1862, Died Feb. 15th, 1863. Sleep on little Mary, rest sweetly until God bid thee rise. In Memory of MARTHA E., Daughter of T. J. and M. J. Edwards, Born ecember 31st, 1856, Died August 5th, 1868. Sleep on our Martha, dear and sweetly rest. [Stone broken.] T. J. EDWARDS, Born 1820, Died November 11, 1899. [This is all that was recorded. The compiler's recollection is that the stone was broken and badly weathered.] MARTHA J. CRAWFORD, Wife of T. J. Edwards, Born December 13 AD 1829, Died April 11, 1886. Husband and children I must leave you. Leave, yes, leave you all alone; but my blessed Savior calls me, Calls me to a heavenly home. [After Martha Crawford's death, T. J. Edwards married second Sarah (Glass) Harris. She is buried in Berea Cemetery, Hampton, Ga., in the lot of her son William Madison Harris.] Our Father, JAMES W. EDWARDS, Born Sep. 10, 1815, Died Nov. 12, 1888. [Stone broken and remainder could not be read.] SALLIE, Wife of J. W. Edwards, Born Dec. 2, 1809, Died Sep. 26, 1899. One precious to our hearts has gone. The voice we loved is stilled. The place made vacant in our home Can never more, be filled. Our father in his wisdom called The boon his love had given, And though here the body lies, the soul is safe in heaven. [Sarah (Henderson) Crawford Edwards.] INFANT DAUGHTER of L. T. F. and Lula D. Arnall, Born & Died Aug. 12, 1886. Sleep on little darling till we meet. [Lula D. Arnall was Tallulah Delilah Edwards, daughter of T. J. and Martha Crawford Edwards. Lucious Arnall, her husband belonged to the Arnall family of Senoia, Coweta County, Ga., Whose members include former Georgia Governor Ellis Gibes Anal.] LITTLE * In Memory of WILLIAM THOMAS LITTLE, Born Jan. 30, 1860, Died in the year 1861. MARTHA A. LITTLE, Born Nov. 13, 1858,, Died July 2, 1883. Dearest. sister thou has left us And thy loss we deeply feel, But, the God who has bereaft us, He can all our sorrows heal. SARAH ELIZABETH LITTLE, Born March 31, 1844 Died Aug. 8, 1906. (Daughter of James W. Edwards and Sarah Henderson Crawford Edwards; widow of Adam E. Little, a member of Company A, 44th Georgia Regiment, who died at Goldsboro, N.C. 31 May 1862. They were married 22 Oct. 1857. He was a son, of Zabud and Dorothy, Wellbourne Little, whose plantation was about two miles southwest of this site. William Thomas Little and Martha A. Little were children of Adam E. and Sarah Edwards Little.] * Probably buried here: Zabud Little (ca. 1806-1851) & wife Dorothy Wellborn Little (ca. 1805-1853) PONDER GEORGE M., Son of J. M. & S. Ponder, Born Feb. 9, 1839, And departed this life Aug. 14, 1875. Note: Two old slabs with stones in the Edwards section are believed to mark the graves of Major John M. Ponder (4/17/1795 - 5/17/1864) and Sarah(Whitsell) Edwards Ponder (ca. 1796 - >1850). HAND INFANT CHILD of J. H. & S. E. Hand, Born Dead, April 18, 1868. MINNIE L., Daughter of J. H. & S. E. Hand, Born April 18, 1868, Died Nov. 1, 1868. JOHNNIE P. HAND, Son of J. H. & S. E. Hand, Born Jan. 23, 1865, Died June 19, 1878. [Stone marked "W. H. Turnipseed, Jonesboro."] Note: These were children of James Henderson Hand and Susan E. Ponder, who are buried at Wadley, AL. TURNIPSEED ADAM FREDERICK TURNIPSEED, Born May 23, 1823, Died Mar. 2, 1890. Thou hast left us and we miss thee, Sadly miss thee, Father dear; In vain we listen for thy footsteps, Still we are thinking thou art here. ELIZABETH F. HENNESSEE, Wife of A. F. Turnipseed, Born Nov. 9, 1827, Died Dec. 9, 1877. "She was the sunshine of our home, An Angel to us given; Just when we learned to love her most, God called her back to Heaven." STANFIELD In the Stanfield section of this graveyard are two sets of stones and slabs with no visible inscriptions. These are believed to mark the graves of William B. Stanfield and wife, as previously noted. ANDREW J. STANFIELD, Son of E. J. & C. P. E., Born Jan. 9, 1859, Died Sept. 27, 1881. [Stone broken.] GEORGE T. STANFIELD, Son of E. J. & C. P. E., Born Aug. 11, 1857, Died Nov. 18, 1881. [Stone broken.] TOLULA Z. STANFIELD, Daut. of E. J. & C. P. E., Born April 16, 1865, Died Dec. 30, 1881. [Stone broken.] PRISCILLA ELIZABETH, Wife of E. J. Stanfield, Born Feb. 1, 1836, Died Apr. 27, 1904. [A notation made by the compiler in 1964 states that E. J. Stanfield, husband of C. Priscilla Elizabeth Stanfield, is buried beside her with no engraving on his stone.] W. H. STANFIELD, Dec. 24, 1854, Aug. 31, 1903. INFANT of W. P. & Nettie Stanfield, Born & Died Nov. 1, 1896. INFANT of W. P. & Nettie Stanfield, Born & Died Aug. 12, 1900. WILLIAM LOUIS, Son of W. P. & Nettie Stanfield, Dec. 3, 1901, June 25, 1902 INFANT SON of W. P. & Nettie Stanfield, Born & Died Sept. 29, 1916. Gone to be an Angel. WM. M. STANFIELD, Born June 25, 1838, Died Mar. 26, 1899. Remember friends, as you pass by, that all mankind are born to die. [Remainder of this verse too weathered to be read. On the back of the stone was this: "The misil of war which shattered his frame, With and endliss ferial return home again, His patriotic feeling inspired him back To the field of war, Hailed with honor sustained."] On the slab is this inscription: "WM. M STANFIELD. Off to the war his homestead he left, the pride of his heart. Unknown to him what was to depart. At the close of the war 4 years had past; With joy in his heart for home pro- ceeded at last, over the hills and the dails, through the forests and the plains. Through the rivers and still waters. He forded the fluid, but yet no matter. His wounds affect, he traveled with pain. With amazing look, when home stead he found, Only shot and shells and balls could be found. He wept like a maiden in the days of her morn. His heart looked to heaven; Oh God, where has it gone. He fought in many battles with brave and true. He lived 36 and 22. At home with his friends he bid this world adieu. He died as he fought, with bravery renewed. He has gone to his home where battles is no more. Like a true brother soldier upon the heavenly shore, Where this world of strife is gone for ever more. He leaves behind him his comrads in war. He hops to meet them whare wars is no more. [In] the van of the movement under Jackson and Lee, In the Midst of the shot and the shell, he rose from his knees; Hurrah for a victory, from his heart he appealed. A braver soldier never died." Note: This is one of the most interesting and unusual inscriptions ever seen by this compiler and he has attempted to record it as it was carved, only inserting punctuation in several places for clarity. William M. Stanfield served in the Weems Guards, Co. A, 44th Ga. Regt. Army of Northern Virginia. His record in The Confederate Roster of Georgia appears as follows: STANFIELD, WILLIAM M. --- Private Mar 4, 1862. Wound in head At Gettysburg, PA, July 1, 1863. Wounded and captured at Spotyslvania, Va. May 10, 1864. Paroled at Fort Delaware, Del. For exchange Feb. 1865. Received at Boulware & Cox's Wharves, James River, Va. Mar. 12, 1865. (Born in Ga. June 25, 1838.) CONCLUDING NOTES Aside from Adam E. Little and William M. Stanfield, two other burials in the Edwards Graveyard relate to members of the Weems Guards, a local company of men raised for the Confederate War by Captain William H. Peebles, who was l ater Colonel of the 44th Georgia Regiment. George M. Ponder and James Henderson Hand were members of this unit. George M. Ponder was 4th Corporal of the company on 4 March 1862. He was subsequently appointed 1st Corporal and in 1864, 5th Sergeant. He was captured with William M. Stanfield and others at Spotyslvania, Va., 10 May 1864, and imprisoned and later paroled at Fort Delaware, Del. He was received in Virginia in March, 1865, and returned to Henry County. James Henderson Hand was a private on 4 March 1862. He was captured in the battle at Cedar Creek, Va., 19 Oct. 1864, and imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland. He was released at the end of the war and made his way back to Henry County. The most recent burial, with inscribed stone, in this graveyard is that of a Stanfield infant who was born and died in 1916. The future of this site appears uncertain owing to its proximity to the Atlanta International Raceway (now known at Atlanta Motor Speedway), Bear Creek Airport, and other contemplated development in the immediate area. In 1964 and 1971, there was evidence of vandalism in the yard. This compiler has not visited the site since 1971 and is unable to give a current account of its condition.