Grayson County, Virginia, Cemeteries:  Tucker Children Graves

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	This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives 
	by:  Buford C Wilson	Buford_Wilson@Hotmail.Com
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                 GRAVES OF JOHN TUCKER McMILLAN’S CHILDREN

                             Submitted By
                            BUFORD C WILSON
                       Buford_Wilson@Hotmail.Com

                           November 25 2005

I was first told about this tragic story by R N Andrews, who lives near
the location of the graves. The children are buried beside a line fence,
near where the large power lines cross Rt. 632 (Cold Springs Road). A
neighbor, Major Johnson, buried the children there and marked the graves
with fieldstones. In recent years the stones have been moved and lost by
a logging operation in this area.

GPS Coordinates of the site are:  N 36.56832   W 081.03382

By chance, while looking at some old issues of the Galax Gazette I happened
to find a story, written by Ida Dean Cock, which was published on Monday, 
September 17 1956. That is the source of the following sketch

“Tucker” was about 10 years old when the slaves were freed. In 1956 he was
about 101 years old. He lived in an old weather beaten house that he built 
himself 40 or 50 years ago. His daughter Lula McMillan lived with him and
told most of the details of his life.

She thought he was born in the Glendale section of North Carolina, near the
old copper mines. His mother gave him away when he was very young. He was
given to Bill Fields, a lawyer in Alleghany County North Carolina. When he
grew older he came to Virginia near the Baywood area and began working 
there.

“Tucker” never found any trace of his family. He married a woman who was
working for an Edwards family, and they started their home in the same area. 
“Tucker” was well thought of by his neighbors.

He mostly worked on farms, clearing brush and stumps from the land. In the
fall when the crops were harvested he would travel to West Virginia and
spend the winter working at the coke furnace in the coal mines.

Since he could not read or write “Tucker” never heard from his family while
he was away during the winter. This lead to what must have a terrible shock
to him when he returned home the next spring.

During the winter a diphtheria epidemic struck the Little River section. 
“Tucker” left his wife and six children in the fall. When the disease came,
Mrs. McMillan found herself alone, about two miles from the nearest house.

Major Johnson, lived near the McMillan home, and was the one who dared to
go into the middle of the deadly contagious disease. When one of the little 
children would die, Mrs. McMillan would hang out a white sheet as a signal
for Major Johnson to come and bury it. He made five little wooden boxes for
old “Tucker’s” children that winter and buried them on the hill near his 
home.
The youngest child, Lula, lived but the sickness crippled her.

When “Tucker” would return in the spring, his children would run up the hill
to meet him because he always brought them candy and presents. One can only
guess what his reaction was when just one child, Lula came hobbling out to
greet him that year.