Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Griggs, Z. Rebecca E. Pierce, 1926 

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ZEPORAH REBECCA PIERCE GRIGGS 

MRS. GRIGGS IS KILLED BY SON 

Well-Known Woman Is Taken for Chicken Hawk at Night 

FATAL ACCIDENT IS SECOND OF THE KIND 

  Suffolk, Va., Oct. 16 - Mistaking her for a chicken hawk, Clarence Griggs 
killed his mother, Mrs. James Griggs, with a shot gun tonight.  Mrs. Griggs, 
who lived with her son Clarence and daughter Beuna [sic*], went out about dark 
to feed the chickens.  Clarence, who was in the house at the time and did not 
know that his mother had gone to the yard, heard a chicken squawk and taking 
a shotgun went to investigate.  He thought a hawk was after the chickens. 
He fired in the dark, the contents of the gun striking Mrs. Griggs in the 
face. 

  Mrs. Griggs was able to reach the house, but fell in the door dead. 

  She had two sons, Dudley and "Scottie," at Camp Lee and two other sons, 
Eddie and Alfonso, in Nansemond County.  She was about fifty years old. 
Her home was at Myrtle, Va., in Nansemond county. 

  The Griggs live near to Mrs. R.E. Bradshaw, who was recently killed in much 
the same way by accidental shooting by her son. 

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MRS. CORA [sic; ZEPORAH] REBECCA GRIGGS 

  Suffolk, Oct. 17. - The funeral services of Mrs. Cora Rebecca Griggs, wife 
of James Griggs, deceased, of the county, who was accidentally shot and killed 
at her home near Myrtle, Va., yesterday evening, when her son, Clarence 
Griggs, shot at what he supposed to be a hawk after his chickens, will be held 
at the grave in Bethlehem Christian church yard Friday afternoon at 3:30 
o'clock, conducted by Rev. Dr. W.W. Staley and Rev. H.H. Butler. 

  Mrs. Griggs, whose untimely death has crushed her son, Clarence Griggs, who 
had for years been the devoted companion of his mother, has cast a gloom over 
the community in which she lived.  She is survived by five sons, two of whom, 
Dudley J. Griggs and J.L. Griggs, are in Camp Stuart, C.O. Griggs, A. Griggs 
and E.L. Griggs, in Nansemond county; one daughter, Miss Beuna Griggs, who 
lived with her mother and brother; five sisters, Mrs. C.H. Brown, of Norfolk; 
Mrs. J.H. Norfleet, Mrs. J.H. Byrd, Mrs. R.T. Luke and Mrs. J.T. Whitley, of 
the county and Suffolk; five brothers, E.R. Pierce, of West Virginia; J.P. 
Pierce, J. W. Pierce, A.R. Pierce and J.T. Pierce, of the county. 


Zeporah Rebecca E. (PIERCE; Mrs. James W.) GRIGGS, 
b. 27 Jul 1850, Nansemond Co., 
accidentally shot 16 Oct 1918, at home, near Myrtle, 
interred in Bethlehem Christian Church Cemetery (Lot 114*), 
"Virginian-Pilot & Norfolk Landmark," Vol. 64, No. 17, Thurs., Oct. 17, 1918, 
   p. 10, textposted with Find a Grave Memorial #104135009; 
"Virginian-Pilot & Norfolk Landmark," Vol. 64, No. 18, Fri., Oct. 18, 1918, 
   p. 14 

An article also appeared in the "Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch," Oct. 17, 1918. 

*Additional information: 

Bethlehem Christian list, an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/bethchr.txt 

Photos of her monument - added by Jake - are also posted with 
   Find a Grave Memorial #104135009. 

D.Cert. 29064 (Chuckatuck #12) 

Her daughter's gravestone shows Buena, but her D.Cert. also gives Beuna. 

"Pattie" Martha John (AVIS McABEEELEY; Mrs. Robert Edward) BRADSHAW was shot by "her 
   little son" 11 Oct 1918 and died the following day.  She is buried with her 
   second husband William Joshua ELEY in Western Branch Baptist Church 
   Cemetery - Row 3, Plot 10. 
   Western Branch list, another extension of the SCHS Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/bethchr.txt 

Her obit ("Virginian-Pilot & Norfolk Landmark," Oct. 13, 1918, p. 10) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/b632p1ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/g620r1ob.txt