Coxburg Cemetery - Ralph Ernest Netherland and Rosa Mae Pettus

Ralph Ernest Netherland was one of the nine children born to William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard Neatherland. Their grave stone was pictured in my post yesterday. Ralph was born on February 1, 1886 in Holmes County, Mississippi. He married my grandmother, Rosa Mae Pettus, whose grave stone is pictured below, when he was 39 years old and she was barely 17. My mother was born a year later, and four and one half years after she was born, Rosa Mae and Ralph Netherland and a son. I know very little about my grandparents' life together, except that their marriage was not an enduring one, and they were divorced when my mother was about 14 years old. Several years later, my grandmother married again, this time to Frank B. Parsons, Sr., a widower, whom I knew as a child as "Pa Frank." Mr. Parsons died a few years later, and was buried in the cemetery near Coxburg Baptist Church, next to his first wife.

Born on August 28, 1908 in Holmes County, Mississippi, Rosa Mae Pettus was the daughter of William Elza Pettus and Lucy Lula Trigleth. As a young woman, "Grandma," as she was later called by her grandchildren, worked as a visiting nurse in the Lexington, Mississippi area, near Coxburg and Ebenezer, where she had grown up. Grandma moved from Ebenezer to Jackson after Mr. Parsons died, and worked at St. Dominic's Hospital until she retired in the early 1970's. After retirement, Grandma sold her house in Jackson and moved back to Holmes County, where she lived until she died unexpectedly on January 4, 1986. As far as our family could determine, Grandma had driven home from church on Sunday, and apparently went inside, sat down in her easy chair and removed her shoes to rest for a few minutes, possibly to take a short nap. And it was in that chair that she died, just a little over seven months before her 78th birthday.



Rosa Mae Pettus Netherland Parsons was buried in Coxburg Cemetery, next to her first husband, Ralph Ernest Netherland. Buried nearby are many deceased members of the Pettus and Neatherland/Netherland families. I know that her children made the final decision about Grandma's burial location, but I have often wondered if this was her choice, as well.

Tombstone Tuesday - William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard

William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard, my maternal great-grandparents, are buried in Coxburg Cemetery, in the old community of Coxburg, Mississippi, near Lexington, the county seat of Holmes County. William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard Neatherland were parents of nine children, including my maternal grandfather, Ralph Ernest Netherland. William was born on May 22, 1845 in Scotland and died in Holmes County, Mississippi on May 24, 1937. Martha Elizabeth Garrard was born on September 8, 1853 in Kentucky, and she died on January 17 1939, just a few months after her 85th birthday. Coxburg Cemetery is the burial place of many other Neatherland/Netherland family members as well as members of several allied families, including the Bass, Harthcock, Killebrew, Pettus, Thomas, Trigleth, and Ziegler families.

Source: Digital Photograph Collection, Privately held by Janice Tracy

Oak Grove Cemetery, Tolarville, MS

I am finding that being a Graveyard Rabbit has benefits besides the satisfaction of writing a post about something that interests me and those who read it. It is also a great way to find new cousins. Today, I received an email from one of my Pettus cousins....a cousin that I have never met. We plan to talk on the phone soon. It seems that my new cousin's great-grandfather, John D. Pettus, and my maternal great-grandfather, William Ezra Pettus, were brothers. I don't know nearly as much as I would like to know about the Pettus family, so I am hoping my Pettus cousin can help me piece together the family tree. I especially want to know about William Ezra's family, particularly the name of his parents.

What I do know is that my maternal grandmother, Rosa Mae Pettus Netherland, was the daughter of William Ezra Pettus, and that he was married to Lucy Lula Trigleth, Rosa Mae's mother. According to my new cousin, both of our great-grandfathers are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery at Tolarville in Holmes County. I am already planning a trip to cemeteries in Coxburg and Ebenezer, where most of my mother's family are buried, and now it sounds as if I need to include a visit to Oak Grove Cemetery, as well.

I am also interested in knowing how my Holmes County Pettus ancestors are linked to the Pettus family of Limestone County, Alabama, and if they are related to former Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus. If you are related to the Pettus family and are interested in more information about these early immigrants from Norwich, England who settled in Colonial Virginia in the early 1600's, please read my post from earlier this year at http://attalacountymemories.blogspot.com/search/label/Pettus.