Tombstone Tuesday - William Bailey Netherland, Coxburg Cemetery, Coxburg, Mississippi

 Digital Photo Collection 
Privately held by J. Tracy


W. B. Netherland
Coxburg Cemetery
Coxburg (Holmes County) Mississippi

William Bailey Netherland, my maternal great-grandfather, served in Red's Company, Mississippi State Troops, Confederate States of America (C.S.A.)  A son of John Patrick Netherland, William Bailey was married to Martha Elizabeth Garrard, and the father of twelve children, including my maternal. grandfather, Ralph Ernest Netherland.  The C.S.A. marker shown here is located in Coxburg Cemetery, near Coxburg Methodist Church, in Holmes County, Mississippi.  Many other Netherland family members and their allied families are buried in this old cemetery.   

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

The Christmas Family of Holmes County, Mississippi

Entrance to Odd Fellows Cemetery
Located in Lexington, Mississippi

Pictured above is the double gravestone of Lucy and Henry Christmas. Lucy was born in Mississippi in 1843 and died in Holmes County, Mississippi in 1921. Her husband was born a year earlier, also in Mississippi, and he died in 1911. According to the U. S. Census of 1870, Henry, 28 years old at the time, and his older brother, Thomas, age 32, were the heads of households living next to each other in the Eulogy community of Holmes County, Mississippi. Henry's occupation was "physician," and Thomas was shown to be a "farmer."

Living down the road from the two Christmas families were Richard M. and Mary H. Garrard, my great-great-grandparents. Their daughter, Martha Elizabeth Garrard, who later became my great-grandmother, was 12 years old when the census was taken.

In 1870, Lucy and Henry were the parents of two young daughters, Mary, age 4, and Sarah P., age 6 months. According to the census record, both children were born in Mississippi. Living in the household with Lucy and Henry and their two children was Dixon Christmas, age 22, whose birthplace was also Mississippi. Possibly Dixon was the younger brother of Thomas and Henry.

Thomas and his wife, Fanny, age 31, were also born in Mississippi. According to the 1870 census, the couple had three children, Fanny, age 8, Thomas, age 5, and William, age 3. The birthplace for each of the children was shown as "Mississippi." The value of real estate owned by Thomas was shown as "25,000," and his personal property was valued at "2,000."

A total of 37 individuals whose surnames were "Christmas" were enumerated on the U. S. Census of 1870 taken in Mississippi. This figure included the 10 family members living in Holmes County.