Tombstone Tuesday - Helen Loveless Steffner, Brandon Cemetery, Brandon, Mississippi

Photograph by Natalie Maynor


Grave Monument Marking the Grave of Helen Loveless Steffner

Born December 20, 1882
Died July 12, 1904
Buried in Brandon Cemetery
Brandon (Rankin County) Mississippi

Old Brandon Cemetery, Brandon, Mississippi

Photo by Natalie Maynor

According to an article in the online version of RankinLedger, Old Brandon Cemetery will be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This very old cemetery, which covers approximately nine acres, is situated on a hilltop near the historic town of Brandon, Mississippi, the county seat of Rankin County. I understand that downtown Brandon will be placed on the Register, as well. 


Containing more than 1000 graves, with some dating back to 1834, the cemetery is the burial place for two former Mississippi governors, Robert Lowry and Anselm McLaurin.

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Of special historical significance is the fact that Old Brandon Cemetery is the final resting place for the remains of 200 Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Battle of Shiloh.

Benjamin W. Boteler, Confederate Veteran

Pictured here is Benjamin W. Boteler's grave marker, located in Briar Hill Cemetery, near the community of Monterey, in Rankin County, Mississippi. The symbol on Mr. Boteler's grave marker is the Southern Cross, denoting that he was a Confederate veteran, and the inscription shows that he served in Company "A," of the 18th Mississippi Infantry. Born in 1839, Benjamin W. Boteler died in 1908.

William and Marguerite Coogle Gilmore - Gulde Cemetery

Gulde Cemetery, also known as New Prospect Cemetery, is located in Rankin County, Mississippi. Among the graves in this cemetery are those of William E. Gilmore and his wife, Marguerite Coogle Gilmore. The inscriptions on the double grave markers state that Marguerite was born in Knox County, Indiana, on October 5, 1872, and her husband was born on June 22, 1866, in Harrison County, Indiana. According to the inscriptions, William died on June 16, 1936, and Marguerite died a little more than ten years later on November 3, 1946.

But these grave markers contain more than names, dates of birth, and dates of death. The inscriptions on them also contain the names of the deceased couple's parents. William was the son of Mary and Ephraim Gilmore, and Marguerite was the daughter of Elizabeth B. and John E. Coogle.

As a family history researcher, I think this information is a real find for descendants of Marguerite and William Gilmore. It was certainly enough information to trace these two families' ancestry back another generation.

My search revealed that William Gilmore, age 36, was the head of a household in Knox County, Indiana, when the U. S. Census was taken in 1850. According to the census record, he was born in Iowa, worked as a farmer, and owned real estate valued at $780. His household included his wife, Elizabeth, age 33, who was born in North Carolina, and six children. Names and ages of children enumerated in the household were Catherine, age 10, Ephraim, age 8, William, age 5, John, age 4, Sarah, age 2, and James M., who was only 7 months when the census was taken. Ephraim, who was 8 years old in 1850, would have been 24 when William E. was born in 1866. And it is very likely that William's middle initial stood for "Ephraim."

In 1870, the U. S. Census record shows that Ephraim and his wife were still living in Knox County, Indiana, with Vincennes shown as their post office. They were living with their children William, age 4, and Mary, age 2. Another individual, Sarah Kindrick, age 14, was also shown in the household. Like his father, Ephraim was a farmer, and his property, including real estate, was valued at $4,100. Although I was unable to locate Ephraim in the U. S. Census of 1880, taken in Indiana, I did find him enumerated as a "boarder" in a household of other boarders, with an occupation shown as "proprietor of saw mill."

Research for the Coogle family in Indiana revealed that John Coogle, Marguerite's father, was 15 years old when the U. S. Census of 1850 was taken in Vincennes, Knox County. His parents were William Coogle, 40 years old, and Charlotte, age 36. According to the census record, William was born in Indiana, and Charlotte's birthplace was Kentucky. Other children enumerated in the household were Susan, age 16, Mary, age 12, William, age 10, and Laura, age 8.

Since the name Marguerite raised a question for me about possible French ancestry, I looked for clues about her name while searching census records. What I found was that Coogle is a fairly uncommon name, and that some of the males were born in locations in Europe, including Wurtenberg, Germany. Possibly, Marguerite was named for a European grandmother.

It is difficult to say why the William E. Gilmore and Marguerite Coogle Gilmore moved south and eastward to Mississippi, so far away from Indiana. Theirs was a "reverse migration path," so to speak. Perhaps it was Marguerite's decision to inscribe their parents names' and their places of birth on the grave stones in hope their descendants would always have the knowledge of their ancestors' beginnings.

Wordless Wednesday

Empty Crypt in Brandon Cemetery
Brandon (Rankin County) Mississippi

(Photographed by Natalie Maynor)