The Draped Tombstone of George Harman

George Harman, b. May 1793 in

Lexington Co., SC; d. Apr. 15, 1878

Buried in Harmonia Cemetery,

Sallis, Mississippi

The gravestone of George Harman in Harmonia Cemetery near Sallis, Mississippi, is one of the first gravestones with a drape of this type that I have encountered. Although my initial thought was the drape was a symbol of mourning, I decided to search for a more professional opinion. The material I found actually validated my first thought, and the research provided a comprehensive source of meanings for tombstone symbols that will be useful in the future.

But simply viewing a tombstone and analyzing its symbols is not enough for this Graveyard Rabbit, so I soon began a search for more information about George Harman. First, I searched the U. S. Census of 1850, where I found that Mr. Harmon was likely a widower and the head of a household where he lived with four minor children, Edwin P., age 15, Walter A., age 14, James J., age 13, and Susanna C. Harman, age 8. Mary A. Howard, age 14 with no relationship shown, also resided in the Harman household. The family resided in Township 14, Range 5 East, Attala County.

According to the U. S. census of 1860, the family lived in Attalaville where George, now 66 years old, still headed a household that included four children. Mary Howard was absent from the household, and another individual, identified as Kate S. Harman, 17, possibly the young wife of Walter A., age 21, was included.

By the time the U. S. Census of 1870 was recorded, George's surname was shown as "Harmon," the common modern-day spelling of the name, and he was then 76 years old. Harmon no longer headed up his own household, but he lived, instead, with his son, Walter Harmon, age 31, and Walter's wife, C. S. Harmon, age 27.

George Harman's grave is one of several in Harmonia Cemetery where Harman family members who migrated from Lexington County, South Carolina are buried. An examination of other Harman family tombstones shows that George's deceased wife must have been named Barbara, as Walter A. Harman's tombstone shoes he was the son of George and Barbara Harman.

Joseph and Zemuly McClesky Guyton

Gravestone of Joseph Guyton and his wife
Zemuly Coats McClesky Guyton in
Ellington Cemetery, Attala County, MS
(Picture taken by Mark Blasingame)


Joseph Guyton was born on April 14, 1805, in Pendleton County, South Carolina, the son of Aaron Guyton, born in Baltimore County, Maryland, and his wife Margaret McCurdy Guyton. Joseph was the 8th of a total of 13 children born to his parents.

Joseph Guyton and Zemuly Coats McClesky Guyton were 23 and 17, respectively, when they were married on March 13, 1828, in Hall County, Georgia. Their first six children were born in Hall County, Georgia, before Joseph and Zemuly moved to Mississippi in 1844. After moving to Attala County, Joseph farmed land there, and he and Zemuly became the parents of three more children. The children's names and dates of birth are:

Martha Margaret Guyton, born February 11, 1829 in Hall County, Georgia
Mary Jane Guyton, born January 1831 in Hall County, Georgia
Aaron Steele Guyton, born March 28, 1833 in Hall County, Georgia
John Whitaker Guyton, born June 11, 1835 in Hall County, Georgia
David Thomas Guyton, born January 29, 1838 in Hall County, Georgia
Harriet Louise Guyton, born June 7, 1840 in Hall County, Georgia
Robert Alfred Guyton, born November 23, 1842 in Hall County, Georgia
Sara Elizabeth Guyton, born July 29, 1845, in Attala Co., Mississippi
Zemuly Matilda Guyton, born February 11, 1848, in Attala County, Mississippi
Joseph William Sutherland Guyton, born September 26, 1850 in Mississippi

On March 17, 1872, Zemuly Coats McClesky Guyton, Joseph's wife, and the mother of his ten children, died, just four days after being married for 44 years. On April 7, 1880, just a week before his 75th birthday, Joseph Guyton died. As you can see in the picture above, Joseph and Zemuly share a common gravestone in Ellington Cemetery, reunited again.