Faithful Pastor Struck by Lightning

Rev. John Taylor was born in County Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1754. It is not known when he came to the United States. He married Susanna Woodruff, the widow of William Huston, a Revolutionary officer.

Rev. Taylor was originally a member of the Presbyterian Church and in the United States became a convert to Episcopalianism. He was ordained a deacon on October 12, 1794 by Bishop White. Rev. Taylor journeyed West to Washington County, Pennsylvania in the vicinity of King's Creek around 1800 and established a church and school.

Rev. Taylor left Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1800 and went to live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to answer a call to service at Trinity Episcopal Church. Rev. Taylor's school work was largely at the Pittsburgh Academy which was the first institution of higher learning in the village. In October 1801, Rev. Taylor opened a night school on his own account in some of the rooms of the Pittsburgh Academy. On January 10, 1803, he separated from the Academy and began conducting a school in his residence at the corner of Market Street and Fifth Avenue. In 1807, he was again teaching at the Pittsburgh Academy.

Rev. Taylor left his charge at Trinity Episcopal Church in 1818, but continued to baptize, marry, and bury people in Pittsburgh and its vicinity for many years afterward. He continued this work until 1829 when he was seventy-five years of age. The continued call for his services was perhaps due to the fact that he had no immediate successor at Trinity Church. From 1818 to 1824, Trinity Church sometimes had a rector, but often times had none. He had also endeared himself to many both in the Church and out of it, who went to him whenever a clergyman was required.

Rev. Taylor was an avid astronomer and had more than a local reputation. It is related that he loved the study of astronomy so well that he sometimes spent the entire night in observing the movement of the heavenly bodies. One of his sources of income was to furnish astronomical calculations first for Zadok Cramer's Almanacs, and later for the Western Farmer's Almanacs. The last almanac for which he furnished calculations was the Western Farmer's Almanac for 1839 which appeared after his death.

Following his wife's death in January 1829, Rev. Taylor made his home with his son-in-law, Mr. John Irwin, in Allegheny , and passed the summers with his step-daughter, Sally Huston, who had married Mr. Thomas Limber, and lived with her husband on the banks of the Little Shenango Creek, three miles east of Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Rev. Taylor died on August 10, 1838, at the age of eighty-three years, nine months at the home of Mr. Limber. His death was tragic. For some years before, at daily worship, he had prayed that his death might be sudden, "so that his body might not be racked with pain nor scorched with fever." He was on one of his usual summer visits. The hot August air had been charged with electricity. Then the storm burst, the thunder roared and the lightening flashed, and at midnight Mr. Limber's house was struck, and its victim was Rev. Taylor. His prayer was answered.

He lay at rest, only a few yards from where he met his death, in the small burial plot on the Hadly Road, in a corner of the farm where he died.

Obituary information obtained from:

Rev. John Taylor - The First Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh and His Commonplace Book by Charles W. Dahlinger

Published in Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania ~ Volume 1, Number 1 - January 1918

Ludicrous crimes that would have gotten you hanged in 18th century England

Ash Woods
Sep 6, 2018

If you were living in England in the 18th century, you could be hanged for all these offences. From 1688 to 1815, law makers in England introduced the death penalty for a myriad of offences in a bid to deter property loss. Poaching of deer, stealing of rabbits, looting from shipwrecks, pickpocketing… every page of the statue book dripped with the threat of the hanging noose.

By 1800, there were over 220 property-related crimes in the English criminal law that were punishable by death. George Savile said “Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen.”
Historians referred to this era of criminal law as the “Bloody Code”.

The Bloody Code

“Every page of our statue book book smelt of blood. We hanged for everything — for a shilling — for five shillings — for forty shillings — for five pounds! We hanged for a sheep — for a horse — for cattle — for coining — for forgery — even for witchcraft — for things that were and things that cannot be.”

— Charles Phillips, 1857

Capital crimes in the Bloody Code included cutting down of young trees and blackening your face at night.

In 1723, the British parliament passed the Black Act which sentenced to death anyone who was found with a blackened face in a forest or a hunting ground. The Black Act also criminalised anyone who fish, hunt or destroy trees in the these locations. People could also be executed if they set fire to corn, hay, straw or wood in the area. In total, the Black Act added the death penalty to over fifty crimes.

These laws was passed in response to a gang of poachers based in Hampshire and Windsor Forest. They would hunt deer with blackened faces to avoid being identified. A short while after the law was passed, seven such poachers known as the Waltham Blacks were caught and hanged.

As the death penalty was introduced to even more criminal acts over the years, the multitude of capital crimes soon became staggering and incongruous.

In a Letter to His Excellency Patrick Noble, Governor of South Carolina, On the Penitentiary System, German-American jurist Francis Lieber pointed out the inconsistency of the laws:

“He who steals from my pocket a handkerchief above a value of twelve pence shall, according to the letter of our law as it stand on the book, atone with the forfeiture of his life.

But the thief who steals from a jeweller’s shop a most costly article, is punished with whipping and imprisonment only, while at the same time a petty theft from a booth or tent in a market or fair by breaking in, is punishable with death.

Robbing a bank at night time by breaking into the building is not a capital offence, but the second conviction of horse stealing is.”

The Reluctant Jurors
In practice, the judiciary administrators were not unaware of the harshness of the Bloody Code. They would find ways to circumvent some of the laws. Jurors would be reluctant to pass a guilty verdict when the punishment was the death penalty. Judges would reduce the severity of the crime so that the accused no longer faced the prospect of hanging. Death sentences were commuted to exile or deferred.

In 1750, Ann Flynn was accused of stealing a shoulder of mutton from a butcher. She admitted to the theft, but pleaded that she had resorted to stealing in order to feed her two young children. Her husband was ill and he had been out of work for three months. The jury was sympathetic. She was sentenced to a fine of only one shilling, which the jury paid. The prison officer gave Flynn a shilling before she left.

In 1763, John Cox was on trial for stealing 6lb of sugar. The jury, on hearing that Cox was in dire straits and that his wife and five children were suffering from small pox, recommended mercy and collected money to help Cox’s unfortunate family.

Still, despite these spotlights of mercy, the law was the law. People in pre-Victorian times had been sentenced to death for reasons we would find appalling today. From stealing twelve pence to finding malice in a child, here are some of the shocking things that people could be hanged for in 18th and early 19th century England.

Stealing More Than 12 Pence
Stealing more than 12 pence (or one shilling) could get you the death sentence.

Though historical currency conversion is a notoriously fiddly matter, the UK Archives currency converter estimates that a shilling in mid-1700s is the equivalent of £5.83 in 2017. Imagine being sentenced to death for stealing anything that costs more than eight dollars!

In 1741, nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Hardy from Norwich was sentenced to hang for stealing goods worth 13 shillings and 6 pence (around $100 today). Abandoned by her husband and alone in London, she had been driven to theft out of desperation. She was given a last minute reprieve at the gallows and her sentence was commuted to transportation instead.

Roderick Audrey was a young thief with a way with birds. At nine years old, he had mastered the art of training his pet sparrow to fly into London townhouses. He would knock on the door with tears in his eyes and beg the butler to let him in to retrieve his pet sparrow. Once he was inside, he would grab silver cutlery and stuff them down his pants. If he was seen before he could finish his thievery, he would run out of the house as if he was chasing his sparrow like the innocuous boy he appeared to be.

Audrey was so prolific at his stealing that country towns and villages within ten miles of London soon knew that the boy who played with the sparrow was a thief. Audrey’s luck ran out in his teens. In 1714, he was arrested and sentenced to hang at Tyburn. Unlike Elizabeth Hardy, he did not get a reprieve. Audrey was sixteen years old when his life ended.

Returning From Transportation
“Returning from transportation” refers to unlawful escape from exile. After 1615, it became common for criminals to be sentenced to exile to Australia, America or Africa for life or several years. Any deported convict caught returning to England before the expiration of their sentence risked being hanged.

Jenny Diver was one such person.

Her real name was Mary Young. Birthed as an illegitimate child by a lady’s maid, she was abandoned by her mother at a young age. She grew up in several foster homes in Ireland and gained a reputation as a skilled seamstress. She later emigrated to London and fell in with a gang of pickpockets. She was so skilled at stealing that she became the leader of the gang. She was nicknamed Jenny Diver for her exploits.

In one of her famed scams, she would dress up as a baroness and knock at the door of a great townhouse. Once the door opened, she would faint straight into the arms of the butler. The grand household would be stirred into a great panic as they fussed over the fainting noblewoman. Meanwhile, her sidekick disguised as her footman would ransack the house for valuables. Once her “footman” had looted the premises, Jenny would speedily recover, present her calling card to the overwhelmed mistress of the house, and leave the house flouncily with their silver plates and cutlery.

Jenny was also known to put on a custom-made dress with a fake pregnancy stomach bulge and false wooden arms. She would sit piously in church with the false arms over the stomach bump and pickpocket the people around her.

In 1733 and 1738, Jenny was arrested and sentenced to transportation twice. However, on both occasions, she bribed the captain of the ship to take her back to London. In 1741, she was arrested again. This time, she was indicted with returning from transportation, a capital crime.

She was sentenced to hang.

Because of her fame as a notorious criminal, she was taken to the execution grounds in a mourning carriage. It was reported that she went to her fate calmly in a black dress and a hat with a veil.

Strong Evidence of Malice in a Child
Children, specifically between the age of seven and twelve, could be sentenced to death if there was evidence of strong malice in them.

In 1629, a boy described as “an infant between eight and nine years” was hanged for setting fire to two barns. His name was John Dean. He was one of the youngest persons to be sentenced to death in England.

In the trial documents of Old Bailey, a note regarding the law specifies that

“An infant… seven years old, cannot be guilty of felony, whatever circumstances… may appear. 

If he be above seven years old, and under twelve years, and commit a felony… he is likely to be [judged] not guilty, because he is… not of [discretion] to judge between Good and Evil... 

...yet if if it appears by [strong] and pregnant Evidence and Circumstances, that he had [discretion] to judge between Good and Evil, Judgement of Death may be given [against him].”

Judges have applied this law using their discretion. In 1758, a woman was accused of receiving stolen goods from a young boy charged with shoplifting. When the judge learnt that the boy was only nine years old, he stated that “as the boy was not capable of distinguishing between good and evil, so no felony, and if no felony no accessory, wherefore they were both acquitted.”

English judge William Blackstone gave his appraisal of this law in his treatise Commentaries on the Laws of England.

He advocated that sparing a young criminal child “on account of his tender years might be of dangerous consequence to the public, by propagating a notion that children might commit such atrocious crimes with impunity, it was unanimously agreed by all judges that he was proper subject of capital punishment. But in all such cases, the evidence of that malice… ought to be strong and clear beyond all doubt and contradiction.”

In the case of eight-year-old John Dean, however, court notes recorded that jurors found the boy “upon Examination, that he had Malice, Revenge, Craft and Cunning, he had Judgement to be hanged, and was hanged accordingly..”

That was all we know of young John Dean in historical records. He was judged to have malice in him and he was hanged for it. Sadly, we will never know his story. His passing was a mere footnote in history.

Remembering When Americans Picnicked in Cemeteries

For a time, eating and relaxing among the dead was a national pastime.

BY JONATHAN KENDALL APRIL 20, 2018


A small group picnics on ledger-style tombstones in Historic St. Luke’s Ancient Cemetery. The photo is not dated but is believed to have been taken prior to St. Luke’s 1957 Pilgrimage Service. COURTESY HISTORIC ST. LUKE’S

WITHIN THE IRON-WROUGHT WALLS OF American cemeteries—beneath the shade of oak trees and tombs’ stoic penumbras—you could say many people “rest in peace.” However, not so long ago, people of the still-breathing sort gathered in graveyards to rest, and dine, in peace.

During the 19th century, and especially in its later years, snacking in cemeteries happened across the United States. It wasn’t just apple-munching alongside the winding avenues of graveyards. Since many municipalities still lacked proper recreational areas, many people had full-blown picnics in their local cemeteries. The tombstone-laden fields were the closest things, then, to modern-day public parks.

In Dayton, Ohio, for instance, Victorian-era women wielded parasols as they promenaded through mass assemblages at Woodland Cemetery, en route to luncheon on their family lots. Meanwhile, New Yorkers strolled through Saint Paul’s Churchyard in Lower Manhattan, bearing baskets filled with fruits, ginger snaps, and beef sandwiches.



A historic image of the Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. COURTESY WOODLAND CEMETERY AND ARBORETUM

One of the reasons why eating in cemeteries become a “fad,” as some reporters called it, was that epidemics were raging across the country: Yellow fever and cholera flourished, children passed away before turning 10, women died during childbirth. Death was a constant visitor for many families, and in cemeteries, people could “talk” and break bread with family and friends, both living and deceased.

“We are going to keep Thanksgivin’ with our father as [though he] was live and hearty this day last year,” explained a young man, in 1884, on why his family—mother, brothers, sisters—chose to eat in the cemetery. “We’ve brought somethin’ to eat and a spirit-lamp to boil coffee.”

The picnic-and-relaxation trend can also be understood as the flowering of the rural cemetery movement. Whereas American and European graveyards had long been austere places on Church grounds, full of memento mori and reminders not to sin, the new cemeteries were located outside of city centers and designed like gardens for relaxation and beauty. Flower motifs replaced skulls and crossbones, and the public was welcomed to enjoy the grounds.


Enjoying a book and a snack in a Lower Manhattan cemetery. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / LC-DIG-GGBAIN-19433

Eating in graveyards had—and still has historical precedent. People picnic among the dead from Guatemala to parts of Greece, and similar traditions involving meals with ancestors are common throughout Asia. But plenty of Americans believed that picnics in local cemeteries were a “gruesome festivity.” This critique, notably from older generations, didn’t stop young adults from meeting up in graveyards. Instead it led to debate over proper conduct.

In some parts of the country, such as Denver, the congregations of grave picnickers grew to such numbers that police intervention was even considered. The cemeteries were becoming littered with garbage, which was seen as an affront to their sanctity. In one report about these messy gatherings, the author wrote, “thousands strew the grounds with sardine cans, beer bottles, and lunch boxes.”

Though the macabre picnics were considered “nuisances” in some communities, they did give participants a sort of admired air. One reporter lauded the fact that the picnickers looked “happy under discouraging circumstances,” and even said it was a trait “worthy of cultivation.” The fad of casual en plein air dining among the crypts would soon come to an end, though.


A reproduction of an admittance pass to Woodland Cemetery from 1926; it notably prohibits bringing in refreshments. COURTESY WOODLAND CEMETERY AND ARBORETUM

Cemetery picnics remained peripheral cultural staples in the early 20th century; however, they began to wane in popularity by the 1920s. Medical advancements made early deaths less common, and public parks were sprouting across the nation. It was a recipe for less interesting dining venues.

Today, more than 100 years since Americans debated the trend, you’d be hard-pressed to find many cemeteries—especially those in big cities—with policies or available land that allow for picnics. Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, for example, has a no picnic rule.

But the fad isn’t entirely dead in the United States. The country’s immigrant population includes families carrying on traditions that call for meals with departed loved ones, and cemeteries will hold occasional public events in the spirit of this era. There are still scattered graveyards where you can picnic among tombstones, too, particularly if you know someone with a sizable family lot. In those cases, all you need is a picnic basket filled with treats, and you and your undaunted party can partake in an old American tradition. Just remember to clean up after yourselves. The penalties for doing otherwise may be grave.

Victorian Funeral Customs and Superstitions

Victorian Funeral Customs and Superstitions

Curtains would be drawn and clocks would be stopped at the time of death. Mirrors were covered with crape or veiling to prevent the deceased’s spirit from getting trapped in the looking glass.  A wreath of laurel, yew or boxwood tied with crape or black ribbons was hung on the front door to alert passersby that a death had occurred. The body was watched over every minute until burial, hence the custom of “waking”.  The wake also served as a safeguard from burying someone who was not dead, but in a coma.  Most wakes also lasted 3-4 days to allow relatives to arrive from far away. The use of flowers and candles helped to mask unpleasant odors in the room before embalming became common. In 19th century Europe and America the dead were carried out of the house feet first, in order to prevent the spirit from looking back into the house and beckoning another member of the family to follow him.  Family photographs were also sometimes turned face-down to prevent any of the close relatives and friends of the deceased from being possessed by the spirit of the dead.

Grave robbery by the “Resurrectionist Men”, often doctors themselves was a problem in the 19th century as medical schools needed fresh cadavers for dissection classes.  “Bricking-over” a grave was a way of guaranteeing some security after death. The fear of a loved one being buried alive inspired coffin makers to design warning systems such as a bell on the grave which was connected by a chain to the inside of the coffin in cases of premature burial, thus the expression, “Saved by the bell.”  Small cakes, known as “funeral biscuits” were wrapped in white paper and sealed with black sealing wax and given to guests as favors. Lavish meals, or collations, were often served after internment. Burial usually followed four days after death.

In many cemeteries, the vast majority of graves are oriented in such a manner that the bodies lie with their heads to the West and their feet to the East. This very old custom appears to originate with the Pagan sun worshippers, but is primarily attributed to Christians who believe that the final summons to Judgment will come from the East.

Personal stationery and handkerchiefs carried a black border, with a wide border indicating a very recent death.

White was a popular color for the funeral of a child. White gloves, ostrich plumes and a white coffin were the standard.

Superstitions

If the deceased has lived a good life, flowers would bloom on his grave; but if he has been evil, only weeds would grow.

If several deaths occur in the same family, tie a black ribbon to everything left alive that enters the house, even dogs and chickens. This will protect against deaths spreading further.

Never wear anything new to a funeral, especially shoes.

You should always cover your mouth while yawning so your spirit doesn’t leave you and the devil never enters your body.

Stop the clock in a death room or you will have bad luck.

To lock the door of your home after a funeral procession has left the house is bad luck.

If rain falls on a funeral procession, the deceased will go to heaven.

If you hear a clap of thunder following a burial it indicates that the soul of the departed has reached heaven.

If you hear 3 knocks and no one is there, it usually means someone close to you has died. The superstitious call this the 3 knocks of death. 

It is bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on. If you see one approaching, turn around.  If this is unavoidable, hold on to a button until the funeral cortege passes.

Large drops of rain warn that there has just been a death.

If you leave something that belongs to you to the deceased, that means the person will come back to get you.

If a firefly/lightning bug gets into your house someone will soon die.

If you smell roses when none are around someone is going to die.

 If you don’t hold your breath while going by a graveyard you will not be buried.

If you see yourself in a dream, your death will follow.

If you see an owl in the daytime, there will be a death.

If you dream about a birth, someone you know will die.

If it rains in an open grave then someone in the family will die within the year.

If a bird pecks on your window or crashes into one that there has been a death.

If a sparrow lands on a piano, someone in the home will die.

If a picture falls off the wall, there will be a death of someone you know.

If you spill salt, throw a pinch of the spilt salt over your shoulder to prevent death.

Never speak ill of the dead because they will come back to haunt you or you will suffer misfortune.

Two deaths in the family means that a third is sure to follow.

The cry of a curlew or the hoot of an owl foretells a death.

A single snowdrop growing in the garden foretells a death.

Having only red and white flowers together in a vase (especially in hospital) means a death will soon follow.

Dropping an umbrella on the floor or opening one in the house means that there will be a murder in the house.

A diamond-shaped fold in clean linen portends death.

A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen. It can be reversed by reaching under the bed and turning over a shoe.

Information Gathered From Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery

1860 Accomack County, Virginia Mortality Schedule

1860 Accomack County, Virginia Mortality Schedule Accomack Parish Name                    Age Sex     Race          Month  Occupation    Cause Ester                    18 Female  Black Slave   SEP                 Cong. brain Lin                      21 Male    Black Slave   OCT                 Typhoid Peter Allen              60 Male    Black Free    FEB    Farmer        Cold Susan Baker              37 Female  White         MAR                  Measles George P. Bannawell      37 Male    White         SEP    Sailor   Supposed killed Emily E. Bardslaw         7 Female  White         AUG                 Brain fever John Becket              40 Male    Black Free    DEC    Farming       Unknown Joseph H. Birch           2 Male    White         JUL                  Pneumonia John W. Blake          3/12 Male    Black Free    MAY                  Dropsy Nancy Bloxom             48 Female  White         AUG                  Unknown Ellinora Brittingham   4/12 Female  Black Slave William Bundick          79 Male    White         MAY    Farming     Dropsy chest William Burns             1 Male    Black Free    JUN                  Worms Susan Byrd               56 Female  Black Slave   AUG                 Consumption John B. Chandler         38 Male    White         MAR    Farming      Consumption T. Chesser                8 Female  White         SEP                  Unknown William P. Chesser    10/12 Male    White         JUN           Cholera infantile Delight Christopher      63 Male    White         OCT                 Consumption Dennis Clayton           84 Male    White         OCT                  Old age John Colona               1 Male    White         AUG                  Dysentery Hetty Conquist           62 Female  White         JUN                  Dyspepsia Sophia S. Copes          52 Female  White         JUN                 Consumption Emma Crippin           8/12 Female  Black Free    JAN                  Unknown Ellen Crockett           19 Female  White         MAY                  Unknown Hannah Cuse              50 Female  Black Slave   JUN             Dropsy of heart John P. Daisey            1 Male    White         JUN                 Brain fever Washington Davis       6/12 Male    White         OCT                  Croup Henry Dix              5/12 Male    Black Slave   SEP                  Bilious Amanda Drummond           3 Male    Black Free    MAR                  Unknown Augustus Ewell           30 Male    White         Forgot               Unknown Jacob Ewell               1 Male    Black Free    MAY                  Unknown Margaret A. Ewell      8/12 Female  White         JUN                  Unknown C. Feddiman               1 Female  White         MAR                  Unknown Susan Feddiman            2 Female  Black Slave   MAY                  Unknown N. Fields                75 Female  Black Free    MAR                  Old Age Mahala Finny             27 Female  Black Slave   DEC               Typhoid Fever William T. Fisher         6 Male    White         APR                  Pneumonia Rose A. Fletcher          2 Female  Black Slave   MAY              Whooping cough F. T. Gillespie        1/12 Male    Black Slave   OCT                  Unknown O. W. Godwin              2 Male    White         MAY                  Burned Mary Hale                22 Female  Black Slave   MAY                  Unknown A. Henderson              4 Male    White         JAN                 Consumption Samuel Henderson          3 Male    White         JUN                  Unknown Margaret Hickman       6/12 Female  White                              Unknown Major Hill                4 Male    White         OCT                  Dropsy George Hollam          6/12 Male    White         SEP                  Dysentery C. V. Holland          8/12 Female  White         JUN                  Unknown George F. Hope         9/12 Male    White         AUG                  Dysentery Mary Horsey              60 Female  Black Slave   MAR                 Cong. brain William James             1 Male    White         JUL                  Dysentery Kate S. Johnson        2/12 Female  White         JUN                  Thrash Mason Justice          8/12 Female  White         SEP                  Unknown Polly Lewis              18 Female  White         OCT   Seamstress     Hemorrhage Name                    Age Sex     Race          Month  Occupation    Cause Oceanna Lucas          8/12 Female  White         MAY                  Pleurisy Jane Mapp              6/12 Female  Black Slave   JAN                  Unknown John Mapp                 1 Male    Black Slave   JUL                  Dysentery Ann E. Marshall          27 Female  White         SEP                Consumption Denard Marshall           2 Male    White         JUL                 Cong. Brain George Marshall           2 Male    White         AUG                  Diarrhea William H. Marshall    4/12 Male    White         JUL                  Unknown David Masey              80 Male    Black Slave   SEP   Farming        Burning William F. Mason      10/12 Male    White         JUL                  Unknown Ezekiel Matthews          1 Male    Black Slav    MAR                  Dropsy M. E. Matthews           28 Female  White         AUG                  Lockjaw Willie Anna Miles     10/12 Female  White         FEB                  Unknown Thomas Moore             57 Male    White         APR Master Carpenter Pneumonia James Oliver              3 Male    White         OCT                  Unknown Molly Pettis             62 Female  White         NOV                  Unknown Thomas Poulson      2 weeks Male    Black Free    MAR        Accidentally killed                                                                     by his mother Tridelphia Rapell         1 Female  White         JUL              Whooping cough B. A. Ross            10/12 Male    White         AUG                 Cong. Brain Sylvester Ross         3/12 Male    White         MAR                  Unknown I. Savage                38 Male    Black Slave   APR                 Consumption Custis Shay              30 Male    White         AUG         Congestion of brain Margaret Shay            38 Female  White         AUG              Whooping cough Margaret Shay (of MO)    26 Female  Black Slave   APR                  Childbirth Mary L. Shay             10 Female  White         AUG              Whooping Cough Cummins Shrieves          3 Male    White         SEP                  Croup L. Slocum                30 Female  Black Slave   APR         Congestion of brain Abigail Smith           103 Female  White         JAN                Consumption Lilly Smith              90 Female  Black Slave   SEP                  Old age S. Smith                 88 Male    Black Slave   AUG                  Old age Name                    Age Sex     Race          Month  Occupation    Cause Charles Spencer           - Male    White         AUG               Stillborn Elizabeth Staten         73 Female  White                            Pleurisy A. D. Steelman            6 Male    White         NOV                  Unknown Irving H. Stephen         2 Male    White         JUL               Dysentery William Stokely          10 Male    Black Free    JUL                 Unknown Martha Taylor            66 Female  Black Slave   MAY                 Unknown Julius Thomas             1 Male    White         AUG                 Measles J. H. Thornton           23 Male    White         DEC    Farming   Cong. of Brain William G. Townsend       3 Male    White         SEP                  Worms John Troder              31 Male    White         MAY    Sailing      Consumption Wm. G. Tull            4/12 Male    White         JUN               Dysentery Anna Turlington          64 Female  White         JUN              Bilious Fever Edmon Turner             60 Male    Black Slave   DEC             Consumption William I. Ward     2 weeks Male    White         JUL               Head fall Z. T. Watson           6/12 Male    White         SEP           Bilious fever Elizabeth West           24 Female  White         OCT               Gastritis H. White                 18 Female  Black Free    JUL           Bilious Fever Mary A. Wimbrough        19 Female  White         JAN               Pneumonia William Wright         6/12 Male    White         JUL             Brain fever Unnamed                1/12 Male    Black Slave   MAY           Died suddenly Unnamed                1/12 Female  Black Free    JAN                  Unknown Unnamed                3/12 Male    Black Slave   APR                  Unknown Unnamed              5 days Male    White         FEB                  Unknown Unnamed              6 days Female  White         MAR                  Unknown Unnamed             2 weeks Male    White         JAN                  Unknown Unnamed                3/12 Female  White         JUL                  Unknown Unnamed               1 day Male    White         SEP                  Unknown Unnamed              1 week Female  White         SEP                  Worms Unnamed                   3 Female  White         MAY                  Unknown Unnamed                1/12 Female  White         MAR                  Unknown Unnamed              9 days Male    Black Slave   SEP               Head fall