21 July 2009

Tombstone Tuesday: Little Juanita Lee


22 May 1920
Macon Weekly Telegraph (Georgia)
(Viewed online at GenealogyBank.)
DEATHS AND FUNERALS
MARCIA JUANITA LEE

Funeral services for little Marcia Juanita Lee will be held from the residence, 1153 Ash street, this (Saturday) morning at 10 o'clock, Rev. J. C. Mays officiating, and interment will be in the family lot at Rose Hill Cemetery.

The child was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Lee. She was twenty months old. She fell in a bath tub Thursday evening about 6 o'clock and died a short while afterwards.
[*Photo by James Allen.]

14 July 2009

Frank A. Coburn Died at Midnight

Frank Augustus Coburn (Sept 2, 1861 - Aug 7, 1908) was laid to rest in the Geo. A. Dure Family plot in the Cabiness Ridge section of Rose Hill Cemetery. Mr. Coburn's gravestone contains quite a bit of symbolism; read about it here. An obituary for Mr. Coburn can be found in the 8 August 1908 edition of the Macon Weekly Telegraph:

Deaths & Funerals
COBURN

Died at midnight at his residence, No. 19 Navaro Flats, Frank A. Coburn, in his 46th year.

The many friends and acquaintances in the city and throughout the State, of Mr. Frank A. Coburn will learn the news of his death with genuine sorrow, for he was widely known and greatly loved.

Mr. Coburn's death, while a distinct sorrow, was not unexpected. He had traveled much in the west for the last two years in search of health, but only recently his decline had been very rapid and most of his relatives were at his bedside when the end came.

Mr. Coburn was a Floridian by birth, but had lived in Savannah for several years before coming to Macon. After making Savannah his home for some time, he cam to Macon, but then went to Valdosta where he and his family lived up to about two years ago.

He was married to Mr. Leon Dure's sister, the union resulting in two children who survive him, Frank B. and Estelle Coburn. He also leaves four sisters and two brothers: Miss Emma Coburn of Savannah, Mrs. S. M. Harris, of Savannha; Mrs. H. Willis McFadden, of New York City; Mr. Cas. D. Coburn, of New York City; Mrs. Helen C. Drummond, of Atlanta, and Mr. W. S. Coburn, of Atlanta.

The deceased was for several years secretary of Mabel Lodge of Macon, and was a member of the Elks.

09 July 2009

Frances Adelia Wicks' Obituary on Southern Graves

I uploaded a few photos and a video along with the obituary for Mrs. Frances Adelia Wicks, buried in the St. Joseph's Catholic Church section of Rose Hill. Check it out on the Southern Graves blog.

08 July 2009

Frank Coburn Expires After Long Illness

Frank Dure Coburn
Son of
Frank Augustus & Anna Dure Coburn
Nov 4, 1889
Aug 11, 1916

Geo. A. Dure Plot
Cabiness Ridge
Rose Hill Cemetery

12 August 1916
Macon Weekly Telegraph
FRANK COBURN EXPIRES AFTER LONG ILLNESS
Former Macon Business Man Passes at Highland, N.C.

Frank Coburn, aged 25, formerly one of the best known young business men in Macon, died yesterday morning at Highland, N.C., after having been in feeble health for some months. Everything possible was done to try to save his life, but all in vain. His mother was at the bedside at the time of his death.

The body arrived in Macon at 12:35 o'clock last night, and notice of the funeral arrangements will be found in another column.

Mr. Coburn was a native of Macon and had many friends here. He first started in business as receiving teller at the Fourth National Bank, but the confinement did not agree with him so he entered the insurance business with his uncle, Leon S. Dure, forming the partnership of Dure & Coburn. About five years ago Mr. Coburn left Macon on account of ill health and his death was not a surprise to his relatives and friends.

Mr. Coburn is survived by his mother, Mrs. F. A. Coburn; one sister, Miss Estelle Coburn, and his uncle, Leon S. Dure.

The funeral services will be held this afternoon at 5 o'clock from the residence of his mother, Mrs. F. A. Coburn, 251 Bond street, Rev. Dr. Wells officiating. Interment will be made in Rose Hill Cemetery.

07 July 2009

DURE Cenotaph, Technically Not a Tombstone Tuesday

There's a cenotaph (a monument erected in honor of a person or people whose remains are elsewhere) in the Geo. A. Dure Family Plot. Though not buried in Rose Hill, these individuals are memorialized there with the following granite marker:

Leon Sebring Dure, Jr. (1907-1993)
Katherine Macken Dure (1908-1987)
Kendrick Dure (1937-1985)

Leon Sebring Dure, Jr. was the son of Leon Dure and Kathleen McGregor. Katherine Macken was the wife of Leon Dure Jr., and it's possible Kendrick Dure was a child of theirs.

Leon Dure, Jr. seemed to be a very driven man, like his father. Here are two articles about him. The first is about his baptism in Macon, Georgia, and the second is about his death in Fort Myers, Florida.

24 September 1907
Macon Weekly Telegraph
SHORT STORIES
LEON S. DURE, JR. WAS BAPTISED LAST SUNDAY

Sunday afternoon at 5 o'clock the little son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon S. Dure was baptised at St. Paul's Church, the Rev. J. M. Northrup officiating at the pretty and impressive service of the Episcopal Church. The son and heir of the well-known Councilman was baptised Leon S. Dure, Jr. Messrs. Ed. Hallum and Howard Smith are the godfathers and Mrs. C. H. Humphries the godmother.
Note: St. Paul's Church has a website.

10 November 1993
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)
LEON DURE JR., NEWSMAN, DIES
Leon S. Dure Jr., managing editor of The Times-Dispatch from 1935 to 1945, died Oct. 26 in Fort Myers, Fla., from injuries sustained in a fall. He was 86 and lived in Fort Myers.

Mr. Dure was born in Macon, Ga., and was White House Correspondent for The Washington Post in the early years of the Roosevelt administration. He was secretary and treasurer of the White House Correspondents' Association.

Mr. Dure was an intelligence officer in the U. S. Army Air Corps in the Chine-Burma-India Theater during World War II.

After the war, he worked briefly at The Times-Dispatch before he was named executive news editor of the Winston-Salem Journal.

In 1947, he moved to Albemarle County, where he was a farmer. He retired to Florida in 1980.

He was the widower of Katherine Macken Dure, who died in 1987...

06 July 2009

Leon S. Dure, Banking and Investments

Leon Sebring Dure was born 8 October 1874 in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia to George Augustus Dure and Julia Kendrick. On 26 July 1906, Leon married Miss Kathleen McGregor in Christ Episcopal Church in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. Leon and Kathleen had at least two children, Leon Sebring, Jr. and Mary, before divorcing about 1916. Leon, Sr. died 10 January 1948. He was laid to rest in the Geo. A. Dure family plot in the Cabiness Ridge section of Rose Hill Cemetery.


Mr. Dure was a serious businessman in the early 1900's in Macon. He was a banker, investor, and real estate developer. He owned rental homes, hotels, storefronts, and apartments. He dealt with stocks, bonds, and mortgages. He also bought and sold companies in financial distress. At one point, he was even in partnership with his nephew in an insurance company -- Dure & Coburn. Leon was also on many local boards and committees. He even held small political offices. As written about in a previous post, Leon owned a farm simply because he wanted to. A newsman described it as his "toy" farm. I wonder if he could be considered the Donald Trump of early 1900's Macon? I did not come across any mention in the local newspaper as to how much he was "worth," but his home was described at large and elegant, and his wife and children vacationed in Paris.

However, Mr. Dure does not rest under a large, elaborate, or decorative tombstone. He has a simple granite ledger marker with an inscription that includes his name, birth date, and death date.
Blog Widget by LinkWithin