Friday, August 3, 2012

Murdered Aug 3, 1895

On March 13, 2011 I took this photo at the LSU Rural Life Museum. The word MURDERED on the tombstone caught my attention. I ended up liking the bokeh as well and posted it to Flickr.


On July 28, 2012, I received an email from Flickr that someone had commented on and favorited the photo. This is the Flickr comment I received:

This is my family. The O'Neals. My grandpa always said the graves were moved but he wasn't sure to where! I am so glad to find this!!

It was actually two brothers killed that day coming out of church, Albert and Henry O’Neal, brothers, were shot and killed at the door of Antioch church, about 15 miles from Baton Rouge, La, Saturday night, but (by) Henry Picon and his brother Wallace. Bad feelings, said to have sprung up about a young lady, had existed between the parties for some time.

Microfilm Ref Call #559
Microfilm Order #M1992.0966
The Alabama Department of Archives and History
THE HAMILTON NEWS-PRESS
VOL. 1 HAMILTON, MARION CO, ALA. THURSDAY, AUGUST

I believe in tagging photos and I suspect that's how this was found. Kids, tag your photos, because you never know! I thought this was cool beans, so I am posting it on the 117th anniversary of the murder. May God rest their souls.

39 comments:

Brian King said...

Wow! That is amazing! That's cool to find out the background about the headstone. In those days they put things on headstones you don't see these days. A lot of headstones in the Old West had some interesting and comical things on them.

rainfield61 said...

This is the power of Internet!

Kathy said...

An amazing story, Gail. I'm curious as to what tags you used for this one. It's early in the morning so maybe I've overlooked them!

Kathy said...

Oops! I guess it is too early for me. The comment block was covering them up!

Anonymous said...

What a great story! And of course a great photo. I love exploring old graveyards...they have amazing stories to tell.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

God used your talents and eye to bring the past back to a family. It feels good helping be a part of history. Brava!

Amy Burzese said...

That is very interesting. I've never seen that either. I have been known to frequent cemeteries.

Amy Burzese said...

That is very interesting. I've never seen that either. I have been known to frequent cemeteries.

Anonymous said...

What an amazing coincidence!

Tricia said...

Wow, what a cool story! Love the photo too.

TexWisGirl said...

that is really a neat story (the connection - not the murders, necessarily). a great connection made. love the photo, too.

Anonymous said...

Ok, now, that gave me chills & brought tears to my eyes! That's awesome that it was found... just unbelievable! WoW!

i've never tagged any of my pics & honestly don't even know how... =0

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

What a neat find..for you AND for the family of these two brothers. I, too, am ignorant about tags. Maybe you need to do a post about that. :) I do tag some of my photos on my own computer. Are those the tags that would carry over to Facebook if I posted them there? Or would I need to do something unique to Facebook?

hootnonny said...

Cool beans indeed! And the bokeh is lovely! Have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

What a great connection...to have the history of the headstone revealed.
Like you, I think cemeteries are fascinating places.

beth said...

wow....can you even imagine their excitement of having found this ???....wow !!....that's kind of like a miracle or something :)

Nancy said...

A big pot of cool beans, Gail. I love this -- a gorgeous photo lead to an awesome story. Thanks for sharing this.

PS -- I have a Droid now -- my gave it to me as he had an extra. :)

Charlotte Wilson said...

That is just such a cool story and even cooler that you made a connection through Flickr. Who knew?

♥charlotte

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

WOW!!!! That's amazing. I don't even know how to tag a photo, not that I've probably ever taken any that would be of that much interest. Gosh. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

that is so great!

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

A sad yet interesting story. It's a good thing you tagged the story well, I'm sure the family were touched to see this online.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Fascinating story! I've never seen a grave-marker with the word "murdered" on it. And the chances of someone actually finding your photo and putting a name to it is AMAZING.

This is very, very cool.

Happy weekend, jj

Anonymous said...

Oh, Gail, I'm a genealogy nut, so this gave me chills. How awesome that they were able to solve a little piece of their puzzle through your photograph!

Suzan said...

WOW Gail!! How exciting!!! You were at the right place at the right time and tagged the right way!! Such a neat tomb stone and such a neat story!! You have to be walking on cloud nine for that connection!! That'll keep a smile on my face today!! Thank you Gail!

Mary said...

That was an amazing find....double..that someone wanted to find it, too. So great.

Dave said...

Gail, I think it's interesting to get that sort of response from someone. I adds extra knowledge and interest to your efforts - Dave

Anonymous said...

Wow - amazing to find out the history behind these graves.

Fabulous shot too.

Justine said...

wow, that is a story that came around! well done for tagging your shots, I am bad at that.

Unknown said...

That is such a cool story. Love your photos. And thanks for the tip about tagging our photos. I never do. But I will start. I guess you never know..

Hugs~

Shug said...

Hi Gail...
This is kinda like a bitter sweet story...Great for you, because you not only were able to capture a picture of something that was interesting to you, as well as others, but you also able to solve a bit of history for someone else with the photo/story.
On the other hand, it's a sad death..
Thanks for sharing this bit of history...I find it to be very interesting..
hugs
shug

Phil Slade said...

A great little story Gail - might have known there'd be a female in there somewhere LOL. And yes I always tag my pictures.

Rosemary Aubut said...

This is amazing Gail! It is so funny how it works! You did the work of the angels and helped this family out. Your camera the instrument of their communication!

LindyLouMac said...

What amazing karma, the power of the internet is incredible!

Unknown said...

Incredible story!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

How interesting. I don't think I have ever seen 'murdered' on a tombstone before.

Deanna said...

absolutely cool beans...that is quite a story and good for you for posting and tagging!!

Lisa Gordon said...

This is just amazing Gail.
I rarely tag anything.
Definitely need to re think that.

Georgianna said...

Wow, that is totally amazing!!!

You do have some outrageous adventures!

xoxo

Laura Delegal - Leroy Photography said...

This is coool beans. You did a good deed and never knew you would.