Cemeteries

One of our missions while we were in this part of South Carolina was to visit some cemeteries which are the final resting place of some celebrated and sentimental individuals who have made an impact on our lives.

First stop was Oakland Cemetery in Gaffney, South Carolina.

Why here you ask?  I'll take you back 5 years to a visit to Scottsdale for a Mariners/Giants pre-season baseball game.  On site was Gaylord Perry, a right-handed pitcher who played for eight teams from 1962-1983, two of which were the San Francisco Giants and the Seattle Mariners.  He became one of the most durable and successful pitchers in history and was a five-time All-Star and was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues.  He pitched for the Giants from 1962-1971 and was one of Ron's childhood heroes.  But Ron was distracted by the unexpected appearance of his cousin and didn't get a chance to visit with Gaylord and regretted it for the next two years.

Until we were back in Scottsdale in the spring of 2020 and went to another Giants/Mariners game where once again Gaylord Perry was present signing autographs.  Ron didn't hesitate and took the opportunity to meet Gaylord, have him sign a bat, and take a picture.

The next day the world fell apart due to Covid and we left the area early so we could get home before flights were cancelled or any other delays occurred.  Ron was so glad to have the memory and would cherish it always.

As we were driving through North Carolina as we stopped to see Catfish Hunter's final resting place, we learned that Gaylord Perry had grown up in Williamston, the nearby town of Hertford, North Carolina where Catfish Hunter grew up.  But as we looked that up, we discovered that Gaylord had died from Covid on December 1, 2022 and was buried in Gaffney, South Carolina.  So we put it on our list to make a visit.  And here we were!

We had no trouble finding his grave and stopped to pay our respects.

I couldn't resist taking another photo of Ron and Gaylord together.

Then it was on to Greenville to Woodlawn Memorial Park.

We set out to find one of the 'famous' gravesites, that of Joe "Shoeless" Jackson, an American outfielder who played in the early 1900s.  Although his .356 career batting average is the third highest in the history of Major League Baseball, he is remembered for his association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series.  As a result, Jackson was banned from baseball after the 1920 season.  Jackson's role in the scandal, his banishment from the game, and his exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame have been fiercely debated.  Ron and I visited the Field of Dreams in Iowa last summer and because the film featured Shoeless Joe as the premier 'ghost' in the movie, we wanted to see his actual resting place.  We didn't see any cornfields and Shoeless Joe didn't make an appearance while we were there, although we really didn't build anything to entice him to come.

And then we were off for the highlight of the day (at least for me).

You may remember my blog post last year when we visited Fredericksburg Battlefield in Virginia, the site of my 2x great grandfather's final battle in 1862 and ultimate death.  You can read it HERE.  That was an emotional day and now I faced another as I walked into the cemetery where William J. Brooks, and some of his family, are interred.  I couldn't believe I was actually standing in front of the church where William, and his family, likely worshipped.

Dials Church

Gray Court, South Carolina

We seem to always come across "random" people in cemeteries and this was no exception.  This nice man was busy doing some repaving work and he spent some time talking with Ron while I took a few photos.

Ron finished visiting and we walked into the cemetery to look around.  It wasn't long before I found what I was looking for.

We walked around to the front to see who was there.

The large stone in the back is Lemuel Robert Brooks, William's younger brother, and his wife, Isabella Hellams Brooks.  Lemuel also served in the Civil War and his military stone is in front to the left of the large monument.

Lemuel Robert Brooks

9 November 1837 - 30 October 1893

But there in the lower corner is the one I came for, my 2x great grandfather William J. Brooks.

William J. Brooks

1835 - 13 December 1862

I thought about my ancestors who may have stood here over the last 160+ years and I had to take one more picture.

Also there was William's mother, Monima Williams Brooks.  I might not have figured it out if I hadn't seen her stone on Findagrave even if it does look A LOT different than it did in 2008 when a volunteer added a photo to her memorial.

Monima Brooks, 1801-1867

Photo taken in 2023

Photo added by Jackie to Findagrave Memorial, 2008

I did a lot of reflecting as we walked back to the truck.  What a beautiful cemetery and a memorable visit.