Old Times There Are Not Forgotten
And neither should be the old soldiers.
This author is extremely proud to descend
from some of these old soldiers who fought many historic battles in the history
of this land we love.
I
have always loved to hear my mother tell tales of her grandfather, Elijah Olbert
Linch, his brother William
David Linch and an even older great-grandfather, James
Young and another family member Thomas Lynch,
Jr. A family
tree of the predecessors and descents of this author is available. This
feature will be mostly about my great-grandfather, Elijah
Olbert Linch.
Elijah and his brother William David were
grandsons of Reverend Elijah Linch in South
Carolina. He began preaching in June 1799.
He was one of six children of John Dillon Lynch and Katy Davis on June
28, 1773 and died August 10, 1842. He
married Elizabeth Chapman ( daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Chapman ) on
October 27, 1792. He and his wife are buried in Newberry District, SC in
a cemetery known as Chapman Graveyard. He was of the same family as Thomas Lynch
Jr. The reason the name is spelled Linch and not Lynch is due to the error of a
surveyor making the deed to some property. To keep the property in the family,
the name was thereon spelled Linch. They were sons of David Linch and his wife
Mary Beam of South Carolina.
Elijah's parents were pioneers of Georgia.
They came by wagon and team, along the McIntosh Indian Trail, blazing their way
through the virgin Georgia woods. My mother remembers tales of their piano
falling in the Savannah River during the crossing. The piano ended up in their
son David's home till age and use took its toll on the instrument. They found a
hill overlooking a creek in Coweta County near the town of Turin. Deer and wild
turkey visited this pristine creek daily. It is here that they built their home.
The home is no longer standing. They were among the founders of the Harmony
Univeralist Church near the town of
Senoia, GA. This church still stands today.
Elijah joined the Phillips Georgia Cavalry
Legion Company D on August 2, 1861 in Marietta, GA. He was mustered
into the Confederate Cavalry in Lynchburg. VA , on September 11, 1861.
He fought in many campaigns as a horse soldier.
On April 26, 1864, by Special
Order 113/4 signed by R.E. Lee, General, Army of Northern Virginia, he was
mysteriously transferred to the Confederate States Navy. It is here that the
paper trail of his service seams to disappear. Strange that they would move a
veteran horse solder to the navy. Apparently this practice was fairly common for
the blockade-runners.
My mother, Martha
Jeanette Linch Franklin, clearly remembers her grandmother, Jeanette
Henrietta Tench, Elijah's wife, tell her tails about his days as a
confederate blockade-runner and quasi pirate.
After the war ended, Elijah returned to his
home in a tiny Coweta County, GA, town named Turin. He then returned to farming
the vast plantation land.
Elijah married Jeanette H Tench and they
produced the following offspring: Eleanor, Harriet Fluellen, David, Mont, Harry,
William Fredrick Creagh (my grandfather, my
mother's father).
Elijah died June 24, 1907, and is laid to
rest in the old family cemetery out in the woods near Turin, GA, The cemetery
was called the Elder-Linch Cemetery. It is named
for the two families that started it. His wife Jeanette died on October 3, 1934,
at the age of 87 and is buried there also. Her death date was somehow omitted
from the marker.
The records of its location are not to be
found. My mother did an excellent job of directing me to its general location.
After a day searching, it was located about a half mile back in the thick
Georgia piney woods.
Vandals have desecrated many of the graves.
Neglect and the forces of nature have harmed others. Elijah's parents, David
Linch and his wife Mary's gravesite was destroyed by a falling tree, remains of
the monument can still be seen. However, Elijah and Jeanette's is in excellent
condition, with little destruction.
Unnamed slave grave markers can still be
found off in the woods to the South of the family plot.
Standing there peering at Elijah's final
resting place in the near pristine woods makes me wish that i had had the
opportunity to 'climb up on his knee', as Jimmy Buffett sang
about his grandfather, and listen to
his many tales about the great war for southern independence and rural life in
the nineteenth century in Georgia.
Lets not ever forget those who risked it all
so that we can be free today. Don't let your forefathers take their knowledge of
the past to the grave with them.
Look away, look away, Dixie land...