Death and Funeral of Edward McCrudden

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
Wednesday, 30 March 1921, pg. 3

DEATHS AND FUNERALS
EDWARD MCCRUDDEN
Edward McCrudden, 84 years of age, one of the oldest residents of Macon, died at 6 o'clock last night at his residence, No. 453 Arch street, after an illness of only one day.

Mr. McCrudden was born in Donegal, Ireland, and came to Macon sixty-five years ago, entering business here, in which he continued up to the time of his death.

He is survived by one sister, Miss Margaret McCrudden, of Ireland, and one niece, Miss Mary A. Gallagher of Macon. He was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic church. The funeral will be held Thursday, arrangements to be announced later.

Macon Telegraph
Friday, 1 April 1921, pg. 3

DEATHS AND FUNERALS
EDWARD MCCRUDDEN
The funeral of Edward McCrudden, whose death occurred at 6 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, was held from St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Rev. Father Murphy conducted the services and interment was in the family lot at St. Joseph's Cemetery. The following served as pallbearers: John Murphy, Pat Cassidy, John Gillispie, John McBrearty, Joe Thomas and Pat McNeils.

According to his death certificate, Edward was the son of Daniel McCrudden and Margaret Bern, both of Ireland. His occupation was Merchant.

Edward's brother John is also buried in the family lot, as is his niece Mary A. Gallagher. John McBrearty, one of Edward's pallbearers, was written about a few days ago. John (d. 1961) is buried in a lot across from Edward McCrudden. As stated above, all are in the St. Joseph's Catholic section of Rose Hill Cemetery.

John McBrearty Convicted of Violating the "Blind Tiger" Law

"Blind Tiger" (a term popular in the southern states) is a lower class version of a speakeasy, a place that illegally sold alcohol during Prohibition. Prohibition in Georgia, by the way, was from 1908 until 1935. This started well before and went on after the national prohibition of 1920 to 1933. In a mid-September 1914 week in Macon, seventy prohibition cases were on the docket for the city court. John McBrearty was one such case.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
10 February 1914, pg. 8

SECOND RAID MADE ON JOHN M'BREARTY'S STORE

Police Secure a Barrel of Whisky and Claim to Have Evidence of a Sale. McBrearty Denies Ownership.

For the second time since the first of the year, the police have raided John McBrearty's grocery store on Monroe street and gotten sufficient whisky to warrant charges of violation of the city blind tiger ordinance and the state prohibition law. The last raid was made last night by Chief Riley and Plain Clothes Officers Morris and Dave Riley.

Not only was a barrel of whisky taken from McBrearty's place, but a sale is also alleged to have been gotten on him, which the officers are confident will "stick" when the case comes to trial. McBrearty declared the whisky did not belong to him and that he knew nothing about it.

I conducted some research in an effort to make sure this article pertained to the John McBrearty (1882-1961) resting beside his wife Margaret Thomas (1882-1957) in the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery section of Rose Hill. The 9 April 1930 Federal census for Macon, Bibb County, Georgia lists John with his wife Margaret and son John F. (1913-2005, also buried in same plot as parents). John and Margaret were both born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900's. They were married about 1911.

In the 1920 census (same family, same locale), John is listed as a retail grocery store owner. And in the 1918 Macon City Directory, John is listed (with Margaret) as being a grocer at 336 Monroe.

In late June 1915, after John exhausted his appeals, the final ruling came down:

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
23 June 1915, pg. 11

"TIGER" CASE AFFIRMED

John McBrearty Must Pay Fine of $150 Imposed by the Recorder

Clerk R. A. Nisbet, of the superior court, yesterday received notice that the court of appeals had affirmed the judgement of the superior court in the case of John McBrearty, convicted at the February term, 1915, of violating the "blind tiger" law...McBrearty was sentenced to pay a fine of $150 or work sixty days on the county roads.

Another interesting find was John McBrearty in the 1910 Macon, Bibb County, Georgia Federal census. He was working for grocery merchant John Moss (born Ireland) as a Near-Beer clerk. Seems John McBrearty really was in the "thick of things" during Prohibition!

Mislocated and Misnamed? (The One Where Obituaries and Tombstone Conflict.)

James Daniel Stetson
Born May 30, 1846
Died March 18, 1901
"He Giveth His Beloved Sleep"

His Wife
Eugenia Sophia Pate
Jan 28, 1852 - July 31, 1906

Obituaries of this sort give genealogists fits. Was she buried at Hawkinsville or Macon? Was his first name John or James?

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
1 August 1906

MRS. EUGENIA STETSON PASSES AWAY AT HOME

Widow of the Late J. D. Stetson, and One of the Most Prominent Women in Macon's Charitable Circles, Dies After Short Illness.

Mrs. Eugenia Stetson, the widow of the late J. D. Stetson, died about 4:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the home of the family at 360 College street.

Mrs. Stetson had been ill only a short while. She was aged 55 years. She was one of the most prominent women in the charitable circles of Macon, the splendid Methodist Orphanage being one of the institutions, upon which she bountifully bestowed her time and energy, not to mention her worldly goods.

The death of Mrs. Stetson comes rather as a surprise and shock to hundreds of people in Macon and elsewhere, who were not aware that she was seriously ill. The announcement of the death will strike sorrow into the hearts of a host of loving friends and admirers, and will cast a gloom over almost the entire city.

The deceased was a woman of beautiful and consistent character. Charitable almost to a fault, loving to all and withal possessing a sweet, gentle, sunny nature, she had entwined herself about the heartstrings of a host of [...illegible...] felt as a personal and irreparable loss.

[...Illegible...], the daughter of the late Major John H. Pate, of Hawkinsville. She was born in that city in January, 1852. Her late husband, J. D. Stetson, was for many years the president of the American National Bank.

The following relatives survive Mrs. Stetson: Four brothers, R. O., M. C., J. W. and R. A. Pate, all of Hawkinsville; one sister, Mrs. W. B. Steele, of Hawkinsville; her mother, Mrs. Z. A. Pate, of Hawkinsville; and the following children: J. P. Stetson, of Macon; Mrs. Sam T. Coleman, of Macon; E. W. Stetson, of Fitzgerald, and James D. Stetson, of Macon.

Mrs. Stetson was a devout member of the Mulberry Street Methodist Church. The funeral will be held this afternoon at 1:30 o'clock at the residence. The interment will occur this afternoon at Hawkinsville.

A special train will convey the body to Hawkinsville, leaving the Southern depot at 2:30 o'clock, and returning at 7:30 o'clock this evening. The friends of the family are invited to attend the interment at Hawkinsville.

The following will act as pallbearers: R. A. Merritt, R. J. Taylor, W. R. Rogers, Jr., O. E. Dooly, W. P. Glover, B. E. Willingham, A. R. Willingham, T. J. Simmons, Jr.

For what it's worth, the burial records of Rose Hill Cemetery list Mrs. Eugenia Stetson, and there is no indication at the family burial plot in the Central Avenue division that Eugenia's inscription on her and J. D. Stetson's tombstone is a cenotaph.

Here's another one. I find it a bit odd that possible misinformation was provided in obituaries for both husband and wife, who died 5 years apart.

Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)
19 March 1901

JOHN D. STETSON, MACON, DEAD
Macon, Ga., March 18. -- Mr. John D. Stetson, vice president of the American National bank of this city, and a prominent financier in the state, died here today.

Stetson Family Plot at Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery

Photos © 2012 S. Lincecum