Alexander McGregor Died 153 Years Ago Today

Alexr McGregor
Born in Anson County, North Carolina
Nov 7th, 1790
Died Sept 9th, 1856
Aged 65 y'rs & 10 months

I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness - Psalm XVII, 15 vr.

A tribute of greatful and
affectionate rememberance,
from his Wife and Children.

Online family group sheets suggest Alexander was the son of William and Nancy McGregor. He married Elizabeth Danielly 20 June 1820 in Baldwin County, Georgia, and they had two sons -- John Arthur and Richard. Elizabeth died in 1840 and was laid to rest in the Rose Hill Cemetery Central Avenue Division plot purchased by Alexander. Two years later he married Mary Augusta Heath on 23 February 1842 in Bibb County, Georgia. They had one son, Alexander S.

Alexander McGregor, a carpenter and a "most industrious mechanic," was one of the earliest settlers of Macon. He was very much involved in the building of the city. Alexander was one of the first city commissioners and was elected "pump connector," one responsible for keeping city water pumps repaired. He also built the first framed building west of the Ocmulgee River.

Alexander was a 2nd Sergeant in the "Macon Volunteers," an 1820's Georgia militia unit.

In November 1826, Alexander McGregor and Daniel Pratt completed building the first bridge across the Ocmulgee River. It was known as a superstructure, and the stone pillars remained many years after Alexander's death.

In the 1830's and 1840's, Alexander was elected Principal Marshal of the city. Early Macon newspapers detail some of his duties and arrests.

Alexander McGregor was also noted in an 1850 edition of the Macon Telegraph as a builder of the famed Lanier House, a hotel operated by Sterling Lanier.

The death of Alexander McGregor was reported in the 23 September 1856 Macon Weekly Telegraph:

"DIED
In this city, on the 9th inst., of Billious Cholic, Mr. Alexander McGregor, aged about 66 years. He was among the earliest settlers of this city, and erected the first framed building west of the Ocmulgee, and the first bridge over that river. Through life, was one of the best, and most industrious mechanics of the city."

I will not go into detail here, but suffice it to say Mr. McGregor's death was unpleasant. Bilious Colic is a dangerous disease filled with "atrocious" pain. I hope Alexander's suffering was short, and I hope he is resting in peace.

Also buried in the plot of Alexander McGregor was his sister-in-law, Caroline Danielly Wilson, the first to be interred in Rose Hill Cemetery. A great-granddaughter, Kathleen McGregor Dure (once wife of Leon S. Dure), was laid to rest there as well.
[Sources for this post include census records, tombstone transcriptions, notes from fellow researchers, marriage record databases, online family trees, newspaper articles, obituaries, books detailing the history of Macon, and online medical information.  Specifics available upon request.]

First Interment in Rose Hill Cemetery (Tombstone Tuesday)

On a tip from Mr. John Davis, I've begun rooting around in the life of Mr. Alexander McGregor, buried in the Central Avenue Division of Rose Hill. While visiting his gravesite today, I discovered Mr. McGregor was buried on the same lot as Caroline Wilson, the first interment in Rose Hill. A little subsequent research suggests Mrs. Wilson was Alexander McGregor's sister. I think the more accurate relationship is sister-in-law, but I will have to keep researching to be sure.

Caroline Wilson
Born Baldwin County, GA
Died Bibb County, GA
Feb 28, 1840
Age 30 Years
Wife of Col. David F. Wilson
First Interment In Rose Hill Cemetery
The Middle Georgia Historical Society's Rose Hill Rambles state this above ground vault was rebuilt many years ago, using all original bricks.

I am working on a sketch of Mr. Alexander McGregor, and will post as soon as completed.

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...

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.

Julia Kendrick Dure Part of a Historical Southern Family

Julia Kendrick Dure (1836-1929) was laid to rest in the Cabiness Ridge section of Rose Hill Cemetery, next to her husband in the DURE Family Plot.

Julia, born 16 September 1836 in Wilkes County, Georgia, was the daughter of John Bull Kendrick and Sarah Ann Powell. On the 22nd of December 1857, Julia married George Augustus Dure in Hancock County, Georgia. Julia and George had nine children. Three of them died young, and Julia was at the bedside of George Powell Dure, her eldest son, when he passed away in 1902. Six years later, Julia buried her husband of fifty years.

Julia and George spent most of their lives together in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. They did spend some time in Brunswick, Georgia, as they are found there in the 1870 US Federal census. Oftentimes, other family members would be listed with Julia and George in the census entries. This shows a close-knit family with an always welcoming parents' household.

Julia died in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia on the 5th of January 1929.

The Kendrick family is profiled in John Bennett Boddie's book,
Historical Southern Families, Volume I (1957), on pages 136 and 137:

John Bull Kendrick, son of Jones and Susan (Bull) Kendrick, was b. 22 July 1812 in Wilkes County, GA, and d. after 1880, probably in Columbia County, GA, where he was living with his son Zachariah in that year. John Bull Kendrick married (1) 23 June 1831 in Wilkes County, GA Sarah Ann Powell (b. 4 July 1818, d. 24 November 1844 in Wilkes County), daughter of his stepmother, Nancy M. Kendrick, by her second husband, Nelson Powell. John B. Kendrick married (2) about 1848 his second cousin, Mrs. Sarah Maria (Harrison) Patton, daughter of William and Susan (Kendrick) Harrison and granddaughter of Benjamin Kendrick, his uncle. By her he had one son, William Harrison Kendrick, b. 1849, killed by lightning while on his wedding trip at age 22. After the second marriage John B. Kendrick married (3) Charlotte Wright of Union Springs, AL; (4) a lady in Mobile, AL, by whom he had one daughter who married Mr. Dandy; and (5) he married again in New Orleans. It has been reported the daughter born of the 4th marriage was named Lilias. The children of John B. Kendrick by his first wife Sarah Ann Powell, were:

I. Zachariah Kendrick, b. 1832, living in Columbia County, GA in census of 1880, with wife Amanda (b. 1838), and children: Ora (b. 1859), Cephas (b. 1862), Phoison (b. 1865), James (b. 1866), Georgia (b. 1871), and Allison (b. 1874).
II. Cornelia Kendrick, b. about 1833, married as his 1st wife Capt. George Augustus Dure, no issue.
III. Julia Kendrick, b. 1835-6, d. 1929 Macon, GA, married 22 December 1857 as his 2nd wife Capt. George Augustus Dure (b. 1832 Savannah, GA, d. 1908 Macon, GA); issue:
----1. Cornelia Dure
----2. Anna Dure m. Frank Coburn
----3. George Powell Dure
----4. Emma Dure
----5. Lily Dure
----6. Leon Sebring Dure, b. 8 October 1874 in Brunswick, GA, d. 10 January 1948 Macon, GA, m. 26 Jul 1906 Kathleen McGregor (b. 6 Jun 1886), and had 2 children:
---------(1) Leon Sebring Dure, Jr., Major, 2nd World War, Burma Theatre, Bronze Star, b. 27 Jun 1907 Macon, m. 15 Jan 1928 Katherine MacKean (b. 1 May 1908 Macon), and has 2 sons: (a) Leon Sebring Dure, III, and (b) Kendrick Dure, b. 7 Aug 1938 Richmond, VA; and
---------(2) Mary Dure, b. 3 Apr 1909 Macon, GA, m. 15 Jun 1925 Buford Sanford Birdsey (Lt. U.S.N., 2nd World War, citation, b. 1 May 1906 Macon), and has one son, Buford Sanford Birdsey, Jr.
----7. William Dure d. young
----8. Julia Dure d. young
----9. Jasper Dure d. young
IV. Ann Marshall Kendrick, b. 1838 Wilkes County, GA, d.s.p.
V. Lucius Franklin Kendrick, b. 1841, living in Columbia County, GA, census of 1880, served in Confederate Army and lost an arm, married about 1870 Mary Elizabeth Marshall and had issue:
----1. John P. Kendrick, b. 1872
----2. Naomi A. Kendrick, b. 1875
----3. Leila B. Kendrick, b. 1877
----4. Martha Ray Kendrick, b. 1879
----5. Julia Kendrick m. Mr. Luck and lived at Grovetown, GA
VI. Susan Kendrick, b. 15 Nov 1844, died at birth, buried with mother.