The Napier Children: a Feared Illness and a Family's Loss

In the fall of 1859, the John Thomas Napier family of Bibb County, Georgia experienced the kind of tragedy that haunted countless 19th-century households: the devastating loss of two young children within a span of less than five weeks. Their story, preserved in stone at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, offers a window into both the fragility of childhood in the antebellum South and the elaborate mourning culture that sought to memorialize such losses.

"He taketh his young lambs home."
Gravestone for Eugene S. and Anna C. Napier, both of whom died in 1859.
Rose Hill Cemetery
Image © 2013-2025 S. Lincecum

The Family

John Thomas Napier was born 27 October 1823 in Putnam County, Georgia, the son of Skelton Napier (1800-1866) and Jane Ector Gage (1804-1891). John married Frances Camilla "Fannie" Jameson on 17 May 1848 in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. Fannie was the daughter of David Jameson (1793-1861).

John and Fannie had at least five children: Eugene Skelton, John J., Anna C., Fannie T., and Robert Lee. I lose track of John J. after 1880, but I can say Fannie T. went on to marry Julius Carl Mayr (1857-1889) and have children of her own. The other three children of John and Fannie Napier died young.

John and Fannie's financial circumstances improved significantly around 1860 when Fannie inherited a substantial amount of property in Houston County, Georgia. This would provide financial stability during a period of profound personal loss as well as dramatic political and wartime upheaval. The family maintained connections to the neighboring counties of Houston and Bibb throughout the remainder of their lives.

The Tragedy Unfolds

In late October 1859, Eugene Skelton, namesake of his grandfather, died of inflammatory croup at the age of 7 years and 5 months. That same day -- in a father's desperate acknowledgment of mortality -- John T. Napier purchased a family plot in the Ivy Ridge division of Rose Hill Cemetery. An act of immediate necessity would, unfortunately, prove prescient.

Approximately a month later, in late November 1859, two-year-old Anna C. (newspapers reported her name as Anna Josephine) succumbed at her grandfather David Jameson's home in Macon. A poignant sentence from Anna's obituary ran in Macon's Weekly Georgia Telegraph:

"Thus by a Wise but mysterious Providence, have these fond parents been called to mourn the early death of two promising children, within but a few weeks, from the same fatal disease."

"He Taketh His Young Lambs Home"

The marble monument commissioned for the Napier children stands as a most elaborate memorial in Macon's famed Rose Hill Cemetery. It features a seated cherub pulling back a heavy, tasseled drape or veil. The cherub was a common motif for children's graves in the 1800s, representing innocence and serving as a divine escort for the young souls.

In Victorian cemetery symbolism, the drape represents the "veil" between the world of the living and the afterlife. By pulling it back, the cherub is metaphorically revealing the "Kingdom of Heaven" mentioned in the inscription at the top of the monument.

The wreath of flowers on the left, tied into the drapery, symbolizes the beauty of life that was "plucked" too soon. The circular shape represents eternity.

"Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven," and "He taketh his young lambs home," are two lines that clearly express the Napier family's faith, and reflect the Victorian understanding that childhood death was divine selection rather than random tragedy.

Though the marble is beginning to "sugar" -- a process where the stone's surface slowly disintegrates into crystals -- the message remains clear.

A gravestone of this type was surely a significant expense. If purchased in 1859, it was possibly bought by Fannie's father. David Jameson was a wealthy planter with an estate valued at over $200,000 in 1860. If purchased later, I suppose John T. and Fannie could've chosen this. The more modest stone placed in the family lot for John T. and son Robert Lee, however, suggests otherwise.

Robert Lee Napier

Robert Lee Napier also died young. He was born 4 January 1868, and died 16 December 1882, just days before Christmas and his fifteenth birthday. Unfortunately, I have yet to uncover Robert's cause of death. Though it's a mystery to me, I can easily imagine it was another tragic heartbreak for this family.

John T. joined his children in the family lot "after a protracted illness" in 1871. Mother Fannie was the last of the burials in lot 6 of the Ivy Ridge division of Rose Hill Cemetery when she died in 1899, reuniting with Eugene and Anna after forty years of separation.

The Scourge of Inflammatory Croup

The disease that claimed Eugene and Anna was one of the most feared childhood illnesses of the 19th century. "Inflammatory croup," also called membranous croup or laryngeal diphtheria, was caused by a bacterium, though this would not be understood until the 1880s. In 1859, physicians (and parents) could only observe the disease's horrifying progression and remain largely powerless to stop it.

The infection attacked the throat and larynx, producing a thick, gray membrane that gradually obstructed the airway. Parents would watch helplessly as their children struggled to breathe, often hearing the characteristic harsh, barking cough that gave the disease its name. Death typically came from asphyxiation as the membrane completely blocked airflow, though the bacterial toxin could also damage the heart and nervous system.

Inflammatory croup was highly contagious and spread rapidly through households, which explains the close timing of Eugene and Anna's deaths. Once one child fell ill, siblings were at grave risk. Families frequently lost multiple children in rapid succession, as the Napiers did, making croup particularly cruel in its efficiency.

Treatment options in 1859 were limited and largely ineffective. Physicians might attempt to create humidity through steam treatments, administer emetics to induce vomiting and potentially dislodge the membrane, or in desperate cases, perform a tracheotomy -- a dangerous procedure with poor success rates. Most children who contracted severe inflammatory croup died, and the disease remained a leading cause of childhood mortality until the 1890s, when antitoxin treatment was finally developed.

The Cemetery as Historical Record

The Napier family plot in Rose Hill Cemetery serves as more than a memorial to individual lives -- it functions as a historical document recording the precarious nature of life in 19th-century America. The elaborate monument to Eugene and Anna stands among hundreds of similar child graves in Southern cemeteries, each one representing a family's grief and a child's brief passage through a dangerous world.

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Two Ohio Girls Drowned While Bathing in Georgia: the Tragic Story of Claud and Cleo Thorn (d. 1887)

Headstones for Claud and Cleo Thorn stand in block 1, lot 98 of the Central Avenue Division of Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. Tragically, both girls drowned in a local creek just two weeks before the summer solstice of 1887. And these stones give no hint of the scandal that surrounded their deaths.

Both Claud Thorn, aged 19, and Cleo Thorn, aged 20, died on 7 June 1887.
Image © 2013-2025 S. Lincecum.

The deaths of these young women caused a "sensation in the city" because they were "inmates" of "Madame Belmont's establishment." And while the headstones suggest a shared family tragedy, the truth behind their arrival in Macon reveals a much more complex story. Two newspaper accounts from June 1887 tell what happened that day. (Minor note: contemporary newspapers spelled the girls' names variously as Claude/Claudie/Claud and Cleo/Clio; I've used the spellings from their headstones throughout.)

Columbus Enquirer-Sun (Georgia)

9 June 1887

TWO GIRLS DROWNED.

The Tragic End of a Disreputable Party Near Macon.

MACON, Ga., June 7. -- This evening about 1:30 o'clock a terrible tragedy occurred at Seven bridges, on Echeconee creek, seven miles south of Macon. This morning a party of girls from Madame Belmont's establishment, accompanied by several young men, went down there on a holiday. After they had enjoyed themselves for several hours Clio and Claude Thorn, two girls from Cincinnati, who have lately become inmates, decided to go in bathing. Two young men went in with them. After a short time one of the young men decided to come out, as he had cramps in his legs, and told them that he could not possibly stay longer. After a short time the two girls got beyond their depth and cried for help. The young man who was in with them, swam to their assistance and caught one around the body, and reached for the other, when both caught him in [a] deathly embrace, and all three sank two or three times. It was life and death with the young man, and disengaging himself he swam to the shore, when the two unfortunates went drifting down the cold current, uttering the most agonizing cries for help. The balance of the party, panic-stricken, assembled on the bank and watched them as the dark waters closed over them for the last time. One of the bodies was soon recovered by drag hooks in twenty-five feet of water. It was late in the evening when the other was recovered. Ten dollars reward was offered for her body before it was recovered.

Seven Bridges on Echeconnee Creek, located near the Bibb and Houston County line, remains a well-known area to this day.

The second article had no trouble naming names, but only the women were considered "disreputable characters."

Courant-American (Cartersville, Georgia)

9 June 1887

A DRUNKEN ORGIE.

Macon correspondent of Savannah News of Tuesday says:

The news of a sensational tragedy, the scene of which was the Seven Bridges, about four miles from the city on the Houston road, reached the city late this afternoon. This morning about eight o'clock a party of men and women, the latter being disreputable characters, drove in hacks to the place named above, which is the junction of Tobesofkee and Rocky creeks, for the purpose of picnicking and having a jolly time generally. The party was composed of Lee Lowenthal, Ben Meaks, Charlie McAllister, Henry Miller, all sporting characters, and Jennie Scott, Flaggie Meaks, Claude and Clio Thorne. A liberal supply of "John Barleycorn" was taken along, and about midday the party were pretty well "filled." In this intoxicated condition a bath in the creek was proposed and all joined in the movement. While thus engaged Claude and Clio Thorne, who were sisters, wandered into deep water, and soon began to flounder. They screamed lustily for help, but the men were either too drunk or too indifferent to go to the rescue, and the unfortunate women were both drowned. The bodies lay in the water until that afternoon, when some of their companions, hearing of the accident, went to the scene and recovered them. The drowned women came here from Cleveland, O., about six weeks ago. The affair produced quite a sensation in this city.

In the late 19th century, Macon did not have a single, isolated red-light district, but rather a series of "sporting" hubs clustered near the city's commercial and transportation centers. These establishments, often euphemistically listed in city directories as "female boarding houses," were concentrated along the Ocmulgee riverfront and near railroad depots, where a transient population of traders and travelers provided a steady stream of patrons. Gambling dens and brothels often operated on the upper floors of business buildings. 

Madame Belmont's establishment, where Claud and Cleo resided, likely operated in this periphery—an area where the "sporting characters" of Macon's bachelor subculture mingled with "disreputable" women. This social landscape was defined by its proximity to the city's heartbeat—its cotton markets and rail lines—while remaining tucked away in the shadows of "polite" society.

Despite their "disreputable" status in the press, someone -- perhaps Madame Belmont herself, or even family back in Ohio -- paid for a proper burial and matching headstones for the two young women.

Days after the drownings, a third article emerged that traced Cleo's path to Macon -- but instead of providing closure, it only raised more questions.

Columbus Enquirer-Sun (Georgia)

11 June 1887

THEY WERE NOT SISTERS.

But Were Wild, Wayward, Winsome -- History of the Two Ohio Girls Who Were Drowned While Bathing in Georgia.

CLEVELAND, O., June 8. -- A telegram today announced that Cleo and Claudie Thorn, sisters, had drowned in Macon, Ga., last Tuesday while bathing. The girls were not sisters, although they passed as such. The former was born in Cleveland, while the other was reared in Akron. Cleo was but eighteen years old, while Claudie was a few years older. The life of Cleo has been a checkered one. Six months after Cleo's birth her father died, and for four years her widowed mother worked hard to support herself and orphan daughter.

About this time the mother married a hard-working, intelligedt [sic] mechanic, and the family took up their residence on a side street in the East End. The family was poor, but Cleo was sent to school regularly. Two years ago her beautiful eyes and hair attracted the attention of a son of a wealthy neighbor. The young man's parents were friends of the girl's mother, and little was thought of the growing intimacy between the youthful pair.

Shortly before Christmas, a year ago, Cleo suddenly disappeared from home. The poor mother wes [sic] almost distracted, and for months heard nothing of her wayward daughter. One day a letter was received from Cleo, in which the mother learned that her daughter was an actress, engaged with a troupe then playing in Jamestown, N.Y. From early youth Cleo had a passion for the stage, and her parents believed the story she had written. Last fall she returned home, but remained only a few days, when she again disappeared, and nothing was heard from her again until a year ago, when the mother received a letter saying that Cleo was penitent and had given up the desire to be an actress. She said that she would be home within a few days, never to leave again.

The true history of the girl after she left home was unknown to the parents until to-day. When Cleo left home she went to Jamestown, N.Y., where she entered a house of ill-repute. Her beauty attracted the attention of the proprietress of a similar house in this city, and when Cleo expressed desire to return to Cleveland an offer was at once made her, which she agreed to. She became an inmate of an establishment on Bank street, where he youthful lover, who had been married in the meantime, frequently visited her.

While on Bank street she became a warm friend of Claudie Morton, whose father is a merchant at Akron, and who had separated from her husband. Here, too, Cleo met a youth of nineteen named Theodore Keys. Keys fell in love with the girl, and showered money and jewels upon her. One day his father appeared and begged the girl to have nothing more to do with the youngster, which she consented to do, but he couldn't be shaken off. The girl was finally arrested by the father for being a woman of the town, and confined in the work-house fifteen days. After she was released she and Claudie Morton whent south, accompanied by Keys.

Despite a cursory search of census records, I've found no trace of Claud or Cleo before their arrival in Macon. Were their names real? Were their backstories true? The only certainties are the two headstones in Rose Hill Cemetery and the cold waters of Echeconnee Creek that claimed them on a June afternoon in 1887. This may be one of the most indelible 'tales of tombstones' my cemetery research has ever uncovered.

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The Namesakes and Legacy of William George Lasch (1893-1918)

Flag of Germany (1867-1918)

William George Lasch was born on 24 September 1893, just ten months after the marriage of his parents, German immigrants John George Lasch (b. abt 1860) and Johanna M. Roth (b. 1864). They had wed on 26 November 1892, at the German Lutheran Church on Grand Street in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. This church served as the spiritual anchor for a life that revolved around just a few city blocks; by the time William was a young boy, his father had established a bakery at 147 Union Street—less than a half-mile walk from where his parents had exchanged their vows. John George would continue to serve the local German-American community from this location for many years until his death on 20 May 1917.

In about 1916, William moved to Macon, Bibb County, Georgia, joining his sister Joanna (1895–1991) and her husband, James Robert Walters (1890–1966). While building his new life as an employee of the National Bank, William married Coralie Dickert (1896–1974) on 4 August 1917, the daughter of Curtis Lee Dickert and Lillie L. Northington. This milestone came just months after his father's passing and amidst a changing national landscape. As the United States formally entered World War I, William was called to serve his country, even as it declared war on the imperial government of his ancestral home. He answered that call as a son of America.

Eight months later, on 19 April 1918, William George Lasch was dead. The Poughkeepsie Eagle-News (New York) reported on his death the next day.

MEETS DEATH IN AUTO CRASH

Mrs. Johanna Lasch Gets News of Tragic Death of Son, Lieut. Wm. Lasch, at Camp Wheeler.

FUNERAL AT MACON

Mrs. Johanna Lasch, of 147 Union Street, received word on Friday of the death of her son, First Lieutenant William Lasch, at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. He was 24 years of age. Details of his death were not given, except that he met his death through an automobile crash at camp. Lieutenant Lasch went to Macon two years ago, where his married sister lives, and secured a position in a bank in that city. He joined the State Guard in Georgia, and saw service on the Mexican border. At the outbreak of the present war, he enlisted in the heavy field artillery but was transferred to the wagon train and it is thought that he was killed in a collision of motor trucks.

Mrs. Lasch bore the sad news as bravely as possible. Her husband died only a year ago. He was George Lasch, the well-known Union Street baker. Last year, Mrs. Lasch spent her birthday, which occurs during the coming week, with her son, in Georgia. She had planned a small party this year and hoped that her son and his bride of a year could be present, for she had not seen him since last August, when he brought his young wife to visit in Poughkeepsie.

Mrs. Lasch received a letter from her son early in the week, telling of his promotion and of his much bigger salary. He said: "I am getting a great deal more money than I was, mamma, and I am glad, for I shall need it now to prepare for a great event in the early summer."

Funeral services will be held in Macon, and Mrs. Lasch will start for Georgia today.

The funeral, as well as a bit more clarification on the cause of William's death, was reported on in the 21 April 1918 Macon News (Georgia):

LIEUTENANT LASCH WILL BE BURIED HERE MONDAY AFTERNOON

With full military honors, the body of Lieut. William G. Lasch, of battery D, eighth field artillery, who was killed Friday afternoon when a big motor truck turned over a high embankment, near Swift creek trestle, will be held Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock. After funeral services at the home, 969 Courtland avenues [sic], Chaplain Edgar J. Evans, of the eighth field artillery, will conduct the service. The regimental band and battery D will attend as honorary escort. The interment will be made in Rose Hill cemetery. Pallbearers will be selected from among the officers of his organization.

Lieutenant Lasch was well known in Macon. Before entering the officers' training school at Fort McPherson he was employed by the Fourth National banks and was associated with Y. M. C. A. work. He went to the Mexican border with the Macon Volunteers, and upon their return was made battalion sergeant major of the Macon battalion now doing service in France.

When he was graduated he declined a higher commission for a second lieutenancy in the regular army and was assigned to Chickamauga Park. When the eighth field artillery was ordered to Camp Wheeler he was transferred here.

Last August he married Miss Carolie [sic] Dickert, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Dickert. Besides his widow, he is survived by his mother, of New York city, who will arrive Monday...

William's ledger marker in Rose Hill Cemetery at Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.
Image © 2013-2025 S. Lincecum

Remember that "great event in the early summer" William wrote about to his mother? It was likely the birth of his child. A daughter, named Billie George Lasch, was born to Coralie in Macon on 2 July 1918. Born just a few months after his tragic death, Billie was a namesake of the father she would never meet.

But she wasn't the only one. William George Walters was born on 20 April 1918, just one day after the death of his uncle. This son of the aforementioned Joanna F. Lasch and James Robert Walters seems to really have followed in his Uncle William's footsteps.

World War II Draft Card for William George Walters (1918-2009)

Not only did the younger William serve in the United States military, but he also worked with the Y.M.C.A. in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia. This branch of the Y, on the "corner Eleventh & Second Ave." was the third oldest in the nation. (It's worth noting that the elder William's brother, Frederick Carl Lasch (1903-1999), also worked with the Y.M.C.A. in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey during the 1940s.)

After a lifetime marked with service to his community and country, following the path begun by his uncle, William George Walters was laid to rest at College Park Cemetery in Fulton County, Georgia.

Image by Sgt Ed Elstan (2012) via FindAGrave.
Permission for use granted in bio.

The legacy of William George Lasch did not end in that awful accident at Camp Wheeler. It lived on through the two children born in the shadow of his passing -- his daughter, Billie, and his nephew, William. By carrying his name and following his path of service, they ensured that, although he never saw that "great event" in the summer of 1918, he was never forgotten. Thus proving that a person's story continues as long as there are those willing to carry their name and tell their tale.


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Jane and James Byington, 2 Sons, and a Daughter-in-Law

The Byington family plot is located in the Holly Ridge section of Rose Hill Cemetery. Buried within are parents James Lawrence and Caroline Jane (McClendon) Byington, sons Charles W. and Edward Telfair Byington, and daughter-in-law Elia Goode Byington (wife of Edward).

James L. Byington was born 24 July 1815 and died 23 January 1869. A portion of his epitaph reads, "God created man in His own image. Beneath this lies one of His most noble works. May he rest on thy Holy throne."

Macon Daily Telegraph (Georgia)
23 January 1869

DEATH OF J. L. BYINGTON. -- The community was shocked yesterday to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of the well-known proprietor of the Byington Hotel. He walked over to the Central Depot Tuesday morning, and, upon returning, complained of being ill, and thought he was going to have a chill. He went to his room, and was soon after seized with violent fever and inflammation of the stomach. He grew rapidly worse, until, at half-past ten yesterday morning, he died.

From a constant connection with hotels in Middle and South-Western Georgia, running back many years, he was know far and well; and the thousands of people who have so often shared his hospitality, will read this notice with the deepest regret. As a landlord, he had few superiors; as a citizen, father, and husband, he was respected and beloved. We mourn his loss as one who but yesterday walked among us in the full vigor of health and manhood, as a good citizen whose heart and hand were always open to charity, and who was ever true to his friends, true to his plighted word.

"Let the bells toll, another soul
Has crossed the Stygian river!"

Another article provides James's "disease was supposed to have been congestion of the bowels."

Jane Caroline, noted on her tombstone to be the widow of James, died 5 July 1897.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
Wednesday, 7 July 1897

Laid to Rest

...The funeral of Mrs. J. L. Byington, whose death occurred on Monday morning, took place from her late residence, on Spring Street, yesterday afternoon.

There were quite a large number of friends in attendance, and the services were conducted by Rev. Dr. White, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, assisted by Rev. Wm. McKay. Mrs. Byington was born in Laurens County, Ga., August 11, 1822, and therefore lacked only a few weeks of completing her seventy-fifth year.

For many years prior to 1860 she resided in Albany, and for many years after that time at Fort Valley, at both of which places her husband, the late James L. Byington, was successfully engaged in the hotel business. Mr. Byington moved from Fort Valley to Macon in 1867, and was engaged in business in this city until his death in 1869. Mrs. Byington was a woman of many rare virtues, and her beauty of character had drawn about her a large circle of devoted friends whose hearts have been saddened by her passing away.

Charles was born 1 October 1848 and died 17 June 1875 "at his home in Fort Valley [Georgia]...after a long and protracted illness."

Image by James Allen.

It does not appear that Edward has an inscribed grave marker, but is possibly buried near his wife of fifty years.

Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Florida)
Monday, 7 March 1927 - pg. 2

Old Friends Mourn Death of Colonel E. T. Byington

By Jake Houston
Old friends of a generation that is almost forgotten are mourning the passing of Edward Telfair Byington, 73, who died at his home, 445 Second avenue south Saturday night, and who for 50 years has been identified with southern journalism.

Born in Albany Georgia, Colonel Byington, was a pioneer of the first large movement of population to Florida in the 90's. A year after the founding of Miami, 32 years ago, by Henry M. Flagler, found Col. Byington in this new resort as publisher of the News, which has since grown into the Miami Herald of today.

From that time till a few weeks before his death, Mr. Byington played an inspirational and responsible part in the rapid development of both east and west coast of Florida, through his editorial and special work for Miami publications, the Tampa Times, and Pinellas county newspapers, the St. Petersburg Times, the Tarpon Springs Leader, the Clearwater Sun, and the Evening Independent. Up until a few weeks before his death he was contributing editor on the Independent, writing anonymously, but with full command of his faculties and experience of more than 30 years of Florida progress.

His work brought him in contact with that first generation of Florida builders, Henry Flagler, of the Florida East Coast railway, whom he numbered among his friends; Henry M. Plant, of the west coast railroad development, and scores of others, who have passed on before him. He knew the story of the progress of Florida to 1925 probably better than any other man from his close association with the leaders of the movement.

His early newspaper success began with the Atlanta Journal, on which he served as city editor under John Paul Jones. He established in 1886 the Columbus Ledger, the first afternoon daily in that city, which he later sold. He served as editor of the Jacksonville Herald under the ownership of John Temple Graves and Henry Clarke, prior to his first venture in Miami, just after the completion of the railroad, when the place was no more than a small scattered grove center and hardly visioned health and winter resort.

Mr. Byington was the son of Caroline Jane McLendon, and James Lawrence Byington, old Georgia families. For many years he has been a member of the Christian Science church. Many of his friends knew his [sic] always as Colonel Byington -- the title echoing the days when his trenchant editorials on Georgia politics won his statewide recognition and a place on the staff of a Georgia governor of the 80's.

With Mrs. Byington, who was his active partner in many newspaper activities, and who survives him, Mr. Byington saw their 50th wedding anniversary pass on Jan. 17. They were married in Perry, Georgia. Two nieces, the Misses Lucy and Willie Collier of Tampa, also survive. Rhodes Funeral Co., is in charge of arrangements.

Interment will be in the family plot in beautiful Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Ga., Tuesday. Mrs. Byington, and Miss Lucy and Willie Collier will leave this morning to attend the last services in Macon.

Elia, wife of Edward, was a daughter of Charles T. and Cornelia (Warren) Goode, both of whom rest in Evergreen Cemetery at Perry, Houston County, Georgia.

Image by James Allen.

Canadian Patrick W. McLaughlin Buried Away from Family in Macon, Georgia

Patrick William McLaughlin died at US Army (training) Camp Wheeler near Macon, Bibb County, Georgia less than a week before Christmas in 1917. He was a private in Company G, 124th Infantry, and cause of death was tuberculosis.

Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)
Friday, 21 December 1917

THREE MORE DEATHS AT CAMP WHEELER

Macon, Ga., Dec. 20. -- Patrick McLaughlin, of Company G, 124th Infantry, who died in the base hospital Tuesday night, is said to have seen service in the trenches in France in the present war. He was a Canadian. The body is still being held and efforts are being made to locate relatives...

That last line made me worry his family wasn't located in time, but then I found the following:

Atlanta Consitution (Georgia)
Sunday, 23 December 1917 - pg. 9

COMES FROM CANADA IN RACE WITH DEATH

Facing Zero Temperatures, Miss McLaughlin Arrives for Soldier Brother's Funeral.

Macon, Ga., December 22. -- (Special.) Miss Charlotte McLaughlin traveled all the way from Saskatoon, saskatchewan, in the Canadian northwest in response to a message that her brother, Patrick William McLaughlin, 24 years of age, was at the point of death at the base hospital at Camp Wheeler. She left Saskatoon on Monday morning while the temperature registered 45 degrees below zero and a heavy blanket of snow covered the ground, arriving here today.

Coming through the state of North Dakota on Wednesday Miss McLaughlin received a telegram that her brother was dead. She continued on to take charge of the burial, for Miss McLaughlin's parents are dead and the only other living member of the family is another brother, Bertrand Alexander McLaughlin, 21 years of age, who is a member of a Canadian artillery regiment mobilized at Kingston, Ontario.

Miss McLaughlin decided after her arrival to have her brother buried in Rose Hill cemetery in this city. Captain A. Wright Ellis, of Company G of the 124th Infantry, of which company her brother was a member, arranged for the service. All of the officers, including Captain Ellis and Lieutenants Giles, Simmons and Byrne, turned out yesterday morning for the funeral. The service was conducted by Captain L. A. Spencer, chaplain of the regiment. The funeral and burial were with full military honors and there was a large attendance at the service. There was an escort and a firing squad, the latter firing the usual salute at the grave.

This is the first soldier to be buried in Macon since the troops moved to Camp Wheeler and the base hospital was established there.

Miss McLaughlin left the city for her return trip tonight. She said that she had hoped, when she started out, to spend Christmas with her brother at Camp Wheeler.

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Jacob Russell Helped Start the First Lager Beer Brewery in Georgia

Though his tombstone provides the birth year of 1824, it's more likely Jacob Russell was born between 1813 and 1817 in Bavaria. He came to the United States and settled in Bibb County, Georgia in the late 1830s and married Catherine Follendore there about 1842.

The local newspapers began remembering the full life of Mr. Russell before his death, which came on 14 July 1887 in Macon, GA.

Atlanta Constitution (Georgia)
Thursday, 14 July 1887 - pg. 3

AN OLD CITIZEN

Lying at the Point of Death -- A Life of Vicissitudes.
MACON, Ga., July 13. -- [Special.] -- It is the opinion of competent physicians that it is now no longer a question of days, but of hours, when Jacob Russell shall have drawn his last breath. He has eaten nothing for several weeks except prepared milk in small quantities, and his son remains up with him every night awaiting the inevitable end.

Jacob Russell has a remarkable history. At the age of twenty-eight he left his native land, Bavaria, and came to this country...

His wife, who still lives, at the age of sixty-three, left Baden at the age of eight years, and grew to womanhood in America. In 1843 Jacob married her and set out to make a living. For thirty years they did a dry goods business on the corner of Pine street and Cotton avenue, where Charlie Russell now has a grocery store. The young Germans did well...

In [1860?] Russell and Peter Slenten started the first lagar beer brewery in Georgia. Russell put a lot of money into it, and the old buildings and cellars still remain, out on Vineville branch, in a dilapidated condition.

The firm secured a foreman from the west, who ruined their beer, and the concern bursted, leaving Russell with nothing but that property on Cotton avenue.

For a long time he was with L. W. Rasdal, and when the Aurora beer first appeared here Russell took the agency.

Finally he removed, in 1880, back to the Cotton avenue place and opened a grocery story [sic] where he has made money.

He has eight daughters and two sons, ten in all, seven of whom are married. He has twenty-four grandchildren, and two great grandchildren, all living and doing well.

The old man is passing away from the combined effects of rheumatism and old age, and his family think he will hardly survive the night. His long life has been one of honest and manly labor, and he has many friends in this city, where he has lived so long.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
Friday, 15 July 1887 - pg. 5

Death of Jacob Russell, Esq.
Mr. Jacob Russell died at his home on Cotton avenue at 11 o'clock last night after an illness of about a month.

He was nearly 74 years old, and came to Macon about 1834. He aided in building the old Monroe railroad, now the Atlanta division of the Central. He built the first brewery in Georgia, if not in the South, and was a member of the firm Russell & Peters, brewers, during the war and for some time afterward.

He made a good citizen, and was at one time one of the aldermen of the city, and held other places of honor and trust. He was a member of Germania Lodge of Odd Fellows, and was also an old member of the Macon Volunteers.

The funeral will take place this afternoon.

Atlanta Constitution (Georgia)
Saturday, 16 July 1887 - pg. 3

JACOB RUSSELL'S DEATH.

Some Additional Points About the Old Citizen.
MACON, Ga., July 15. -- [Special.] -- Last night Jacob Russell breathed his last, after a long and lingering illness. Mr. Russell was seventy-four years old. He came to Macon in 1837, and began life in good earnest. He was an officer on the old steamboat Goddard in the old steamboat days. When the State road was begun Mr. Russell took the first section on it, and he it was who built and named "Big Shanty," a few miles out of Atlanta. His wife was a Follindore. When she came to Macon she was brought on the river boat from Darien. The family has lived here ever since, and Mr. Russell could tell as many stories of the early history of the city as anybody.

On June 21st, last, he had a wine dinner, and invited some of his old friends to enjoy the semi-centennial celebration of his arrival in America. He was a member of Germania Lodge of Odd Fellows, and they will be present in a body at his funeral.

Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
16 July 1887

Funeral of Mr. Russell.
The funeral of Mr. Jacob Russell took place yesterday afternoon from his late residence on Cotton avenue, and was largely attended. The services were conducted by Rev. Wm. McKay, and were very impressive. The remains were intered [sic] in Rose Hill cemetery, and the following gentlemen acted as pallbearers: Messrs. J. Madison Jones, Geo. B. Wells, H. P. Westcott, E. Sprinz, G. C. Conner and Valentine Kahn.

As stated yesterday, Mr. Russell was one of the oldest citizens of Macon, having come here in 1838. He built a section of the Monroe railroad, the second railroad built in Georgia. He followed the road to Atlanta, and then was engaged on the State road. He gave one of the stations the name of Big Shanty, which name it retains to this day. In 1860 he built with Mr. Julius Peter, the first brewery in the South the business of which was lost in the reverses that followed the close of the war. By dint of hard work and and [sic] close attention, built up a business on Cotton avenue which falls to his son, Mr. C. H. Russell...

Remarkably, the site of Georgia's first brewery was uncovered in 2017.

The Telegraph (Macon, Georgia)

Georgia’s oldest brewery unveiled with widening of I-75 in Macon
BY LAURA CORLEY
OCTOBER 27, 2017 11:44 PM

There on a steep embankment between a blighted cemetery and Interstate 75, a deep, dark hole leads to a cave that is the site of what was likely Georgia’s first brewery.

The nearly 200-year-old beer cave is no secret to longtime residents in Macon’s Pleasant Hill neighborhood.

However, it was an unexpected discovery for Georgia Department of Transportation contract workers, which first saw it in September as they were cutting back trees to widen the interstate...

...Back in the late 1830s, the 50 feet deep cave was used to age ale and German lagers crafted by Russell & Peters’ Brewery.

Immigrants Jacob Russell, of Bavaria, and Julius Peters, of Germany, started brewing beer, distilling liquor and fermenting wine before the Civil War and continued during it, according to a 1938 Telegraph article...

...The cavern is beside Riverside Branch, which leads to the Ocmulgee River. [Chris Tsavatewa, professor at Middle Georgia State University] said kegs were shipped down to Darien.

'The significance of this cave not only resides in the industrial history of Macon, but the significance of the time period of which the brewery operated...Jacob Russell was a slave owner and the cave itself reveals thousands of pick marks on the inside that created the cave’s expansion...it was most likely done with slave labor.'

The cave, for the most part, is undisturbed...[Full article here.]

Jacob and Catherine had at least eleven children:

• Louisa Ella Russell, 1844-1915 (m. Julius Herman Otto in 1862)
• Julia Russell Hertel, b. abt 1845
• Mary A. Russell, b. abt 1847
• Lavinia Russell, 1849-1924 (m. Louis Vannucci)
• Aurelia Russell, d. 1929 (m. Louis Nelson)
• Emma C. Russell, b. abt 1853 (m. H. M. Taylor in 1875)
• Charles H. Russell, b. abt 1855
• Jacob Russell, b. abt 1856
• Robert Russell, b. abt 1857
• Kate Russell, b. abt 1860
• Annie Russell, b. ant 1866 

Louise and Lavinia also rest in Rose Hill Cemetery.

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John O'Keeffe Killed in Front of Washington Hall Hotel in 1852

Ireland native John O'Keeffe, born about 1808, had been a resident of Macon, Bibb County, Georgia "for many years" when he was killed on 11 December 1852. His wife Ellen placed a gravestone for him in the Oak Ridge Section of Rose Hill Cemetery.

In Memory of
JOHN O'KEEFFE
A native of Westmeath, Ireland.
For many years a resident of Macon.
His acquirements as a scholar and
deportment as a citizen obtained for
him to his last moment the respect and
consideration of all who knew him...
Requiescant in Pace.

Death notice from Wednesday, 15 December 1852 Georgia Journal and Messenger (Macon, GA):

Death of John O'Keefe.

On Saturday night, about twelve o'clock, John O'Keefe was killed in front of the Washington Hall, by John T. Boyd, a journeyman saddler in the employ of Wm. T. Mix & Co., of this city. Mr. O'Keefe was a native of Ireland; but had resided in this place for many years, quietly and unobtrusively pursuing his occupation as a school teacher.

On Monday morning Boyd was committed to await his trial for murder, at the next term of the Superior Court of this County.

"Mulberry Street at Second Street Macon, Georgia"
© 2011 Ken Lund (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
Washington Hall was located at the NW corner of
Second and Mulberry streets.

The killing seemed to result from a strange encounter between O'Keeffe and Boyd after a night out at the bar. Testimony published in the 17 May 1853 Georgia Telegraph (Macon, GA):

Bibb Superior Court.

The State vs. John T. Boyd } Murder.

EVIDENCE.

JOHN SPRINGER SWORN -- I do not recollect the day of the month, when the circumstances took place. But it was on the night of the day of the election of the Mayor and Aldermen, the election was in December, 1852; the circumstances took place in the county of Bibb, in Georgia, near the Washington Hall.

I was in company with John O'Keeffe, coming diagonally across from Macarthy's Bar Room towards the Washington Hall, O'Keeffe had my left arm. Just as we were striking the sidewalk, we discovered a gentleman, who since proved to be Mr. Boyd, on the inside of the sidewalk, walking in the same direction that we were going. Mr. O'Keeffe hailed twice or thrice, saying, Who is that? or something to that purport. No answer being made, O'Keeffe let go my arm and advanced into the inside of the walk, where Boyd was; a scuffle or fray immediately ensued, they fell, Mr. O'Keeffe falling on top. I ran up, caught hold of O'Keeffe, exclaiming John, quit, attempted to pull them up; and in the attempt fell myself, and they fell again also. I recovered from the fall, caught hold of O'Keeffe again, and raised him up, he was not difficult to raise. He seemed to be in a staggering condition, and said that he was a dead man, that, that man had killed him.

I eased him down as gently as I could, on the pavement, and said to Mr. Boyd, you have killed O'Keeffe, and must not leave. Whereupon, Boyd said, good God! is he dead! I went then to the Washington Hall with Mr. Boyd, gave the alarm, and gave notice of what had occurred. I know nothing more of the case at this time, unless it was the fact, that when we reached the Washington Hall, Mr. Boyd showed two knives, and designated the one which he had killed O'Keeffe.

I do not think O'Keeffe had a knife. When O'Keeffe haild Boyd, it was in a usual tone of voice. Can not identify the prisoner at the bar with Boyd. Mr. O'Keefe died immediately, I think from the effect of the wounds.

SPRINGER CROSS-EXAMINED -- John O'Keeffe and myself were coming from Macarthy's Bar Room; said Bar Room is this side of the Lanier House, on the right side of the street as you go up. We were crossing so as to strike this side of the Washington Hall, Boyd was going up towards the Washington Hall from Strohecker's corner, on the inside of the sidewalk.

Boyd was near the Barber Shop when we first noticed him, about half way, he did not stop when O'Keeffe hailed him.

When O'Keeffe started towards Boyd we were about square with Boyd. Boyd kept walking on. I said to O'Keeffe, let him alone John, he has as much right to the sidewalk as we have. O'Keeffe did not stop till he reached Boyd. I do not suppose it was more than a second, after they caught hold of each other, before they fell. I did not fall on O'Keeffe and Boyd, but fell over them on the pavement.

After raising O'Keeffe, he made no attempt to run at Boyd again. O'Keeffe said nothing about being hurt, until he was raised completely up, and said he was a dead man, nor do I think he made any further complaints.

I saw no cutting or knives when they were engaged together. I cannot swear that O'Keeffe did not have a knife, nor did I see any knife until afterwards at the Washington Hall. It was in the inside of the Washington Hall, that Boyd designated the knife with which he had killed O'Keeffe.

The night was dark, and there was no moon that I know of. From the confusion that I was in, after falling and getting up, many things might have happened without my knowing it. After getting into the Washington Hall, some conversation occurred between Mr. Dense, Mr. Boyd and myself, in relation to the occurrence. I do not recollect what I said, but suppose what I said was true, as the facts were then fresh in my mind.

If I made any statement to Mr. Dense in regard to O'Keeffe's jumping on Boyd, it was under excitement, and not as the thing occurred.

There was an unusual interest taken in the City Election, I suppose.

There was no light on the sidewalk when the difficulty occurred.

WILLIAM T. MIX SWORN -- I saw Mr. Boyd on the night when the killing took place, at about a quarter of six o'clock, it was on the 11th December, the day when the City Elections took place.

THOMAS WILLIAMS SWORN -- I was present at the examination before the Mafistrates, on the Monday after the difficulty took place. I identify the prisoner at the bar as the John T. Boyd who was up before the Magistrates that day.

DR. A. PYE SWORN -- I examined Mr. O'Keeffe when I was called to see him, found one mortal wound on his left breast, which seemed to have caused his death, there were other cuts, but none that I deemed serious. It was Sunday morning, after breakfast, when I called to see him, 'twas after the Coroner's inquest. I do not recollect more than four distinct wounds -- the wounds seemed to have been made with a knife. The mortal wound was right above the fourth rib...the wound ranged up, seeming to have entered between the 4th and 5th rib, and ranged upwards.

PYE CROSS EXAMINED -- I think that if they were lying down, the wound might have ranged upwards, if they were standing front to front, the knife would probably have entered straighter, everything depends on the way the knife was held. There were two wounds in the back, both ranging upwards, both of which might have been made either while they were standing up or lying down.

I did not examine the wound under the left arm, and am unable to say whether it ranged up or down.

The same paper also published the following on the same day:

Bibb Superior Court.

The Spring Term of this Court commenced a week ago yesterday, his honor Judge Powers, presiding. We give, in another column, the testimony in the case of John T. Boyd, charged with the murder of John O'Keefe...After a consultation of several hours, the Jury returned a verdict of "Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter."

I don't know what punishment (if any) came to Mr. Boyd.

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