Today's post required gearing up with mask and hand-sanitizer to come into the office. I looked at obituaries, pulled books about churches and cemeteries, consulted several vertical files and went into some online databases in order to demonstrate the interplay between various types of sources to expound on references found in documentary evidence. In this particular instance as an illustration, I used a diary entry for May 30, 1943 kept by a local businessman, Frederick Holmes Christensen (1877-1944). Christensen [FHC] often wrote about political, social, and economic life in Beaufort during the period 1893 - 1944. Here's his commentary about what he did and what had happened in town 77 years ago:
Sunday, May 30 [1943]
Decoration day will be celebrated this year tomorrow the 31st. Never the less Helen, Frederik and I went over to the church yard with flowers today and decorated father and Mother's lots. In the afternoon I went to the wharf and witnessed the colored exercises for those lost at sea.
"Decoration day" was what we now call Memorial Day. "Decoration Day" began in the late 1860s and used to be a fixed observance in many Northern communities to remember the Union Civil War dead. May 30th was chosen because there had been no major Civil War engagement on that particular date. Memorial Day became a Federal holiday in 1971 when the government set the annual commemoration on the last Monday in May. You can read more about the history of Decoration Day in Beaufort in another Connections post.
His parents were Niels and Abbie Holmes Christensen whose graves are located in the family plot located at Lot A-22 of the Baptist Church of Beaufort cemetery. Niels, an immigrant to the United States, had served in the Union Army and stayed in the area to found with Abbie, a prominent local family who are quite involved in community affairs even now. FHC's body was interred into the family plot when he died in 1944.
FHC wrote about two funerals held in the town the previous week at which he served as a pall bearer:
Tuesday I acted as pall bearer at the funeral of Mrs. Chas. Guffin once Miss Crocker. She has lived in Charleston for years.Obviously he did not know Mrs. Guffin well as it turns out that some of his details were incorrect. Sources in the Research Room show that she was not the wife of Dr. Charles Guffin but the mother of Dr. Charles's nephew, also a Charles. She was the widow of his Dr. Charles's brother, George Elliott Guffin. George's published obituary in the Beaufort Gazette gave not only his parents' names but also his widow's full maiden name, her parents' names and her brother's name. Together George and Hattie had four children: Charles M., George E., Jr., Hazel and Louise. However, we do not have a Beaufort Gazette obituary on file for Mrs. George Guffin. I found her death certificate through the Library's subscription to Ancestry Library Edition. Though the typescript is rather faint, her long residence is confirmed as "36 yrs." as are the names of her husband and parents, and place of burial. Their son, Charles, provided the key information regarding her age, birth, etc. while Dr. Buist filled out the causes of her death. She was buried in the Baptist Church of Beaufort cemetery with her husband in Lot N-14 A & B.
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| From Ancestry Library Edition |
It is somewhat odd that his widow, Hortense Darling Beaumont, nor their other five children who were alive at the time of his death, are not mentioned in the Beaufort Gazette article. Perhaps the editor only mentioned the sons who were known in the local community.Major Elliott Disappeared On His Boat Monday On Fishing Trip Bogged Down in Marsh Trying Reach His Boat Was Drowned
From the BDC Obituary Files
The body of Major Charles Pinckney Elliot, retired, 84 years old, was found Saturday afternoon in the marsh near Seabrook. Death was apparently caused by drowning.
Major Elliott, who lived alone went out on a fishing trip Monday and was not missed until Thursday. After that a widespread search was made on Broad river. His boat was located about noon Saturday. Shortly afterwards his dog returned to the house. The body was found near where the boat was recovered.
It seems that he docked his boat and went out on the bank and in an attempt to get back in his boat he bogged down in the marsh and remained until the tide probably swept in over him.
Major Elliott was born March 15, 185? [text is difficult to read, a common problem with microfilm of old newspapers], son of General Stephen Elliott who fought at Fort Sumter in the War Between the States. Major Elliott graduated from West Point about sixty years ago. He served in World War No. 1 and volunteered to active duty in the present war, but was rejected because of his age.
Funeral services were held at 5 pm Monday at St. Helena's Episcopal Church and interment was in the churchyard. He was a double first cousin of the late William Elliott of Columbia, other double first cousins Mrs. J. Sumter Moore and Mrs. W. B. Smith Whaley of Columbia, three sons, Charles P., Jr., Stephen and Nathaniel R. Elliott. Major Elliott has many friends in Beaufort who regret to learn of his death. He was a familiar figure on the streets meeting his old friends.
The United States Military Academy published a rollicking memorial to their Class of 1882 member in July 1944 that we house in the "Elliott Family" vertical file. It seems that CPE had quite a colorful and exciting life. He fought the Apaches out West and was held captive by some Mexican soldiers. Only the timely arrival of the US 4th Cavalry averted his execution. Within a few years of that, he wooed and won the hand his commander's daughter in marriage at Fort Bowie, Arizona. He had eight posts in the first eight years of his marriage. He was assigned to Vancouver Barracks in 1893 where spent time surveying the Bitter Root Mountains and Mount St. Helens for the War Department. He fought in the Philippines during the Spanish American War and then surveyed the status of the salmon industry in Alaska in an attempt to improve his health. He retired from the Army for the first time in July 1898 on account of a disability caused by his military service. He returned to the Army during the Great War as one of the assistants of the Utilities Officer in charge of sanitation on the docks of Hoboken, New Jersey. Apparently he was a stickler for the rules and had absolutely forbidden smoking on the docks - which promptly burned down the week after he was relieved of his duties. There were also run-ins with the Coast Guard over possible bootlegging, attacks by diamondback rattlesnakes, and other times where he got stranded for days while out hunting or fishing.
As the memorial notes, CPE volunteered again in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941 but his offer was graciously rejected. The Beaufort Gazette published an extract from his rejection letter on January 1, 1942 in which Major General Emory S. Adams, adjutant general of the Army, wrote glowingly of CPE's past service to the nation: "Although I do not believe it will be necessary to place you on active duty during this crisis [remember that CPE was a youthful 82 years old at the time], I wish to assure you personally that your patriotic offer to serve your country again is deeply appreciated."
The number of his survivors is considerably longer in his West Point memorial. Mentioned by name are his widow; their four sons: Stephen, Charles P., Jr., Nathaniel and John; and their four daughters: Margaret; Mrs. William L. Lance; Mrs. Frederick H. Linthilicum; and Mrs. Reyburn Watres.
Odds are FHC had read the Beaufort Gazette article before he wrote a bit about being a pall bearer at the Major's funeral at St. Helena Episcopal Church:
Also MajorElliottChas. P. Elliott who could remember being taken out of Beaufort across the Whalebranch Ferry in a wagon when his family and the rest of the Whites evacuated Beaufort on the approach of the Federal fleet in the last war when he was a small boy, died the first of the week. As was his habit he had taken provisions in his boat and gone out for a couple of days fishing. As he did not return search was made for him. His body, partly covered by water was found in the marsh. Eighty-six years old his sight was poor. Perhaps he left his boat and was unable to find it. Perhaps he had a heart attack.
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| From Ancestry Library Edition |
Major Elliott, we remember your service to your country.
Sources:
Frederik Holmes Christensen Diary, vol. 12: 5 January 1930 - 30 July 1944, p. 125.
"Memorial Day" History [Channel] website, latest update 18 May 2020.
Obituaries on file in the Research Room: George Guffin, Dr. Charles Guffin, D.W. Crocker and (Major) C. P. Elliott
Burials in the Baptist Church of Beaufort Cemetery as of 24 March 2003, [p. 3].
Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original date: South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Charleston
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed
27 May 2020), memorial page for Hattie Crocker Guffin (14 Jan 1887–24 May 1943), Find a Grave Memorial no. 81872661, citing Beaufort Baptist Churchyard, Beaufort,
Beaufort County,
South Carolina,
USA
;
Maintained by Candy Weickhardt Pethe (contributor 47586286)
.
"Major Elliott Disappeared On His Boat Monday On Fishing Trip Bogged Down in Marsh Trying Reach His Boat Was Drowned," Beaufort Gazette, 27 May 1943, p. 1.
"Elliott Family" vertical file, BDC Research Room contains the West Point memorial and the Beaufort Gazette, 1 January 1942, p. 1 article.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed
27 May 2020), memorial page for Charles Pinckney Elliott (15 Mar 1860–17 May 1943), Find a Grave Memorial no. 171913551, citing Saint Helena's Episcopal Churchyard, Beaufort,
Beaufort County,
South Carolina,
USA
;
Maintained by Steven M (contributor 48604297)
.
Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Beaufort
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