LIMESTONE COUNTY, ALABAMA
CONFEDERATE GRAVE
REGISTRATION PROJECT
conducted by
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Captain Thomas H. Hobbs Camp #768
Athens, Alabama
The charge of General Stephen D. Lee to the members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1906 in part states;
“To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will submit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier’s good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.”
With this mind the Cemetery Committee of the Captain Thomas H. Hobbs Camp was formed in March 2006. We put together a plan to research, locate, clean up and mark the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried in Limestone County. To further the project we would register the names and the grave location of these men with our Division and National Headquarters and we would provide the local archives a copy of our work when finished. If you know you have a Confederate soldier buried in Limestone County click on the link below to see if he is listed. If he is not listed please contact us at our website and put Lost Soldier in the subject line of your e-mail.
Limestone County, Alabama Confederate Soldier Grave List
Contact the Hobbs Camp with Confederate Grave Information
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PROJECT UPDATE
The Cemetery Committee of the Captain Thomas H. Hobbs Camp #768 met on July 15th at a much discussed “way to early time of the morning”. We went over the different parts of the program and discussed what our goals for this project were and started the planning of implementing Phase II of the project. Phase I was the research involved in finding as many of the soldiers listed in books, obituaries and military records. These were listed by cemetery and also in a master list alphabetically. Phase I will be an ongoing part of the program. Although we have listed over 500 soldiers we feel there are more to be located. Phase II is what we are starting now. By the time this issue of the Thomas Hobbs Journal comes out we will have already been in three cemeteries conducting training on how to complete the forms and maps. Phase II involves visiting each of the 90 plus cemeteries that we have identified as grave sites of the soldiers. We will be writing directions from our starting point, the Veterans Museum to our ending point, the cemetery. Every team leader will have a copy of the directions, maps and a list of the soldiers buried in Limestone County. When we arrive at the cemetery we will mark the soldiers graves with a Confederate flag as we find them. We will fill out the registration form for the soldier and the grave detail form, that we will use to list any repairs that may be required for that soldier’s grave. After locating all of the known graves in that cemetery we will draw out a map showing the location of each grave using reference points. Phase III will be volunteers going back to the cemeteries, utilizing the grave detail sheets and making the necessary repairs if possible. Phase IV will be marking the grave with a government provided headstone or foot marker.
The final part of the proposed program will be the adoption of a Guardian Program similar to the South Carolina Division Guardian Program where an individual signs up to look after the grave of a soldier. Typically these would be close to your residence. More details on that program will be coming. Utilizing our new Brigade Commander we hope to get this program adopted at Division level.
The Cemetery Committee is composed of the following members: Troy Andrews, Jimmy Hill, Bobby Holman, Mike Kelley, Charles Kilpatrick, Andy Jackson and Tom Strain. Eventually we hope to divide the county out into sections and have a team assigned to handle that section. It will take a separate team to handle the City Cemetery. This is a purely volunteer program. It is my opinion one of the best projects we can do that will perpetuate the memory of the Confederate Soldier. There will be a presentation to the camp each month as we move forward.
Hobbs Camp Cemetery Crew at Sylone Cemetery
Front row (left to right): Troy Andrews, Mike Kelley
Back row (left to right): Jimmy Hill, Andy Jackson, Bobby Holman & Charles Kilpatrick
(Photo by David Abernathy)
