My great-great grandfather, Elijah Chilton Lunceford, lies at rest in the Marshall, VA cemetery. Along with my great great grandmother, my great grandparents and a great uncle or two. As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), I'm registered as the official caretaker of Elijah's grave site as he was my membership ancestor. Two years ago I began a restoration of his Veterans Administration grave stone as well as repainting his SCV Honor Cross.
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| Before restoration |
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| After restoration |
But there was another Lunceford marker close by that I often wondered about since it also had an E.C. Lunceford inscription. The lettering was hard to read, so back in June I decided to began chemical treatments. Here are some before/after shots of the three faces.
But who are these people?
WH is William H. Lunceford, son of John Henry Lunceford (1846 - 1934); direct line from Baldwin Lunsford and Anna Ball. EC is Elizabeth C. (nee Jeffries) Lunceford, his wife. The marker shows her DOD as 1931 but various on line sources indicate 1930. I could not find an official VA death certificate for her. WH's DOD is not inscribed but on line sources show it as December 5, 1940. No death certificate for him either.
WJ is William J. Lunceford, their son. I need to do some more research to see if they had other children. WJ had an official VA death certificate. His cause of death was ileocolitis with epilepsy as a contributing factor. They were living in The Plains at that time and his father was the informant. His occupation was "living at home/no occupation". At only 22 years old, I wonder if the epilepsy was enough of a disability to keep him at home and not working. A 22 year old at that time most likely would have been out on his own.
I plan to keep an eye on this marker as I make my periodic visits to my direct line ancestors. It is the least we can do for our Lunceford/Lunsford cousins.
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