On Saturday, March 12, 2005 there will be a Confederate Grave Marker dedication ceremony for my ancestor Rev. George W. Kierce at Fairmount Baptist Church Cemetery in Red Level, Alabama. This event will be held at 3:00 p.m. following the Magilbry Findley reinterment ceremony being held at 2:00 p.m. and is a separate event. There will be several SCV camps and UDC Chapters in attendance as well as family members and community supporters. All members of the community are invited to participate. Rev. George W. Kierce was a pioneer citizen of Covington County, Alabama and was instrumental in the formation of the early baptist churches in Covington County. Rev. George W. Kierce was born in Emanuel County, Georgia August 30, 1836 to Rev. Wilson J. Kierce and Bedy Jane Curl. In 1842 the family moved to Baker County, Georgia. Then on December 25, 1855 the family moved to Elba in Coffee County, Alabama. In 1858 George Kierce was a delegate at the Judson Baptist Association. Sometime after 1860 the family arrived in Covington County, Alabama. His mother died during the civil war and his father then married Miss Mary Cockcroft. Rev. George W. Kierce married Mary E. Savell of Andalusia on November 10, 1860 while serving as Circuit Clerk. Their daughter Mary was born in 1861 and a son named Daniel was born in 1865. Rev. George W. Kierce enlisted March 31, 1862 in Captain Brady's Company of Alabama Volunteers, 42nd Alabama Infantry, Company E, Baker's Brigade, Liddell's Division. Mustered in on April 5, 1862 in Greenville, Alabama at age 28. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and was eventually Captain of his own company called Kierce's Company. He was captured and taken prisoner at the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 but was granted a leave of absence on October 29, 1863 due to health reasons. On August 27, 1864 he was elected Captain of the Covington County Reserves, Company A, and was promoted to Major and then Colonel of the entire Covington County Militia and served until the end of the war in 1865. His brother Daniel Kierce also served with the 42nd Alabama Infantry Co. E and was also captured and taken prisoner in Vicksburg. His brother Henry Kierce served with the 63rd Alabama Infantry Co. C and was captured and taken prisoner on April 9, 1865 at Fort Blakely, Alabama and sen! t to Ship Island in Mississippi. Rev. George Kierce was a Baptist Preacher and Missionary throughout Alabama and Florida. His first preaching was in a school house where the town of Opp now stands. He also held a meeting at Piney Grove Baptist Church. His first pastorate was at Chapel Hill Baptist Church. That church called for his ordination. He also served as pastor for Florala Baptist Church (known then as Shady Grove Baptist Church) where his father also served as pastor. He was pastor at Clear Creek Baptist Church in 1865 when the name was changed to New Hope Baptist Church. He served with Rev. Wiley F. Martin and Rev. Pierce D. Bulger who were also prominent Baptist ministers in Covington County. George Kierce was related to these two men through marriage and were good friends who also served together in the Civil War. Rev. Martin's wife Nancy Cravey had a brother named William Jacob Cravey who was married to George's sister Sarah. Rev. Bulger's wife Sarah Cockroft was the sister of his step-mother, Mary Cockcroft Kierce. Rev. Kierce left New Hope in June 1866 and went with Rev. Edward P. Rogers on preaching tours into the Florida panhandle. He became the Bethlehem Assocation Misionary in Southwest Alabama and continued to go into northwest Florida. In 1867 he moved his family to Milton in Santa Rosa County, Florida and was pastor of Milton Baptist Church from 1867-1874. In 1874 he returned to Red Level, Alabama and built two churches for Fairmount Baptist Church in Red Level and served as their pastor for several years. George Kierce was postmaster for Red Level, Alabama from December 5, 1873 until May 26, 1876. In 1880 his wife became ill so he moved to Natural Bridge, Florida near the Alabama State line where his father lived in Winton County, Florida. His father Rev. Wilson J. Kierce died in May, 1886. George Kierce's wife Mary died on November 8, 1887. On August 2, 1888 Rev. Kierce married Miss Theodosia Terry. On May 5, 1889 his daughter Mary J. Watson died leaving behind a husband and 5 young daughters. Several years later in 1892 her husband James M. Watson died leaving the girls orphans. After the death of his daughter and son-in-law George returned to Red Level to care for his grandchildren. In 1893 George W. Kierce placed the girls in the Alabama Baptist Orphange in Evergreen, Alabama. George Kierce wrote a book about his life entitled "The Strange History of a Backwoods Country Boy" which was published in 1918. George Kierce died May 24, 1918 in Red Level, Alabama and is buried in Fairmount Baptist Church Cemetery. Note: Rev. Henry Kierce was my gg-grandfather. George W. Kierce was his brother. Rev. Henry Kierce is buried in Jordan Cemetery in Gonzales, Florida near Pensacola. Rev. Henry Kierce was also a Baptist minister and was pastor of several churches in Pensacola, Florida. His brother Daniel Kierce is buried in Pelham Cemetery in Mitchell County, Georgia. Their father Rev. Wilson J. Kierce is buried somewhere in Greenwood Cemetery near Florala, Alabama where the old Florala Baptist Church used to be on the Florida/Alabama State Line. I am also placing Confederate grave markers for Rev. Henry Kierce, Rev. Wilson Kierce and Greenberry Hinote. Greenberry Hinote was the father of Honor Hinote, wife of Henry Kierce. He served in the 15th Alabama Cavalry (formerly 3rd Florida Battalion) in the Civil War and is buried in Fort Crawford Cemetery in Brewton, Alabama. My great-grandparents were Moses Kierce and Florida Mims of Pensacola, Florida. Florida Mims was the daughter of Thomas Mims and Florida Dixon. Florida Dixon was the daughter of Francis F. Dixon and Martha Ann Cobb. Francis F. Dixon also served in the Civil War with Greenberry Hinote in the 15th Alabama Cavalry but his burial place is unknown at this time. I believe that he may be buried in Dixonville Cemetery near Brewton, Alabama where the rest of the family is buried. His wife Martha Ann Cobb was the daughter of Athal Seaborn Cobb, whose father Ezekial Cobb fought in the American Revolution. Francis Dixon was the son of John Dixon and Martha Peavy of Escambia County, Alabama. Vanessa Burzynski http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~burzynsk/Vanessa.htm