"The People's Voice" Swainsboro, Georgia March 26, 1970 March 17, 1970 Editor Swainsboro Newspaper Swainsboro, Ga. Sir: I thought you and your readers would be interested in the enclosed clipping. Dixie is a Sunday Magazine published by the Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La. I think the article a very beautiful one as it tells us of a great love of a family, who spent long days and hours of toil and time to carry out the wishes of a loved one. Sara W. Lindsey (Dau. of late Lee W. Wheeler, M.D.) 719 Dumaine St. New Orleans, La. PS. Please pass on to any member of family that may be living in Emanuel County. DEEP IN DIXIE A Strange Obsession Johnny Crump had from his earliest youth harbored a strange horror of being buried in the ground when he died. What event could have caused this strange obsession, no one in the Crump family knew; they simply accepted its existence and made every effort to avoid the subject of death and burials when Johnny was present. Johnny was the youngest of the eight children of Dr. John Crump, a prominent and prosperous physician and landowner of Emanuel County, Ga., in the years before the Civil War. The family home was set far back on the plantation, and near the house was a large oak tree whose long limbs and heavy foliage provided shade for many hours of play for young Johnny. A large cavity in the trunk bore mute testimony of a probable direct hit by lightning one day in the past. Farther from the house, down the lane leading to the cotton fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, was the Crump family's burial plot. Johnny was 16 years old in 1862. The war had been raging for over a year, and all four of his brothers, as well as his three sisters' husbands, had answered the call to the colors. As accounts of the furious battles being fought in Virginia and the states to the west were received in Emanuel County, it was no longer possible to shield Johnny from talk of death. Shortly after the celebration of his 16th birthday, Johnny ran away from home to join his kin in the gray-clad ranks. No account remains of his military record; but after two years of service he was brought home, suffering from typhoid fever. All the medical attention a loving father could provide was bestowed upon the young soldier, but the fever was too far advanced. He had not been home long when the end came. As he breathed his last breath, uppermost in the minds of all members of the family present was his horror of being buried in the ground: Some way had to be found to keep the young soldier's phobia from becoming a reality. Thoughts of the family finally centered on a huge rock that lay in a far corner of the plantation. If this rock could be dragged to the family plot, and a place for Johnny's body chiseled in its heart, the problem could be solved. Plantation laborers brought the giant boulder across the fields and began to convert it into a tomb. During this period, Johnny's body was placed in a rough wooden box. The box was then placed in an upright position in the cavity in the big oak tree near the house. It was securely lashed there, and remained in place until the tomb was prepared. When Johnny's body was finally lowered into its final resting place, 16 men were required to set in place the granite cover, which had been ordered from a local tombstone maker to give the tomb a finished appearance. Johnny Crump's family had respected his wishes to the end. A century later, the tomb still rests among the tangled briars that grow over the old Crump family burial ground; and the huge oak tree that once sheltered Johnny's remains is still identifiable, though rot and decay are taking their toll. Submitted by E.T. Reynolds Ponchatoula, La. (Olivia Williamson Braddy - June 13, 2008)