CAPEL RAIFORD MIDDLETON,
The son of Alexander Goodby MIDDLETON and Mary TOWNSEND, he was born in McIntosh County Georgia in 1840. He was named for Reverend Capel Raiford, a noted Methodist Circuit Rider and Evangelist of that time that served the Methodist congregations in McIntosh County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private on 31 Oct 1861 in Captain O. C. Hopkins‘ Company of the 1st Battalion Georgia Cavalry for a term of one-year.
He transferred to Company K of the 5th Georgia Cavalry Regiment on 20 Jan 1863, and served throughout the war with the 5th Georgia Cavalry. He surrendered and was paroled in May 1865 at Bentonville, N. C. He was the brother of Sgt. Francis M. Middleton, Henry H. Middleton, and first cousin of Richard Benjamin of Co. K. His older brothers Alexander, and Lawson were in H Company of the 5th.
Capel Raiford married;(1st) Lucretia Nelson, the daughter of William Bryan and Nancy (Pritchert) Nelson. Married (2nd) Olive Smith daughter of Cornealus "Neal" Smith of McIntosh County Georgia on June 9, 1889. He resided in the Sand Hills Section of what is now Long County and had large herds of cattle, hogs, and sheep that ranged in the Altamaha Flatlands.
According to Olive Middleton's 1938 pension application he died on Nov 27, 1901, and is buried in the Capel Raiford Middleton family cemetery in what is now Long County Georgia.
REGARDING HIS MARKER
The large stone marker shown here was placed by the UDC many years after Capel's death. It is grossly inaccurate as far as the date of death. For quite a number of years there was a date of death of 1914 being circulated among researchers. I could not find the source of that date. At the time that I first visited this plot, all I had was the year 1914.
Even though the marker said C R Middleton, I didn't think it related to Capel because of the dates on it. The stone shows a date of death of November 23, 1891 and says age 60. This would have produced a date of birth around 1831 or 1832; clearly at odds with Raiford's DOB of 1840. But I could not determine who this CRM might be!
Roll forward another seven years and I find his second wife Olive filed a petition with the state of Georgia for a Confederate widow's pension. In her application she gives Capel's death date as November 27, 1901. Compare what the UDC marker gives as his DOD: November 23, 1891. Almost exactly ten years off!
Why am I so convinced this stone is a cenotaph? Because there is ANOTHER stone directly beside this one that appears to be a footstone, being used as a headstone, and all it has on it is CRM. This second grave has what looks to be an iron bar as it's foot marker. And if that wasn't enough to muddy the waters, at the feet of these two graves are three more graves marked with ANCIENT wooden markers that are almost gone. These three side-by-side graves were enclosed by a picket fence that has now collapsed. It is my personal opinion that two of these wooden markers denote the final resting place of Capel and his first wife Lucretia. There are only five graves in this plot. And yet it is the three wooden markers with their fenced enclosure that appear to be the intended centerpiece of the overall plot.
The son of Alexander Goodby MIDDLETON and Mary TOWNSEND, he was born in McIntosh County Georgia in 1840. He was named for Reverend Capel Raiford, a noted Methodist Circuit Rider and Evangelist of that time that served the Methodist congregations in McIntosh County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private on 31 Oct 1861 in Captain O. C. Hopkins‘ Company of the 1st Battalion Georgia Cavalry for a term of one-year.
He transferred to Company K of the 5th Georgia Cavalry Regiment on 20 Jan 1863, and served throughout the war with the 5th Georgia Cavalry. He surrendered and was paroled in May 1865 at Bentonville, N. C. He was the brother of Sgt. Francis M. Middleton, Henry H. Middleton, and first cousin of Richard Benjamin of Co. K. His older brothers Alexander, and Lawson were in H Company of the 5th.
Capel Raiford married;(1st) Lucretia Nelson, the daughter of William Bryan and Nancy (Pritchert) Nelson. Married (2nd) Olive Smith daughter of Cornealus "Neal" Smith of McIntosh County Georgia on June 9, 1889. He resided in the Sand Hills Section of what is now Long County and had large herds of cattle, hogs, and sheep that ranged in the Altamaha Flatlands.
According to Olive Middleton's 1938 pension application he died on Nov 27, 1901, and is buried in the Capel Raiford Middleton family cemetery in what is now Long County Georgia.
REGARDING HIS MARKER
The large stone marker shown here was placed by the UDC many years after Capel's death. It is grossly inaccurate as far as the date of death. For quite a number of years there was a date of death of 1914 being circulated among researchers. I could not find the source of that date. At the time that I first visited this plot, all I had was the year 1914.
Even though the marker said C R Middleton, I didn't think it related to Capel because of the dates on it. The stone shows a date of death of November 23, 1891 and says age 60. This would have produced a date of birth around 1831 or 1832; clearly at odds with Raiford's DOB of 1840. But I could not determine who this CRM might be!
Roll forward another seven years and I find his second wife Olive filed a petition with the state of Georgia for a Confederate widow's pension. In her application she gives Capel's death date as November 27, 1901. Compare what the UDC marker gives as his DOD: November 23, 1891. Almost exactly ten years off!
Why am I so convinced this stone is a cenotaph? Because there is ANOTHER stone directly beside this one that appears to be a footstone, being used as a headstone, and all it has on it is CRM. This second grave has what looks to be an iron bar as it's foot marker. And if that wasn't enough to muddy the waters, at the feet of these two graves are three more graves marked with ANCIENT wooden markers that are almost gone. These three side-by-side graves were enclosed by a picket fence that has now collapsed. It is my personal opinion that two of these wooden markers denote the final resting place of Capel and his first wife Lucretia. There are only five graves in this plot. And yet it is the three wooden markers with their fenced enclosure that appear to be the intended centerpiece of the overall plot.
CAPEL RAIFORD MIDDLETON,
The son of Alexander Goodby MIDDLETON and Mary TOWNSEND, he was born in McIntosh County Georgia in 1840. He was named for Reverend Capel Raiford, a noted Methodist Circuit Rider and Evangelist of that time that served the Methodist congregations in McIntosh County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private on 31 Oct 1861 in Captain O. C. Hopkins‘ Company of the 1st Battalion Georgia Cavalry for a term of one-year.
He transferred to Company K of the 5th Georgia Cavalry Regiment on 20 Jan 1863, and served throughout the war with the 5th Georgia Cavalry. He surrendered and was paroled in May 1865 at Bentonville, N. C. He was the brother of Sgt. Francis M. Middleton, Henry H. Middleton, and first cousin of Richard Benjamin of Co. K. His older brothers Alexander, and Lawson were in H Company of the 5th.
Capel Raiford married;(1st) Lucretia Nelson, the daughter of William Bryan and Nancy (Pritchert) Nelson. Married (2nd) Olive Smith daughter of Cornealus "Neal" Smith of McIntosh County Georgia on June 9, 1889. He resided in the Sand Hills Section of what is now Long County and had large herds of cattle, hogs, and sheep that ranged in the Altamaha Flatlands.
According to Olive Middleton's 1938 pension application he died on Nov 27, 1901, and is buried in the Capel Raiford Middleton family cemetery in what is now Long County Georgia.
REGARDING HIS MARKER
The large stone marker shown here was placed by the UDC many years after Capel's death. It is grossly inaccurate as far as the date of death. For quite a number of years there was a date of death of 1914 being circulated among researchers. I could not find the source of that date. At the time that I first visited this plot, all I had was the year 1914.
Even though the marker said C R Middleton, I didn't think it related to Capel because of the dates on it. The stone shows a date of death of November 23, 1891 and says age 60. This would have produced a date of birth around 1831 or 1832; clearly at odds with Raiford's DOB of 1840. But I could not determine who this CRM might be!
Roll forward another seven years and I find his second wife Olive filed a petition with the state of Georgia for a Confederate widow's pension. In her application she gives Capel's death date as November 27, 1901. Compare what the UDC marker gives as his DOD: November 23, 1891. Almost exactly ten years off!
Why am I so convinced this stone is a cenotaph? Because there is ANOTHER stone directly beside this one that appears to be a footstone, being used as a headstone, and all it has on it is CRM. This second grave has what looks to be an iron bar as it's foot marker. And if that wasn't enough to muddy the waters, at the feet of these two graves are three more graves marked with ANCIENT wooden markers that are almost gone. These three side-by-side graves were enclosed by a picket fence that has now collapsed. It is my personal opinion that two of these wooden markers denote the final resting place of Capel and his first wife Lucretia. There are only five graves in this plot. And yet it is the three wooden markers with their fenced enclosure that appear to be the intended centerpiece of the overall plot.
The son of Alexander Goodby MIDDLETON and Mary TOWNSEND, he was born in McIntosh County Georgia in 1840. He was named for Reverend Capel Raiford, a noted Methodist Circuit Rider and Evangelist of that time that served the Methodist congregations in McIntosh County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private on 31 Oct 1861 in Captain O. C. Hopkins‘ Company of the 1st Battalion Georgia Cavalry for a term of one-year.
He transferred to Company K of the 5th Georgia Cavalry Regiment on 20 Jan 1863, and served throughout the war with the 5th Georgia Cavalry. He surrendered and was paroled in May 1865 at Bentonville, N. C. He was the brother of Sgt. Francis M. Middleton, Henry H. Middleton, and first cousin of Richard Benjamin of Co. K. His older brothers Alexander, and Lawson were in H Company of the 5th.
Capel Raiford married;(1st) Lucretia Nelson, the daughter of William Bryan and Nancy (Pritchert) Nelson. Married (2nd) Olive Smith daughter of Cornealus "Neal" Smith of McIntosh County Georgia on June 9, 1889. He resided in the Sand Hills Section of what is now Long County and had large herds of cattle, hogs, and sheep that ranged in the Altamaha Flatlands.
According to Olive Middleton's 1938 pension application he died on Nov 27, 1901, and is buried in the Capel Raiford Middleton family cemetery in what is now Long County Georgia.
REGARDING HIS MARKER
The large stone marker shown here was placed by the UDC many years after Capel's death. It is grossly inaccurate as far as the date of death. For quite a number of years there was a date of death of 1914 being circulated among researchers. I could not find the source of that date. At the time that I first visited this plot, all I had was the year 1914.
Even though the marker said C R Middleton, I didn't think it related to Capel because of the dates on it. The stone shows a date of death of November 23, 1891 and says age 60. This would have produced a date of birth around 1831 or 1832; clearly at odds with Raiford's DOB of 1840. But I could not determine who this CRM might be!
Roll forward another seven years and I find his second wife Olive filed a petition with the state of Georgia for a Confederate widow's pension. In her application she gives Capel's death date as November 27, 1901. Compare what the UDC marker gives as his DOD: November 23, 1891. Almost exactly ten years off!
Why am I so convinced this stone is a cenotaph? Because there is ANOTHER stone directly beside this one that appears to be a footstone, being used as a headstone, and all it has on it is CRM. This second grave has what looks to be an iron bar as it's foot marker. And if that wasn't enough to muddy the waters, at the feet of these two graves are three more graves marked with ANCIENT wooden markers that are almost gone. These three side-by-side graves were enclosed by a picket fence that has now collapsed. It is my personal opinion that two of these wooden markers denote the final resting place of Capel and his first wife Lucretia. There are only five graves in this plot. And yet it is the three wooden markers with their fenced enclosure that appear to be the intended centerpiece of the overall plot.
Inscription
Rayford Middleton 5th GA Cavalry.
By the UDC
Family Members
Siblings
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Dr William Spencer Middleton
1824–1884
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Alexander Goodby Middleton Jr
1826–1886
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Mary Ann Elizabeth Middleton Murray
1831–1901
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Francis Marion Middleton
1832–1891
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PVT Stephen Middleton
1834–1863
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Pvt Charles Lawson Middleton Sr
1837–1909
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Pvt Henry Harold Middleton
1839–1901
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Marcella Veteria Middleton Purdom
1843–1914
