Jasper County GAGenWeb
Tribute Page
As we research in Jasper County, we are constantly awed at the work done before us to pave the way for our research. This page is a tribute to those people. We welcome your own contributions.
The work that Mrs. Lancaster did on collecting Bible Records from families in Jasper County is enormous. Bible Records are those treasures that everyone hopes to find some day and by her diligent work, Jasper County researchers are indeed blessed.
Equally true is her hard labor in compiling the Cemetery Listings. As the paragraphs below explain, her work is a compilation of her husband and mother-in-law going back to the 1920s. They rescued tombstone information that would surely have been lost without their interest and transcriptions.
PREFACE FROM THE BOOK JASPER COUNTY, GEORGIA CEMETERY AND BIBLE RECORDS COMPILED AND MIMEOGRAPHED (1969) BY JEWEL MOATS LANCASTER (MRS. EDGAR M.) SHADY DALE, GEORGIA 31085
Sometime in the 1920’s Dr. Edgar Marvin Lancaster began copying the inscriptions on the tombstones in the family cemeteries near the old homes in Jasper County, Georgia. He and his mother, Mrs. Oscar Eugene Lancaster, were intensely interested in the people of Jasper County, and their files grew to quite some proportion. Persons from all over these United States corresponded with them in efforts to learn more about their ancestors in Jasper County, and many of them sent their Family Bible Records.
Since Mrs. Lancaster’s death in 1960, and D. Lancaster’s in 1965, I have undertaken to bring their records up to date by copying if not every inscription, at least all it has been humanly possible to get to. In making the many, many trips necessary to accomplish this I have been accompanied by Mrs. Oscar F. Holland, or Mrs. Grady L. Whitten, and the Citizens of the County have been most kind in telling and showing us where many of the cemeteries are and were at one time. Also Mrs. Walter G. Day, Sr., helped greatly with the indexing. To all of these I am deeply grateful.
First plans were to make stencils and mimeograph the cemetery records only,
using one side of each page; later, after much prodding, the Bible Records were
included, using both sides of each sheet of paper. Hence the rather unbalanced
appearance of the material inside these covers. Many errors in transcription
have been corrected, but there are others, no doubt. I can only hope they will
not cause you too much inconvenience and that you will be kind in your
evaluation of our efforts.
Jewel Moats Lancaster (Mrs. Edgar M.)
FROM THE MONTICELLO NEWS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1984
Mrs. Jewel Moats Lancaster, 83, died July 31 at her home in Shady Dale.
Funeral services were held Friday at 2 PM at the Providence Baptist Church in Shady Dale. Burial was in the church cemetery.
The Rev. Richard Bowen officiated. Jordan Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Pallbearers were Hugh Lewis, Hugh Tucker, Junior Champion, Ricky Tatlock, Milton Moats and Cliff Casaday.
Mrs. Lancaster was a native of Fulton County and a member of the Providence Baptist Church. Her parents were the late William Eli Moats and Maggie Hogan Moats. Her husband, Dr. E.M. Lancaster, preceded her in death a number of years ago.
Mrs. Lancaster was active in many organizations and compiled a book of Jasper County cemetery and Bible records. She served as state president of the Genealogical Society, United Daughters of the Confederacy, U.S. Daughters of 1812, state registrar of the Georgia Society Hugeriots, former Regent of Sgt. John Newton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, president of the Macon Chapter of the Colonial Dames and was a member of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include a sister, Mrs. Inez M. Homer of Los Angeles; a brother, William E. Moats, Sr of Athens, Ala, two nephew and a niece.
Information typed by Suzanne Forte.
Jasper County Volunteers
Nancy Mann
Cynthia Padgett
T. (Spears) Cheatham
Johnella Boynton
Suzanne Forte
Bill Lynch
Carla Kelley-Cardell
Compilation Copyright 2003-2004, 2005, 2006 by Suzanne Forte
This page was last updated on -01/23/2006