Surprise find while doing some genealogy research….10th Cav. Buffalo Soldier content

[everforward]

My sister and I recently went on a trip to explore a few sites related to my Mother’s side of the family (she passed away in 1983)……back in her years as a young adolescent woman in the early 1940s, my Mom and her sister were looked after by an African-American woman named Delia, whom they loved dearly. In 1943 or ‘44 Delia suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage, and my Mom and Aunt were both terribly upset over the sudden loss.

 

Fast-forward to 2025, where my sister and I went on a quest to try and find where Delia was buried, and for all intents and purposes we think we did. Through records we had located we had the name of the cemetery where she was supposed to be but weren’t exactly sure what we’d find if anything…..through literally asking people in their front yards if they’d heard of this cemetery, we were able to find it (or what was left of it), a cemetery for African-American people of the town……..it sets on a tree-covered hillside, and basically has been lost to time.

 

As we searched and looked at markers I came across a military marker with the same last name as Delia’s, of a man named John Early (spelt ‘ERLY’ on the marker, more on that in a minute)…….it also indicated he served as a PVT in the 10th Regt. of Cavalry, and died in 1937. At first I thought I was looking at a WW1 Veteran’s marker, and I took some pics and eventually we said our goodbye to our friends that were helping us and headed back to our hotel….we didn’t see a marker for Delia, but I was certain this was the place and she was here, somewhere.

 

Once back at the hotel I began researching what I had seen and it turns out that PVT John Early was Delia’s husband, and he was a real 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldier, enlisting less than a year after the unit took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill, and was attached to Troop F……While he wasn’t part of that battle, it’s possible he took part the deployment during the Philippine Insurrection, but I’m still working on that. If anyone has info on rosters of Troop F I’d love to see them.

 

I believe Delia is resting next to her husband, although no marker is present……

 

So why was his name spelt ‘ERLY’ on his marker..? Simply because that’s the info the Army had on file, and that’s what they used, and here is a pic of the marker registration— even though the correct spelling was either Early or Earley. I never thought I’d run into the resting place of a real Buffalo Soldier while I was doing this stuff, but here you go. Thanks for looking.

 

[kiaiokalewa]

Now that's a wild twist of events and too cool to stumble across an interesting find that actually aligns with a collecting interest of yours.  Oh, how the universe does work...

[Fearless Fred]

Thanks for sharing this great story. Did you search Newspapers.com for an obituary or story about his death? Perhaps he was a known resident of a small community which recognized his death while noting his race (I have found such items).

[everforward]

8 hours ago, Fearless Fred said:

Thanks for sharing this great story. Did you search Newspapers.com for an obituary or story about his death? Perhaps he was a known resident of a small community which recognized his death while noting his race (I have found such items).

I am afraid there is very little data on him that I’ve found so far. He was in the care of the V.A. Hospital  when he passed away of kidney failure in 1937, and on his WW1 draft registration card he signed it with an ‘X’ so it’s doubtful he was able to read or write.

[Kwc27122]

This is very interesting indeed!  Seeing cemeteries like this makes for a rather melancholy experience. Quiet and peaceful yet sad because of the look of being forgotten.