Friday Finds - All Things Southern

This week I would like to begin something new entitled "Friday Finds". I am a follower of Julie Cahill Tarr's GenBlog and I really like this idea as a way to share a few interesting tidbits.

This week's focus is on All Things Southern. I have extensive North Carolina ancestry and am always curious about stories that involve this state or often just the South in general.

• Interesting article by Craig Manson on black Confederates and whether their service was voluntary.
• "The Southern Cemetery" is a fascinating look at traditions in Southern states. I can say that some of these obviously carried over to other places, including the wife-to-the-left notion, which is very common where I live. I have ancestors buried in eastern South Dakota and that cemetery has a arched gate entrance as mentioned in this article. Two of the most noted things that I haven't seen in local civic-owned cemeteries is bare ground or mounded graves. Our local cemeteries are grassy and flat. Some cemeteries only allow flat headstones that a mower can go right over while others will allow upright stones.
• I am thrilled to see the blog Asheville and Buncombe County as that is the last known place my grandfather Lee lived in North Carolina. There are many wonderful posts including this one on the Civil War noting that the western counties were not always Confederate-leaning.