Archive for August, 2021

Roy Acuff

Posted in Spring Hill Cemetery with tags , , , on August 30, 2021 by Cade

September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992

“He’s the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn’t worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God.” – Hank Williams

As a young man in Tennessee, Roy Claxton Acuff wanted to be a baseball player. When that didn’t work out for him, he found solace in some country-western records his dad gave him. With his mind successfully off of baseball, he decided he wanted to be an entertainer and so he set out to become one. Continue reading →

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Gus Grissom

Posted in Arlington National Cemetery with tags , , on August 23, 2021 by Cade

grissom1April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967

Virgil Ivan Grissom grew up in Indiana building model airplanes and dreaming of becoming a pilot. When he was in high school, World War II broke out, so Virgil – whose friends called him “Gus” – seized his chance to become a pilot and joined the Army Air Forces. Gus spent the war basically behind a desk…on the ground.

Six years later, the U.S. entered the Korean War and Gus re-enlisted in the newly rebranded Air Force; and this time, he earned his pilot wings. Grissom flew 100 missions in the conflict and made quite a name for himself as an airman. After the war, he became a test pilot and, in 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration called Gus with a special offer.

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James Garfield

Posted in Lake View Cemetery (OH) with tags , on August 16, 2021 by Cade

November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881

James A. Garfield was the 20th President of the United States. A lawyer and Major General during the Civil War, Garfield served in the Ohio State Senate before being elected to a 17 year career in the U.S. House of Representatives. Serving in Congress during the post-war Reconstruction found Garfield helping to steer the course of the recovering nation as a prominent legislator.

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Rutherford B. Hayes

Posted in Spiegel Grove with tags , on August 9, 2021 by Cade

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October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893

The 19th President of the United States, Rutherford Birchard Hayes’ career was marked with both good and bad moments. As a lawyer and abolitionist, he defended a number of fugitive slaves (good). As President, he formally ended all Federal Reconstruction efforts in the south, basically letting White southerners determine for themselves what rights Black freed men could have (bad). He weeded out corruption in the postal and civil services (good). He “remedied” the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 by ordering the military to bloodily end it (bad). So on and so forth.

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Jimmy Martin

Posted in Spring Hill Cemetery with tags , , , on August 2, 2021 by Cade

August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005

One of the most iconic voices in all of bluegrass country music, Jimmy Martin was a singer and guitar player who, at the age of 22, snuck backstage at a Bill Monroe concert to audition for the legend’s vacant guitar player spot. Martin was hired on sight and used his high tenor voice to help create and perfect the “high lonesome” sound alongside Monroe’s vocals. The two singing together became one of the most recognizable sounds in bluegrass music.

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