Have Gun, Will Travel

As I promised (or threatened), here is an installment of pictures of graves that I clicked while combing through cemeteries. This picture was taken at Antioch Baptist Church in Union County, Georgia.

The tall marker on the right is James V. Lance and the one on the left is James’ wife. James is/was the son of Samuel Riley Lance. Sam married Rebecca Hunter, daughter of my progenitor John Hunter.

How Samuel Riley Lance made Union County his home is an interesting story – here goes:


A friend of his (Samuel R. Lance), whose name has long since been forgotten, was to have a duel with a fellow from Union County, and as fate would have it he became sick, not being able to fill the appointed date. Dueling custom has it that if you are sick you have the right to name a replacement, so Samuel Lance, being noted as a fighting man, was chosen to fight in his stead. He came to Union County by request, to uphold the honor of a friend, fought the duel and won, leaving his adversary, against whom he had no malice, lying motionless up the ground.
He came to Union County in the Spring of 1839. He returned to Buncombe County and told his brothers and moved his family one year later.
- From BLOOD MOUNTAIN COVENANT, A SON'S REVENGE pp7-8, by Charles E. Hill
August of 1870 - Sam Riley Lance; his sons James Debarris, Andrew, and John; and his son-in-law John Frady did call on Joseph Henson, and as the indictment in court did say, "Fight, whoop, holler, and curse, and attempt to go into the house of said in a violent and tumultuous manner" because of what he said about one of the members of the family.
-From BLOOD MOUNTAIN COVENANT, A SON'S REVENGE, p168, by Charles E. Hill.

Samuel Riley Lance had a some notable descendants such as the poet Byron Hubert Reece and politician/statesman Bert Lance.