Tombstone Tuesday: Samuel Tillman Hartley 1830-1920

Samuel Tillman Hartley was the brother of my second great grandmother, Sarah Ann (Hartley) Denyer.

His tombstone says he was born in 1825, however in 1900 and 1902 he testified in front of the Dawes Commission that he was born on March 14, 1830.

He died on October 19, 1920, at the age of 90, and is buried in the Confederate Section of the Texas State Cemetery, having served in Company C of the Trans-Mississippi Army.

While the tombstone (and his death certificate) only provide his initials, with no information about parents or children, his second wife, Nannie Virginia, is buried next to him.

Samuel and Margaret (RAWLS) Hartley had eight children: Robert, Sophronia, Virginia, Caroline, Georgia, Amie, Samuel and Edward. All eight are mentioned in his 1900 Dawes Commission testimony, with the five eldest giving additional testimony of their own.

(photograph by Joel H. Hutto. Used with permission. Find A Grave memorial)