When I visited Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery in 2009 to find some of my family’s burial places, the sexton gave me Records of Interment for those buried in the plots. Along with Dock and Eliza Allen and their 27 year old son Dock, we found the plot for Victor Tulane and his family. In addition to Victor’s Record of Interment I received records for two of his little daughters who died at the ages of 2 years old and 10 months old. There were no names recorded. E ach was identified as “Tulane, Victor (child of)”.  Later I found an item of deaths in the Montgomery Advertiser for June 15, 1901 with a list of those who died on June 12, 1901. Again, the baby was listed only as “Child of Victor Tulane.” When the death came up on my genealogy program this morning, I didn’t know which one it was.

In the cemetery plot, there was a stone for Victor and Willie Tulane. Next to it is a flat stone with a large vase on one end. One word is written on three sides of the vase  “Tulane”, “Agatha” and “Alean”.  Unlike my Uncle Mershell who I memorialized  on Sunday, I heard nothing about Agatha and Alean before I went to Oakwood. I only knew about their sister who grew up, Naomi. My cousin, who is Naomi’s daughter, did not remember about them, except to suppose that their deaths were a factor in her grandmother’s fearful and overprotective rearing of her mother.

My mother wrote once that Aunt Willie Tulane had maids and never had to work while her sister, my mother’s grandmother, Jennie was a struggling widow.  Although I can’t know this, I believe Aunt Willie would have given up some of her comfort if all of her daughters could have lived to grow up and grow old.