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For Coffee County Historical Society Vice Treasurer Frances Simmons, it was through genealogy research that she was able to discover the history of her great-grandfather, Confederate soldier Harrison William Farrell, and work to have a long-awaited headstone placed on his grave.

“My ancestors were all here in Coffee County when Coffee County was settled and that is really what got me into this Historical Society,” Simmons said.

Utilizing the society’s collection of books documenting area Civil War soldiers, Simmons was able to learn more about her father’s grandfather, who died 100 years ago on Aug. 6, 1924.

It was while conducting her research that Simmons made a discovery about where Farrell was buried in Hillsboro Memorial Cemetery.

“I got to tracing it and when I got on Ancestry, it showed in the Civil War book that there was no headstone there, no marked grave,” she said.

It was a wrong Simmons would spend the next three years working to right.

“My Daddy had always said that his wife was buried on one side and his daughter on the other,” Simmons said. “My daughter and I, after I found out he was buried at Hillsboro, we walked and walked and walked and we finally found the wife and the daughter.”

Seeing an unmarked grave in between the two, Simmons realized she must have finally found the final resting place of her great-grandfather.

After speaking with cemetery management about updating their burial records to include Farrell, Simmons set about going through the process to have a gravestone placed there.

“That got me interested in it because him being dead all those years and not even a Civil War marker, that hurt me and I thought my goodness he should have a marker,” she said.

Simmons next stop was the Veterans Administration, which directed her to fill out some paperwork to put the wheels in motions for a government military headstone. After six months with no update, Simmons sent the paperwork in again, but still nothing.

“I sent it in twice and didn’t hear and didn’t hear and didn’t hear, so finally I sent some information to Marsha Blackburn’s office and I rapidly got back some information,” Simmons said. “Her secretary said send it all to me and we will take care of it.”

Simmons soon received word that the application was finally being processed and was then informed it had been approved and a headstone would be delivered to the cemetery for Farrell.

She paid $200 for it to be installed.

“After 100 years he now has a marker,” Simmons said.

For those with Civil War ancestors from Coffee County, Simmons said the Coffee County Historical Society is a good place to begin research. She also recommends online genealogy websites like Ancestry.com for those looking to do a deep dive into their family history.