Edward Thomas Barnard - Tallahassee, FL
N 30° 26.561 W 084° 17.227
16R E 760529 N 3370966
The grave of Edward Thomas Barnard is located in the Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. In 1858, he died of yellow fever.
Waymark Code: WMXFG3
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/06/2018
Views: 2
The headstone inscription reads:
Side 1:
In memory of
Edward Thomas Barnard
Born in Tallahassee
Sept 22nd 1839.
Died of yellow fever
While in the discharge
of his duties as
resident student
at the U.S. Marine hospital
in New Orleans LA
R.I.P.
Side 2:
E.T. Barnard
only child of
Mary J. and Dr. E. Barnard
of Tallahassee.
aged 19 yr.'s & 26 days.
Side 3:
Health sat upon his blooming cheek
life sparkled in his eye,
genius conspired in what he spoke
to raise our prospects high.
Side 4:
This monument
erected to commemorate
departed worth
by his affectionate uncle
T.B.
The following information is from page 90 of the "Rivers of Truth, Shores of Myth and the Land Between: The Dawning of Silvia Sunshine upon Florida’s Frontier, An Annotated Diary" by Dara R. Vance (visit link):
"Mrs. Doctor Barnard ate dinner today with us, by invitation. She is a very sweet, old lady. She had an angel boy she says named Edward Thomas Barnard, of Tallahassee Florida, who died in New Orleans October 8th 1858 of Yellow Fever. After his death while the students were standing around paying their last respects, the matron of the room came in the room before the coffin was closed uttering the words “Let me kiss him for his mother” then kissed him and placed a cross upon his breast. It was her son for whom that piece was composed.
In this sentimental tale a young man succumbs to yellow fever while away from home. A local matron tends to him cares for him in his mother’s stead. At his death she supposedly uttered, “Let me kiss him for his mother.” The story gained much renown during the Civil War and a musical piece was composed. Records appear to confirm the account told to Brooks by Mrs. Barnard. Edward Thomas Barnard was a young doctor from Tallahassee who died in New Orleans after contracting yellow fever from his patients. Mrs. Barnard is Mary J. Barnard, originally of Baltimore, MD who lived in Tallahassee in the 1850s and 1860s."
The sheet music for the song "Let Me Kiss Him for His Mother" can be viewed at the Duke University Libraries website.
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