The Grave of
Charlotte E. (Jeans) Braddock
found in New Mexico!


This picture of Charlotte and George Washington Braddock is from
the family files of Bobbie Duncan McDowell,
sent to me by Becky Rummel

Thanks to Mr. Doug Boggess, M.A., RPA, Principal Investigator and Mr. Thoras Dye, Field Director for the Albuquerque office of Lone Mountain Archaeological Services, the grave of Charlotte E. (Jeans) Braddock, wife of George Washington Braddock, has been found! Mr. Boggess was Principal Investigator and Mr. Dye was Project Manager for a seismic survey in New Mexico this summer. Thoras found and recorded the cemetery and Doug researched the information and contacted me in September 2007:

I was knocking around the internet looking to identify an individual buried in a cemetery west of Artesia, New Mexico, that we found doing an archaeological survey. The grave was marked "Charlotte E., wife of G.W. Braddock, born Nov. 19, 1816, died Nov. 25, 1888". The cemetery has that one marked grave but there may be addtional graves within the enclosure and there appears to have been a dugout homestead close by. Judging from your research, I suspect this is Charlotte E. Jean who married George Washington Braddock in Laurens South Carolina in 1837.
YES! Family data confirms Charlotte's birthdate - this is her grave! This is in Eddy County in the southeast of New Mexico (see maps below). From here the questions and speculations can begin about how this came about. Did she and George go to New Mexico together; was she or were they with relatives; did they intend to settle or were they just visiting; did she die there and he return to Texas; and on and on.

Another colleague of Mr. Boggess' sent him more information which he shared, including the location:

A James W. Braddock homesteaded 160 acres in T18S R23E Sections 5 and 6. The cemetery is located in 18S 21E Section 1....
In the normal township and range system those two locations would be about 7 miles apart, some distance but not out of range for settling families. BUT, the big surprise is that, according to the New Mexico Water and Infrastructure Data System, this section of Eddy county does not seem to have a Range 22 intervening, so they are much closer than we thought! The James W. Braddock would seem surely to be George and Charlotte's son James W. who was born in May 1851 (per 1900 census); he eventually settled in Gila County Arizona.

The gravesite (blue dots) and James W. Braddock's homestead (red dots) are located in the plats below (maps from maptech.com and the NM Water and Infrastructure Data System):

New Mexico counties
The grave and James W. Braddock's land are west of Artesia and directly south of Hope in Eddy County.
The township and ranges for Eddy County. Note, there is no range 22 for the area where the Braddocks were located.

James W. Braddock's patent was for the south half of the southwest quarter of section 5 and the south half of the southeast quarter of section 6, as shown below in red. The blue question mark is for "somewhere" in section 1 where the grave site is located.

Hopefully, a picture of the site may be available and it will be included here! I descend from George Washington Braddock's brother Adam, so I don't have as much info about George and Charlotte, but you can read the story of their parents at:

Stephen Braddock and Mary Bell

I asked Mr. Boggess what would be happening to the site and he replied with good news:

All archaeological sites encountered during a seismic survey are avoided. so nothing will be disturbed or moved. Usually our info goes to the state and the BLM.

Sources:
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4 Oct 2007