Lambella Downing

1844 - 1941  (97 years)

• Name	Lambella Downing
  Relationship	with Gustave Jean Baptiste Pitard
  Born	29 Apr 1844	Hagerstown, Washington Co., Maryland   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Obituary	Obit., Times-Picayune, 29 July 1941, p2: BEMISS - On Sunday, July 27, 1941, at 9:15 o'clock a.m., Lamballa [sic] Downing, wife of the late Cyrus Talbot Bemiss, mother of Mrs. D.M. Pitard, R.C. and J.D. Bemiss of New Orleans, La., and Mrs. A.E. Leavel of Lafayette, La. Private services were held at the home of Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp, Inc., 1127 South Claiborne avenue, near Milan street, on Monday Morning, July 28, 1941, at 10 o'clock. Interment in Metairie Cemetery. Hagerstown, Md., Washington, D.C., Richmond and Gordonsville, Va., papers please copy.
  Died	27 Jul 1941	New Orleans, Louisiana   [1, 2]
  Buried	Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana
  in the Belden family tomb
  Notes	The names of her parents appear on her certificate of death that's included in the Confederate Pension application she filed in her husband's name in 1939; she could not remember his unit, just saying that he was in the "Quartermaster's department." She was 95 when she applied for the pension. According to a letter in the application, "the old lady was very old and feeble and all of her papers of marriage certificate and her husband's records were all burnt up - and for that reason she thought perhaps she could not get any pension." According to another letter included in the application, "The records show that Cyrus T. Bemiss was appointed Captain and Paymaster, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Louisiana Militia, August 25, 1861, and accepted August 30, 1861. On August 17, 1863, he is shown to have been serving as Acting Quartermaster at Camp Pratt, Louisiana, and was recommended for a commission as Quatermaster in teh Conscript Department, State of Louisiana, Confederate States Army. . . . By Special Orders dated April 11, 1864, having failed to execute the bond provided by law, his name was ordered dropped from the rolls. No later record of him has been found."
  Person ID	I4969	lansdalepitard
  Last Modified	3 Jan 2021

  
  

  Father	Samuel S. Downing           b. Virginia           d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Nancy Fighter           b. Virginia           d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F10449	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Spouse / Partner	Cyrus Talbot Bemiss           b. 17 Jul 1827, Nelson Co., Kentucky           d. 24 Aug 1878, New Orleans, Louisiana  (Age 51 years)
  Married	27 Jan 1878	New Orleans, Louisiana   [3]
  Children	1. Richmond Cyrus Bemiss           b. 18 Aug 1869, New Orleans, Louisiana           d. 29 Jan 1961  (Age 91 years) + 2. Barsilla Bemiss           b. Aug 1871, Louisiana           d. 8 Nov 1954  (Age ~ 83 years)   3. St. John Downing Bemiss           b. 1870, New Orleans, Louisiana           d. 16 Mar 1951, New Orleans, Louisiana  (Age 81 years) + 4. Alice Bemiss           b. 30 Jan 1878           d. 27 Aug 1945  (Age 67 years)   5. Cloudsley Bemiss           b. Abt 1874           d. 1884, New Orleans, Louisiana  (Age ~ 10 years)
  Last Modified	3 Jan 2021
  Family ID	F3504	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Born - 29 Apr 1844 - Hagerstown, Washington Co., Maryland  Married - 27 Jan 1878 - New Orleans, Louisiana  Died - 27 Jul 1941 - New Orleans, Louisiana  Buried - - Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend

  
  

• Headstones		Belden family tomb This is Lambella Downing and two of her children, Richmond Cyrus Bemiss and St. John Bemiss.
  		Belden family tomb This is a close-up of the inscription.

  
  

• Reference

  Pitard, Derrick. "Lambella Downing". Genealogy at Pitard.net. https://ancestors.pitard.net/getperson.php?personID=I4969&tree=1sttree (accessed February 28, 2021).