The pictures here are of the original stones marking the graves of William and Phoebe Smith Holcomb Wilbanks, with the new stone, erected with the help of many WILBANKS-L list members. The fund-raising campaign was started in December 1998 by Charles Wilbanks, a descendant of William's brother, Henry. Charles is included in the second picture, taken in 1999. The original email announcing the project is included below: ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 17:54:21 EST From: To: WILBANKS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: Subject: [WILBANKS-L] William Wilbanks Memorial Fund Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit To All List Members, One of the most exciting Wilbanks research discoveries was made a few years ago when the graves of William Wilbanks (1751-1816) and hi s wife Phoebe Smith (Holcomb) Wilbanks (d. 1826) were found at Padgett's Creek Baptist Church near Cross Keys, South Carolina. William was a founding member of Padgett's Creek and was an important figure in our family's history. He is the earliest Wilbanks patriarch for whom we know the precise location of his final resting place. Each of the graves are marked with small, very old and deteriorating markers. They appear to be homemade on sandstone. They will not survive much longer. Many Wilbanks researchers have voiced concern about these markers and expressed a desire to place a modern and more permanent marker on these graves. I do not live too far from Padgett's Creek, and I have priced such a marker. For $500 a moderately sized double marker can be made and erected at the grave without disturbing the existing stones. Please consider pledging monetary support for this project. If enough of us contribute, we can make it happen. Please notify me of the amount you wish to pledge, and let's do this ASAP. Just tell me how much you wish to contribute via a direct e-mail to me (not on the list). I will then give you instructions on how to make the contribution. My e-mail address is cwilbanks@aol.com. Be sure to include your name and address. I will report the totals of the pledges onto the WILBANKS LIST regularly, until we raise the money necessary. Let us protect this important Wilbanks family historical site. Thanks. Charles Wilbanks Little Mountain, South Carolina ______________________________