CVCS Volunteer Efforts paying off at Mount Gilead AME Cemetery

Recently, CVCS members have been documenting burials at Mt. Gilead African Methodist-Episcopal Cemetery and cleaning up the site.  This cemetery is located near a large quarry pit on the property of Vulcan Construction Materials, Inc., on Fortson Road, and permission must be obtained from the company to gain access.  As no survey listing for this cemetery was known to exist, the first step was to canvas the site and record all data that could be gathered from marked graves.  This was not an easy proposition, as the cemetery had apparently not been cleared in at least four years.  The grounds were littered with fallen limbs, branches, and whole trees.  Overgrown brush, an accumulation of leaf and pine straw cover, eroded dirt, and matted roots obscured many of the markers.

Most marked graves have only a concrete ledger, and almost all of these bear, or used to bear, identifying markings.  Many, many graves here, however, have never been marked.  Deep grave depressions and other clues indicating graves -  such as plantings of bulb flowers, corn stalks, or rose bushes; rusted funeral wreath easels; clay pots, urns, glass jars, and other vessels that once held flowers; temporary funeral home markers; and field stones at the head and/or foot - pervade the vicinity.  The resulting burial list has been supplemented with data from death certificates dating 1919-30. The identities of 118 individuals buried here have now been compiled.  The latest confirmed burial dates from 1960, before death notices for African-Americans were typically published in local newspapers.  Further records of burials here may perhaps be obtained from funeral homes, relatives, or members of the Mt. Gilead AME Church, which is still active and is now located on the east side of Fortson Road, about a half-mile south of the cemetery.

The clearing of an access trail to the cemetery and along its eastern boundary is partially complete.  Efforts are under way to clear the tree litter, abundant underbrush, ground cover, and eroding soil.  A number of unmarked graves have recently been set with simple concrete head markers, donated by John Land, and plans are to similarly mark as many remaining such graves as can be ascertained.  (There are likely quite a few, however, that are so shallow as to be undetectable, except by means of ground penetrating radar or other forensic methods.)  To date, at least 50 CVCS volunteer hours have been devoted in the effort to rescue this site.  

This cemetery will be featured in an article appearing in the upcoming issue of "Muscogiana," the semi-annual journal of the Muscogee Genealogical Society.  Future plans for the Mt. Gilead rescue project include installment of a fence; the repair and resetting or leveling of existing monuments, and eventual placement of granite monuments where concrete ones are failing or losing their markings; erection of a cemetery sign; improvement of public access; the filling in of deep grave sinks and mitigation of erosion that threatens graves; and provision for routine groundskeeping and maintenance of the site.

Anyone wishing to volunteer with this project or make a donation in support of it should contact coordinator John Land at 469.995.5222 or newsompage@yahoo.com .

The Hardaway Lot is one of two curbed lots in Mt. Gilead Cemetery.  

Many of the concrete ledgers are subsiding or crumbling.  While the markings on the T. S. WILLIAMS monument (left) are still legible, any writing on the marker to the right has faded away, and the monument itself is in danger of totally collapsing.  

Ernest WIGGINS, a veteran of World War I, is buried at Mt. Gilead.

Unmarked graves are being marked with plain concrete head markers such as these.  The depressions will eventually be filled in level with the grade, but first a foot marker will be added to indicate whether a grave is adult-length, or likely child-sized.  

Patriot Grave Marking Ceremony at Linwood Cemetery

Have you ever been to a Patriot Grave Marking Ceremony?  If not, consider coming to Linwood Cemetery on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 2:30 PM. This event is to honor the memory of War of 1812 Patriot Nicholas P. Gunn and descendent Samantha Ann Gunn Melton, Nicholas' daughter.  This Grave Marking Ceremony has been created by Lynne Allen Tate.

What will the ceremony entail?  You can expect something along these lines:

• A Welcome and Greetings.
• Presentation of Colors by appropriate military individuals/groups.
• Invocation.
• Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag and other pledges.
• A review of the life of the patriot's life and service.
• A review of the patriot's descendent(s) in attendance.
• Dedication of the marker.
• Refreshments.

Please consider joining in this time-honored celebration of the lives of those who came before us and helped to make this country what it is today.

Note:  Mrs. Melton is buried by the fence near the upper Confederate Soldier Section.

Locust Hill Baptist Church Cemetery

Locust Hill Baptist Church and cemetery, 8300 Warm
Springs Road, Midland, Muscogee County, Georgia (Ames)

John Mallory Land and Linda Ames have been at Locust Hill Baptist Church Cemetery this month documenting graves and posting photos of those with gravestones at Findagrave.com.  From a start of around 20 names listed two weeks ago, we now have 232 individuals memorialized.  This is probably only half (or less) of the graves out there.  John has also been diligent to search out death certificates and/or obituaries online to find those buried there and see to it that they are memorialized at Findagrave.com.

Much erosion has occurred, as well as the natural sinking of numerous graves, some by a foot or more deep.  Tree branches and trees have fallen and broken headstones or ledgers. John has been in contact with several people from the church and hopes to establish a group to take control of ensuring repair, restoration and preservation of this cemetery.  He will be providing an article soon for this blogsite.  Stay tuned...  Linda

Photos by John Land and Linda Ames

Photo of cemetery from front to rear. (Ames)

Erosion on different levels causing gravesites to sink. (Ames)

Broken vault; standing water inside; coffin appears to be missing. (Land)

Sinking grave covered with leaf debris. (Ames)

Sinking grave, covered with leaf debris. (Land)

Tree and branches lying across graves. (Land)

Burials covered by dirt and debris at the far side of the cemetery. (Land)

An old rock cairn. (Ames)

"...Grave issues at Beallwood Baptist Cemetery"

A recent article in the 12 Mar 2012 edition of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer about Beallwood Cemetery reviews the necessity for repair work on graves due to erosion.  It belongs to the Greater Beallwood Baptist Church.   Mike Owen, the author of the article, contacted the Church pastor, the Reverend Willie Hill to determine if Rev. Hill was aware of the problem; he said he would look into it.

John Land plans to respond to the article, as well, to further discuss forming an association by the church and other possibilities for repair, restoration, and preservation of this and other local cemeteries.

Patrick Memorial Cemetery Association Meeting

Patrick Memorial Cemetery Association will meet February 4th, 2012, 11 AM - 2 PM at South Columbus Public Library, 2034 South Lumpkin Road, Columbus, Georgia 31903 [Phone: 706-683-8805]

Interested parties of the Chattahoochee Valley Cemeteries Society are welcome to join us.  Please call me if you have any questions.  Jean Arambula, 229-444-5191.

Discovery at the Liberty Hill Methodist Cemetery in Chattahoochee County

The Cemetery Committee of the Chattahoochee County Historic Preservation Society recently met to reset a displaced grave monument. The grave in question, that of Gordon Slappey BREWER (1830-1849), is at Liberty Hill Methodist Cemetery in southeastern Chattahoochee County. The grave, marked by an adult-sized marble ledger laid on the ground, is beside a marble box vault marking the grave of John BREWER, (1804-1854), father of Gordon. (A box vault is an above-ground tomb made of marble, brick, granite, or other material, and is typically topped with a ledger stone; while thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif box vault is above ground, the remains (in coffin, if any) is in the ground, and the above-ground vault is normally empty.)

The ledger marking Gordon BREWER’s grave is identical in size and material to John’s atop the box vault. These two graves are enclosed by an ornamental, wrought-iron fence, the lot being only slightly larger than the two adult graves. A small marble slab with the letter “E” carved into it, at the foot of the intact box vault, suggested perhaps an infant grave; a family member had even speculated that it marked the grave of Henrietta Elizabeth (SLAPPY) BREWER, wife of John, whose burial place has not been found.

Gordon BREWER’s ledger, on the ground, had a sizable corner piece broken off the head end. The ledger was heaving at a significant angle down toward the other grave, evidently having been pushed up at its outer edge and down on its inner edger by a large tree that had been allowed to grow up between the grave and the lot fence. The lower edge had started to be covered over with soil. Sometime ago a family member expressed a desire that the ledger be leveled. She was advised to have the tree cut down and the stump killed. These steps having been taken, the Committee undertook to remedy the heaving and subsidence.

The first task was to remove the stump that was still wedged between the ledger and the ornamental fence. Though dead, parts of the tree stump were still rather solid. Next, the two pieces of ledger had to be taken up so the ground underneath them could be leveled. In the process, the team began to find other pieces of marble. In short order, the team determined that the ledger did not belong on the ground at all, but originally rested on a box vault identical to the other one. Evidently, the second vault had collapsed some time ago, perhaps because a tree or large limb had fallen on it; most of the component parts of the vault had been gathered at the foot end of the fenced lot, except for a couple still beneath Gordon’s ledger. It turns out that what was believed to be a third grave at the foot was in fact stacked vault pieces (the carved “E” was on the interior face of one of the wall pieces and was apparently a builder’s mark to indicate where that piece belonged in the construction of the box vault).

The Committee leveled the ledger on the ground and resolved to return at a later date with more volunteers and the materials needed to restore the box vault, if this should be the wishes of the family member. Committee members participating in this repair project were Gwanda Place (Committee Chair), Bill Place, Dave Cameron, and John Land.




The dead stump of a tree that had encroached between an ornamental lot fence and the grave monument for Gordon Slappey BREWER.










The box vault marking the grave of Gordon’s father, John BREWER, was still intact.










Component parts of the box vault marking Gordon’s grave, such as these wall pieces, had been stacked at the foot of the fenced lot long ago.









The marble ledger for Gordon’s grave has now been leveled, but still rests on the ground. Component parts of his box vault lie waiting until the monument can be restored.



Credit on all four photos: Gwanda Place

Another Newly Discovered Old Cemetery

Previous reconnaissance was conducted in January 2011 at the Pace Cemetery, located along Biggers Road between River Road and Whitesville Road in the Fortson area of northern Muscogee County. In the older section, only three graves (all European-American and dating from 1850-51) have identifying markings. There are five other marked graves, all tumble-down stone cairns, as well as a fenced lot about big enough for two adult graves but with no stones or monuments evident. In the vicinity of this older section are also a number of unmarked grave depressions.

A newer section, adjacent on the west, has at least 70 marked graves. Among these are about 45 identified graves, with burial dates ranging from 1931 to 1988. Apparently, all of these are African-American. Further research has revealed that this section is actually the burying ground of the Mount Olive Baptist Church. In published death notices and at least one death certificate (1925), this cemetery has been called Little Mount Olive Baptist and, later, New Mount Olive Baptist. The church was located in the Fortson area and moved relatively recently from a site east of the cemetery and on the south side of Biggers Road to a more central location in Columbus (evidently at 2311 Dawson Street). (Note: a predominantly European-American church with cemetery, called Mount Olive Baptist, is located in Harris County at 5434 Georgia State Highway 315, Fortson, Georgia .)

A gentleman from Atlanta, whose parents and other kin are buried at Mount Olive, says that there has not been a burial there since perhaps the 1980s, and the latest identified grave at the old cemetery on Biggers Road dates from 1988. However, published obituaries report interments in the cemetery of Mount Olive Baptist Church or New Mount Olive Baptist Church in 1995 (1), 2005 (3), 2006 (3), 2007 (4), 2008 (1), and 2010 (1). If these later burials were not at the Biggers Road location, it is not clear at what site these interments took place.

A couple of relatives recently mowed and cut weeds at the Mount Olive Baptist Cemetery, as well as the Shippy Cemetery north of Willett Drive. A Work Day will be scheduled in early October at Mount Olive to reset some of the subsiding ledgers and address other deteriorating graves. Preservation work is urgently needed in the adjacent Pace Cemetery as well.

John Mallory Land
President, CVCS