Quitman County GaArchives Cemeteries.....Lost Cemeteries - From Cemeteries and Churches of Quitman County, Georgia - Complete Survey ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Donna Eldridge DonnaEldrid@aol.com August 1, 2004, 10:19 am The following are cemeteries listed in the Foreward and Conclusion of the book which had not been located at the time of publication: From the FOREWORD Section - Harris Family Cemetery - Woods Family Cemetery - Avra Family Cemetery - Rice Cemetery - Roberts Family Cemetery - Paupers Cemetery - Unknown Cemetery (Old Reeves Place) From the CONCLUSION Section - Rice Family Cemetery - Allen Family Cemetery - Unknown Cemetery (Guilford Place) - Mercer Cemetery - Rutherford Cemetery - Hitchock Family Cemetery - Unknown Cemetery (Cork Tree Site) - Shiloh Church Cemetery (think this is in Clay County) - Enon Church Cemetery (Mt. Zion Church) - Indian Cemeteries Additional Comments: FOREWORD In doing research on the families of my father, Jim Ogletree, I visited some of the cemeteries in our county, finding in my family some of the graves unmarked and the names of the loved ones before us forgotten. I felt the need to save the names in my family and the names of each and every family having its roots in this country for the generations to come, who will be seeking their ancestors. This cemetery quest was begun in November of 1986 and completed in May of 1987. Most of the unmarked graves will remain nameless, for as each generation dies, memory fades until no one knows. There were cemeteries I could not find, even with the help of many people in the county. One of these unfound cemeteries was that of the Harris family known to be on the old Harris place at Union. Another was the Woods family cemetery, not far from Green Grove Church. At one time both had marked graves; it is hoped they yet endure. There were three known cemeteries not searched for, due to warm weather and my fear of snakes in the woods. One of these was that of the Avra family, known to be the forefather of the Avras that were found in some of the other cemeteries visited. Mr. Arthur Avra, the head of this family, was the owner of an abandoned cotton gin that had seen much use in its day. He requested that the large threaded screw from the baler used to press the cotton, be placed at the head of his grave as a tombstone. This remained on his grave until early World War II days, when it was noticed to be missing and was thought to have been sold for scrap iron by unknown persons. The Rice cemetery, located in the woods off the Lower Lumpkin Road, is known to be a large cemetery, although the years of ground cover made it impossible to find any marked slabs. Mr. James Dixon stated he has a small sister buried here and that as a child he helped his father clean off the cemetery lot. He remembers several marked slabs. One grave in an iron railing fence was found. It was marked with stones that were piled about two feet high and a slab laid across them. "David Rice, born July 1, 1808, died October 26, 1859" was the name and dates on this slab. There were both White and Black people known to be here. A family cemetery, located on the Norton Roberts' place, is thought to be that of the family of Mr. Roberts. There were several markers and a few graves that were marked with wood crosses at one time. One marker, broken into three pieces, was found. On it the wording was "In memory of Arramina - daughter of J. A. & H. Jordan, born November 18, 1864 and died February 15, 1872. Aged 8 years and 2 months and 27 days." The Paupers Cemetery, located inside the city limits of Georgetown, fronting the Kaigler Road, is thought to contain at least fifty graves. Many people pass it each day, not knowing of its existence as there are no marked graves. Both Black and White are known to be buried here. Another such cemetery can be found by a curve in the Grange Hall Road, where there is no reason for a curve. There may be as many as twenty-five graves along this roadside. There are a few cemeteries that the passage of time has hidden well; one of these is on the old Reeves' place. Many of these cemeteries were found at a church or at the site where once a church building stood. There are four cemeteries and two churches just outside of Quitman County that have been included as many Quitman Countians have family ties to these places. The information that was available on the churches, I have attempted to share with you. I thank my husband, G. W. Shepard, Jr. for giving up most of his free time to accompany me in my search, also for never complaining of the many tomato sandwiches he had for supper because I had spent the afternoon in a cemetery. The help he has given to me in so many ways has been most valuable. I also wish to thank Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Phillips and Mr. Tommy Kendrick for sharing the list of cemeteries they had compiled. A special word of thanks goes to Mr. Frank Bledsoe, who accompanied me on several cemetery searches. He did the searching, gave needed encouragement, was interested in my efforts and shared with me many things he remembered about the cemeteries and the people buried in them. Mr. Ralph Balkcom, Jr. and Mr. L. D. Ellis spent one of their afternoons in a cemetery with me; Mr. Balkcom leaving his work and Mr. Ellis giving up his day of rest. To both men I am most grateful. I thank Mrs. Marie Bouyer, Mrs. Maude Alexander, and Mrs. Jimmie Laseter for the afternoons they spent helping me search out cemeteries. The many people that shared their information on the cemeteries and churches shall long be remembered, as they were most kind and made it more interesting. It is to the children and grandchildren of the people above that this small book is dedicated. CONCLUSION There were cemeteries remembered during the summer that were not searched out. They will be mentioned; perhaps one bright winter day someone would like to look for them. Mr. Albert Dixon remembered that many years ago while cutting timber near the Woodrow Scott place, they ran up on a small cemetery deep in the woods. No one was sure of the name then, but it was thought to be a Rice family Cemetery. Mr. Frank Bledsoe remembered the Allen family cemetery located on what was once the old Allen place. It now belongs to the Bradley Company. There were markers on the graves at one time; it is not known if they still exist. A Black Cemetery is remembered on the Guilford place. It is thought none of the graves are marked, although there are cement slabs and the names of some of the people buried here are remembered by family members and friends. Members of the Culver family are known to be buried in this very old cemetery. The Mercer cemetery is remembered by Mrs. Amanda Hamilton and Mr. Frank Bledsoe. It is thought that both Black and White are buried here. Its site is in the woods down the road from Mt. Zion Church at Cross Roads, after crossing Smitty Jack Creek. A small family cemetery is thought to be up the road from Green Grove Church; this could have been the Rutherford family cemetery. A small cemetery is thought to have been on the old Ming place, it was called the Hitchock family cemetery. It is also believed that a small family cemetery was near the cork tree site. It is thought all signs of these three cemeteries are now gone. The Shiloh Church Cemetery at Cotton Hill should be mentioned as Quitman County family names are found there. Some are: Hunt, Oliver, Perkins, Pittman, Redding, and Watson. Some of these graves date back to the 1850's. The Enon Church site, now known as Mt. Zion Church in Clay County, is believed to be where members of the Neel and Lanier families are buried. The location of three Indian Cemeteries that used underground burial will not be given. There are probably more in the county. St. Marks' Mission has also been remembered. This church was started in a bush arbor on the Guilford place by Reverend Jim Lewis. He then built a log cabin on the Walter Cathings' place and services were held with Mr. Walter Catchings being the first member. After a time, St. Marks was disbanded as the A.M.E. Conference started sending Reverend Lewis to preach in churches about the area. It is hoped that some will receive a small measure of the satisfaction from this book that I have had in the gathering of the information and trying to put it together. If there are marked graves that were not recorded, names that were misspelled, or dates that were misspelled, or dates that were copied wrong, I apologize and ask that you use the blank pages in the back to correct these mistakes and to record any unmarked graves and the cemeteries in which they are located, so there may be an accurate record for your family. "Cemeteries and Churches of Quitman County, Georgia" by Jacquelyn M. Shepard (See Conclusion, page 64) Transcribed and submitted by Donna Eldridge with permission from Jacquelyn Shepard File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/quitman/cemeteries/cm234lostceme.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 9.9 Kb