Georgia:  Wilkes County:  The Neglected Graves of Governors Peter G. 
Early and John Clark, 3 December 1914

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This file was contributed by:
Barbara Walker Winge
Barbarawinge@yahoo.com
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PANAMA CITY PILOT
Panama City, Florida
December 3, 1914
Neglected Ex-Governors' Graves.
"There is a report from Greene County that the body of ex-Governor
Peter G. Early of Georgia, is in a state which defies description. The
body is said to lie on the banks of the Oconee river, and was covered 
with a cement lining, and the grave surrounded with a massive stone wall. 
This wall has been allowed to crumble and fall down and the grave of this
honored citizen is today a grazing ground for cows and hogs."

It is a shame to the state, that the grave of one of its former
governors should be allowed to be so neglected. When the residents of
that section have grown so careless, the state should come in and arrange
to have it properly taken care of. Arrangements of that character would
be impressive and the sentiment of the entire people of Georgia would
applaud the movement to have the resting place of a governor of many 
years back at least given the attention which we bestow on our own 
cemeteries and graveyards. - Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
(According to THE GOVERNORS OF GEORGIA by James F. Cook, 1995, pp. 85-87,
"He died on 15 August 1817 at age forty four. He was buried at his home
at Scull Shoals but in 1914 was reburied in the town cemetery in
Greensboro, Georgia.) BW note: The power of the Press!

Another Georgia governor whose grave is equally, if not more neglected,
is that of ex-Governor John Clark, who died on St. Andrews Bay, Florida,
in 1832. Governor Clark was governor of this state in the '20's and his
grave is located in the back yard of a deserted house on the our skirts 
of the town of St. Andrews, Fla. The grave presents a most forsaken
appearance.

The editor of The Enterprise spent some time on St. Andrews Bay last
year and visited the grave of Governor Clark several times. Near the
grave is the house in which the governor and his wife, together with a
married daughter, made their home for several years. Mrs. Clark and their
two grand children are buried there.

After retiring from an eventful public life, which was spent as a
soldier and politician, Governor Clark retired and went to the Florida
coast where he was given some sort of federal appointment, there to spend
the remainder of his life in ease and quiet. It is said that his death
was due to yellow fever which he contracted while in Havanna, Cuba, the
malady developing on the voyage back home. His wife died about one month
later. Several attempts have been made by the D.A.R. of Georgia, or other
clubs, to have the remains brought back to Georgia, but nothing definite
has ever come of the attempts. Something, however, ought to be done about
the matter as it is a shame for the grave to remain in its present
neglected condition." Telefair-Enterprise, McRae, Ga.
(According to THE GOVERNORS OF GEORGIA by James F. Cook, pp. 93-96, "In
1923 the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution removed the remains
of Clark and his wife from St. Andrews and placed them in the National
Cemetery in Marietta.")


(Submitted by Barbara Walker Winge, barbarawinge@yahoo.com)