Category Archives: Uncategorized

-Georgia, Cemeteries, Symbolism, Uncategorized

Oak Hill Cemetery-Newnan, Georgia

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Oak Hill Cemetery started in 1833, but it didn’t get the name Oak Hill until the local newspaper ran a contest to name the cemetery in 1887. As an active cemetery with over 15,000 burials, the different markers represent funerary art over the years.

There are many notable people buried, many of whom were early settlers of the area. Several Victorian monuments grace part of the cemetery. I’ve visited the cemetery twice, 2014 and 2016. In that time, a major restoration has been done on several monuments. Photos of the changes are shown below.

The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Green K. Davis, 1817-1869
This is one of the most delicate works on a marble monument that is still fully intact I’ve ever seen. It can represent triumph over death.
The Bigby-Parrott family plot is the grandest in the cemetery. It also had the greatest amount of restoration work.
According to Newnan friends, this marker was on the ground over the years before it put back on its pedestal.
Thomas Noel Berry, (1870-1870).
Captain. Tom Owen (1834-1862) died in Civil War battle near Richmond. His marker contains the Georgia state seal.
-Georgia, Uncategorized

Sapelo Island Range Front Light of McIntosh County, Georgia

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The Sapelo Island Front Range Light is a gem of Georgia’s coastline and a relic of maritime history. Built in 1877, this cast-iron beacon once worked in tandem with the taller Sapelo Island Lighthouse to guide ships safely through Doboy Sound. The light was decommissioned in 1899. The U.S. Coast Guard reactivated it during World War II.

1997 image of the range light before restoration (Image is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places application.)
-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples, Uncategorized, Vernacular Headstones

Pin Point Cemetery-Pin Point, Georgia

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Edward Anderson

Pin Point Cemetery shares land with the Sweetfield of Eden Baptist Church. It’s a small cemetery in the heart of the fishing community founded by freedmen and women from the Sea Islands. I cannot discern if the Pin Point Cemetery and Sweetfield of Eden graveyard are the same or if there was a boundary line that was no longer apparent.

Reverend Peter Famble
Ella Garmon
Margaret Devoe
Clarence Fleming, 1994-2017
-South Carolina, Black History, Cemeteries, Uncategorized, Vernacular Headstones

Drayton Cemetery-Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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Beaufort County

Mitchelville was the first town built for newly freedmen and women in 1862 after Hilton Head fell to Union troops in 1861. The town was named for Union general, Ormsby Mitchel, who set up this town with roads, churches, and homes.

Drayton Cemetery is another Gullah Cemetery connects directly to those original freed men and women, as it is believed this cemetery started before the start of the Civil War.

It features several markers of members of the United States Colored Infantry.

It is cared for by the congregation at St. James Baptist Church.

Based on her age, Louisa Small experienced slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the retaliation against Reconstruction.
An interesting funeral wreath
-South Carolina, Cemeteries, National Register of Historic Places, Symbolism, Uncategorized

Rosalie Raymond White at Magnolia Cemetery-Charleston, South Carolina

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Rosalie Raymond White, who died at seven months old in 1882, was one of seven children of Blake and Rosalie White. Only two of their children lived to see adulthood.

Rosalie was the White’s first child. Her likeness is carved in relief on a bassinet. Some suggest this is a death mask, which is a likeness created directly from a mold of the person’s face. At any point of the year, different flowers are planted in the bassinet.

The Victorians often used symbols and words to indicate someone “sleeping.” The bassinet represents this concept.

-Georgia, Uncategorized

Sunflower Farm-Forsyth County, Georgia

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When people think of sunflowers, it’s not something Georgia is known for, but there are dozens of sunflower farms across the state. Many of those are in the north Georgia area. They are worth a visit.