Category: Others’ Families

I had the joy of meeting with Ed, the leader of the local Boy Scout troop, and his son yesterday to tromp around the Old Sharon Baptist Church Cemetery in hopes of finding the slave cemetery that I had read was somewhere.  We found it!  Ed went and knocked on the door of the couple who right next to the cemetery.  The woman Mrs. Morgan took us out to the edge of their property where the stone wall from the cemetery runs and showed us the slave cemetery.  She said that she had marked the spot years ago with an Azalea bush, and her husband had put posts in the ground to mark where it was also.  Due to poor health they weren’t able to keep up with it as well as in the past.  She was really happy to talk to us about it and show us the stones.

Today my husband and I went out to take photos of the stones.  Mrs. Morgan and her husband came out and talked to us for a few minutes, reminding us to check for ticks when we returned home because the deer are out roaming around and she feeds them apples.

I’m excited for the find of this cemetery.  The story is that there is also a Union soldier buried there.  He apparently was killed in a battle that happened just across the street from the cemetery. 

Mrs. Morgan is excited that someone is going to be cleaning it up and keeping it up.  Once it’s cleaned up I hope to make a plaque of some sort to mark the area.

My husband and I counted 25 separate areas of stones, but I guarantee there are more people because when you walk around you step into depressions in the ground.  Once the leaves are cleared away and it’s cleaned up we should be able to see other grave areas.

I will be posting photos of the Old Sharon Baptist Church Cemetery at some point.  It’s pretty horrible and I really want to get it cleaned up and the stones repaired.  Kids have been vandalizing it for years, and I can’t describe the condition it’s in accurately.  My husband and I will be going through and doing a survey of it over several days (it’s that bad).  Hopefully someone will help fund the Boy Scout troop in my area, as well as finding the descendants of the people buried in the cemetery to give the Boy Scouts permission so that the troop can go in and clean and repair all of the stones and fencing.

Anyway, photos of the stones we found in the Old Sharon Baptist Church Slave Cemetery!

Yesterday I went with my mother over to the New Hope United Methodist Church Cemetery in Locust Grove, Henry County, Georgia to help with a Find-A-Grave fulfillment.  When she finished we walked around and look at the headstones and plots.  One of the saddest, which became sadder once I got home, was the grave for little Joseph N Edge.  It appears, due to lack of headstones in the area, that he is pretty much buried by himself, with the headstone for who I assume are his parents about 16 feet or so away.  I’m not certain that there is no on else buried around him, but it looks very lonely.  Once I got home I looked him up, to see if he was on anyone’s family tree, or if I could find a reason for death.  I can find no records for him.  I can find nothing.  Not even a space on someone’s tree.

I don’t want him to be forgotten. 

The headstone itself is wearing away, but it is still fairly readable.  The top says JOSEPH N.

The front of the little stone is mostly legible, with a few letters that are not.  I ran my fingers over the stone to make out the initials on the top line, but I still am not sure if the first initials are R.R., A.A., or a variation of them.  My first thought was R.R., so I will transcribe it with that, and if someone knows otherwise I hope they let me know.

SON OF R.R. & J.D.

EDGE

MAR. 1, 1873

SEPT. 1, 1874

A little time on earth he spent.  Till God for him His angel sent.

The little footstone had his initials J.N.E.

I wish I had taken a wide shot to show how lonely this little headstone is.  Nearly as lonely as this grave:

IN

MEMORY OF

W.E. CROWELL

BORN OCT. 20

DIED OCT. 25

AGE 66 YEARS

5 DAYS

W E CROWELL

PVT CO G

63 REGT GA VOL INF

CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY

OCT 20 1824    OCT 25 1890

I hope he isn't laying there by himself.

Today on the way to the lake house my husband and I stopped off at the Resseau Family Cemetery on Georgia Highway 212 in Putnam County, Georgia.  We had passed it many times but never stopped until today.  I wasn’t sure how many graves were actually in the cemetery since it is surrounded by brick wall.  When I walked up to it and climbed over the wall I discovered eight headstones, though I was wondering if there might be more graves.  It is really a nice little family plot, though I wish it were under better care.  The plot was filled with leaves and some silk flower arrangements that I suppose had once been on the graves were scattered about.

I posted the photos in chronological order according to death date.  I find it interesting that the first five died so close together.

WILLIAM RESSEAU

JUNE 1, 1852

MAR. 24, 1912

HARRIET R. JONES

BORN 1834

NOV. 12, 1912

ALICE IRENE RESSEAU

MAR. 16, 1902

APR. 19, 1913

WILLIAM CARLTON

RESSEAU

AUG. 10, 1880

APR. 22, 1913

MARTHA RESSEAU

APR. 12, 1856

APR. 24, 1913

GEORGE W. RESSEAU

BORN 1864

JAN. 29, 1953

GEORGE N. RESSEAU

JULY 27, 1905

FEB. 17, 1982

CARLTON EUGENE RESSEAU

NOV. 1, 1932 – SEPT. 1, 2004

SHERIFF OF PUTNAM COUNTY

1977 – 1995