Old Macedonia Cemetery - March 2022 Towns County, GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2022) |
Prior to construction of Lake Chatuge in 1941, the TVA surveyed cemeteries that could be affected by the coming lake. Macedonia Baptist Church began in the 1830s, and their first cemetery was on a hill near the original church. The TVA identified 35 graves, most marked only by fieldstones. The only known (recorded) burials here were David Brown and his wife Ruth Carter, who both died in the 1840s. There is a large stone pile at the center of the hill top that was identified as an "Indian mound". The photos here are arranged more or less from NE to SW, following the grave numbering on the survey. |
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1941 TVA survey of the Old Macedonia Cemetery County Historian Jerry Taylor and I had visited the graveyard a few years prior to my photographing it. I thought we'd found more grave markers that time, but two sets of eyes are always better than one. Some could be hidden under leaves, or I could be mistaken about the number we saw. Following are the various fieldstone markers that are still visible. A few are no longer standing upright, but laying on the ground. |
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This is the most northerly of the grave markers found. |
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Fieldstone grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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There are a couple of sunken graves in this area, but it is difficult to see them in a photo with the flat lighting. |
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This brick was probably part of a grave that we will view shortly. |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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This is likely the most elaborate burial here. A mounded grave faced with bricks. |
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After 150+ years, the bricks remaining on the grave are in disarray. |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker It is unknown whether these were all headstones, or if some were footstones... |
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Grave marker |
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At the highest point on the hill is the "Indian mound". |
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This stone mound essentially divides the graveyard in two. |
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The remainder of the grave stones are on the SW side of the mound |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |
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Grave marker |