In specific, two of Br'er's 5th Great Uncles. A brief recap so this makes a little sense.
Br'er's direct paternal line traces back to one chap who appears to have migrated from Wales to the colonies in the mid 18th century. Not a lot of solid documentation on him beyond his having one child, a son. That son served in the Revolution (lot's of stuff there, but it is a whole 'nother story) and received multiple land bounties in Georgia for his service. He migrated from North Carolina with wife and children in tow to take up farming those acres. It was two of his son's reputed burial sites that we were out to visit; Robert and John, Jr.
To digress for a moment, Br'er's family - like so many others - has ended up with varied spellings over the years. There is the original Welsh spelling: Gruffydd or Gryffydd (which are still pronounced the same as the modern spelling - gotta love that). And there are two primary modern spellings: Griffith and Griffeth, again pronounced the same. As it turns out Robert used the -ith spelling and John, Jr. the -eth spelling. And to tie in the previous post "Sometimes the bear gets you", the distant cousin whose grave we were searching for (Eunice Frances “Nicy” Griffeth Smith) is the granddaughter of John, Jr..
Anyhoo, back to the point (there has to be one rolling about here somewhere).
I say "reputed burial sites" for good reason. Apparently Br'er's ancestors in those days were too poor or too cheap to erect stone markers for people. And if Br'er is any indication, either option is equally probable. Hence comes the post title: "If there aren't any markers then why are we here in the first place?"
Now, one brother's (Robert) wife has a marker in a specific cemetery (The Brown Family Cemetery): Sarah “Sallie” Brawner Griffith. FindAGrave lists Robert as buried here as well, but there is no marker. He predeceased Sarah by some 20 years. Barring additional documentation that I have yet to locate I will keep his grave site as an open question. I do not at this point know what the relationship between Robert and Sarah to anyone in the Brown family is. Why Sarah (and possibly Robert) are in that family cemetery remains a mystery to me.
Still, off we go.
According to satellite photos, the cemetery is in a wooded area in what remains to this day farmland. It is not possible to see anything in the photo based on the cemetery GPS location. And we know from experience how accurate some location data can be!
Arriving at the stated location (well, road abutting the cemetery location - which is at a T-Bone intersection of two country roads), we peer in from every available angle hoping that we can spy anything that will confirm where, specifically, the graves are. No Joy. A physical search is necessary.
This is not looking good. Unlike so many other places, there is not a clearly accessible path into the woods here. The entire perimeter looks to be thickly vegetated.
Damn. This could be ugly. I leave Mrs. Br'er at the car for the moment (no sense risking her health yet) to see what I can find. Fortunately the initial vegetation is just a thin screen and poses no real challenge to access the inner area. Sweet. And once past it, everything opens up. Now many briars or brambles, just open woods. Double Sweet. A mere few yards in and I can see the graves, so I go back and retrieve Mrs. Br'er and we proceed.
Life Pro Tip (LPT) for folks cemetery stomping in like areas: Pick up a good stick or pull off a branch from something and wave it about as you move through the woods to knock down spiderwebs. I can't speak for other people, but neither Br'er or Mrs. Br'er relishes catching a web in the face.
Brown Family Cemetery views
Sarah Griffith's marker. Note the error in Robert's name - one of the 'F's in Griffith is missing!
The grave was clearly a flat top false tomb typical of the area and era that has partially collapsed. If Robert is buried in the same cemetery then one would presume he is next to or near her grave.
I make a note to research into any possible family connections to the women in the cemetery with Griffith or Griffeth (apparently maiden) names to see if they are also relations. All things considered, I would be less than surprised if they are.
Having done everything we could with the time, materials, and knowledge available, it is off to location #2: New Hope Presbyterian Church Cemetery a few miles away in Paoli.
Just before arriving there we pass a small country church that has what appear to be older markers in its graveyard. Curious, we make a stop to look around. What we found was easily the oddest thing we, personally, have ever encountered in all our excursions.
To set this up properly: I cannot speak to burial practices in other areas, only to these parts (Southeastern US). Here, outside some specific situations, caskets and/or coffins are required to be placed in what are called "vaults" as part of the internment process. Over the years I have seen these be made of steel or concrete (there is a newer version made of fiberglass and essentially inverted from the classic design - that is post all its own for another time). Think Sarcophagus. A large, thick, heavy box with an equally thick, heavy lid in which the casket is lowered then the lid (with a sealing gasket to keep out moisture) placed and the grave closed.
Typical burials are deep enough that there are still several feet of soil on top of the vault. Not the classic 6 feet, but several feet. Enough that the weight keeps the vault sealed.
Vaults are "required" for several reasons ranging from preserving the remains to preventing remains from contaminating the water table to (the primary reason in my opinion) preventing the grave from caving in or sinking later as decomposition takes place. Cemeteries HATE anything that requires maintenance of a grave and interferes with easy mowing grass.
Well! As we start looking about it is clear that the church (or a church on the site) dates back to at least the first decade of the 1900s based on the death years of several markers. And the original graveyard obviously presented a problem of sorts because there is a large modern-ish burial in the acre behind what would appear to be the original church lot. There are graves in the original graveyard dating way back that are now virtually abutting the building expansion. As I read the site, the small church as fine for a long time. But either the original closed and a new church consecrated on the same site or the existing church was rebuilt and expanded necessitating an entirely new graveyard.
Walking about the new burials we noted what appeared to be an unusual slab marker. Rather than a typical flat slab covering the grave, this appears to be slightly domed. As we get closer to it it becomes apparent that this is no slab. It is the lid or top of the burial vault! If you look closely along the sides you can see the four embedded loops used to lift and lower the lid.
We found this unusual to say the least.
Another sight we came across (I neglected to take any photos) that I found rather sad was a veteran's VA issued marker laying several yards from his grave, obviously discarded as it was half buried and clearly had been there for some time. He and his wife had a newer, large, shared upright headstone. Apparently when it was installed he VA marker had been removed and discarded. Why it was not reinstalled as a footstone I cannot fathom. Were it not so far from Br'er's warren he would go back and re-erect it himself.
Other unusual things we spotted included a large headstone with literally no markings or engravings. Not even a last name.
Eventually we resumed our original course.
The New Hope cemetery is classic old, country church burial ground. We already knew that John, Jr., if truly buried here, has no marker. It is just a matter of being able to say we've been there.
But as ever, Mrs. Br'er is compelled to look for interesting markers. We come across something unexpected (lots of that happens on these runs): A veteran of the American Revolution! Understand that these areas were literally 'frontier' at the time. And Georgia was not exactly a hotbed of action in the Revolution (yes, there were important battles, but they were few and far between), so encountering these veterans' graves is not exactly common.
From the Sons of the American Revolution Patriot database:
"Samuel Long was born about 1753 in County Donegal, Ireland. He immigrated to America in 1762 with his brothers James and Andrew and settled in the Cumberland Valley near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
During the American Revolution he served as an Ensign in the Pennsylvania Militia and as a Captain under Marquis de Lafayette. He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He also served in the 2nd Battalion, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Militia in 1781. In 1792 Samuel Long. Sr. and family traveled to Georgia and settled in what is now the Paoli Community, Madison County, Georgia, and founded New Hope Presbyterian Church."
Damage done, we move on. A short side trip to Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens and a mental note to take Mrs. Br'er to the Jackson St Cemetery on the UGA campus made. Both locations may be future posts. Some day. Maybe.
A late lunch and we are starting the trek home. But first another graveyard stop! This time, Bethabara Baptist Church Cemetery. Now Br'er has been here before with Papa Br'er for one of Papa Br'er's maternal uncles graves. But what Br'er only recently learned is that he has a mess of distant relatives on the paternal line as well. Specifically, descendants of John, Jr. from above. Not to make life easy for anyone both Robert and John, Jr. named sons John. And Jr. (sigh). But it is one of John, Jr.'s sons, John, Jr. (Damn!) and his descendants who occupy many, many graves here. One day when the weather is perfect Br'er and the Missus plan on packing a lunch, a bottle or two of wine, and heading back to insure everyone identifiable are updated in FindAGrave and their GPS coordinates updated. Considering their numbers, that is going to be a long day.
By now the light is fading and the rain is moving in. Time to return to the warren!
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