|
 Located
on Hwy. 17 N in Eulonia, McIntosh Co., Georgia, this small family cemetery
sits in the middle of a cow pasture on private property. The
cemetery itself has been destroyed over time by nature, livestock, and
many other factors. I visited this cemetery on Tuesday, 10 April
2007, with descendants Brailsford Troup Nightingale, Jr. and
William Boston McKinnon, Jr., in hopes of forming a plan of attack on
saving the cemetery.
Today, descendants would like to preserve this
cemetery for future generations, however, the work will be costly and time
consuming. The biggest concern right now, is getting the cemetery
fenced off from the livestock, to keep them from damaging the cemetery
further, and from hurting themselves should a grave collapse from the
weight of a cow standing on it.
The LAHS has recorded 16 burials within the cemetery, 11 graves are
clearly marked with tombstones, but the 5 others are unmarked, and it is
unknown by me how the group knows that there are five more burials.
Another question, is Dr. James McGillivray Troup
really interred here? His estate was filed in Glynn County, the will
leaving much to the imagination, the estate inventory telling a fuller
story. But where was Dr. Troup buried? He does not have
a tombstone in Baillie Cemetery, but his name and dates are inscribed upon
a monument with Mrs. Camilla (Brailsford) Troup and Mrs. Maria (Heyward)
Brailsford, suggesting they are not buried here either, only
memorialized.
And yes folks, that is a cow standing on a tombstone in the center of
the photo to the right. Part of the preservations plan, and the
biggest part, is making sure the cemetery can be protected from these
creatures, whose only guilt is wanting to eat plants. In talking
with the current land owner, we were told that when his grandmother bought
the land over 20 years ago, the cemetery wasn't even visible, it was
completely surrounded by woods, and you would have been lucky to find it
at all.
Transcribed by Amy Hedrick 10 April 2007. |
