12 August 2008

In repose...

Ok, this is Oak Grove Cemetery, the main cemetery in St Marys, founded in 1788. In it can be found many unique burials including veterans of every war and every branch of military service. Above is the Confederate Section. While Confederate vets are found throughout the cemtery, this spot has the largest number of them.
The graves of Major Archibald Clark (above) and his wife Rhoda Clark (below). The Hero couple of St Marys during the British occupation in 1815.


John Bessent Sr, a South Carolina Militiaman in the Revolution

David Harrison, a 1st seargent in the first World War, or as his 1928 grave calls it, the "World's War"
Leo Roberts, an Army Col in both Korea and Vietnam
Newell Eugene Foreman, who was in the Navy and Air Force, serving in both WW2 and Korea
Otis Readdick, a hospital sargeant in WW1, and Julia Lawler Readdick, an Army nurse in WW1
Though the name is now missing, the description makes it clear that this is Alonzo Dufour, who organized the first military company in Camden County, the St Marys Volunteers, in the Civil War.

William Henry King, the founder of Kingsland. Ironic to found a town and be buried in the town next door.
Wesley Robinson III, a Bombadier in the 8th Air Force, WW2
John Dufour, Port Collector in 1860-61, and state senator for Camden County
Graves of Acadians, or local French Settlers. From the New Georgia Encyclopedia: "The Acadians arrived in Savannah as unwilling emigrants. Acadia, the original French Hermitage Plantation name for Nova Scotia, came under British rule in 1710. The 6,000 French settlers there in 1755 had been dispersed by the British, who doubted their loyalty at the outbreak of the French and Indian War (1754-63). The 400 Catholic Acadians sent to Georgia found themselves in a colony that forbade the practice of their faith. The destitution they experienced encouraged many to accept passports to leave Georgia in the spring of 1756 and travel to colonies farther north. The 100 to 200 Acadians who remained behind built huts outside Savannah and made oars and other sailing implements; still, poverty and illness debilitated them. At the war's conclusion in 1763, the Acadians left Georgia, where they had lived in misery and without the comfort of priests. Many resettled in the French colony of Haiti."
And we end with the grave of James Vocelle, descendant of the Acadians and author of local books, including A History of Camden County, where most of the information on local sites comes from.

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