Major* Willis Pentecost Menefee (1814-1855) is considered the founder of Palmetto. His father, George Menefee (1762-1840), of Virginia, served in the Revolutionary War and was granted land in Jackson County, before moving to Talbot County. The elder Menefee is buried on the grounds of his plantation near Collinsworth Methodist Church in Talbot County. Willis Menefee established a plantation** in old Campbell County, near the site of present-day Palmetto and donated land for businesses, schools, parks and the Palmetto Methodist Church and gave all land necessary for the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad. These gifts led to the creation and subsequent growth of Palmetto, part of Campbell County before its annexation into Fulton County.

This is actually the second resting place of Willis Menefee and his mother, Nancy Collier Menefee (1771-1852). They were originally buried on his plantation but re-interred in the Wayside City Park in downtown Palmetto in 1980.

*-I haven’t been able to locate a military record for Menefee, and therefore do not know whether the title of Major is an honorific or if it indicates actual service. Honorific titles were quite common among the upper class in the 19th century.

**-For descendants seeking slave records related to the Menefee family, I haven’t located any, but due to his status as a planter, he would have almost certainly been involved in this institution.