The best finds are often hiding in plain sight. This hay and stock barn, located near the corner of Benjamin Hill Drive and Perry House Road, was recently exposed after trees were cleared. The nearby area was once farmland but has been developed in recent years.
Nettie Crabb was born in Brownstown, Indiana, in 1841, but further details of her early life are elusive. She married Dr. Robert L. Weems, a physician who served as a surgeon during the Civil War. Widowed in 1880, she moved to Bird Island, Minnesota, where she worked as a milliner. In 1882 she homesteaded in Wessington Springs, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota), and worked in a pharmacy, which she would eventually own, the only known woman in the territory to do so. In The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (2009), Ann D. Gordon noted that Nettie was “well skilled in her profession (pharmacy).”
Nettie married another Civil War veteran, Cleveland T. Hall, in 1884, but was widowed again in 1886. Ever busy, Nettie was elected as a trustee of the Wessington Springs school in 1887 and 1888, and was also served as an election judge. In 1889, she argued for women’s suffrage at a state constitutional convention. Later that year she served as vice-president of the Jerauld County Equal Suffrage Association. In 1890 she was prominent in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
In 1895, she was one of the first settlers of Fitzgerald. where she established the Fitzgerald Enterprise, the first major newspaper in the community. She also remained active in the WCTU and was known for her support of railroad workers. Her first son, Victor, had died of exposure when his train was caught in a snowstorm in Minnesota. When Nettie C. Hall died at the age of 68 on 14 June 1908, she was a legend of the community and her lifetime of work and advocacy was celebrated. In 1910, railroad workers and the WCTU erected the “Mother Enterprise” drinking fountain in her honor.
Fitzgerald Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This is the current post office in Fitzgerald. It opened in 1966.
For much of its history, this was the home of the Lawrence Earl ‘L. E.’ Justice (1908-1986) family. Mr. Justice was an insurance agent. Like many of the houses on West Central Avenue, it was likely built circa 1910-1920. Online property records date it to 1950, which is not correct.
I made this photograph in 2009 and have been looking for it for a few years. This pyramidal cottage was one of my favorite vernacular houses in Fitzgerald, but not long after I made this shot, the house was stripped down in a what appeared to be a renovation. Fast forward to 2025 and the house was returned to this appearance, with some unobtrusive updates. I’ll get a shot of the updated version next time I’m in town.
Westwood Cemetery is perhaps the oldest and largest Black cemetery in Fitzgerald.
Though the earliest burial I could locate was in 1918, the cemetery may have been established earlier, in the heyday of the Westwood community and the AB&A Railroad shops, circa 1900-1910.
The usual variety of memorials is present, ranging from handmade vernacular headstones to stenciled and commercial examples. As always, I’m sharing only a representative sampling of what I found and was able to photograph.
Interestingly, some of the earliest memorials in the cemetery are commercially made marble headstones.
Hattie Allen’s memorial is one of the finest in Westwood Cemetery. It notes that she was born in Houston County, Georgia, and that she was a member of Bethel AME Church, one of Fitzgerald’s oldest Black congregations.
The gravestone of Mr. King illustrates the difficulty in the identification of some burials, especially those using hand writing. Some of the inscription has eroded over time. As a result, the photographic documentation of such memorials is an important step in recording their lives.
The vernacular memorials are always my favorites. Ms. Jones’s was difficult to read.
This simple vernacular memorial was painted white, as were a good number in Westwood Cemetery at one time.
The marker for Mr. Anderson was cracked, a common issue with handmade memorials.
I presume this was the son of Walter Anderson. If so, his father outlived him by a decade. Both of their memorials were likely made by the same person.
This is one of four handmade posts marking the plot of the Mathis Family. This one bears the name K. C. Mathis, who died in 1952.
A broader view of the Mathis Family plot, with the handmade boundary posts visible at the corners.
This headstone is handmade, but of a shape commonly found in commercial memorials of the Victorian era.
I love unusual names and am always happy to find them when rambling around old cemeteries. Rev. Owens may have been associated with one of the local congregations in Westwood, but I have been unable to located anything about him.
The lamb is a common symbol in cemeteries.
The government supplies headstones to all veterans who choose to be remembered for their service. This memorial indicates that Mr. Medler served in the army in World War II.
John Medler was likely the brother of J. C. Medler (previous photograph). Both served the United States in the army in World War II.
This memorial is of a vernacular style common in the last century.
This small cross is one of the finer commercial memorials in Westwood Cemetery.
Though not fully visible in this photograph, the name at the bottom of this memorial is ‘Cummings’. Cummings was one of the two leading Black funeral homes in Fitzgerald for the latter half of the 20th century.
The graves of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are decorated with flower pots.
This marker has no identification.
The Lyons family plot is interesting for its placement of small Christmas trees near each grave.
The cemetery is not neglected but rather in a more natural state, with native grasses and wildflowers abundant throughout.
Fairview Missionary Baptist is a historic Black congregation in eastern Ben Hill County. It was established in 1912 by Rev. W. C. Tucker. The present structure was built between 1994-1999.
A small cemetery is located across the road from the church and contains stenciled concrete headstones alongside a few commercial examples. The following are meant to be representative and in no way a complete documentation. I believe some have been lost to vegetation in the surrounding woods.
Find-a-Grave is in error in noting that this is also known as Old Field Cemetery. The two are off the same road but several miles apart, and Old Field is a White cemetery.
Among legible headstones, A. J. and Laura Brown’s indicate they were among the oldest members. They were likely born enslaved and were in their early 60s when Fairview was established.
No specific birthdate for Laura is given, though the memorial notes that she was 50 when she died.
Mr. Jackson was a veteran, but details were not readable on his memorial. The date of his death may indicate that he was a casualty of World War II.
Mr. Shepherd was a Staff Sergeant in World War II. No other service details are given on the memorial.
The shoes and figurines are a tribute.
This is one of the more modern commercial stones in the cemetery.
Following is a random gallery of some of my favorite photographs of Youngs Chapel Methodist Church in Ben Hill County. Since its no longer with us, I thought I’d share. I’ve made around a thousand photographs over the years, so it was difficult to pick just a few. I hope you enjoy them as much I enjoyed making them.
When I first photographed Youngs Chapel, in 1999, I was just beginning to appreciate historic architecture around my hometown of Fitzgerald.
I was nearly 30 at the time, and though I had spent far too much time rambling the back roads of the area, Young’s Chapel was new to me. It was proof that even in a small county, there was always something new to discover.
At the time, the church still had a wooden sign on the front porch, the roof was still intact, and most of the wall boards were intact. The pews were also still present, before being removed by a family member for safe keeping.
I learned of the existence of the church through an article in our local paper, and armed with a good county road map (this was before our phones became our navigators), I easily located it.
Over time, Youngs Chapel became an anchor in my travels around Georgia. Even after I had documented all 159 of the state’s counties, it held a special place in my heart.
On visits home to Ben Hill County, I usually made the 18 mile trek out to its northwestern corner to “check on the church”.
For me, it was a symbol of everything I wanted to photograph, the forgotten simple places people built to serve immediate and utilitarian needs.
When I went to check on the church at Thanksgiving, I had a heightened sense of worry. When I turned onto Youngs Chapel Road off the Lower Rebecca Road, I had a strange feeling, and as I got closer, I couldn’t see the familiar roofline in the distance.
Upon my approach, my worst fears were confirmed. Youngs Chapel, already weakened by a tornado and long abandoned, had collapsed sometime earlier. Somehow, I knew before I arrived that it was gone.
And so ends the long history of just another country church, lost not to lack of concern but to the elements.
The place wasn’t just an anchor for my travels and discoveries. It was also the center of a long lost community and held a special place in the hearts of the families who sustained it for over a century.
People moved away but their descendants still came and kept its grounds manicured and its cemetery free of weeds and brambles as long as they could.
Youngs Chapel was built in the waning years of the 1800s and was the heart of the long forgotten Ashley community.
Congregants first met in a brush arbor circa 1875.
They built this church, but moved it to its present location about three miles from its first home, circa 1890.
The land was donated by John Thomas Young, an area pioneer, and may have been named for him. It possibly had another name when it was organized.
The congregation dwindled over time, as older members died and younger generations moved away.
The last renovations to Youngs Chapel were made in 1971 and by 1974, the church was closed.
I like to think that the members would be shocked by all the interest in this little building that was their church home, but I think they would be proud of what they built and how long it lasted.
I am sad for the building and bemoan its loss, but I’m thankful that I was able to document it and share it with the wider world.
Union Baptist Church is a historic congregation in northeastern Ben Hill County, near the Ocmulgee River. I believe it to be a Freedmen’s church, after documenting its nearby cemetery and considering the birth dates of some of its earliest burials. Also, the association with the Dorminy’s Mill Love of Honor Lodge, which is connected to other nearby Freedmen’s congregations, is an indication of its age.
Note: This replaces a post first published in 2008.
I first published the above photo, of a monument at Union Cemetery, on 11 November 2008. This new post replaces and expands that. Even before I became fascinated by historic Black cemeteries, Union Cemetery was a favorite location in my home county. The cemetery is associated with the nearby Union Baptist Church, a Freedmen’s congregation. These images are presented in no particular order, but are rather meant to illustrate the variety of memorials.
This memorial was the work of the prolific Eldren Bailey, whose headstones can be found throughout the state. It was purchased through the Murdaugh Funeral Home.
Bessie was the daughter of Harry Durham and Mollie Durham. They are buried elsewhere.
Robert was the son of Robert McDuffie, Sr. (1835-unknown) and Annie Dixon McDuffie Walker (1874-1952).
This statue has been in bad condition for many years, and lost its head at some point. Still, it’s a poignant memorial.
Mrs. Walker was the wife of George Walker, and was 24 at the time of her death. A barely readable lodge association is also noted on the memorial: Love of Honor Court No. 484, O. O. C., Dorminy’s Mill, Georgia.
Unfortunately, this nice vernacular headstone has been damaged. There are at least two, perhaps three, men named George Walker buried at Union Cemetery.
Mrs. Mitchell was the wife of Neazer N. Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell was the son of Neazer N. and Ella F. Mitchell. He was a Mason.
Mrs. Hunter was the wife of H. E. Hunter.
Mr. Hammons was the son of Susan Campbell.
Mr. Walker was a Private in Co. K., 810th Pioneer Infantry in World War I.
Mr. Shavers was a Technician 5th Grade (TEC 5) in the Army during World War II.
Rev. Simmons was a pastor of Union Baptist Church, I believe.
I believe James T. Thomas was the pastor at Union Baptist Church for many years. If so, I remember him fondly from his job at Wal-Mart, where he was well-loved by all. He worked well into his eighties, if my recollection is correct.
As with most rural cemeteries, Union gets overgrown from time to time, but is generally well maintained.
