Black Rock A. M. E. Church was established in 1868 by freedmen, most of whom had been members of the white Independence Methodist Church in nearby Tignall. The old church building was moved in 1870 to land given to the congregation by member John Stovall Poole, Sr. (1820-1893). The plain style church remained unchanged until the steeple and vestibule were added to the front circa 1900. The style is sometimes called “wedding cake” for its stacked construction and is quite rare in Georgia.
One of the large rocks that inspired the church’s name was engraved to commemorate their anniversary in 1940. Rev. J. Clinton chose Matthew 21:42 to represent the strength and faith of the congregation: The stone which the builders rejected became the cornerstone of the building.
Rocks of this type are common in Georgia’s “Granite Belt” and often give names to places and geographical features throughout the region.
Slabs of local stone are commonly used for headstones in most of the older cemeteries in this part of the state. I’ll update this one if I can decipher the name.
Rev. C. M. Pinkleton (28 November 1856-13 March 1905)
Monuments ranging from simple to formal are found throughout the historic cemetery. Many of those buried here were formerly enslaved.
Emily Hawes (1834-16 October 1899)
Emily was the wife of Fate Hawes. The typical stenciled headstone is a common vernacular form.
Macedonia Baptist Church is an old African-American congregation. The structure is typical of others of this type built in the early 20th century and retains its original steeple.
The amazing history of Smyrna begins in 1785, when Reverends John Newton and John Simpson of the South Carolina Presbytery began holding services in nearby homes at the request of Sir John Williston Talbot (1735-1798), who had come to Georgia to attend to the 50,000 acres granted him by King George III. The first church, built on this site in 1793, was a log structure and the Reverend John Springer, the first Presbyterian minister ordained in Georgia, was the first pastor and he remained here until 1801. Membership had declined to such a small number by 1820 that the Presbyterians transferred the building to the Methodists and moved to the Washington Presbyterian Church. Beginning in the 1840s, the Methodists and Presbyterians held joint camp meetings on the grounds, which went on for many years. The old log church served Smyrna Methodist until a frame structure replaced it in 1860. The present structure dates to 1911.
Historic Smyrna Cemetery
The land for this burying ground, and by extension the churchyard, were given by Sir John Talbot in 1788, and it is one of the most historic in the region. I’m sharing some of the highlights here, focusing on the early gravestones.
Talbot Enclosure
This enclosure of Georgia granite is the burial place of several members of the Talbot family and other early members of the congregation. Because it’s the burial place of Governor Matthew Talbot, I’m identifying it as the Talbot Enclosure, but many families, including Jones, Charlton, Martin, and Colley, are also present.
Matthew Talbot, the son of Sir John Talbot and the namesake of Talbotton and Talbot County, served as the 30th governor of Georgia, albeit for only two weeks [24 October 1819-5 November 1819]. After moving to Georgia from Virginia, he served as a clerk of the Superior Court in Elbert County [1790-1791] and represented Wilkes County in the Georgia General Assembly. He later moved to Oglethorpe County and represented them in the state Constitutional Conventions of 1795 and 1798. He served in the Georgia Senate in 1799, 1801-1803, and from 1808 until 1822. While serving a President of the Senate, he became the interim Governor of Georgia upon the death of Governor William Rabun in 1819. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1823, losing after a battle in the legislature that lasted three days before a selection could be made. This resulted in the legislature changing the system of electing governors by election by popular vote. In 1827 he once again was a gubernatorial candidate, but passed away before the election.
James C. Talbot (5 October 1799-11 July 1840)
James Creswell Talbot, who, according to his headstone, stood well as a Preacher, served the Smyrna congregation before his death.
Mary L. Talbot (5 July 1838-17 February 1849)
Mary was the daughter of Reverend James C. Talbot and Sarah A. Talbot.
Thomas Henry Jones (July ? 1816-10 March 1818)
Thomas Henry Jones was the son of Col. William Jones, a veteran of the War of 1812. No birth or death dates for Col. Jones have been located as of this writing.
Dr. Henry Augustus Jones (9 August 1821-15 December 1854)
I like the inscription on this early physician’s headstone: The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips. He walked with men in peace and equity.
Frances Charlton (7 March 1782-11 September 1857)
The headstone of Frances Charlton is a nice early Victorian example featuring weeping willow trees. It is signed by its maker, Glendinning of Augusta. It notes of Charlton: Lived a consistent member of the Methodist Church nearly half a century.
Owens Colley (9 April 1851-13 September 1851)
Owens Colley was the infant son of John Owens & Sarah E. Colley.
Pvt. Gannaway Martin (18 September 1740-26 August 1819)
Gannaway Martin served in General Elijah Clarke’s Regiment of Georgia Troops during the Revolutionary War.
This is another view of the Talbot Enclosure from the back side.
This is the corner of the enclosure at a point where it joins another smaller enclosure.
Behind the Talbot Enclosure is an equally old and historic section of the cemetery. I’m calling it the Barnett Family Plot, for the number of Barnetts interred here.
William W. Barnett (16 November 1747-25 October 1834)
William W. Barnett was a son of John Barnett, Jr., an Irish immigrant who was one of the earliest settlers of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. His sister, Mary, is believed to have been the first white child born in Mecklenburg County. Along with his father and his brother, William served in the Revolutionary War in the Snow Campaign and the Battle of Hanging Rock.
Jean Jack Barnett (1750-11 September 1811)
Jean Jack, a native of Pennsylvania, was the wife of William M. Barnett of Wilkes County.
Charity Barnett (1789 ?-26 September 1808)
Charity was the daughter of William W. & Jean Barnett. Her headstone is one of the earliest in the cemetery.
William J. Barnett (July 1813-22 September 1828)Elizabeth Margaret Joyner Barnett (1799 ? -23 January 1822)
Elizabeth was the first wife of Samuel Jack Barnett (21 January 1775-14 January 1843). His second wife, Elizabeth Wingfield Willis Bennett (30 March 1791-11 June 1856), is buried nearby.
The three memorials that follow were just aesthetically interesting to me.
G. W. Florence (Birthdate unknown-1874)
The simple mausoleum of G. W. Florence features a ventilation pipe on its roof. This is likely due to the belief held by some Victorians that people were often buried alive and this would provide air to the “not-yet-departed”. Florence himself has proven a mystery, as I can’t locate anything about his life. Even his birthdate is missing from this memorial.
Augustus Stovall Tatom (12 January 1877-6 October 1913)
Augustus Stovall Tatom was the son of Wiley G. Tatom (1847-1916) & Georgia M. Tatom (1847-1930). The broken Corinthian column on the headstone is symbolic of a life cut short in the parlance of Victorian funerary art.
Elizabeth Cooper Meriwether (21 August 1840-24 Mary 1921)
Cornelia Elizabeth Cooper Meriwether was the wife of Thomas Molloy Meriwether (1821-1899). The ferns and tropical plants featured on her headstone may have a Victorian meaning, but I think they’re more representative of the Arts & Crafts aesthetic that was popular at the time.
Ebenezer Baptist Church, one of the oldest congregations in Wilkes County, was established in 1787. In papers held by the University of Georgia, photographer Hubert Bond gave 1790 as the construction date of the church but a more recent source suggests 1904. It is possible that parts of the earlier structure were incorporated into this one, and, considering its Greek Revival style, it may have antebellum origins.
The church is the last remaining public landmark of the historic community of Aonia, which had a post office from 1843-1918.
Pompey’s Chapel Baptist Church is an historic African-American congregation in southern Wilkes County, founded by freedmen in 1870. The original church, believed to have been built circa 1879, has been expanded, though it retains much of its traditional character. A well-maintained cemetery is located adjacent to the churchyard and a one-room structure is located behind the church. I believe it may have been a schoolhouse, as was a common practice among Black churches in this era, but I cannot confirm that at this time.
This Greek Revival landmark is the center of a large historic property near downtown Washington. The original house was built circa 1854 and has been expanded at least twice since the 1870s. Originally known as The Pines, for its sylvan location, it was built by Robert Shand Smith (1815-1887). Smith was a gentleman farmer who had about 75 acres but wasn’t dependent on agriculture for income. He was a notable presence in the Washington Methodist Church. After the deaths of Robert Shand Smith and his wife, Susan Dart Smith (1805-1880), their son, Robert Motte Smith (1849-1923) inherited the property. Their heirs sold it to Dr. Carlton W. Hearn and family in 1967. It has been beautifully maintained and is a great example of an antebellum Greek Revival house in Georgia.
The appearance of this house is more Neoclassical than Greek Revival, but it is said to have originated as a raised Greek Revival townhouse. It is associated with Jesse Mercer; an historical marker notes that the most famous Georgia Baptist of the 19th century lived here, but it would have been for a very short time, as the house dates to circa 1840 and Mercer died in 1841. This bears further research and investigation. Since I’m not clear on the Mercer connection, I’m identifying it as the Nicolas Wiley House, since Mr. Wiley was responsible for the present appearance of the structure. He added the colonnade and its custom-made Corinthian capitals which aesthetically define the house today [detail, below]. The street on which the house is located is also named for Mercer.
Later owners were Thomas Heard, in the 1880s, and Mary Callen in the 1890s. Mrs. Callen had the house lowered and modernized, adding electricity and indoor plumbing. Edwin Anderson bought the house in the 1940s or 1950s. It is presently for sale.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This home was originally located nine miles west of Washington, near Beaverdam Creek, and was moved to town in 1838. It is believed to date to the first decade of the 19th century and could be even slightly earlier than that. I will update when I learn more.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This exceptional Colonial Revival was the home of Dr. Addison Wingfield Simpson (1875-1963), who practiced medicine in Washington for 60 years. His son, Dr. Addison Wingfield Simpson, Jr. (1907-1967), himself a practicing physician for 27 years, inherited it upon his father’s death. He only outlived his father by four years.
Washington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Also known as the Ficklen-Lyndon-Johnson House, Holly Court is somewhat typical of the grander townhouses of 19th century Georgia, in that a “marriage” of structures led to its present appearance. The lot on which it’s located was owned from 1817-1830 by Bill Hoxey [born circa 1789], a free man of color from the Savannah area who was an accomplished carpenter. He was also a deacon of the Washington Baptist church, serving the Black members. It is believed that part of the original structure built on the lot by Hoxey circa 1825 has been incorporated into the house. Mr. Hoxey sold the property to William L. Harris in 1830. Laws of the day apparently prohibited even free Blacks from selling property so that was handled by Hoxey’s trustee, Lewis Brown.
Harris spent only three years at the property, selling it to Lock Weems in 1833. Improvements to the house were made by Weems before he sold it to his mother-in-law, Mary Shepherd, in 1836. Dr. Fielding Ficklen, Jr., (1801-1869) purchased it in 1837 and made further improvements. He enlarged it by moving and attaching another structure, which is now the front elevation, from his farmland about seven miles outside town. [Mrs. Jefferson Davis and her children stayed in the home in 1865, awaiting the arrival of her husband after the fall of Richmond]. Upon his father’s death in 1869, Dr. Joseph Burwell Ficklen (1830-1886) occupied the house. It is believed that his wife, Julia Weems Ficklen (1843-1925), was responsible for the fine landscaping that became a defining feature of the property.
In 1890, George Edward Lyndon (1845-1927), who later served as Washington mayor, bought the property from the Ficklen heirs. After Lyndon’s death in 1927, the house was owned by a relative, Andrew Lyndon. It sat empty for quite some time but served as the location for a mattress production project of the Works Progress Administration [W.P.A.] during the 1930s. Rochford Johnson (1897-1960) bought the house in 1939 and his wife, Elizabeth Barksdale Johnson (1897-1985) gave it the name Holly Court.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 