Elder Abraham Jackson was the patriarch of Jackson Town, a historically Black neighborhood near Collins, Georgia, and he and his family were among the earliest burials in what would become the Jackson Cemetery, still dominated by his descendants and cousins today. The cemetery is very well-maintained.
Elder Abraham Jackson (1837-17 April 1915) and Rilla Collins Jackson (1840-17 March 1915)
Born enslaved in Barnwell, South Carolina, Elder Jackson later served (1865-1866) in Co. C, 1st Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry (Colored), which was redesignated Co. C, 33rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops. He married Rilla, whose last name remains unknown, in the 1850s.
Anna Collins, (Circa 11 October 1888-8 June 1904)
This memorial for Anna Collins, the very wife of Henry Collins, is the earliest grave I found in Jackson Cemetery. She may have been Elder Jackson’s sister-in-law.
Nellie Jackson (28 January 1862-23 June 1904)
Nellie was the wife of George Jackson. Her vernacular memorial, which has been repaired, is very similar to that of Anna Collins. It reads: Dear husbad (sic) and children. as you is now, once was I, and as I am now you must be. Remember death and follow me.
Savannah’s Catholic Cemetery was established by Bishop Francis Xavier Gartland (1805-1854) in 1853 when local politicians denied the congregation’s request for a specially consecrated section in Laurel Grove. An eight-acre purchase on the grounds of the former Rhinehart Plantation was the genesis of this large park-like necropolis. Many remains first buried in Colonial Park were re-interred here, which explains the memorials which predate the existence of the Catholic Cemetery. Surprisingly, this property is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While Bonaventure, Colonial Park, and the Laurel Grove cemeteries get scores of visitors, the Catholic Cemetery is often overlooked.
After the surrender of Savannah to General Sherman’s troops on 23 November 1864, Union soldiers encamped here for a time and are known to have desecrated graves. Some of these were restored in 1867 after pleas by Bishop Augustin Verot to President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Several additions have expanded the cemetery over the years.
The memorials and monuments depicted here are presented in no particular order, and I will add more images in the future.
Prince – He loved his master
It’s rare to see pets buried in human cemeteries. Prince, a beloved companion of Patrick Hagan (1843-1912), is one of the most sought-out and photographed monuments in the Catholic Cemetery.
This depiction of a welcoming Christ graces a Buttimer family plot and is located near the cemetery entrance.
Joseph Truchelut (1769-1826)
This is one of two memorials for Joseph Truchelut, a native of Rehon, France. He was originally buried in Colonial Park and re-interred here in the 1850s.
Kennedy family
This grotto, the only vernacular memorial I found in the Catholic Cemetery, is located beside the grave of Frank Kennedy.
Mary Raffial (1816-1859)
Mary Raffial was born in St. Augustine and died in Savannah in 1859. The willow seen on her headstone was a common theme in Victorian funerary art, representing sorrow and the acceptance of loss.
Hugh Cullens (unknown-1861) & family
This was the Hugh Cullens family vault. Cullens was a native of Ireland. Brick mausoleums of this design were popular in mid-19th century Savannah.
John Cass (1807-1859) & family
John Cass was an Irish immigrant. His obituary in the Savannah Morning News noted: “…Mr. Cass was, at the time of his death, the proprietor of the City Hotel, and Vice President of the Hibernian Society. His remains were followed to the grave…by the Chatham Artillery, members of the Hibernian Society, and a large concourse of citizens.”
James Monahan (unknown-1879) & family
This is another typical 19th-century mausoleum design found in various Savannah cemeteries, with stacked granite and marble trim. Mr. Monahan was a private in Olmstead’s 1st Georgia Infantry during the Civil War.
William Doody (1818-1873) & family
This mausoleum was installed in 1906. William Doody was an Irish immigrant.
Dempsey family
This Gothic Steeple monument is unique in the Catholic Cemetery, though the style can be found in other historic Savannah locations.
John Rourke, Sr. (1837-1932) & family
John Rourke, Sr., immigrated to America from County Wicklow, Ireland. His wife, Johanna Reedy Rourke (1845-1940), was from County Limerick.
John Jasper Rourke (1879-1879) & Mary Frances Rourke (1874-1880)
A cherub and cross mark the final resting place of two of John and Johanna Rourke’s children.
Capt. John Flannery (1835-1910) & family
John Flannery was an Irish immigrant, born in Nenagh, County Tipperary, who became one of the most prominent citizens of Savannah. The captain of the Irish Jasper Greens, he was beloved by his fellow soldiers and remained active in commemorations and parades honoring their service well into old age. He organized and served as president of the Southern Bank, which later merged with the Citizens Bank to become the Citizens and Southern Bank (C&S).
Capt. John Flannery monument (detail)
His monumental memorial, featuring a depiction of the crucified Christ, is among the most notable in the Catholic Cemetery.
Irish Jasper Greens monument (detail)
This Confederate soldier, standing atop a much taller base, memorializes the 28 members of the Irish Jasper Greens who died during the Civil War. It was erected in 1910.
Joseph Francis O’Brien (1867-1928) and Agnes L. Fitzgerald O’Brien (1872-1904)
These cross memorials are quite impressive, and larger than they appear in the photograph.
Francis James “Frank” Bohan (1871-1900)
This Celtic cross features the name “Frank” at the center.
Eliza C. Brown Johnston (1847-1908)
A memorial published on the anniversary of Mrs. Johnston’s death in the Savannah Morning News on 15 March 1909 noted: “…Mrs. Johnston worked as a trained nurse under Dr. James B. Read for twenty-four years and, before the era of the professional trained nurse, was considered the best nurse that Savannah could boast of. She was noted for her many deeds of charity and cared as tenderly for those who could give no reward as if they were the wealthiest in the land…” Mrs. Johnston was a native of Charleston.
James J. Paul (1893-1904)
The lamb is a typical symbol on the graves of children. This memorial was created by Savannah’s most accomplished monument maker, John Walz.
John Feeley (1834-1892)
This sarcophagus-style memorial features elements of the Egyptian Revival.
Natalie Caroline Bettelini Maggioni (1854-1915)
Mrs. Maggioni was a Swiss immigrant of Italian ancestry. Her memorial is quite beautiful.
Drury-McDonald Memorial with John Waltz cherubs
Those familiar with Savannah cemeteries are likely aware of the work of John Walz. He is perhaps best known for his cherubs.
Drury-McDonald Memorial with John Waltz cherubs
These cherubs are often located at the corners of small pillar stones and are quite distinctive.
Drury-McDonald Memorial with John Waltz cherubs
They survive in various conditions.
Joseph Pelli (1844-1913) & family
This memorial features a depiction of the Pietà.
Fogarty family plot
Christ depicted with the Crown of Thorns is but a small part of this memorial, but quite poignant.
Lula Margaret Smith (1861-1897)
The angel in a grotto adorning the gravesite of Lula Margaret Smith was created by John Walz.
Katie Walker McGuire (1865-1954)
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most common symbols in Catholic iconography and is often depicted as pierced or flaming, surrounded by thorns.
Ramah Primitive Baptist Church is the most historic congregation in Wilkinson County ad remains one of its most active. According to local history, Union soldiers encamped in the churchyard in November 1864, during Sherman’s March to the Sea.
A Georgia Historical Commission marker places in 1955 reads: “Ramah Primitive Baptist Church on South Fork of Commissioner’s Creek was constituted June 10, 1809 by the Brethren Gaylord and McGinty with ten members. Educational, social, and cultural affairs of the community centered around the church for years before the town of Gordon was established. The Ramah Guards, Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. left for Virginia from the church after impressive ceremonies and a flag presentation. Many descendants of people prominent in Ramah District still reside nearby. The Sanders Association sponsored this marker as a memorial to the Christian spirit of Ramah’s founders.”
One notable modern burial is that of Jim Williams, of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, who is buried beside his mother.
Charles Hicks (1838-1941). Photograph via The Hicks Preserve. Public domain. No known restrictions.
Charles Hicks was born enslaved to a large landowner named Page, of Wrightsville, on 7 July 1838, and was first known as Charles Page. Though largely unknown today, he was well-known by veterans of both sides of the Civil War during his lifetime through his involvement in veterans groups. Modern scholarship makes it clear that enslaved men didn’t “volunteer” for service for the Confederacy, though quite a few assisted their enslavers on the battlefield. As a result, it has been suggested that Mr. Hicks “served” the Confederacy. Since he was personally proud of his superlative achievement, I will not malign that fact, but he had no choice. He has often been held up as an example of Black support for the Confederacy, and but I believe the full story should be available.
Charles’s first enslaver was known for his cruelty and his early years were difficult. Page sold Charles to to James Henry Hicks in 1860, at which time he became Charles Hicks. According to Findagrave, Charles went off to war as a servant with his owner’s son, Lt. James H. Hicks Jr., in 1861. Lt. Hicks served with the 14th Georgia, under the command of Robert E. Lee and he and Charles were present at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor. When Lt. Hicks was wounded in 1864, he and Charles returned to Georgia. Soon thereafter, Hicks went back to Virginia, leaving Charles behind.
The details aren’t clear, but Charles left the farm in Johnson County and was intercepted by Union troops and conscripted into the 110th United States Colored Volunteer Infantry. This unit served with Sherman during the occupation of Savannah. Upon his release from service, Hicks, by now a free man, returned to Johnson County and lived for a time near his old master. He moved to a farm near Lyons in the 1890s. He was granted a federal pension in 1912 and traveled the next year to the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg as an honorary member of the United Confederate Veterans. He returned in 1938 for the 75th anniversary. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union equivalent of the Confederate association, and attended numerous reunions over the years.
He established the first known school for Black children in Toombs County in the early 1930s, donated the land for and was very active in Jordan Stream Baptist Church, where the school was located. According to his obituary, Hicks “was a substantial landowner and operated his farm until after he was a hundred years old when sons gave him such assistance as he needed…”
He was memorialized on the African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington in 1998. I hope this man, who was a shining example of reconciliation and was a living embodiment of the Civil War, is better remembered today. [His family operates an excellent website about his life, but I’m unable to share at the moment because of certificate issues. I’ll update when the certificate is clear; it’s likely a temporary issue.]
This slab at the foot of his grave reads: In Memory of Charles Hicks Who Served in Co. F. 14th GA Inf Reg CSA AND Co C 110th U S Colored Vol Infantry – 1861-1866 – Only Georgia Veteran Known To Be a Member of Both the United Confederate Veterans and Grand Army of the Republic Organizations. It’s probably that there were a few other Black men who “served” both sides, but it’s understood that he was the only one in Georgia.
Few Hall, thanks to sensitive design, retains its grand Greek Revival appearance, though it’s now attached to a more modern facility and incorporated into the Tarbutton Performing Arts Center. Completed a year after Phi Gamma Hall, in 1852, it was home to the Few Society, named for Emory College’s first president, Ignatius Few. A literary society which grew out of the original Phi Gamma fraternity, the Few Society spent nearly a century engaged in weekly debates and friendly rivalries with their fellow students.
Few Hall originally housed a library on the ground floor and debate hall on the upper floor. Like Phi Gamma Hall, it also saw service in the Civil War, housing a detachment of nurses and doctors from nearby Hood Hospital in Covington.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
According to Erik Blackburn Oliver’s Cornerstone and Grove, Phi Gamma was the first literary and fraternal society at Emory College. Their meeting and debate hall, which anchors the northwest corner of the quad, was completed in 1851 and is the oldest surviving academic structure on the Oxford campus. It has been beautifully restored in recent years and is a textbook example of Greek Revival architecture, to my mind a landmark of the form. It also served as a temporary hospital during the Civil War.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Oxford was established by the Methodists and at the center of the community was the Oxford Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church. The cornerstone was laid in 1841 and from 1843 until the construction of the Young J. Allen Memorial Methodist Church in 1910, served as Commencement Hall for Emory College. In 1864, it served as a temporary hospital for casualties of the Battle of Atlanta. It’s the oldest extant non-residential building in Oxford. [A similar church, architecturally, is the Dorchester Presbyterian Church in Liberty County].
The wings visible at both sides were added in 1878 and give the church its cruciform shape. After the New Church opened in 1910, the Old Church was allowed to deteriorate, so much so that in 1948, the town of Oxford took bids for its demolition. Luckily, it was saved and stands today a symbol of both school and community. No longer a church, it is occasionally used for events and private gatherings.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This antebellum cottage was built by Dr. Henry Gaither but is most associated with a young woman purported to be a spy for the Confederacy, Izora “Zora” Fair, and is even referred to as the Zora Fair Cottage based upon this history. The history itself may be apocryphal or embellished, however. It posits that while Zora was a refugee from war-ravaged South Carolina, she disguised herself as a mulatto with crushed walnut hulls, sneaked into General Sherman’s headquarters, and overheard his plans for the March to Sea. When she tried to pass this information to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, it was intercepted by Union soldiers, and she hid out in the attic of this house.
Considering that the most recent sources for this information were published in the 1910s, they must be held to some scrutiny, especially since they were published by partisan historians. There must be something to the story; perhaps a more objective modern researcher can put it all together.
Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Christened “Orna Villa” in 1820 by Dr. Alexander Means, Jr. (1801-1883), this is the oldest house in Oxford, and if the log house from which it was expanded is considered, likely has origins in the 1790s.
In her highly-readable history of the house, current owner Lisa Dorward has done more research than anyone else, it seems. She writes: A Virginian by the name of Richard Keenon Dearing had come to Georgia in 1793 and purchased 2,000 acres of land on which he built a four-room plantation house of hand-hewn logs. Dr. Means bought the house from Dearing around 1820 and set about expanding and remodeling it into the grand Greek Revival house it is today. Among Dr. Means’s many interests was ornithology, so he named his home that stood among the trees, Orna Villa, meaning “Bird House.”
Alexander Means, Jr., was a renaissance man who, as the Oxford Historical Society notes, served as a physician, school teacher, scientist, college professor, poet, college president, statesman, and as the first state chemist in the United States. Born to an Irish immigrant father and Scots-Irish mother in Statesville, North Carolina, Means settled circa 1820 in what would eventually become the town of Oxford. He married Sarah A. E. Winston in 1827 and they had 11 children. He helped establish the Newton County Female Seminary, served as president of the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School, and taught natural sciences at the newly established Emory College, among other academic endeavors. He entertained President Millard Fillmore at Orna Villa, and delivered the funeral oration for President Zachary Taylor. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia, where he taught during winter sessions. He retired from Emory in 1855, after briefly serving as president. Though he traveled and lectured in many locations, he remained at Orna Villa throughout his life.
As accomplished as he was and as varied his interests, Means, was also man of his time Research by Dr. Gary Hauk and Dr. Sally Wolff King suggests that between 20-28 men, women, and children were enslaved at Orna Villa. Ironically perhaps, Dr. Means was initially opposed to secession, but soon became a vocal supporter of the Confederacy.
Orna Villa stands today as one of the most tangible symbols of Oxford and Newton County’s early history. There are quite a few “ghost stories” related to the house, as well, especially those concerning Toby Means, but you’ll have to read Lisa Doward’s articles to learn more about them.
From inspiring Margaret Mitchell’s Hollywood vision of Ashley Wilkes’s home, Twelve Oaks, in Gone With the Wind, to appearances in In the Heat of the Night, The Vampire Diaries, Vacation, Life of the Party, The Family That Preys, and other movies and television shows, this magnificent home has perhaps come to symbolize Covington more than any other.
The home was built as a Greek Revival townhouse for Judge John Harris (1803-1878) circa 1836, on a smaller scale. After his country plantation, east of Covington, was occupied by Union troops in 1864, Harris sold his townhouse to William J. Metcalf. Circa 1881, it was sold to Robert Franklin Wright, Sr. (1821-1919). Wright and his wife, Salina Frances Robinson Wright (1831-1905), named it “The Cedars”. Major changes were made to the house after its purchase, in 1903, by Covington Mills owner Nathaniel Snead Turner (1863-1931). Turner later renamed it Whitehall, after adding the colonnade, second floor porch, and a third floor with dormers.
The Harris-Turner House, as it’s also known, is now known as The Twelve Oaks and serves as a popular bed and breakfast inn. It’s a wonder not to be missed when in Covington.
Covington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
