Also known as Fish Trap Primitive Baptist, Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church is a Freedmen’s congregation established by Elder Aaron Munlin in 1883. It’s one of the oldest Black congregations in Bulloch County. Elder Munlin was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1843 and was sold to an enslaver in Bulloch County in 1856. After the Civil War, he helped establish other congregations of Black Primtive Baptists in Bulloch County, including Banks Creek and Bethel.
According to Alvin D. Jackson of the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center: “Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church is located in Bulloch County, Georgia. It was organized on November 21, 1883. There were only 5 people present at the time of the organization. Brother Howard and Sister Martha Kirkland, Brother Cain Parrish, Elder Aaron Munlin and a white Brother, Elder J. L. Smith, who acted as clerk during the organizational. These few met on Thursday, before the 4th Sunday in November and constituted the church (Mt. Pisgah). The door of the church was open to accept members. On came – Brother Andy Donaldson. They chose Elder Aaron Munlin to be their pastor. These few began doing work for the master in their own way and God blessed them.”
“Elder Aaron Munlin served as pastor 18 years. He was a great man, sold as a slave, the founder of Sister, Bank Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Moderator of the Mt. Pleasant Association. He departed from this life April 11, 1911. The 2nd pastor was Elder Washington Hodges. He served 20 years. The 3rd pastor was Elder Hershel Smith who served 12 years.”
Eureka Church seen from the cemetery, 18 August 2013.
The cemetery associated with historic Eureka Church is the last remaining public landmark of The Level, a Black community near Hagan. The church collapsed circa 2018. A nice collection of vernacular memorials set Eureka Cemetery apart as a historic resource for Evans County. I am sharing random shots, including commercial markers, but focusing on the vernacular pieces.
A. J. Collin(s) (1886-1952)
I believe the name was misspelled on this memorial, as there are others buried here whose name is Collins.
Leasan Ray (1850?-29 June 1915)
Like many in this Freedmen’s congregation, Leasan Ray was likely born enslaved.
Mary Wright (1858?-25 March 1911)
The fallen marker notes that Mary Wright was aged 59 years at the time of her death.
Mary Rease (10 March 1868-27 June 1926)
This is one of the earlier commercially made memorials in the cemetery, featuring a dove.
Unfinished
This marker has no information, but was likely meant for a family.
Sarah Davis (Birth and death dates unknown)
The only information, other than the decedent’s name, notes that she was Bob Small’s sister.
Venus Bacon (2 January 1820-9 October 1889)
Venus Bacon’s marker is an early commercial form with stenciled lettering.
O. F. Kennedy (19 July 1877-15 September 1892)
The hearts were a nice addition on this handmade memorial.
Sammie Wright (23 May 1895-15 August 1958)
Mr. Wright was a Private, 52 Co, 157 Depot Brigade, World War I.
Illegible
I have tried to interpret the words on this memorial to no avail.
Unidentified
The red star likely denotes a Masonic affiliation.
York Jones (Birth date unknown-1935?)
All the Jones family memorials have a similar shape and were likely the work of the same maker. This small stone has faded badly.
Jim Jones (dates illegible)
I will try to add birth and death dates if I am able to interpret them. I believe they all may be children.
Mary Jones (1937-1938)
Like the memorial for Jim Jones, Mary Jones’s features the name in cursive.
The memorial for D. V. Richardson is perhaps the most notable work in the cemetery. It features hand lettering and an unusual symbol, seen in detail above. It appears to have something to do with carpentry or, perhaps, Masonry.
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.
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.
Edger Allen (25 April 1902-14 October 1918)
Interestingly, some of the earliest memorials in the cemetery are commercially made marble headstones.
Hattie Allen (November 1888-14 December 1925)
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.
Braxton or Brayton King (18 Dec 19?-9 February 1919)
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.
Emma Martin (5 or 15 March 1885-4 or 14 January 1958)
The vernacular memorials are always my favorites. Ms. Jones’s was difficult to read.
Fannie Blair (1886-1958)
This simple vernacular memorial was painted white, as were a good number in Westwood Cemetery at one time.
Walter Anderson (1876-1947)
The marker for Mr. Anderson was cracked, a common issue with handmade memorials.
Walter T. Anderson (1905-1937)
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.
Mathis Family boundary post
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.
Mathis Family
A broader view of the Mathis Family plot, with the handmade boundary posts visible at the corners.
Mrs. Lula Kendrick (June 1860?-196?)
This headstone is handmade, but of a shape commonly found in commercial memorials of the Victorian era.
Rev. Nebraska Owens (8 January 1906-17 July 1984)
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.
Tynie McDuffie (12 March 1888-4 December 1962)
The lamb is a common symbol in cemeteries.
J. C. Medler (?=1995)
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 (8 Dec 1923-2 June 1993)
John Medler was likely the brother of J. C. Medler (previous photograph). Both served the United States in the army in World War II.
William D. Brown (26 June 1951-30 May 2013)
This memorial is of a vernacular style common in the last century.
Samuel Chester (28 October 1896-29 March 1964)
This small cross is one of the finer commercial memorials in Westwood Cemetery.
Mr. William Stephens (18 November 1903-17 June 1975)
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.
Leonard Stewart (10 September 1877-14 April 1961? ) and Lolia Stewart (15 December 1887-20 August 1968)
The graves of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are decorated with flower pots.
Unknown decedent
This marker has no identification.
Lyons family plot
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.
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.
Laura Brown (Circa 1864-25 July 1914)
No specific birthdate for Laura is given, though the memorial notes that she was 50 when she died.
John Jackson (August ? 1897-4 October 1943)
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.
Willie L. Shepherd (2 August 1916-19 November 1985)
Mr. Shepherd was a Staff Sergeant in World War II. No other service details are given on the memorial.
Robert “Sonny” Graham, Jr. (1939-?)
The shoes and figurines are a tribute.
Autry Moton (11 January 1943-29 March 2002)
This is one of the more modern commercial stones in the cemetery.
This classic Miller Meteor Hearse served Albritten’s Funeral Service in Dawson for many years. Robert L. Albritten opened Albritten’s Funeral Service, with Bobby E. Glover, at 527 Lemon Street in 1966, and they are still in business.
The Miller-Meteor line of Cadillac hearses was made famous in the movie Ghostbusters, and as a result is one of the most recognized funeral cars ever produced. In that movie, the Ecto-1 was a 1959 custom; this hearse was likely made in the early 1970s.
Greater Saint Mark was organized in as Saint Mark AME Church in 1886 and the present sanctuary was built in 1961, during the pastorate of Rev. W. L. Brown. An old cornerstone saved by the congregation indicates an earlier church was built in 1889, during the pastorate of Rev. M. R. Wilson.
The Prince Hall Masons were first organized in Columbus as the Bradwell Lodge No. 4, in 1871. Bradwell later became Lewis Hayden Lodge No. 6, which still meets today. Since 1871, seven lodges have been established in Columbus, and some, including Mt. Pisgah Lodge No. 53, as well as several Eastern Star chapters, meet in the Prince Hall Masonic Temple, which was built in 1953, and is a center of Black civic and social life in Columbus.
Of historical importance, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to a gathering of over 1000 people here on 1 July 1958, imploring the audience to meet “physical force with soul force“, in response to increasing racial violence. He was in Columbus following the murder by white store owner Luico Flowers of Dr. Thomas Brewer (1894-1956). Dr. Flowers, a local physician and Civil Rights leader, was an advocate of King v. Chapman, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the white primary system in Georgia. This decision led to heightened KKK activity in the area, including a threat to bomb the Prince Hall Masonic Temple during Dr. King’s visit. Armed Prince Hall Masons kept vigil on the roof. Unable to harm Dr. King, the KKK bombed the home of Essie Mae Ellison, who had recently moved into a white neighborhood.
Friendship Baptist Church was established circa 1892 when “...a band of Christian believers, only seventeen in number organized in an old house on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Sixth Street...The ministers who took part in this organization were Rev. Henry Wright, Rev. Allen Miles, Rev. Henry Threatt, and Rev. Alberdeen McCall. The following brethren were the first deacons: Alexander Kendrix, Sam Colbert, and Samuel Cooper. Some of the first members were Sisters Anna Kendrix, Emeline Foster, and others whose names are not recorded...” [From the church website.] The historic marker in front of the church notes that Rev. J. S. Kelsey was the first minister, from 1897-1901, and that the sanctuary was begun during his pastorate.
Rev. Riley King Paschal, from History of the American Negro and his institutions, Georgia edition, edited by A.B. Caldwell, 1920. Public domain.
A remodeling and expansion which gave the church its present appearance was begun in 1919 and completed in 1922, during the 43-year pastorate of Rev. Riley King Paschal (1868-1944). His initials, RKP, are embedded in brick in the front gable. During Rev. Paschal’s tenure, Gertrude Pridgett “Ma” Rainey, who had retired from touring and returned home to Columbus, was an active member of Friendship Baptist Church.
The oldest features of Saint James are the ornate hand-carved front doors, which came from the Asbury M. E. Church. They were made by enslaved men at the Dudley Sash and Door Company.
Saint James is one of the most beautiful historic churches in Columbus. The following history (abridged), is from the church website: Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church of Columbus, Georgia was organized in November 1863. [It is the second oldest AME church in Georgia.] In 1864, the Reverend William Gaines, an ordained Deacon and brother of Bishop J. Gaines of Charleston, SC, became the first pastor of Saint James. The property on which Saint James AME Church stands was given to the African Methodist Episcopal Church by an act of the Georgia Legislature in 1873. The present edifice, a cathedral in structure and design, was erected during the pastorate of the Reverend Wesley J. Gaines at a cost of $20,000.00. It was completed in 1876. The bell tower was built while the Reverend Larry Thomas was pastor (1886-1887). The most interesting features of the building are the center spire and twin turrets on each side of the tower built in 1886. The twin turrets are stone trimmed and have brick details on the exterior. The interior spiral stairs lead from the narthex to the balcony. A semicircular apse containing an altar and choir loft was added at a later date.
