One of two outstanding granite-sided churches on Forest Avenue, St. Mary’s Catholic Church was built in 1941 for a growing congregation that, according to the Archdiocese of Atlanta, held Mass in private homes and at the American Legion Hall before its construction. There is no mention of the origins of the congregation, but considering that Elberton was settled in the late 18th century, I imagine there were a few Catholics around long before 1941. After the church was dedicated on 23 November 1941, Saint Mary was a mission of Saint Joseph in Athens and then Saint Joseph in Washington until administration was transferred to Sacred Heart of Jesus in Hartwell in 2014.
Forest Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I’ve been unable to locate a congregational history for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, but it’s a great example of the use of local granite in the construction of public buildings in Elberton. The church, built in 1946, actually sits atop a sloping lot, with a lower floor incorporating Sunday School rooms and offices. This is the street view of the sanctuary.
Forest Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Sign marking the trail leading to Dan Tucker’s grave
Elbert County has always promoted Dan Tucker’s gravesite to visitors based on the assumption that the Daniel Tucker buried here is the “Old Dan Tucker” of 19th-century American folklore. There is no academic or even incidental agreement on this assertion, but it’s a great story, and the public access trail to the historic Tucker Cemetery is one of the nicest walks around. And as a big fan of vernacular gravestones, I’d suggest a visit to others who appreciate this underappreciated art form. Kudos to Elbert County for maintaining it so nicely. It’s a low rise path surrounded for most of its short distance by wooded slopes descending into Richard B. Russell Lake. The small cemetery has several other markers, three of which are identified.
Path to Dan Tucker’s grave
Since the origins of the standard folk song “Old Dan Tucker” are unclear and may never be confirmed, there is no way of proving the identity of its namesake. Some credit the song to Dan Emmett, who popularized blackface minstrel shows and composed the song “Dixie”, but it has also been credited to J. R. Jenkins, and Henry Russell. Dan Emmett told his biographer that he wrote the song circa 1830-1821 when he was 15 years old. “Old Dan Tucker” was first published as sheet music in 1843. The earliest versions (there are many) employed Black Vernacular English, portrayed Dan Tucker as a drunken troublemaker, and breaks with many social conventions. He was a Black man in these iterations. At least four versions with different lyrics and identities for Tucker were published in the 19th century. Some suggest it’s based on a notorious sea captain and widely despised colonist named Daniel Tucker. This seems a bit far-fetched to me. More likely, as has been suggested, it’s derived from earlier minstrel tunes.
General view of Tucker Cemetery
Elbert County’s Dan Tucker was Daniel Tucker (14 February 1740-7 April 1818), a Virginia native who served as a captain of the Amelia County Militia during the Revolutionary War. For his service, he was awarded a land grant on the Georgia frontier. He developed a successful plantation, Point Lookout, with an enslaved workforce, ran a ferry on the Savannah River, and served as a minister, particularly known, through oral tradition, “…to bring Christianity to those he enslaved.” He was a neighbor and good friend of Governor Stephen Heard.
Frances Tucker (25 April 1790-19 May 1818). The nice vernacular headstone, of local material, reads: Sacred to the memory of Frances Tucker W of Rev Eppes Tucker – Born April 25 1790 – dp this life May the 19 1818 -Age 28 years.
A 1957 Georgia Historical Marker, which is no longer standing, claimed this about Daniel Tucker: “…Esteemed by his fellow planters, he was loved by the Negroes who composed the many verses of the famous ditty, “Old Dan Tucker,” a favorite song at corn shuckings and other social gatherings.” There is no evidence whatsoever to support this claim, other than local tradition. While I never dismiss it outright, oral history is spotty at best. I mean no ill will in pointing this out, and I enjoyed my visit to Dan Tucker’s grave. I never gave it much thought when I first heard it on The Andy Griffith Show and Little House on the Prairie as a boy.
Decedent unknown. I’m working on translating the name but haven’t gotten it yet.
There are several unidentified stones in the cemetery, all relatives or in-laws of Daniel Tucker as best I can discern.
Frances Epps Tucker (4 April 1750-6 August 1823). The stone reads: In Memory of Frances Tucker W. O. Daniel Tucker-who was born April the 4th 1750-dp this life Aug the 6th 1823-Age 73 Yr. [The maker of this marker used a backward capital D for the letter R, and for the number 5 in the birthdate, quite an unusual characteristic.]
Daniel Tucker’s grave is also quite primitive.
Rev. Daniel Tucker (14 February 1740-7 April 1818)
A newer military-issued marker has been placed in recent years, and it’s a good thing, as these memorials are all fading fast.
This has been a landmark of Tennille for well over a century, and in its present derelict state, has been a source of intrigue for many visitors and photographers over the years. The roof has been gone for a long time but the building appears to be relatively stable. I hope it isn’t left too much longer to the elements. It’s a great resource.
Other marble- or granite-front banks that I’ve photographed have generally dated to circa 1900-1920. I believe this example is granite and dates to the early 1900s; it may have only existed as a bank for a few years, as panics and mismanagement spelled doom for many Georgia financial institutions in the years before the Great Depression.
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.
This monolith of Elberton Blue Granite is located near the crossroads in Danburg. It’s a fairly unusual monument considering its progressive views on African-Americans. I think it’s a great landmark.
TOP:The Village of Danburg was settled circa 1825 by Samuel Danforth of Vermont and Massachusetts at this intersection of two important trade routes, the Augusta Road into North Georgia and the Abbeville, S.C. Milledgeville GA Road. The original name of the village was Danforthtown. Amongst the families settling early in the village were the Andersons, Danforths, McLendons, Reabs, Shumates, Stathams, Suttons, Waltons and Wheatleys. They quickly created an atmosphere of education and cultural refinement, and the village was long a noted regional social center. This memorial to honor the village is erected to the Glory of God and in memory of Walter Lee Sutton 1863-1947 by his obedient grandsons WLC CDS JSS CES, Jr
FRONT:In Memory of the Loyalists of 1776– Loyal to the triple aegis of the British Crown, British Constitution and the Church of England, violence inevitably forced them to either take up defensive arms, faintheartedly join the Revolutionary cause or depart. The victorious have been recognized; let the worthy vanquished be equitably honored.-Omnia Ad Dei Gloriam
LEFT:In Memory of the Ante-Bellum & Confederate Leaders 1800-1865-The honesty and integrity of their leadership in civil life and the courage and endurance of their leadership in war represent a quality of leadership rarely since equaled. If their ideal of slavery was undoubtedly unjust, the quality of their public service was superb.-Omnia Ad Dei Gloriam
BACK:In Memory of the Veterans of the 1914-1918 War and the 1939-1945 War-Twice in this century men from the village went with American contingents to the assistance of Great Britain, our Motherland and her ally France, both engaged in a deadly struggle with Prussian militarism – Hitlerism. The sacrifices of these countries which gave us time to arm ourselves and of our men who served leave future generations yet deeply indebted.-In Memory of the Veterans of the 1950-1953 Korean War and the 1965-1973 Vietnam War-Our debts to these veterans are equally vast, for their sacrifices were too often undervalued by the public at the very time they were being made. Omnia Ad Del Gloriam
RIGHT: In Honor of the Black Citizens of the Village–Entrapped involuntarily in a system of servitude until 1865, they were thereafter entangled with the white citizens in a system of cotton-tenant-farming that exploited both through 1945 for the advantage of northern industrial capitalism. Both bondages were born by the black citizens with incredible fortitude, patience, and humor.-Omnia Ad Dei Gloriam
The historic building on the right is clad in granite, a common building material in this area, which is located near the western extent of the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt.
Lexington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
After hearing the news of the destruction of the Georgia Guidestones in the early morning hours of 6 July 2022, I decided to revisit my photographs of the place. I’ve talked to people from Elberton and most just thought of them as a curiosity, but they were a tourist attraction; how much impact they actually had on the community in this regard has always been up for debate.
They also fed conspiracy theories, most recently highlighted by gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor (3.4% of the vote in the 2022 Republican primary) who declared them “satanic” and made their removal a tenet of her candidacy.
Elberton mayor Daniel Graves recently told Stephen Fowler, in an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition: “[the] county is a solidly conservative and religiously observant, so outside voices claiming Satan’s hold on the stones don’t add up. “Our view of righteousness is not an Almighty God that needs zealots to do his dirty work and destruction,” Graves said. “That’s hatred … all the dynamite in the world can’t change a man’s heart.”
The only controversy regarding this relatively plain monument when it was unveiled on 22 March 1980 had to do with its origins and the identity of its mysterious patron. The man chose his pseudonym, R. C. Christian, because of his faith, but nothing else was ever revealed. Perhaps that’s what helped feed growing theories regarding the “New World Order” and satanism over time.
Occupying the highest point in Elbert County, the Guidestones were sometimes referred to as America’s Stonehenge, even though Stonehenge was laid out in a circular fashion and the Guidestones formed an “x”. There only similarity to Stonehenge was in their use as a sort of celestial sundial.
Elberton is known as the Granite Capital of the World, and is a charming small town. Personally, I prefer the area’s architectural gems, but I think it will be a challenge to draw people to the area on that aspect alone.
As Elberton Star editor Rose Scoggins told NPR: “I do think that we will slowly start to see just how big of an impact they had, because it will affect our tourism…I think we will unfortunately see that decline.“
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) hasn’t released any updates recently, but they do have video footage of the vehicle that was at the site just before the explosive device was detonated. Elbert County intends to prosecute anyone responsible.
Two slabs were destroyed in the initial explosion and the GBI took out the remaining stones as a safety measure. For now, to my knowledge, there aren’t plans to replace the Guidestones.
Most sources note that this depot was built in 1867, which it was, but it wasn’t built in Jonesboro. During the Battle of Jonesboro, on 31 August 1864, Union troops burned the original 1846 Macon and Western Railroad Depot and the rail bed turned into what came to be known as “Sherman’s neckties”.
As Todd DeFeo notes, It’s not enough to say Jonesboro’s depot was built in 1867. The structure seen here was built for the Macon and Western in Barnesville in 1867 and moved stone-by-stone and rebuilt at this location in 1880. By this time, it would have been a Central of Georgia-branded property.
It’s home to the Clayton County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Road to Tara Museum.
Jonesboro Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
A post office was established at Klondike in 1898, and this structure, clad in local granite, is representative of this industry. This is the oldest of just a few surviving commercial structures related to the community. According to a Georgia State University resource survey completed in 2016, it once served as a granite store and was most recently used as the Oak Grove Junction Convenience Store. It is a critical resource for the community and should be preserved.
[This view was made from the rear of the building. The front is nearly identical.]
Klondike Historic District, National Register of Historic Places & Arabia Mountain National Heritage Preserve
