Lynn's notes - cemeteries

Date: 22 Sep 2017
Location: Georgia (mostly)
Surnames/tags: cemeteries georgia

Cemetery notes and/or description: Also known as the McLarty Benson cemetery

The McLarty Cemetery is in the Dark Corners area of Douglas County, on Brittain Road about 475 feet north of its intersection with Cedar Mountain Road. It is on the left side of the road, a small marker indicates the presence of a path leading up some 460 feet up the hill.

There are approximately 300 graves in this cemetery, the vast majority of them marked with fieldstones only. There is also one area that an experienced archaelogist believes to be a mass grave, which corresponds to stories about a group of children being buried together during an epidemic of some sort. It is in the older black section of the cemetery. The first burials are dated 1842, and the cemetery continued in active use (at least in the African American part) until the 1940s.

There is currently one large marker in the geographic center of the cemetery. The trustees and historical society of Douglas county are working very hard to restore this battered old cemetery, once coverd in briars and kudzu. The McLarty family section contains approx. 50-60 graves. There are many field stone markers and a African American section (old and new) toward the back. This cemetery has some of the oldest graves in the county.

Cemetery Status: Inactive

1/21/2019 Using this for other notes r/t cemeteries. CLOVER HILL FARM CEMETERY 1/20/2019 Noticed as I was uploading cemetery photos that Clover Hill Farm Cemetery where at least 10 of the Hemrick ancestors are buried is missing in action. I sent an inquiry to the team leader of the Virginia WikiTree cemetery project. No response yet. Below is a transcription of an historical marker r/t this cemetery. It was donated in 1987 to Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas. The names from Clover Hill are not found in the Grace UM church. In 1770 Patrick Hamrick sold this land to Rutt Johnson who used the land for crops and fruit trees and later added livestock. This property became known as CLOVER HILL FARM prior to 1852. During the Civil War the Johnson family left the area. When they returned they found that their home and crops had been burned by retreating Union soldiers. The stone weaving house and the slave quarters survived. They rebuilt the house, replanted the orchards and purchased registered Jersey cows. The dairy eventually produced approximately 30,000 gallons of milk a year. In the late 20th century the surrounding area became developed. In 1987 the Johnsons, who owned and operated the last farm in the City of Manassas, donated 8 acres of land to Grace United Methodist Church including the family cemetery and slave quarters that are preserved on their original sites. They sold the remaining land to a developer.