Bonaventure Cemetery

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Bonaventure Cemetery
Cemetery Details
Year established:	1846[1]
Location:	330 Bonaventure Road Savannah, Georgia, United States[1]
Coordinates:	32°2′38″N 81°2′49″W / 32.04389°N 81.04694°W / 32.04389; -81.04694Coordinates: 32°2′38″N 81°2′49″W / 32.04389°N 81.04694°W / 32.04389; -81.04694[2]
Type:	Public municipal
Owned by:	City of Savannah[1]
Size:	160-acre (647,497.0 m2)[1]
Find A Grave:	Bonaventure Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery is a public cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia.^[1] The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and in the movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the book. It is the largest of the city's municipal cemeteries, containing nearly 160 acres.^[1]

The entrance to the cemetery is located at 330 Bonaventure Road.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Operations 3 Department of Cemeteries 4 Bonaventure Historical Society 5 The Bird Girl 6 Notable burials 7 External links 8 References

[edit] History

The cemetery is located on the site of a plantation originally owned by John Mullryne. On March 10, 1846, Commodore Josiah Tattnall III, sold the 600-acre Bonaventure Plantation and its private cemetery to Peter Wiltberger. Major William H. Wiltberger, the son of Peter, formed the Evergreen Cemetery Company on June 12, 1868. Evergreen Cemetery Company was purchased by the City of Savannah on July 7, 1907, making the cemetery public and changing the name to Bonaventure Cemetery.^[1]

In 1867 John Muir began his Thousand Mile Walk to Florida and the Gulf. In October he sojourned for six days and nights in the Bonaventure cemetery, sleeping upon graves overnight, this being the safest and cheapest accommodation that he could find while he waited for money to be expressed from home. He found the cemetery even then breathtakingly beautiful and inspiring and wrote a lengthy chapter upon it, "Camping in the Tombs."

"Part of the grounds was cultivated and planted with live-oak, about a hundred years ago, by a wealthy gentleman who had his country residence here But much the greater part is undisturbed. Even those spots which are disordered by art, Nature is ever at work to reclaim, and to make them look as if the foot of man had never known them. Only a small plot of ground is occupied with graves and the old mansion is in ruins.
The most conspicuous glory of Bonaventure is its noble avenue of live-oaks. They are the most magnificent planted trees I have ever seen, about fifty feet high and perhaps three or four feet in diameter, with broad spreading leafy heads. The main branches reach out horizontally until they come together over the driveway, embowering it throughout its entire length, while each branch is adorned like a garden with ferns, flowers, grasses, and dwarf palmettos.
But of all the plants of these curious tree-gardens the most striking and characteristic is the so-called Long Moss (Tillandsia usneoides). It drapes all the branches from top to bottom, hanging in long silvery-gray skeins, reaching a length of not less than eight or ten feet, and when slowly waving in the wind they produce a solemn funereal effect singularly impressive.
There are also thousands of smaller trees and clustered bushes, covered almost from sight in the glorious brightness of their own light. The place is half surrounded by the salt marshes and islands of the river, their reeds and sedges making a delightful fringe. Many bald eagles roost among the trees along the side of the marsh. Their screams are heard every morning, joined with the noise of crows and the songs of countless warblers, hidden deep in their dwellings of leafy bowers. Large flocks of butterflies, flies, all kinds of happy insects, seem to be in a perfect fever of joy and sportive gladness. The whole place seems like a center of life. The dead do not reign there alone.
Bonaventure to me is one of the most impressive assemblages of animal and plant creatures I ever met. I was fresh from the Western prairies, the garden-like openings of Wisconsin, the beech and maple and oak woods of Indiana and Kentucky, the dark mysterious Savannah cypress forests; but never since I was allowed to walk the woods have I found so impressive a company of trees as the tillandsia-draped oaks of Bonaventure.
I gazed awe-stricken as one new-arrived from another world. Bonaventure is called a graveyard, a town of the dead, but the few graves are powerless in such a depth of life. The rippling of living waters, the song of birds, the joyous confidence of flowers, the calm, undisturbable grandeur of the oaks, mark this place of graves as one of the Lord’s most favored abodes of life and light."

"Camping in the Tombs," from A Thousand Mile Walk

[edit] Operations

Citizens of Savannah and others may purchase interment rights in Bonaventure.^[1]

The cemetery is open to the public daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is no admission fee.^[1]

[edit] Department of Cemeteries

The main office of the City of Savannah's Department of Cemeteries is located on the Bonaventure Cemetery grounds in the Bonaventure Administrative Building at the entrance.^[3]

[edit] Bonaventure Historical Society

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled Bonaventure Historical Society . (Discuss)

The cemetery became the subject of a non-profit group, the Bonaventure Historical Society, in May 1997. ^[4].

Bonaventure Historical Society, formerly known as Friends of Bonaventure, began with an idea and little more. There seemed to be within Savannah’s fourth community cemetery something which needed attention. Historically, little was known of the site, and no one had given attention to validating the historic personalities which were represented by the memorials. On October 9, 1994, Friends of Bonaventure, under the leadership and research talents of Mr. Terry Shaw, dedicated itself to the evolution and preservation of Bonaventure Cemetery as a historical, educational site.

It was at this initial meeting that Hugh Golson, Chairman of the Society for the Preservation of Laurel Grove Cemetery, gave the group its most valuable directional information. He shared ideas from his own experience with the Laurel Grove Society’s evolution and suggested precise activities which the Bonaventure group might consider. Bonaventure Historical Society had begun, and Hugh Golson has continued to be one of the Society’s most valuable mentors.

Recently, someone remarked that the development of Friends of Bonaventure into Bonaventure Historical Society could serve as a workable pattern for other groups who wished to accomplish similar goals. For that reason and because it is best to look at what has been achieved during the past three years and use that information for formulating precise goals for the future, this anniversary month Newsletter highlights the Society’s first three years.

Because the exact goal of the group was hazy, activities during the first year centered on learning the physical site and gaining insight into the rules and regulations governing the operation of city cemeteries. Hours and hours were expended walking the cemetery, spotting the historical graves, and noting problem areas which Friends might assist in eliminating. Mary Nelson Adams began correspondence with Kevin Kuharic at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta and used the Adopt-a-Plot plan he had devised to design a similar plan for Bonaventure. Daniel Elsberry, Director of City Cemeteries, and Tom Hiers, Supervisor at Bonaventure, assisted the group in establishing what could and could not be done by Friends. The group felt it had achieved official status when the cemetery personnel responded to Friend’s request to erect appropriate identifying signs at a few historically significant gravesites. In December of this first year, Friends began the tradition of using that month’s meeting to prepare Christmas wreaths from natural greenery and place them on some of the oldest graves at Bonaventure.

During the second year, a new city director, Jerry Flemming, came to Bonaventure. Increased tourism dictated the need to revise, update, and expand the cemetery’s rules and regulations. Friends was given an opportunity to input in the development of these new ordinances. The group was becoming more physically involved in Bonaventure. Adopt-A-Plot became a working device whereby lots needing attention could be attended by the group. Advice had been gleamed from several sources, and several members became expert in the care and maintenance for aging monuments. Work days were established whereby members of the group could go into the cemetery and help in the maintenance of Bonaventure as one of Savannah’s most unique sites.

The Society's newsletter itself is perhaps the best example of achievement. From October 1994 until June 1996, the monthly publication was produced on a typewriter with only slight attempts to reproduce pictures. The sophistication came from George Tassey, Jr., a local school teacher and friend of Mr. Shaw. He suggested that he might be able to improve the look of the newsletter so that it might gain more attention and attract more people to the Society. In addition to producing the Society's newsleter, Mr. Tassey also designed and maintains the Society's web site.

As with any organization, finances were necessary, and income for Friends of Bonaventure was limited to the fifteen dollar membership fee. At the end of the first year, the group showed a balance of $282.74. Its income for that year had been $582.96. Forty-two people had shown faith by donating membership fees. Undaunted at the small treasury and encouraged that two of these members were outside Savannah, the group trudged forward. Membership for the second year increased to sixty-five, and the year ended with an excessive $692.32 in the bank. It was in this second year that members outside Georgia were contributors.

It was not until the third year that Friends of Bonaventure seemed to finally take firm root. By October 1996, the biographical information on people in residence at Bonaventure was gaining the attention of more people. Newspaper and magazine articles had given the group status and created interest among local groups. The Executive Committee decided in September 1996 that the group seemed to be beyond simply being "Friends" and changed the name to Bonaventure Historical Society. A Constitution and By-laws was written and adopted. A Board of Directors with four officers and five directors was elected. This new Board began investigating tax-exempt status, and Edward (Toby) Buttimer, Jr., volunteered his legal services to assist in attaining this goal. In May 1997, Bonaventure Historical Society added "Incorporated" to its name, and in August received notification that tax exempt status had been granted.

The Society received its first boost for restoration when Mrs. Keith Williams of Kirkwood, Missouri, a descendant of William Gaston, suggested that she would finance restoration of the Gaston Mausoleum if the Society would supervise the work. Mrs. Clermont Lee of Savannah volunteered her time and offered a plan of restoration and landscaping. In July, Jerry Flemming, encouraged the group’s efforts by giving space for the Society’s Visitors Center.

It was also during that same summer that John Berendt announced that one-third of his share of revenue from the new Byrd Cookie Company "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" product would be given to Bonaventure Historical Society. Membership at the year’s end had soared to one hundred twenty-one with twenty-nine contributors outside Georgia. This third year indeed had been the firming foundation for which the group had been striving.

Perhaps the greatest contribution the Society has made to the community thus far has been the historical data compiled and published concerning the site at Bonaventure. In addition to researching the original owners of the plantation and their contributions to the early life of Georgia, many figures who helped form the state have been rescued from obscurity and given a place in history. Although many of these earliest pioneers were originally buried in other places, they are now at Bonaventure, and because Bonaventure Historical Society’s goal is to evolve and preserve their contributions for the future, their names are now recognized by people who did not know they existed.

September 24, 2003 - Mr. Terry Shaw, founder and Chairman of Bonaventure Historical Society, Inc., passed away.

October 1, 2003 - Mr. Paul Muller, a board member and long time friend of Mr. Shaw, served as the Society's Chairman until 2006.

August 27, 2004 - Mrs. Faye Lynn Booth Dyess, Society Treasurer died at age 59.

January 1, 2007 - Mrs. Mildred Hill now serves as the Society's newly elected Chairperson.

[edit] The Bird Girl

The cover photograph of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, taken by Jack Leigh, featured an evocative sculpture of a young girl that had been in the cemetery, essentially unnoticed for over 50 years. The sculpture, which has come to be known as the "Bird Girl", stood on the family plot of Lucy Boyd Trosdal. After the publication of the book, the sculpture was donated to Savannah's Telfair Museum of Art to avoid disturbances by visitors to the cemetery.

[edit] Notable burials

• Conrad Aiken, novelist and poet
• Edythe Chapman, actress
• Hugh W. Mercer, Civil War Army officer and Confederate general
• Johnny Mercer, singer/songwriter
• James Neill, actor
• Edward Telfair, governor
• Jack Leigh, photographer, author
• Claudius Charles Wilson (1831-1863), Civil War Confederate brigadier General
• Bartholomew Zouberbuhler (1719-1766), minister

[edit] External links

• Fine Art Photographs of Bonaventure Cemetery
• Bonaventure Cemetery Tours
• Pictures from Bonaventure Cemetery
• Pictures from Bonaventure Cemetery

[edit] References