Skip to main content

Savannah & Her Beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery (Road Trip #3 of 5)

On the Road Again! For road trip #3, us girls decided to go to Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend a whole lot of time there. In fact, we would arrive in Savannah around 10pm one day, and have to leave mid to late afternoon the next. That's less than 24 hours! You know what that means -- we had to prioritize.

Before I get to our respective objectives, let me tell you what my Aunt did. Before we even journeyed to Savannah, she made it clear that she would NOT go on a ghost tour. Therefore, I didn't bother lining one up. Upon arrival in the beautiful city and cruising the historic downtown area, we saw many tours ongoing. My Aunt then thinks a ghost tour would be OK since there are groups and much is out in the open. Now she often asks, "When are we going back to Savannah to take a ghost tour?" Whatever. We've moved on. ;-)

Back to the main story. The three of us each had an objective, all to be completed before we returned home. First and foremost, Starbucks was needed to start the day. Mom could care less about it, but she goes along because she is outnumbered. Next, my picture-taking Aunt had to get photographs of the fountain in Forsyth Park (yes, we had to pose in front of it). Then the cemetery lover in me HAD to visit the famed Bonaventure. Next, the true sight-seer and people-watcher (Mom) ultimately decided she wanted a simple drive around Tybee Island. She wanted to see how things had changed since her last visit, even though she hates change. (Love ya, Mom!) And our final objective was, of course, food.

Forsyth Park was laid out in the 1850's, and the city of Savannah has done a great job of maintaining it for the past 150+ years. In addition to the awesome fountain (no picture I took could do it justice) and many moss-filled trees, there are monuments for a few Civil War figures. One was for Lafayette McLaws.

Lafayette McLaws
Major General
Confederate States Army
Born Augusta, GA
January 15th, 1821
Died Savannah, GA
July 24th, 1897

Also, at one entrance to Forsyth Park was a memorial for "the United States Marines from Chatham County, Georgia who made the supreme sacrifice in World War II." They were:

Pvt. William M. Achord, Sr.
Gunner William L. Agee
Ssgt Wiley E. Clark
Joseph Colley
1st Lt. Joseph Craig, III
George Healy Dukes
PFC Jack L. Gardner
Gentry W. Hiott
Charles W. Higgs, Jr.
PFC George Pottle Hodges
1st Lt. Robert F. Jones, Jr.
Sgt John M. Kirby
Pvt Martin E. Kirschbaum, Jr.
Pvt Paul E. Lloyd
PFC Albert T. Mays
Ray J. Robberson
PFC James D. Robinson
Sgt Robert A. Rupert
PFC Henry Rudolph Smith
PFC Walter Carl Smith
Cpl Lewis Oliver Starr
Cpl Robert James Starks
Cpl Elery J. Townsend
PFC Raymond T. Westberry

After leaving Forsyth Park, we made our way to Bonavanture Cemetery. I have posted about it a couple time before. It is everything I ever heard about and more. The grounds are so beautiful they take your breath away. The artistry of the gravestones is historic and amazing. I don't know what else to say. We spent hours there, and yet there is so much I didn't see.

All transcriptions I made and photos I took are here at the Southern Graves site. I will include some of my favorites here.


American Legion Field: Veterans of World Wars
















Thanks for following me to Bonaventure Cemetery!

By the way, we did take that drive around Tybee Island, and we later ate at Uncle Bubba's (yep, Paula Deen's brother). I had a delicious crab cake po' boy sandwich. The cocktail sauce was sooooo good! I didn't have shrimp, but it was great on my fries.


Comments

Thank you for visiting Tybee! I hope next time you'll stay with us and get to know the wonderful cemetery's even better. I love to go to Bonaventure as well! When you need a tybee fix, please visit my website and blog www.mermaidcottages.com thx you!

Popular posts from this blog

Rocks, Rocks, and More Rocks

Why do people put rocks on grave stones? Some time ago, I learned that the rocks signified a visitor. That is true enough, but I decided to learn a little more about the custom and share my findings with you. Putting rocks on tombstones is most often described as a Jewish custom. There are many "Ask a Rabbi" columns out there, but I did not find one that knew for sure where the custom originated. They all agreed, however, that a rock symbolized a visitor and when put on a tombstone said, "I remember you." I also read that some people pick up a rock wherever they are when they think of a person that has passed. Then, the next time they visit the grave, they place the rock to say, "I wish you were here." Rabbi Shraga Simmons offers a deeper meaning: "We are taught that it is an act of ultimate kindness and respect to bury someone and place a marker at the site. After a person is buried, of course, we can no longer participate in burying them. H

Southern Cross of Honor

I'm late to this discussion, but it's one I'd like to join. :-) Terry Thornton at The Graveyard Rabbit of the Hill Country started with Grave Marker Symbols: The Southern Cross of Honor and UCV (link no longer available). Judith Shubert at The Graveyard Rabbit of the Covered Bridges continued with Hood County Texas: C.S.A. Veterans & Southern Cross of Honor Symbol . [UPDATE, 1 June 2009: Judith has moved this post to the blog, Cemeteries with Texas Ties . The link has been corrected to reflect this move. You may also link to her article via her nice comment on this post.] Wikipedia states: The Southern Cross of Honor was a military decoration meant to honor the officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates for their valor in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. It was formally approved by the Congress of the Confederate States on October 13, 1862, and was originally intended to be on par with the Union Arm

Thursday Link Love: EyeWitness To History

Yesterday, a link was added to the Genealogy Research Resources Group at Diigo. The link was to the website titled EyeWitness to History.com: History through the eyes of those who lived it . It's a great site, and I encourage all to visit it. Here are several items I found while snooping around. - Inside a Nazi Death Camp, 1944 : "Hitler established the first concentration camp soon after he came to power in 1933. The system grew to include about 100 camps divided into two types: concentration camps for slave labor in nearby factories and death camps for the systematic extermination of "undesirables" including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally retarded and others." - Crash of the Hindenburg, 1937 : "Radio reporter Herbert Morrison, sent to cover the airship's arrival, watched in horror. His eye witness description of the disaster was the first coast-to-coast radio broadcast and has become a classic piece of audio history." [You ca





SouthernGraves.blogspot.com

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)