I already posted this beautiful lady but she’s worth a revisit. In case you missed it, I gave a brief overview of Apotropaic Practices: Locks & Chains.
This unique stone is for a baby who died in 1943. His father was local electrician, hence the lightning bolt, who bought a house nearby so the family might visit regularly. The parents moved to Florida a number of years after the child’s death and were buried there.
In stark juxtaposition of the surrounding graves, the Slave Lot is a scattering of field stones. It is located in the northern section of the cemetery, right near the Confederate Cemetery. It’s rather sad to see these spaces so close to one another, considering. While nearly all of the graves are unmarked, the names of four individuals were preserved. They are: Clarissa, Hannah, Nancy and Peggy. Documents state that they were the enslaved servants of one Mrs. Eliza G. Robarts.
Looks like I can never leave Athens even when I leave Athens. Sanford Stadium, home of this college football team ya may heard of aka the Georgia Bulldogs, is name after this Steadman Vincent Sanford. He was ‘the greatest friend University of Georgia ever had.’
The McLeod vault signage reads Built in the style of coastal burial chambers in 1854 by Savannah planter Francis Harris McLeod (1784-1864), an investor in Roswell King’s mills. He was the namesake of his grandfather Francis Harris, first Speaker of 1751 Ga. Colonial Assembly. Six family members were entombed within 1857-1891. King lot was for son-in-law Wm. King.
Seems pretty average for these types of monuments right? Well, it hides an unusual and rare secret. SIX secrets in fact.
According to the person who gave me a walkabout, when the vault was damaged by a storm in the 1980s the cemetery got a court order to open the structure and do repairs. And when the workers finally made their way inside they saw six Fisk coffins resting on slabs. Wow! These coffins weren’t common and they were very expensive so this is quite the find. Two were either children or small women and four were adults. One of the adult coffins* had a body that was still visible under the face plate.
After repairs were completed, the coffins were reinterred and the structure reinforced and sealed once more.
What a heck of a story.
*Note: the smaller coffins were not opened.
Let me not forget the reason I was there, which was a gravestone cleaning class. I learned so much and I can’t wait to go back to see how the stones I cleaned look today…
