Southern Cemetery

Not far from the Studdard Cemetery you’ll find the very sleepy town of Rutledge. It’s motto is Small But Special so even they know they’re teeny tiny! There’s a breakfast/lunch spot that is in an old train caboose and they have the Sunflower Festival there every year [and 2026 is happening soon] but on a hot summer day in the middle of the week there isn’t much happening with people out and about…especially at the cemetery. Except for me, this spot was as empty as can be! Well, there were some stingy critters there too but more on that later…

This section was my main goal and it’s a newer one which is usually not my focus. But wait until you hear why.

The Bailey family plot is set up on a hill all by itself, and there are so many grave goods both visible as well as hidden in the grass – a wooden piano, painted stones, tiny angels and more.

The man pictured, the one with the dashing grey streaks, is Andrew Jackson [folks in the South love to name their kids after booze and dead politicians don’t they?] Bailey Jr. and he was a sculptor, painter and all ’round artistic individual. Stricken with polio as a youth, he started sketching and eventually created the world’s largest religious painting. 11×1000 feet to be exact and officially accredited in the Guiness Book of World Records. He also designed the Dekalb County flag and seal, and the seal of Rutledge.

Here are the logos mentioned:

Bailey also invented a specialized art technique known as Ocular Animation which created the illusion of motion in stationary painting.

For all of these things, the state of Georgia decreed that every March 13th is Jackson Bailey day.

Something else was hidden around that family plot besides tiny trinkets and overturned planters. Well, it was to a distracted Jennifer because it really was in plain sight as you can see – a nest of bald faced hornets! I’ve been bit and bothered by things on my travels but I do not play with these. OUCH. I do admire their artistry though [another artistic thing for that space, eh?] and that nest was huge.

Bailey’s final resting place overlooks this lake and water tower, and a tree that had a sweet vulture chilling, and at night the cross glows in the dark. Not a bad view all-in-all…