Yesterday, November 22nd, was ten years since Jason died. We had wanted to do something special to remember him and we decided on a family service project.
Bill's 3rd and 4th great-grandparents are buried in a cemetery at the New Bethany Church in Buford. Their graves were moved there in 1956 by the Corps of Engineers when they were building Lake Lanier. Littleberry Hutchins, his wife Sarah Burford, and her parents Thomas Burford and Mary Wade were all buried on the family farm, which is now at the bottom of the lake somewhere. A total of 51 graves were moved from the farm cemetery to New Bethany, but only the four are marked. Over the years, the plot has fallen into considerable disrepair. We decided that fixing it up would be a way to remember Jason and to honor the ancestors at the same time.
Bill's 3rd and 4th great-grandparents are buried in a cemetery at the New Bethany Church in Buford. Their graves were moved there in 1956 by the Corps of Engineers when they were building Lake Lanier. Littleberry Hutchins, his wife Sarah Burford, and her parents Thomas Burford and Mary Wade were all buried on the family farm, which is now at the bottom of the lake somewhere. A total of 51 graves were moved from the farm cemetery to New Bethany, but only the four are marked. Over the years, the plot has fallen into considerable disrepair. We decided that fixing it up would be a way to remember Jason and to honor the ancestors at the same time.
We had done some preliminary planning and made a couple of trips up there in preparation. Then yesterday, we had Bill's brother-in law Leroy, his nephew Greg, wife Judy and their three children, Caroline, Kate, and Lizzie, all come up to help get started on the work. We also had a distant cousin Clarence Burford, and his wife and daughter, drive all the way down from Dalton. I have become acquainted with him through the internet as we have shared genealogy information. He is also descended from Thomas Burford, through one of his sons. We really enjoyed meeting him. He volunteered to pick up the wrought iron fence, have it sandblasted, repainted, repaired and put back up. Needless to say, we were thrilled with the offer. He has been concerned about the condition of the plot since he found out about it a couple of years ago, but his health has not allowed him to do anything. He is doing better and has a friend in the business who can help him with this. Our biggest concern had been what to do about the fence so this is a real answer to the problem.
The family chipped in and we cleared weeds, piled up trash, cleaned the stones, removed the fence for Clarence to pick up, tilled the soil so it could be leveled. We took one trailer load of trash to the dump. By 2:00, we had done what we could do on day 1.
Once the fence is back in, we can finish what we started. We will finish the soil leveling, put down a weed barrier, then cover with gravel. We will probably built a little brick wall on the downhill side to keep the rock in place. We still need to do more cleaning on the stones. There are still two broken stones and we talked about ways to repair them. We mentioned putting in a couple of bushes where there is some space in two of the corners.
It turned out to be a wonderful day. The weather was cool, but sunny, actually good working weather. We got a lot done in a short time and enjoyed being. We remembered some Jason stories and enjoyed sharing them. The girls were also amazed to learn that Thomas was their 6th great-grandfather and that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. There is even a plaque on his stone about it.
All in all, it has been a good way to remember Jason. We look forward to our next work day when we will try to finish up the major part of the work.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
The family chipped in and we cleared weeds, piled up trash, cleaned the stones, removed the fence for Clarence to pick up, tilled the soil so it could be leveled. We took one trailer load of trash to the dump. By 2:00, we had done what we could do on day 1.
Once the fence is back in, we can finish what we started. We will finish the soil leveling, put down a weed barrier, then cover with gravel. We will probably built a little brick wall on the downhill side to keep the rock in place. We still need to do more cleaning on the stones. There are still two broken stones and we talked about ways to repair them. We mentioned putting in a couple of bushes where there is some space in two of the corners.
It turned out to be a wonderful day. The weather was cool, but sunny, actually good working weather. We got a lot done in a short time and enjoyed being. We remembered some Jason stories and enjoyed sharing them. The girls were also amazed to learn that Thomas was their 6th great-grandfather and that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. There is even a plaque on his stone about it.
All in all, it has been a good way to remember Jason. We look forward to our next work day when we will try to finish up the major part of the work.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
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