Savannah, Georgia’s Bonaventure Cemetery has lacy Spanish moss dripping from every tree branch, making the statues and grave markers look like they are on a curtained stage.
Bonaventure Cemetery, named by CNN as one of the World’s 10 Most Beautiful Cemeteries, has been a world-famous tourist destination for more than 150 years. As many as 450,000 people per year visit this cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. For many, it is their family vacation. Yes, it really is that delightful.[1]
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History
The grounds were initially developed as a 600-acre plantation in the early 1760s by English Colonel John Mullryne. Mullryne built his home here on a bluff overlooking the Wilmington River. He planted trees and named the estate “Bonaventure” which means “good fortune.”
During the Revolutionary War, Mullryne was a staunch Loyalist, true to the British crown, as was Savannah’s royal governor Sir James Wright. When the residents of Savannah arrested the governor in 1776, Mullryne helped him escape through Bonaventure to a British naval vessel. Then he fled Savannah himself.
In 1779, after the British retook the city, Revolutionary forces and their French allies, commandeered Bonaventure following a bloody battle. Bonaventure then became a “hospital-turned-cemetery” where French, Haitian, and American troops were buried.
Nature
By the 1830s, the trees that were originally planted by Mullryne had matured into a dense canopy that captivated visitors and inspired the poem “Bonaventure by Starlight” by Henry Rootes Jackson. [2]
“Along a corridor I tread,
High over-arched by ancient trees,
Where, like a tapestry overhead,
The gray moss floats upon the breeze.
—Henry Roots Jackson (Bonaventure by Starlight, 1842)
Another early visitor of Bonaventure Cemetery wrote, “This hallowed burial place is like a natural cathedral, whose columns are majestic trees; whose stained-glass its gorgeous forage; whose tapestries are draperies of long gray moss; whose pavement is the flowery turf; whose aisles are avenues of softened light and shade; whose monuments are these elaborate and tasteful marble shafts, which tell in simple lines the names of those who here repose in dreamless sleep.”[3]
French flower beds
Bonaventure Cemetery may be in Georgia but its roots are French as the very name of “Bonaventure” comes from a French word.
From Mardi Gras to jambalaya, the US deep South has many of its roots in France. The French influence even extends to the cemeteries. A common type of French gravesite features a headstone at the top with a “bed” of marble stones outlining the burial spot. The “bed” was planted with flowers. Hence the phrase “flower bed”.
Tours
The local historical society in Savannah, Georgia offers free tours twice a month and the property is completely drivable. TripAdvisor notes that this “charming site” has been has been a “world-famous tourist destination for more than 150 years.”[4]
Holocaust Ashes
In 1951, the ashes of Scmul Szcerkowski were brought to Bonaventure Cemetery, along with some of the ashes of 343 others who were killed at a concentration camp in Ahlem, Germany. Szcerkowski’s children received a sponsorship from the Jewish community to help fund the effort.[5]
Little Gracie Watson
Little Gracie Watson was the daughter of a Savannah hotel manager where she became popular with visitors and locals alike.
But Gracie became even more well-known in death. She died of pneumonia at the age of six and a life-size statue was created in her memory.
A rumor spread, saying that if students rubbed the tip of Gracie’s nose they would get good grades. So many students tested that theory that the end of her nose was worn right off. So Gracie’s statue (with a new nose) is now behind bars for its own protection.
For more than a century, visitors have brought toys to leave near Gracie’s statue.
Grave Robbers
Grave robbers were a common problem in Victorian-era cemeteries, like Bonaventure. They stole everything from rings and necklaces to the bodies themselves. The corpses were often sold to medical schools where students used them to study the human body.
“Rest in Peace” is a common epitaph on older gravestones but this wasn’t just a trite phrase in the 1800s. Family members were genuinely concerned about their loved ones’ bodies resting in peace.
So families often went to great lengths to protect their loved one’s remains after burial. Families who could afford it bought metal caskets and erected iron fences at Bonaventure Cemetery.[6]
- Johnny Mercer (1909 – 1976), songwriter; 19 Academy Award Nominations. 4 Oscars. Over 1,500 written songs. Founder of Capitol Records
- Hugh W. Mercer (1808 – 1877), Johnny Mercer’s great-grandfather; Confederate general during the American Civil War
- Conrad Aiken (1899 – 1973), American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize
Explore more about famous cemeteries
- Cemetery Records Worldwide, BillionGraves, MyHeritage Catalog Collection at MyHeritage
- Documenting Cemeteries with BillionGraves webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Stories in Stone – Cemetery Research webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- London's Magnificent Seven Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- The Seven Largest Cemeteries in the World, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 of the World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- Bonaventure Cemetery, BillionGraves Blog
References
- ↑ https://blog.billiongraves.com/bonaventure-cemetery/
- ↑ https://blog.billiongraves.com/bonaventure-cemetery/
- ↑ https://www.fabledcollective.com/bonaventure-cemetery-savannah/
- ↑ https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60814-d103148-Reviews-Bonaventure_Cemetery-Savannah_Georgia.html
- ↑ https://blog.billiongraves.com/bonaventure-cemetery/
- ↑ https://blog.billiongraves.com/bonaventure-cemetery/