Report

The Beardin Cemetery is located just south of Watkinsville, Georgia along Colham Ferry Road at the intersection with Hardigree Bell Road.  The cemetery has been in continuous use since the later part of the nineteenth century, since its creation by a childless plantation owner, Arron Beardin, who left the land to a select group of families who in turn promised to maintain his grave.[1]  This unique history has preserved a small cross section of Oconee County families.  Although the area has always been used for agriculture, the cemetery contains graves of the working class and of the wealthy.  Of the ninety-five burials here, eighty-seven give useable dates.  Most burials have occurred in family plots, demonstrating an importance of family.  Because the cemetery is over a century old, different monumental styles occur, including both detailed monuments and simple headstones.  These reveal much about the social standings of the dead and even show distinct and predictable icons.  Overall, the Beardin Cemetery provides a window into the history of some Oconee county families.

A study of the ages of the deceased reveals a polarity.  Over half the graves belong to either young children or senior citizens.  The high percentage of senior citizens buried here indicates that for the life of the cemetery the population had adequate health care.  However, prenatal care must have not existed during the early stages because there are a high percentage of infant burials during the early part of the twentieth century.  Chart 1 shows the distribution of the ages of death.  The polarity is apparent there with clusters in childhood and old age.  Chart 2 compares the age of death of a person to his year of birth.  According to this chart there is no correlation between a person’s death and his birth, other than children.  The deaths of children are common up until about the middle of the twentieth century.  All but one child was born before World War II.  There are many reasons that this might have occurred.  The most optimistic is the advancement of medicine.  However, this change could be caused by a shift in the families that use the cemetery.  Perhaps, these families were not having as many children at this time.  Only deaths are reflected in a cemetery.  Children could have died as often but been buried elsewhere.   A children’s cemetery might have been built in this area right before the war.  However, the large family plots do not suggest that parents would want to bury their children elsewhere.  Most of the children buried here died before their first birthday.  Out of nineteen children burials, eleven occur in the first year of life, thirteen percent of the total population.  Most of the children are also found in proximity to their parents or other family.  Amazingly, many parents grow to old age and still get buried next to their departed children.   Furthermore, some parents lost more than one child, like the Gunters and Partees.  One woman seems to have died as the result of complications with labor; Mrs. Zulu L. Smith, grave 91, died four days after her newborn son, g90.  One couple, W.B. and C.M. Akin, even lost newborn twin daughters.

Although there are many infant graves, the majority of the people buried here have lived a long life.  The oldest person buried here, Beulah Partee Huff, died at the age of eighty-nine.  She is buried in the back of the cemetery in grave 43.  Including her, fifteen people were buried in their eighties, twenty-five in their seventies, and ten in their sixties.  Thus fifty people, or fifty-seven percent of those buried, died after the age of sixty.  This indicates a healthy population because most people are dying old.  Of those buried here, fifty-seven percent are male to forty-three percent female.  A tendency for a woman to be buried with her husband’s family is apparent here.  Thus most of the grown daughters of these families probably married out of these small families and left the area and their numbers would not be reflected.  There are many single people buried here, but they are mostly men.  Twenty-two couples are buried together, representing forty-seven percent of the total graves.  Most of the couples are also buried next to their children.  One couple, Pleas Alvin, g18, and Lola Lee Gunter, g19, died five days apart.  What could explain such a small separation?  Perhaps they were in an accident or disaster that led to their deaths.  Other couples died far apart.  Mattie Miller, g23, died forty years after her husband, but they are still buried together.  There is also a tendency for the wife to be buried on the North side of her husband, which when looking over the graves at the headstone, makes her be on the right.  The burials of Lunis, g8, and Ethel, g7, Saxon are the only ones that do not conform to this standard.  Perhaps husband on left, wife on right is a common icon of marriage.  Max Mallot, g44, is the only grave in the cemetery that occurs outside of a family cluster.  However, grave 33 contains the infant Barnette Mitchem and is located in a Poulnot family plot. Although no obvious evidence exists to tie him to the Poulnots, his grave placement suggests that he might have been related to the Poulnots.

Monumental architecture in this graveyard changes over time.  The earliest tombstones come in various shapes and sizes.  The oldest grave, g1, belongs to Arron Beardin, who began this cemetery.  An aboveground, stone sarcophagus that has suffered much over the years marks his grave.  Some of the sides have cracked and collapsed inwards.  The inscription is hard to read, but it indicates that he died in 1817.  When looking at the history of the cemetery this makes little sense.  Other than him, the earliest birth occurs in 1837, a full twenty years later.  More than likely the Beardin inscription should read 1877, but weathering has reduced a seven to a one.  This date is reasonable because the first series of burials begin right after this date.  Older graves tend have more details than the others.  Grave 84, Marshall Barnette, has an organizational monument occasionally seen in cemeteries.  This “Woodmen of the World” memorial looks like a cut tree stump and contains very delicate carvings to simulate bark.  The Woodmen are a fraternal organization that helps ensure the financial security for its members.[2]  Two tombstones, graves 56 and 49, declare membership in the Freemasons, a secretive, fraternal organization; however, these tombstones are very different.  Grave 56, the largest in the cemetery, belongs to T.T. Chandler and his wife.  An arch stands on top of two columns, which sit on a base containing the names of the deceased, births, deaths, and a quote for each.  On top of this arch is an urn wrapped in a shroud, below which the symbol of the Freemasons prominently stands.  This monument, which also contains an unused flowerpot in the center, dominates the cemetery and clearly shows that the Chandler family had money and was willing to spend it.  Here the graves are each covered by a stone slab, clearly the most luxurious of internments.   The other Freemason grave, Harold H. Poulnot, g49, is not nearly as monumental, having a modern style with the Freemason symbol only carved next to the name.

In the modern style, a stone border around a gravel interior defines family plots with a simple family headstone dominating the western edge.  This headstone usually holds space for two people, a mother and a father; however, unmarried family members often have single headstones in the same style.  In a large family plot, more than one couple’s headstone can be found.  Modern headstones are usually rectangular shaped with a light curve along the top.  In most cases only the years of birth and death are stated.  Throughout the history of the cemetery, footstones are placed at the end of graves and in many cases carry the initials of the departed.  In the older parts of the cemetery, headstones often take the shape of some object.  The distinctive Woodmen of the World shape has already been mentioned, but many others occur.  A podium shape also occurs here and can be found at g38, g61, and g91.  Two of these three podiums also contain bibles.  This iconography represents the piety of the interned, and is chosen because the rectangular shape of a podium is easily constructed in stone.

The most obvious use of iconography occurs in the graves of children.  These graves tend to reflect the innocence and tragedy of the departed.  Lambs and doves are common images depicted on these graves.  Graves 65, 9, 59, and 20 use a standard style of tombstone that has a lamb sitting on top.  A fallen dove is shown next to a stump in g64, whereas a collapsed lamb is shown next to a stump in g34.  The headstone of the twins, g60, is heart shaped.  Grave 35 has a relief of a lamb on the headstone.  The only child grave with a modern style is g33, and it too contains lamb iconography represented by an outline carved next to the name.  Not all child graves contain this iconography.  Grave 38, an infant, belongs to the podium class of headstones.  Others, like g39, are just simple square headstones.  The headstones of children tend to name the parents, like g60’s “Daughters of W.B. and C.M. Akin.”  When a baby was born and died on the same day, a name does not always show up, like in g60; however, the graves of older children do carry the names of the deceased along with the parents’ names.  The headstones of children seem to be standardized.  In many cases “daughter  is referenced simply by “Dau,” a three letter space that can be shared by “Son” if the headstone refers to a boy.  The most unique grave in the cemetery belongs to a child.  Katherin Gunter was only eight months old when she died in 1924.  Her grave is placed just outside of the Gunter family plot and appears to have not been done professionally.  A poured concrete slab with words crudely drawn marks her death.

The graves of men who fought to defend their homes are also found in this cemetery.  Two, Howell C. Huff, g43, and H. Dean Barnette, g86, were killed in battle.  The other men died later.  One man, Curtis M. Matthews, g75, fought in World War I and died at a ripe old age of seventy-seven.  His son, Douglas M. Matthews, g74, fought in World War II, along with Roger C. Marable, g2.  H. Dean Barnette seems to have died in the Korean War, and Howell C. Huff fought in the Spanish American War and has a standard Army marker. The others have stone plaques for footstones.  All these military monuments give the assignment of the deceased allowing them to be known as soldiers.

The Beardin Cemetery contains some more oddities and noteworthy things.  For instance, the oldest “Poulnot” grave, g30, spells the last name as “Poulnott.”  “Poulnott” might be an older spelling that was changed when the family came to America.  Then again, the carver could have added an extra “t” by mistake.  Graves 39 and 40 refer to their mother, Elizabeth S. Partee, g41, as E. J. Partee.  Surely, if these are the same person, then “S.” and “J.” must refer to the middle and maiden names.   There are a few anonymous graves in the cemetery.  Within the Miller fence lies a small grave lacking identification.  Because of its size, this grave seems to be that of an infant.  There are also two more anonymous graves, g16 and g53.  A small headstone and a footstone only mark g16, although it seems to be of normal size.  A small funeral home plaque marks g53, but all identification has been lost.  Another oddity occurs in the Miller fence at g29.  In this instance a plaque with a rounded surface marks the grave.  The cemetery’s most recent burial, g73, occurred in 1997 and is only marked by a funeral home plaque.  The heaped up earth is still visible, because no grass has grown over the spot due to the shade of a tree.  Behind the Beardin Grave, there are two square stones with “P” carved in them.  They are also right across from the Poulnot graves, and thus they probably mark future sites for Poulnot plots.  Within the northern most enclosure there is a suspicious placement of rocks, g95, that could act as headstones and footstones.  It is a smaller grave and could stand for a beloved pet that was buried near his masters.  Twenty five graves, mostly in the older sections, have quotes one them with the most popular being, “Gone but Not Forgotten.”

The people buried in the Beardin cemetery belong to different social groups.  Some families like the Chandlers demonstrate their wealth with huge monuments.  Other families have simpler markers.  Multiple generations represent families with a long history in Oconee County.  These families still maintain the grounds following Arron Beardin’s wishes.  The evidence of family tragedies comes in the form of premature death.  Nevertheless, older couples that lived a complete life form the majority of this cemetery.  With in this cemetery, five men have fought for this country, two dying for it, and three men were members of fraternal organizations.  As the cemetery has aged, monumental architecture has changed.  Modern headstones are an elegant mixture of polished and cut stone, contrasting the older ones with sculpted images.  Truly a window into the history of Oconee County can be seen along Colham Ferry Road.