We Are At A Standoff

This is an article that I wished I did not have to write.  It concerns the upkeep of our abandoned cemeteries here in Henry County, GA.  I am  Alfred Britt, the Founder of the Cemetery Research Group of Henry County and one of our tasks is to see that abandoned cemeteries are cleaned by the appropriate authorities.  In many cases, the abandoned cemeteries are cleaned by the Juvenile Court who do a pretty fair job.   But there are cemeteries out there that haven’t been taken care of and need work.  These are the graves of our ancestors who fought, worked and died for this land that they are buried upon.  It is a total disgrace for this county that wants to be world class in nature can’t even take care of the old cemeteries that are dotted across the landscape.

One such cemetery is the Dodson-Gossett-Hanson Cemetery that lies at the corner of Flat Rock Road and Belair Drive in the 5th district of Henry County.  My senior researcher contacted the Commissioner Mr. Holmes about that cemetery back in the summer.  He passed the buck along to people who have no idea what they are doing about cemeteries.  And then the Chairman was contacted by the researcher.  Mr. Smith tried to get something done, but was blocked along the way by the County Manager Mr. Walker.  Now he wants us to have a world class county then we need to step up and fix our ancestors graves.  That cemetery contains an early pioneer to the area before Henry County was created in Mr. Hanson.  Then Mr. Gossett is buried there who was a commissioner for the City of Stockbridge and a founder of the Stockbridge Presbyterian Church. It’s sad that these historical figures lie in a patch of weeds and over growth that could be easily cleaned now that it is
 winter.

Here again are the laws that were put in place by the State of Georgia pertaining to abandoned cemeteries.  Being a world class county would not go against State Law.

 TITLE 36. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
CHAPTER 72. ABANDONED CEMETERIES AND BURIAL GROUNDS
§ 36-72-1. Legislative findings and intent (a) The care accorded the remains of deceased persons reflects respect and regard for human dignity as well as cultural, spiritual, and religious values. The General Assembly declares that human remains and burial objects are not property to be owned by the person or entity which owns the land or water where the human remains and burial objects are interred or discovered, but human remains and burial objects are a part of the finite, irreplaceable, and nonrenewable cultural heritage of the people of Georgia which should be protected. (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the provisions of this chapter be construed to require respectful treatment of human remains in accord with the equal and innate dignity of every human being and consistent with the identifiable ethnic, cultural, and religious affiliation of the deceased individual as indicated by the method of burial or other historical evidence or
 reliable information. HISTORY: Code 1981, § 36-72-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 274, § 3.

§ 36-72-3. Authority of counties and municipalities to preserve abandoned cemeteries Counties, anywhere within the county boundaries, and municipalities, anywhere within the municipal boundaries, are authorized, jointly and severally, to preserve and protect any abandoned cemetery or any burial ground which the county or municipality determines has been abandoned or is not being maintained by the person who is legally responsible for its upkeep, whether or not that person is financially capable of doing so, to expend public money in connection therewith, to provide for reimbursement of such funds by billing any legally responsible person or levying upon any of his property as authorized by local ordinance, and to exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire any interest in land necessary for that purpose. HISTORY: Code 1981, § 36-72-3, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 924, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2508, § 2.

Being involved with seeing that cemeteries are preserved have been my chore for the past 8 years and it has been a hard one.  I tried to have a church stopped from building upon a slave cemetery on Hwy 42, but everything fell upon deaf ears and now those graves were bulldozed up some seven years ago now. It was bad enough that they built I-75 over Native American graves and when re routing Stagecoach Rd. they paved over several slaves graves then at that time. What does that say about our people.  There are other cemeteries across the county that have been threatened and not being taken care of properly.  This should be a duty of all who sit upon the Board and for the County Manager to see that they are properly taken care of.  This problem has surfaced many times and it will continue to surface until those who serve us finally do the right thing and take care of those who came before us.  One day they will pass on and would they like a service station
 or road built over them?  Probably not and that is the point here.  No one deserves to be forgotten in a patch of weeds.  I am asking the people of this county to voice your opinion if you care about those who came before us and where they are buried.  This shouldn’t have to be this way, but it seems that is how they want to conduct business here in Henry County, GA where shame is written upon the faces of those who shirk their duty for the people of today and yesterday.

Alfred Britt, Founder of the Cemetery Research Group of Henry County.