Inside Perry, Georgia
Inside Perry, Georgia
Evergreen Cemetery | Perry's 200th Birthday Celebration
Perry, Georgia, is turning 200 years old in 2024, and we're celebrating all year long!
In today's episode, Mrs. Ellie Loudermilk, President of the Perry Area Historical Society & Museum, shares information about the beautiful and historic Evergreen Cemetery in Historic Downtown Perry that attracts photographers, genealogists, ghost hunters, and tourists.
It is known for its Spanish moss-draped trees and magnificent grave symbols. Over the years, many have come to the cemetery to step back into the past and experience the history of our beloved city.
Learn more about Evergreen Cemetery by visiting the Perry Area Historical Society Museum's website.
The Perry Area Historical Society Museum is hosting tours of Evergreen Cemetery in October 2024. Click here for more information.
For more information about the year-long celebration, visit www.perry-ga.gov/200.
If you like Inside Perry - subscribe and share the podcast with friends and family. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms.
Visit us at perry-ga.gov.
We hope to see you around in our amazing community...Where Georgia Comes Together.
Welcome to the Inside Perry, Georgia podcast. It's 2024 and we're celebrating the city of Perry's 200th birthday. This year we're partnering with the Perry area historical society to give an inside look at the tales of Perry's past. We're delving into the archives to uncover the stories. that truly make Perry a unique and special place. Today's tale is narrated by Miss Ellie Loudermilk, president of the Perry Area Historical Society.
Ellie Loudermilk:Today's story is about Evergreen Cemetery, the oldest public cemetery in Perry. When Perry was incorporated in 1824, There was a need for a courthouse, a jail, a school, and a church. So two years later, a little log church was built in present day Evergreen Cemetery by the Perry Methodist Church. That same year, Richard Smith died. And now, there was a need for a cemetery. Richard Smith was a wealthy landowner who had bought 17 of the lots in the new town. He did not live long enough to see that town developed. Before this ground was set aside as a church and cemetery, it held a large creek Indian village. This Indian village rested on the banks of Big Indian Creek. which the Indians called Oklahatchee. One can only imagine this village among huge evergreen and oak trees, some towering over 90 feet with trails of Spanish moss dancing gracefully in the wind on a breezy day. Cemeteries are places of remembrance for the dead, but they are also alive with stories told through the symbols on the gravestones. A walk through a cemetery can be a haunting, yet beautiful and reflective experience. Thousands of different religious and secular symbols and emblems have adorned tombstones through the ages, indicating attitudes toward death and the hereafter, membership in a fraternal or a social organization, Or even an individual's trade. These symbols make the personalities recognizable even in their death. While many of these symbols have fairly simple interpretations, It is not always easy to determine their meaning. We can only speculate what our ancestors were trying to tell us through some of their choices of tombstone art. Others, like the hourglass, was chosen as an allegory for our time on Earth. The sands of an hourglass, like the moments of our lives, eventually run out. Hourglasses sometimes take flight, signifying the resurrection of the dead. This symbol is shown prominently on the sundial at the entrance to Evergreen Cemetery. As you walk through Evergreen Cemetery, you will see many other symbols. For instance, a drape or a curtain is a veil that separates the world of the living from that of the dead. It can also represent great sadness or tragedy. Used in conjunction with other motifs, such as urns or columns, it symbolizes the soul passing into the afterlife. Look for an ascending dove, representing the transport of the departed soul to heaven, and the assurance of a safe passage. If the dove is holding an olive branch, that symbolizes a soul has reached divine peace in heaven. Urns represent immortality, containing the earthly remains of a body while the soul has ascended to the afterlife. The lion symbolizes the courage and bravery of the departed. Angels appear as guardians and guides sent from heaven to lead the soul to heaven. If the angel is dropping flowers, that may signify grief and mourning, but pointing to heaven signifies rejoicing. Scrolls symbolizes a person's life. The past rolled up, the present moment of death on display. The future in the afterlife yet to be revealed. You may also see hearts, cherubs, lambs, or even a symbol of military service. Hearts may represent the love family members held for the deceased. Cherubs, lambs, and lions are most commonly seen on children's gravestones. And lambs, representing purity and innocence, are are used primarily for the children who lived less than a year. Sometimes a symbol represents a vocation, such as maybe a church on a tombstone used for a pastor, an anvil or a hammer for a blacksmith, or scales for a judge. It can also represent membership in a fraternal organization. A tree stump could mean membership in Woodmen of the World. A square and compass is a Freemasonry symbol. Or a three or four leaf clover is affiliation with a 4 H club. Money left on a veteran's grave has distinct meaning, too, as a message to the family that someone else has visited. the gravesite to pay respect. Leaving a penny means simply that you visited. Leaving a nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained together. Leaving a dime means you served together and leaving a quarter means that you're telling the family you were with the deceased when they were killed. There is a beautiful stone archway at the entrance to Evergreen Cemetery erected in 1928 and inscribed with the following information. Evergreen Cemetery, 1928. This arch was erected and presented to the city of Perry as a gift from Dr. Charles R. Mann, who represented that a certain sum of money from his estate be given to the city. His heirs chose this as an appropriate way of carrying out his request, and at the same time, of commemorating one who dearly loved his city, county, and fellow citizens. Thank you. And whose faithful and skillful menstruations to the sick enshrined him in the hearts of multitudes. There is also a poem written by Edwin Martin in 1886 that is inscribed on the stone archway on the cemetery side. And it reads, In peace, the loved ones sweetly sleep beneath the oaks refreshing shade, By Ocklahatchee's hurling sweep, where white bays fill the odorous glade. The mockingbird's exultant song with rapturous music fills the air, And heavenly incense breathes among the mounds, amid the flowers fair. Here rest dear friends of life's green prime and early manhood's ardent years. They've left behind the cares of time, its hopes and sorrows, smiles and fears. They've crossed the gloomy river's flood, and camping neath the leafy trees, They bide the time of him whose blood from death and every evil frees. And soon, we'll join the silent band that waits the final trumpet sound. In faith, we see the pierced hand that points where peace and rest abound. In 1935, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Department of Commerce placed a geodetic marker in the southeast section of Evergreen Cemetery to mark a key permanent survey point for mapping purposes. The latitude and longitude coordinates defined the position for Perry, Georgia. The station mark A magnetic station disc is set in the top of a six inch square concrete flush with the ground surface and warns that there is a 250 fine or imprisonment for disturbing this mark. This cemetery has seen many memorial services to honor our 500 plus veterans from all wars, beginning with veterans of the Spanish American War of 1893. There are more than 4, 000 graves in this cemetery. The crosses in several sections of the cemetery designate babies, slaves, and workers from Robbins Air Force Base. There are many family plots that are bordered with beautiful ornamental fences constructed of iron. The gates of these fences often bear the name of the owner of the plot. There are also many burial plots enclosed with brick and stone borders. When you pause to consider the symbols represented through historic cemeteries like Evergreen, you realize that these symbols are an expression of the love and care that family and friends have for the departed. When visiting old cemeteries such as Evergreen, please walk between graves and do not stand on top of a burial place. gravestones, as they may be in disrepair and might fall apart under the slightest touch. Enjoy the beauty of the memorials and read the epitaphs. There is so much history to be learned and so many stories to be told. Savor the moment. One of the many individuals buried in Evergreen is Spencer Reed Pinnock. Spencer Pinnock was born in Cumberland County, Virginia in 1803. By 1832, he had married Martha Booker and at some time prior to 1850, they moved to Houston County with seven fema. gov The other three were born in Houston County. His vocation was farming, but he soon became involved with sacred harp singing and taught music to J. P. Reese, one of the most famous and well known sacred harp singers and writers of the mid 1800s. He also served as secretary of the Southern Musical Convention from 1851 to 1854. He also served in the Georgia 6th Infantry from Houston County during the Civil War. He and J. P. Reese together wrote the music to the Sacred Harp tune, Loving Kindness, which appeared in the 1850 version of the Sacred Harp Songbook and has been published in every Sacred Harp Songbook since 1850. Here are a few of the words. Awake, my soul, to joyful lays. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And sing the great Redeemer's praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Spencer Pinnock set in a major. A composition written by Charles Wesley in 1749, known as Narrow Space, which was published in the 1859 edition of the Sacred Harp. Sacred Harp is a uniquely American tradition that brings communities together to sing four part hymns and anthems. The tradition was born from colonial singing schools, whose purpose was to teach beginners to read music. Sacred Harp singings are not performances. There are no rehearsals and no separate seats for an audience. The singers sit in a hollow square formation with one voice part on each side, all facing inwards, and the song leader directs the singing from the hollow square, walking time to the tune. Spencer Pinnock died in 1866. And it's buried in Evergreen Cemetery. There are no other members of his family buried with him. And that concludes our story for today.
Tabitha Clark:Thanks for joining us on the Inside Perry, Georgia podcast. We're celebrating all year long in 2024. View the show notes to discover the exciting things happening this year. Special thanks again to the Perry Area Historical Society for their time, dedication and passion for Perry's history. If you like Inside PERI, please subscribe and share the podcast with friends and family. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. Visit us at peri ga. gov. We hope to see you around in our amazing community where Georgia comes together.