For years, the Old Clarkesville Cemetery on Jefferson Street was neglected and ignored. Now, with renewed efforts to restore and preserve it, this local landmark is finally getting the attention it deserves.
It may be a resting place for those long departed, but it serves as a living history for those of us still here.
According to www.exploregeorgia.org, the cemetery is located on land donated by Colonel James Brannon in 1831. The old Methodist Church was built in the center of the present cemetery and remained there until 1881.
The Old Clarkesville Cemetery contains the graves of historically important individuals including Jarvis Van Buren and his wife, Eliza. Van Buren, a cousin of President Martin Van Buren, relocated to Clarkesville from New York to take charge of the Iron Works.
Also buried here are Mr. and Mrs. Ezkiel Fuller, whose son, Captain W.H. Fuller, drove the locomotive Texas in pursuit of the General, captured by Andrew’s Raiders in the famous Civil War incident that became known as “The Great Locomotive Chase.”
Other prominent people buried in the historic Clarkesville Cemetery include Erwin Griggs, a long-time clerk of the Superior Court of Habersham County; Andrew Gailey, a carpenter who made most of the coffins in which the citizens of Clarkesville were buried; Richard Habersham, a U.S. Congressman and nephew of Revoluntionary War hero Col. Joseph Habersham; Matthew Rhodes and R.D. McCroskey, both Revolutionary War soldiers. Habersham County’s first ordinary, Judge Cicero H. Sutton, is also buried on the grounds.
The cemetery is now managed by the volunteer board of directors of Historic Clarkesville Cemetery Preservation, Inc. (HCCP). The local nonprofit’s mission, according to its Facebook page, is to maintain and promote the Old Clarkesville Cemetery “for the enjoyment and benefit of the public.”
Learn more about HCCP and the Old Clarkesville Cemetery by visiting their website at https://oldclarkesvillecemetery.com.
