Chestnut Grove Cemetery

Thanks to those who participated in the Wreaths Across America event at the historic Chestnut Grove Cemetery yesterday. In particular to Julea Moats the event coordinator; the boys, girls, leaders and moms/dads of Troops 142 and 10427; and to the veterans who laid special wreaths for the military services and for our lost POW/MIA service members.

18 veteran burials were honored, from a Patriot of the Revolutionary War (David Johnson) to a young soldier killed in France during World War 1 (Pvt Willie Means). The newly found burial of James Poyntz, a black soldier who fought with the Union Army during the Civil War, was honored. Fifteen other veterans from the War of 1812 and the Civil War were also honored.

As a reminder, the mission of the WAA program is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach the next generation the value of freedom. Please contribute to next year's program by purchasing a wreath at the WAA website for Chestnut Grove Cemetery.

Special wreaths were laid in memory of the first known burial in 1823 of an infant daughter born to Ormand and Mary Means, to Solomon Long for giving 1/4 acre on the south end for the cemetery in the 1830s and to Ira Gibson for giving an acre on the north end in 1887 for an adjacent Methodist Episcopal Church.

Thanks also to the continuing support from the neighboring churches, Stone River United Methodist and St Andrew Presbyterian. And thanks to those who made donations of time or money this year. Your contributions help us with leaf and w**d removal, wind damage cleanup, and in general, keeping Mother Nature at bay. If you wish to help out with a financial contribution, please send a check made out to the Chestnut Grove Cemetery to Amy Lilly at Gibson Bar-B-Q, 2520 Danville Rd SW, Decatur, Al 35603.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Brrr! 29 degrees today. Was 60 or so at cemetery yesterday. We lucked out.

Thanks to the Boy Scouts of Troops 91 and 142, the Girl Scouts of Troop 10427, and several dads and friends for cleaning off the Chestnut Grove Cemetery on December 6. See the group picture below and a "before" picture and a couple of "afters".

A Wreaths Across America event will occur next Saturday, December 13 at 10 o'clock. The public is invited; parking will be available at the St Andrew Presbyterian Church on the cemetery's south side. The mission of the WAA organization is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach the next generation the value of freedom. There are some 5,600 participating locations this year. Wreaths will be laid on the graves of 18 Veterans buried here; the earliest served as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War and was buried in 1842.

The first known burial in the cemetery was an infant girl buried in 1823. The cemetery is 1.3 acres and has some 231 burials with 91 in unmarked graves.

The Boy Scouts will be out on Dec 7 to work on cleaning up the cemetery (8-12). Please help out on that date or anytime really if you have an ancestor buried there or just want to help beautify this historic place as a "jewel of the community" as someone has described. If you are able to give an hour or so, just fill a few bags and leave them in place and they'll be carried to the road later.

As a reminder Julea Moats will be leading a Wreaths Across America event to honor the veterans buried there in a short program on Dec 14 at 10 am.

Thanks to the following for contributions of labor and/or funds to help sustain the restoration effort there: Dr John Irle, Steve Caufield, Jerry Flowers and Ray Mitchell.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The cemetery looks great! Thanks to Larry Stewart who recently spent a couple of days spraying and cutting the w**ds that were starting to take over - something about nature reclaiming itself periodically.

Thanks again to Thomas Holland for granting cemetery access on the south end and to Tom Meier of the St Andrew Presbyterian Church congregation for keeping the space mowed!
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> We also thank Windy Wynona Pettiet for providing the pictures of her ancestor Solomon Scott Long and his second wife Mary Jones. Her pictures of the cemetery in 2010 and Solomon's abandoned house in 1950 and 2000 (both in Danville presumably), along with her notes, are very interesting.

Woodall gravestones (all hand made) can be seen in the 2010 photo (left side) and in the center of the top one in the current set. The cemetery's appearance is notably improved currently.

Thanks to several of the Means family for their generous donations for several years and most recently in memory of Barbara Napps Skidmore to help with the restoration effort on the CGC. Barbara has several Means ancestors buried there and she was a dedicated advocate for the preservation of the historic cemetery whose first known burial in 1823 was an infant daughter of Ormand and Mary Means.

My husband Ray first got to know Barbara and her husband Max Skidmore in 2014 through a note she had left at the Archives seeking others who might have an interest in reclaiming the over-grown property. (She and Max lived in the Atlanta area and were back in Decatur visiting the Means ancestral property not too far from the CGC.) Through some emails back and forth with Barbara and her sister Dorothy Napps McGinnis and cousin Howard Means, over the next year or so Ray and neighborhood volunteers Phil Wirey and Russ Mattox got encouraged and made a significant dent in cleaning back the heavy growth of privet. Where it is today can definitely be traced to Barbara's 2014 "call to action".

The picture below is from 2018. From the left that's Ray, Barbara, Amy McLemore Lilly, then her parents Don McLemore and his wife Carolyn Braswell Mclemore. Thanks to Max for snapping the photo. Amy, Carolyn and Barbara are related as Carolyn's grandmother was Mattie Means Braswell, a sister to Barbara's grandmother Sue Means Napps. Furthermore, Ray's great grandmother and Don's great grandmother were Gibson sisters, Mary and Ira; both are buried in the CGC. Someone once said everyone in the CGC cemetery was related. Maybe a future research project?