List of famous people buried in Bonaventure Cemetery, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Many think the famous Mercer Williams House on Monterey Square must have been his home but it… Other famous people interred within Bonaventure Cemetery are: Georgia’s first governor, Edward Telfair, silent film actress Edythe Chapman, and Bishop Middleton Barnwell. He served as a second lieutenant in the US Artillery and was promoted in 1834. Of all the cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia, Bonaventure Cemetery is probably the most aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, no member of the Mercer family ever lived at the Italianate-Revival property, for right after construction began the Civil War broke out and Mercer reenlisted. The … Johnny was actually born in Savannah, Georgia, and hailed from a long line of important Savannahians. Between the brutal deaths of his parents, and Aiken’s later enrollment in Harvard University, his path to literary greatness was born of grief, hope and an interest in the psychological. The… November 2, 2020 Gracie died when she was only six years old. It is a public cemetery and contains 160 acres. I went to the haunted Bonaventure Cemetery located in Savannah, Georgia to communicate with the spirit of little Gracie Watson! The tomb of Johnny Mercer’s great-grandfather, General Hugh W. Mercer’s, can also be found at Bonaventure Cemetery. His father would sing Scottish songs, or his mother would bring him to vaudeville shows, even at the shockingly young age of six months. For over a hundred years now, Little Gracie has been a favorite stop for visitors of Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure Cemetery is home to little Gracie Watson. The iron gate surrounding her tomb is often adorned with trinkets and toys left by guests of the cemetery, all of whom wish to offer the little girl a bit of comfort in the Afterlife. Last week in Part I, I shared some of the colorful history of Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Ga. With no musical education behind him, Johnny joined his church’s choir at age six, and by age twelve had amassed hundreds of memorized songs in his head. With 100-acres of land for gravestones and tombs, these are only some of our favorite stops in Bonaventure Cemetery. Famous Burials. Could this be anyone else but American songwriter Johnny Mercer? Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was an American writer, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, a play, and an autobiography.... Henry Rootes Jackson (June 24, 1820 – May 23, 1898) was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.... Robert Houstoun Anderson (October 1, 1835 – February 8, 1888) was a West Point graduate, an infantry officer in the United States Army and later served as a Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, After the war he served as the Chief of the Police for the city of Savannah for 23 years and was twice appointed to serve on the Visitor's Board of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, NY. For Aiken, despite the trials of his childhood and the deeply troubling thoughts that continued to plague him, he had only love the scholarly and literary world. had a beautiful stone carving erected in Bonaventure Cemetery by famed sculptor John Waltz; it was to be an exact liking to his baby girl, and Waltz’s skill surely did Little Gracie justice. When the City of Savannah took over in 1907, Bonaventure Cemetery grew to 160 acres and saw the addition of a Jewish section, Jewish Chapel and Jewish entrance. Watson, a man who owned a famous luxury hotel in Savannah during the late 1880s. The peaceful setting rests on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah. In 1862, Mercer’s name became well known throughout the Confederate Army for being the first person to truly work on enlisting slaves to fight for the Confederacy. The main office of the Department of Cemeteries is located in the Bonaventure Administrative Building at the entrance of the cemetery. Conrad Aiken had finally earned international acclaim. Bonaventure Cemetery is one of the oldest and most famous cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia. … Also known as the Old Cemetery and The Old Brick Cemetery, it was founded in 1750. © 2020 Gallivanter Tours. Throughout Bonaventure Cemetery, you'll find burial plots and tombs to Savannah's most famous and influential residents from times past. As you can see, the Mercers in Savannah were very well connected. When World War II broke out, Aiken and Mary returned to Massachusetts, where Aiken finally claimed an American audience for his literary work. She was born to W.J. The statue has since been moved to a nearby museum, but guests still flock to Bonaventure to gaze at the cemetery’s elaborate tombs, headstones, and carvings. Despite a rather successful career in life, as well as a more tumultuous personal life, Johnny’s level of success after his passing reached even greater heights. It is a public cemetery and contains 160 acres. 4 Oscars. Citizens and others can still purchase interment rights in Bonaventure. Bonaventure Cemetery 330 Bonaventure Road Savannah, GA 31404. His grave is marked by a Washington Monument-esque pillar with intricate engravings at its base. Little Wendy, also known as the “Bird Girl”, wears a long dress and a contemplative expression; her head titled to the left as she holds a bowl in each outstretched hand. From her plaque she died of pneumonia at the age of 6 and it’s said that she haunts the statue that sits at her resting place. Bonaventure Cemetery Update. The most common haunting associated with … Harlem, Broadway—they were both his inspiration and the founding source of his drive. This week, we'll continue our ramble. The plantation-turned-cemetery is filled with tombstones framed by ferns, flowers, dwarf palmettos and long moss trees that make it one of Savannah’s most hauntingly beautiful places. When his father’s business crashed, Johnny was expected to help as much as he could—his need for escape grew from there. Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. 2 guitarist of all time and the co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band was killed at the age of 24 in a motorcycle accident. His escape came in the form of New York City, to which he moved in 1928 at nineteen years old. It began as a private cemetery located on a plantation owned by John Mullryne (early to mid 1800’s). The plantation consisted of 9,920-acres, an enormous plot of land that today would comprise most of the Savannah Region. His grave is marked by a memorial bench, another copy of which is in Johnson Square. He is a member of an association of volunteer caretakers and he spends his non-working days in the cemetery tending messy graves more often than the routine care provided by the cemetery. It was then that he began construction on the infamous Mercer-Williams House, which would become the crime scene for a murder in the mid-1900s. Until 1846, Bonaventure remained within the Tattnall family, before being sold to Peter Wiltberger. The cemetery became famous when it was featured in the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Unfortunately, her parents found it almost unbearable to remain in Savannah after their daughter’s death. W.J. Phone: 912-651-6843 Fax: 912-651-4254. 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