Oldest graves at Micanopy Cemetery

Oldest graves (to left)

Graveyard Spider, Micanopy, Fl.

Carlton Cemetery, Island Grove, Fl.

  On at least two occasions I think I received some "guidance" to help me locate graves. In 1986 I entered a photo competition in Berea Ky. Each photographer had 24 hrs. to shoot photos within a 10 mile radius in three categories. I was driving down a country road on a foggy morning looking for a possible subject. As I passed a narrow dirt road to my left, I happened to glance down it and saw an old cemetery. I took several photos of old graves with a foggy background. One of them subsequently won best in show at the competition. When I showed an enlargement to my late wife the next day, she realized that the closest grave to the camera was her great grandmother. The same one she and her father had been trying to locate a couple of years earlier.

  Several months ago I was driving slowly down an old highway near Island Grove, Fl when I happened to notice another dirt road to my left. I had a feeling that I needed to explore it. After driving about 300 yards, I came upon a small overgrown cemetery in the woods with a short chain link fence around it. Upon exploring I found several graves of persons with my last name. Two of them, a father and son, were CSA soldiers serving in Forida. The son, who was in the cavalry, was 12 years old when the Civil War started.
  I have found that a lot of settlers in the 1800's in Florida were from north Georgia and NW South Carolina which is where my family is from. I have also found that all Carltons in America are descended from an Edward Carlton who came from England in the 1600's with other Puritans to settle in Massachusetts.

Colonial Park Cemetery Savannah, Georgia

  In downtown Savannah, Ga. there is Colonial Park Cemetery. It has been there since the 1700's. There is a brick wall on the east side that has numerous gravestones bolted to it. Apparently, when Sherman occupied Savannah during his march to the sea, his soldiers destroyed and disfigured many of the gravestones when they set up camp there. After the Union Army left, the city fathers could not replace the stones in their proper places since no burial records were kept except for the more important persons. Subsequently, they bolted all the stones to the wall. One of the things that the soldiers also did was change dates on the stones,  which would explain why one ladies inscription had her dying before she was born.
  Because of the soldier's actions their are many more people buried there than the stones indicate. Which also means that you will walk over many graves no matter how hard you try not to.

Unidentified graves overtaken by oak tree roots in Micanopy, Fl.

  Howdy. Welcome to my very first blog. I never considered creating one until I happened upon the Graveyard Rabbit site. I have been exploring old cemeteries for years because of the history, both personal and public that is contained within them. As a lifelong photographer cemeteries have always been one of my favorite subjects.

  I have explored cemeteries in north Florida and south Georgia. I have even discovered one in the woods that contained the graves of some distant relatives.
  Anyway, since I am just starting, I will wait until I am more comfortable at doing this to start relating my experiences.