Colonial Park Cemetery (locally and informally, Colonial Cemetery) is a historic cemetery located in downtown

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It became a city park in 1896,Historic Colonial Park Cemetery"
- VisitHistoricSavannah.com 43 years after burials in the cemetery ceased."Colonial Park Cemetery"
- SavannahGA.gov The cemetery was established in 1750, when Savannah was the capital of the British

Province of Georgia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

, last of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

. By 1789 it had expanded three times to reach its current six acres bounded by East

Oglethorpe Avenue Oglethorpe Avenue is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located, in its downtown section, between York Street to the north and Hull Street to the south, it runs for about from the Atlantic Coastal Highway (U.S. Route 17) ...

(to the north),

Habersham Street Habersham Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Lincoln Street to the west and Price Street to the east, it runs for about from East Bay Street in the north to Stephenson Avenue in the south. The ...

(east), East Perry Lane (south) and Abercorn Street (west). Savannah's primary public cemetery throughout its 103 active years, its previous names have included the Old Cemetery, Old Brick Graveyard, South Broad Street Cemetery, and Christ Church Cemetery.

History

Originally built as the burial ground for the Christ Church Parish, in 1789 it became a cemetery for Savannahians of all denominations. The cemetery was closed to burials in 1853, some eight years before the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, so no

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldiers are interred there. After Union troops occupied Savannah on December 24, 1864, the graveyard became a temporary home to "several hundred" Union soldiers."VIDEO: A walk through Savannah’s Civil War: Colonial Park Cemetery"
- ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its metropolitan area, and parts of South Ca ...

'', October 16, 2011 Soldiers allegedly damaged or defaced some of the stone markers (including altering some dates and ages) and sheltered inside vaults.

Notable burials

John Berrien John Berrien (November 19, 1711April 22, 1772) was a farmer and merchant from Rocky Hill, New Jersey. He was appointed a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1764 and was a trustee of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, fo ...

(1759–1815), major in the American Revolution (father of

John M. Berrien John Macpherson Berrien (August 23, 1781January 1, 1856) of United States senator from Georgia and Attorney General of the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Early life and education Berrien was born on August 23, 1781 at ...

, senator and attorney general) *

Archibald Bulloch Archibald Stobo Bulloch (January 1, 1730 – February 22, 1777) was a lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Georgia during the American Revolution. He was the first governor of Georgia. He was also a great-grandfather of Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, ...

(1730–1777), governor of Georgia's

Provincial Congress The Provincial Congresses were extra-legal legislative bodies established in ten of the Thirteen Colonies early in the American Revolution. Some were referred to as congresses while others used different terms for a similar type body. These bodies ...

Samuel Elbert Samuel Elbert (1740November 1, 1788) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Savannah, Georgia. Elbert fought in the Revolutionary War, commanding the victorious American colonial forces in a naval battle near St. Simons Island, ...

(1740–1788), Revolutionary soldier and a governor of the state of Georgia *

Button Gwinnett Button Gwinnett (March 3, 1735 – May 19, 1777) was a British-born American Founding Father who, as a representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress, was one of the signers (first signature on the left) of the United States Declaration o ...

(1735–1777), a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

James Habersham James Habersham (26 January 1712 – 28 August 1775) was an English-born American merchant, planter, missionary, teacher and politician who lived the majority of his life in the Province of Georgia. Habersham is credited with opening the first di ...

(1712–1775), acting royal governor of the Province of Georgia (father of John, Joseph and James Habersham Jr.) *

John Habersham John Habersham (December 23, 1754 – December 17, 1799) was an American merchant, planter, and soldier from Georgia. He was the son of loyalist official James Habersham, the younger brother of patriot leader Joseph Habersham. They were both ...

(1754–1799), member of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

(son of James Habersham, brother of Joseph and James Habersham Jr.) *

Joseph Habersham Joseph Habersham (July 28, 1751 – November 17, 1815) was an American businessman, Georgia politician, soldier in the Continental Army, and Postmaster General of the United States. Early years Born in Savannah, Georgia, to James Habers ...

(1751–1815),

Postmaster General of the United States The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

under three presidents (son of James Habersham, brother of John and James Habersham Jr.) Lachlan-mcintosh-grave1

Edward Malbone Edward Greene Malbone (1777 – May 7, 1807) was an American painter, and the most sought-after miniaturist of his day. He was an influence on other artists including Charles Fraser, William Dunlap and John Wesley Jarvis. Edward Greene Malbone ...

(1777–1807), painter *

Lachlan McIntosh Lachlan McIntosh (March 17, 1725 – February 20, 1806) was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. In a 1777 duel, he fatally shot Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaratio ...

(1725–1806),

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

* William Scarbrough, (1776–1838), sea captain More than 700 victims of Savannah's 1820

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic are also buried here. The remains of major general

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependabl ...

(1742–1786) reposed in the cemetery's Graham vault between 1786 and 1901, at which point they were reinterred in Johnson Square, along with the remains of his eldest son, George. His remains had shared the vault with those of John Maitland, his arch-rival in the Revolutionary War. Maitland's remains were returned to his native Scotland in 1981.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Colonial Park Cemetery
at

Find A Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

A map of the cemetery
Cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia Protected areas of Chatham County, Georgia 1750 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)