Cross Roads Cemetery, Sandy Springs, Georgia

Joseph Pittman, 1848-1946, Cross Roads Primitive Baptist Chuch Cemetery

Joseph Pittman fought in the Civil War and lived to see the end of the Second World War and the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Oak Dale Baptist Churchyard, Nokesville, Virginia

Churchyard at Oak Dale Baptist Church, Nokesville, Virginia

While most of the photographs in this blog were taken at larger urban cemeteries, I often run across rural cemeteries like this one that have their own simple beauty. Most of these cemeteries are either family plots - sometimes abandoned, but usually carefully cared for by the family, or churchyards like this one. As is often the case in the south there are a few Confederate soldiers' graves in even the smallest yards.

Maxwell Cemetery, Alpharetta, GA

Maxwell Cemetery

While Civil War Veterans' graves are common in cemeteries throughout Georgia, the graves of Revolutionary War Veterans are not common at all. It is always interesting to run across one. Maxwell is a small private cemetery hidden in plan view between office parks and apartments in Alpharetta. These two massive oaks could easily be as old as the cemetery - over 150 years.

John Maxwell, Georgia Volunteer, Soldier of the American Revolution

This is the grave of John Maxwell, 1763-1840, a volunteer at the age of 14. After the War John married a sister of Patrick Henry and settled in this area, where he and his wife had nine children. Note the metal tin, knife and the Marine Corp Good Conduct medal someone has placed here. A descendant perhaps, or fellow soldier?