Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
^Reporter
July 13, 2011
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in mu
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www.mymcr.net/ventl
Teachers are not welcomed at
BOE meetings. I know at least
one principal who told the
teachers to notify him in ad
vance if they were planning to
attend a board meeting, rank:
11
Is there anybody in MC who
has the backbone and know
how to ask for an investigation
into the unethical things that
some of our MC elected offi
cials have done? rank: 8
Just read Mike Buffington's ar
ticle in the MCR: Question:
How do you hold public offi
cials accountable when local
law enforcement, the courts,
the grand jury and other offi
cials all operate using the
"Good Old Boy Rules'. WHO
DO YOU CALL? rank: 8
I'm a Democrat and even I
think Obama's a POS at this
point, rank: 7
If the bike lane that’s right of
the solid white line belongs to
the cyclists, why do they need
3 feet of my car lane when a
semi is headed at me from the
opposite way. Does the semi
know he needs to move over 3
feet for me to pass the cyclist?
rank: 7
Re: Mike Buffington's article.
You call the Reporter. Let Will
Davis know what you want
and expect from his paper.
He'll listen to his readers or go
out of business, rank: 7
Do we have a Russian presi
dent in the White House? It
must be so because the don
key wants to ride all of us for
the rest of our lives! rank: 6
I say take the city administra
tor job and give it to the city
clerk. I think she has been do
ing the job anyway. She
should de given at least 1 third
of the administrators salary,
rank: 6
New Year's resoultion is to
vote for the ugliest, stupidest
SOB for president 2012. rank:
6
To "New Year's resoultion":
why would you vote for Oba
ma? rank: 6
To "what a moronic thing to
say." Parents who dare to
question the words and ac
tions of principals and teach
ers in this county are looked at
as trouble makers, rank: 6
Will Davis, how many homes
have been sold on the court
house steps in the last 20
years, and who is making the
most purchases? rank: 6
Every city election there is op
timism that the new members
will bring change to our city,
yet they fall in line behind the
establishment! rank: 5
I thought y'all voted for that
guy in 2008. rank: 5
Lots of vents about the lack of
City Administrator. When is
James Vaughn going to hire
one for the County as his cam
paign promise. Renaming the-
County Clerk Administrator
doesn't automatically qualify
her. rank: 5
Our neighbor was telling us
there is a flu bug going around
cald H1N1. Has anybody else
heard of this and what should
we do? rank: 5
There have been quite a few
cases where Milam has not
been able to convince a single
juror lately, maybe a new di
rection is needed? rank: 5
What's the story behind the
Road Dept, giving away so
much food? Was this just an
other party or an another way
to remind county employees
they should keep their months
shut whenever somebody
start asking questions? rank: 5
Blacks preserve Confederate grave
BY LAURA
CORLEY
As the nation
marks the 150th
anniversary of the
Civil War, a Forsyth
man is making his
small contribution to
the nation’s ongoing
healing with a vol
unteer project to
clean and protect
the grave of a white
Confederate officer
and a surrounding
cemetery he recently
discovered.
The 1862 grave of
a Confederate officer
was re-discovered in,
of all places, a black
cemetery near
Culloden when
Forsyth retiree
Melvin Gaines
began to clean and
cut back greenery in
the Bird Cemetery on
Abercrombie Road.
Gaines had been given
permission to clean the
cemetery by property
owner Brian Hurst. With
the help of friend Albert
Chaney, he began cutting
back trees and cleaning
graves in the cemetery,
which was used by the
nearby black church, Pine
Grove AME. But the men
stumbled upon more
graves and unmarked
dips in the ground.
Finally, they discovered a
12 foot tall monument
that marked the gravesite
of James A. Jordan, an
officer of the Confederate
army who died at the age
of 20 in 1862.
Trying to learn more
about Jordan, they found
a tribute to him on the
internet written in 2006
by local historian Jane
Newton. Apparently,
Jordan enlisted in the
Confederate army in
Atlanta on July 9, 1861,
and was elected 2nd lieu
tenant on Nov. 21, 1861.
It wasn't long before the
20-year-old Culloden offi
cer was leading troops
into battle. At Cold
Harbor, Va. on June
27,1862, he was wounded
while "gallantly leading
his company in a charge
at the memorable engage
ment of Gainesville."
According to his obitu
ary, he “lingered near five
weeks, bearing with
Christian resignation, the
suffering incident to a
most painful wound,
while relatives and
friends watched with
alternations of hope and
despondence, the pure
From left, Lillian Davis, Albert
Chaney and Melvin G aines
inspect the 12-foot marker at
the grave of Confederate of
ficer James Jordan near Cul
loden. (Photo/Laura Corley)
Must bring in ad! Expires 6-30-11
noble life that was gradu
ally approaching dissolu
tion.
At the call of his country
he entered the first com
pany that was organized
in Monroe County, after
the commencement of
hostilities.
Though reared in afflu
ence he scorned the ease
and pleasure of a luxuri
ous home and endured
the perils and privations
of a soldier's life, with a
patience and fortitude
that encouraged and
cheered the hearts of his
fellow soldiers.”
He died, ironically, at
Gaines Mill battle, and
his body was carried back
to Culloden for burial.
Gaines discovered more
than 25 unmarked graves
in the vicinity and has
since been working dili
gently to construct crosses
for them.
“We knew there were
more graves out here,”
Gaines said, “We didn’t
know if they were
Confederate or not until
we started cleaning.”
More of the Jordan fam
ily was discovered around
James’ grave and the
clean-up crew found that
the predominately black
Bird cemetery was for
merly the predominately
white Jordan cemetery.
“The farther we go back,
the more graves we’re
finding,” Gaines said.
Newton said she knew
Jordan's grave was there,
noting that white church
es would often move and
give or sell their land to
black churches. She said
it's one of history's small
ironies that Jordan rests
in a black cemetery.
"To dust we all return,
whether it's grey, red,
black or white dust,"
noted Newton.
Lillian Davis of Atlanta
has taken a keen interest
in Gaines’ new project
and hopes to help him get
funding and more free
dom to clean up the ceme
tery and make it active.
Davis had also helped get
funding to preserve the
historic Hubbard dormito
ries. She said that she
knows there is funding
available for historic
African American ceme
teries.
“We are working hard to
get Hurst to donate the
land back to the church,”
Davis said.
Hurst is interested in
the historical aspect of
the cemetery and will con
sider donating it to the
Pine Grove AME after he
sells the land, according
to Davis.
Gaines said, “I’m just
giving back to my ances
tors what they have given
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Ted McMichael, Owner
Monroe County
offers Alzheimers
support group
Alzheimer’s Associations caregiver support groups
are designed to provide emotional, educational and
social support for care
givers through regularly
scheduled meetings.
They help participants
develop methods and
skills to solve problems.
The groups encourage
caregivers to maintain
their own personal,
physical and emotional
health as well as opti
mally care for the person
with dementia.
The Monroe County
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will be at Monroe
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stairs dining hall on the
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month at 6 p.m.
For more information,
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