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CONTACT LIST President
Vice-President
Recording Secretary
Treasurer CEMETERY SECURITY Please report Vandalism & Dumping incidents to:
Dekalb County Police
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Members List:
Links Section
Webguy:
Jerry Semprevio
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&nbs
Recent Website Updates: 5/18/09 - Added a May News article and photos on the Cemetery News Page and photos on the Home Page.
5/4/09 - Added Award info on Home Page and Spring News article and photos on Cemetery News Page.
4/28/09 - Added info on the Fiddlin' John Carson celebration and the Phoenix Flies Tour in March on the Home Page.
4/18/09 - Mr. Reecie "R.D." Devotie Conley was buried at Sylvester Cemetery on April 15, 2009. Photo added at left.
3/15/09 - Added info on Fiddlin' John Carson's 141st birthday celebration, updated clean-up schedules and added 2009 Cemetery Tours info to Home Page and Calendar.
Historic Sylvester Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in DeKalb County, Georgia when the first burials took place in the 1830s. The cemetery was originally a family burial plot for the Terry family who owned and operated a sawmill and a flour mill in what is now East Atlanta. Later, a burial grounds was established for the McWilliams family, who were relatives of the Terrys, adjacent to the Terry plots.
In 1872, Sylvester Terry, the sixteen year old son of Mary Thurman Terry, died and was buried near the Terry home. Eventually his mother had the body moved to the family plot. In early 1874, Mrs. Terry deeded a parcel of land near the family burial plot for the establishment of a church to be named in honor of her deceased son. The original Sylvester Church was attended by the Terrys and their friends and relatives (the Browns, the McWilliams, etc.) and operated as a Methodist Church. That church eventually failed and was rededicated in 1883 as the Sylvester Baptist Church in the old Methodist Meeting House.
In 1887 the congregation dedicated a new church building on land across Braeburn Circle donated by Mr. Edward A. Werner. The Sylvester Church Cemetery was established west of the "new" church building (south of the Terry Family Cemetery and the McWilliams Family Cemetery). The Sylvester Baptist Church built and dedicated a second "new" church sanctuary in 1955 south of that building because of the rapidly growing congregation and a school building was built adjoining the east side of the church in 1959.
The church and school thrived for many years located in the large buildings at 2040 Braeburn Circle. The congregation disbanded and closed the church in 1972.
The efforts to cleanup the old cemetery began in 2002 after many years of neglect and misuse. The reasons for the cemetery’s decline are many including the loss of church members and the subsequent fire at the Sylvester Baptist Church, illegal dumping and drug-dealing in the cemetery, families dying out or relocating outside the Atlanta area and years of racial tension in East Atlanta. The foundation was formed by neighbors of the cemetery, the families of those buried there and people concerned with reclaiming an important part of early Atlanta's history. We hope that you visit our website often to keep abreast of what is going on with the effort to cleanup and maintain the cemetery and that more people will join us by donating their time, talent and money to make this valuable community asset a centerpiece in the revitalization of East Atlanta.
Sylvester Cemetery Awarded Prize
On Thursday, October 3, 2008, Dennis Taylor and Lynda Twilley, members of the board of directors, accepted an award from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for the clean-up and maintenance effort that our volunteers have accomplished at the Sylvester Cemetery in East Atlanta. We want to thank all the volunteers and the many people that financially support our efforts in keeping the cemetery property clean. Without your efforts, Sylvester would surely fall into a state of neglect and abandonment.
Fiddlin' John Carson's Birthday Celebration
On Saturday, March 21, 2009 we had a great group of fiddlers and some very talented performers on a temporary stage at Sylvester Cemetery to celebrate the 141st Birthday Celebration of Fiddlin' John Carson, the father of recorded Country Western & Bluegrass music. The weather was terrific and we had a pretty good crowd of neighbors, friends and Country Music fans.
A big thanks for the party and good time goes out to Phyllis Cole and Johnny Carson. We hope everyone will be back next year, too.
Larry Johnson conducted a special tour of Sylvester Cemetery on March 21st, 2009 for the Atlanta Preservation Society. The guests heard stories about the early Atlanta settlers buried at Sylvester and added some stories of their own...these history buffs know a lot about the early settlement of the Atlanta area. They also made a lot of positive comments about the work that we are doing to preserve and maintain the cemetery property, which was good to hear. They all promised to come back often to track our progress at Sylvester and offer advice on future preservation projects. Thanks to Larry and to all the touring history buffs.
We meet and sign-in on the Braeburn Circle side of the cemetery. Please wear layers of clothing and sturdy shoes or boots. Bring garden gloves to protect your hands. We provide bottled water and trailmix bars. If you can, bring a rake. Our volunteers will rake & bag leaves. Join us for a few hours and get acquainted with one of the oldest cemeteries in the state of Georgia.
Saturday, June 20, 2009 -
9:30am till 1:30pm
Saturday, July 18, 2009 -
9:30am till 1:30pm
Directions to Cemetery
From Downtown Atlanta:
Take I-20 eastbound and exit at Flat Shoals Road. Turn right at the top of the ramp onto Flat Shoals Road. Take the third right turn onto Clifton Road. Follow Clifton for two blocks and turn right onto Braeburn Circle. The cemetery is on both sides of Braeburn between Clifton Road and Josephine Ave.
From Conyers:
Take I-20 westbound and exit at Gresham Road/Flat Shoals Road. Turn right at the top of the ramp onto Flat Shoals Road. Follow Flat Shoals Road for about two miles and turn right onto Clifton Road. Follow Clifton Road for two blocks and turn right onto Braeburn Circle. The cemetery is on both sides of Braeburn between Clifton Road and Josephine Ave.
From Little Five Points:
Take Moreland Avenue southbound to I-20. Take the ramp onto I-20 eastbound and follow the directions above “From Downtown Atlanta”.
Making a tax-deductible donation for the restoration of the Sylvester Cemetery is easy. Simply make out your check or money order payable to Sylvester Cemetery Foundation and mail it to:
Sylvester Cemetery Foundation
P.O. Box 17555
Atlanta, GA 30316
Now that the weather is really heating up, the vines and privet are growing faster than we can keep up with them. We are using weed-wackers and loppers to try and keep the underbrush from overtaking the grave sites. They are the best tools to use if you are planning on working on your family's plot. If you need help to prune trees on your sites, you can call our recommended vender, Tree Works, Inc., for an estimate. Their information is as follows:
Tree Works, Inc.
Jon Frederiksen, ACRT
Certified Urban Forester
Ph: 404-379-1700
www.treeworksinc@yahoo.com
Jon and his partners are very aware of the fragile state of the gravesites at the cemetery and will protect the headstones and walls during trimming and/or removal of trees.
SYLVESTER CEMETERY TOURS
Monthly Tours of Historic Sylvester Cemetery will resume again for the 2009 season starting with a Phoenix Flies Tour on Saturday, March 21, 2009. This tour will feature an overview of the early settlers of East Atlanta, a tour of their grave sites and stories about these hardy pioneer families. East Atlanta's history buff Larry Felton Johnson will lead the tours again this year.
