Taylors Creek Cemetery - A History
Taylors Creek Cemetery - A History

 Sherry Boresen Sullivan personally surveyed Taylors Creek Cemetery on 6/26/2001. Many photos were taken, but much information was obtained through the arduous efforts of Mr. Wyman May. Mr. May surveyed not only Taylors Creek Cemetery, but every cemetery within Fort Stewart. In 1998 he compiled a complete listing of all families buried within the Fort Stewart Cemeteries. It can be obtained from him at PO Box 523, Hinesville, GA. His transcription of these tombstones is a valuable legacy to all genealogists working on family lines from the Liberty County, Georgia area.

In addition, as part of the Taylors Creek Cemetery Association, formed in 1945, Mr. May worked on the creation of a book titled, "Taylors Creek, Story of the Community and Her People Through 200 Years", Bird and Paul Yarbrough, Editors, This was a project of Taylors Creek Cemetery Association, Press of The Atkinson County Citizen, Pearson, Georgia, 1963. A copy of this book can be found at the Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia. This book has an updated and revised version printed in 1985.

From a combination of my own research, Mr. May's survey of the Taylors Creek Cemetery, the book, "Taylors Creek, Story of the Community and Her People Through 200 Years", and the research of others in these family lines, I was able to complete a website dedicated to families buried in Taylors Creek Cemetery.
This website can be found at Taylors Creek Cemetery Plot Map & Website


History of the Taylors Creek Cemetery

From Mr. Wyman's Survey of "Fort Stewart Cemeteries" (1998)
  • Introduction
    Land, which comprises the Fort Stewart Military Reservation, was acquired by the federal government in 1940-1941 for use as an anti-aircraft training center for the United States Army. (Editors Note: The original land acquisition records and files are located in The Zach S. Henderson Library, Special Collections Department, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia). The land, totaling more than 279,000 acres, is situated in the southeast Georgia counties of Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long and Tattnall. There were 27 cemeteries deeded to the government in individual deeds or mentioned in church deeds. Some cemeteries were transferred along with church and other property with no mention of the cemetery. This makes it difficult to determine the exact number, especially the family cemeteries that include a small number of graves, many of them having no permanent markers. The Taylors Creek cemetery is one of the larger cemeteries not mentioned individually or in the church deed. At one time the Post Engineers at Fort Stewart had cemeteries numbered as high as fifty-nine (59).
    At least thirty-nine (39) churches of various denominations were disbanded when the property was acquired by the Federal Government. The Methodist Parsonage and Methodist Campgroud, both of which were located at Taylors Creek, brought the total number of church properties to forty-one (41).
    In the 1960's, an Army Reserve unit, the Cemetery Platoon of Detachment 1, 851st Service Company (fld) (GS) of Enterprise, Alabama, made a survey of all known cemeteries on Fort Stewart.


  • Taylors Creek - Old Cemetery (White)
    Fort Stewart Cemetery Number 57, located in Area B-8. Unmarked cemetery located near Canoochee Creek on the south side of the Sunbury Road before it intersected with the short road that ran into the center of Taylors Creek Village. This spot is now overgrown with vegetation and since none of the graves had permanent markers, it is impossible to find the exact location of the cemetery. The date this cemetery was established is unknown. It was near the first Taylors Creek Methodist Church which was established in 1807 The church was moved in 1814 to higher ground on the Hencart Road in the center of Taylors Creek village. A new cemetery was established near the new church at that time.


  • Taylors Creek Methodist Church Cemetery (White)
    Fort Stewart Cemetery Number 12, located in Area E-1. Land Acquisition Tract Number 562. Acreage: 4.49. Former Property Owner: Taylors Creek Methodist Church. Map Grid Coordinates: Vertical 33.3, Horizontal: 38.8. Directions (Important Rules to Read before Visiting): North on GA-119 toward Pembroke to FS-144. Left on FS-144 to cemetery on right. Death dates on some of the markers predate the establishment of the cemetery. These markers were moved by family members from the Daniel and Hendry Family cemeteries when the land was acquired in 1941 by the federal government for Camp Stewart.


    • From "Taylors Creek, Story of the Community and Her People Through 200 Years", 1963, Page 113

    The Cemetery
    "Others have laboured and ye have entered into their labors"
    Of all that was once Taylors Creek community, only memories and a cemetery remain.

    Nestled beneath stately oaks and cedars Taylors Creek Cemetery, a resting place of many of the founders and descendants of the community, is still well kept and used occasionally. There are a total of 445 graves in the cemetery and 46 of these graves are over one hundred years old. The oldest marked grave is that of A. Daniel who was buried October 1832. A grave with a wooden headpiece is said to be the oldest. There are also three bricked-in graves, side by side, that are also believed to be more than one hundred twenty eight years old.
    The first Taylors Creek Cemetery along with the first Methodist Church building were located near the Canoochee Creek about one-quarter mile north of the village. During the rainy seasons waters from the creek flooded the area, so both church and cemetery were moved to a new site.
    The cemetery is the factor which still ties descendants and former residents to the bygone community. The love and care of these people for their forefathers and their heritage led a group to form the Taylors Creek Cemetery Association in 1946. This group's purpose is to preserve the cemetery. Annual meetings are held the third Sunday in October.
    At the October 1946 organizational meeting the following officers of the association were elected: President, Rufus M. Ryon; Secretary-Treasurer, Mrs. DJ Martin; Directors, Judge J.T. Grice; Dr. J. Wallace Daniel, John S. Shuprtine, E.A. Daniel, and Miss Bessie Hendry.
    A special committee composed of John A. Martin, Herbert L. Stacy, R.H. Daniel, S.H. Martin, and W.H. Cohan was appointed at the annual meeting in 1950 to collect money and erect a permanent fence around the cemetery. On April 20, 1952 a special meeting was called to dedicate the $1,800 fence. The fence protects the cemetery from wild animals and malicious damage.

    Before Fort Stewart

    Hand drawn map of the towns that existed in the area before Fort Stewart Land Acquistion.
    Map thought to have been drawn by Mr. Wyman May, or a member of his immediate family