Chestnut Grove Cemetery

Special thanks to the leaders, Scouts and dads of Troop 91 for their work on the Chestnut Grove Cemetery yesterday. It is obviously a never ending battle to keep Mother Nature from reclaiming this historic old place. The Scoutmaster is Howard Hodge; the troop is sponsored by the American Legion Post 15 of Decatur. Well done!!

It would be grown up in just a few years if volunteers like the Boy Scouts and so many others didn't take an interest in this community asset.

Special thanks also to Tom Meier's of the St Andrew Presbyterian church next door for regularly mowing the entrance way at the south end. And to Thomas Holland for giving us access on the south end across his property. Thomas has a great grandfather Gus Braswell buried here who had been a trustee of the J O Means rural School on the South Chapel Hill Rd in the early 1900 time frame. J O is buried here as well. The other trustee J A Washburn is buried at nearby Basham United Methodist Church.

We extend our gratitude to those that made donations for the cemetery upkeep.

Max Skidmore
Carolyn & Don McLemore

Please send all contributions to:
Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q,
C/O Amy Lilly
2520 Danville Road SW Decatur, AL 35603

Thanks to those who participated in the Wreaths Across America event at the historic Chestnut Grove Cemetery yesterday. In particular to Julea Moats the event coordinator; the boys, girls, leaders and moms/dads of Troops 142 and 10427; and to the veterans who laid special wreaths for the military services and for our lost POW/MIA service members.

18 veteran burials were honored, from a Patriot of the Revolutionary War (David Johnson) to a young soldier killed in France during World War 1 (Pvt Willie Means). The newly found burial of James Poyntz, a black soldier who fought with the Union Army during the Civil War, was honored. Fifteen other veterans from the War of 1812 and the Civil War were also honored.

As a reminder, the mission of the WAA program is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach the next generation the value of freedom. Please contribute to next year's program by purchasing a wreath at the WAA website for Chestnut Grove Cemetery.

Special wreaths were laid in memory of the first known burial in 1823 of an infant daughter born to Ormand and Mary Means, to Solomon Long for giving 1/4 acre on the south end for the cemetery in the 1830s and to Ira Gibson for giving an acre on the north end in 1887 for an adjacent Methodist Episcopal Church.

Thanks also to the continuing support from the neighboring churches, Stone River United Methodist and St Andrew Presbyterian. And thanks to those who made donations of time or money this year. Your contributions help us with leaf and w**d removal, wind damage cleanup, and in general, keeping Mother Nature at bay. If you wish to help out with a financial contribution, please send a check made out to the Chestnut Grove Cemetery to Amy Lilly at Gibson Bar-B-Q, 2520 Danville Rd SW, Decatur, Al 35603.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Brrr! 29 degrees today. Was 60 or so at cemetery yesterday. We lucked out.

Thanks to the Boy Scouts of Troops 91 and 142, the Girl Scouts of Troop 10427, and several dads and friends for cleaning off the Chestnut Grove Cemetery on December 6. See the group picture below and a "before" picture and a couple of "afters".

A Wreaths Across America event will occur next Saturday, December 13 at 10 o'clock. The public is invited; parking will be available at the St Andrew Presbyterian Church on the cemetery's south side. The mission of the WAA organization is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach the next generation the value of freedom. There are some 5,600 participating locations this year. Wreaths will be laid on the graves of 18 Veterans buried here; the earliest served as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War and was buried in 1842.

The first known burial in the cemetery was an infant girl buried in 1823. The cemetery is 1.3 acres and has some 231 burials with 91 in unmarked graves.

Thanks to Ronnie Hendrix and his son Mike and twin grandsons Seth and Logan for the bench they recently made for the Chestnut Grove Cemetery. They are descendants of George Wesley Mitchell who was born on Bank St in Decatur in 1841 after his grand parents and parents had crossed the Tn River on horseback at Mooresville the day before; they are most likely buried in unmarked graves near George (as is a 3 year old grandson). His aunt Elizabeth Mitchell Grizzard and brother John Mitchell are buried nearby in marked graves.

Amy Hendrix Stewart (Ronnie's sister) and Cindy Hendrix Wilson (his daughter) are shown next to George's gravestone at a Wreaths Across America event last December. The other gravestone picture shows George at the Pearly Gates. I bet he got in!

We would like to thank everyone who made a donation to the cemetery in recent months. Your contributions are invaluable in ensuring the cemetery remains well kept.

The children of John Means
-Tom Means
-Mary Ellen Means Willcox
-Howard Means

Patsy Minor
Dorothy McGinnes,
Barbara Skidmore
Amy Lilly

All contributions can be mailed to:
Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q
C/O Amy Lilly
2520 Danville Road SW
Decatur, AL 35603

"Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom." - That's the mission of the Wreaths Across America program which was conducted at more than 4,600 locations in all 50 states on Dec 14. One of those locations was the Chestnut Grove Cemetery.

Descendants and volunteers placed wreaths at the graves of 17 veterans who had served in either the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War or World War I. Julea Moats and her niece, in the picture with the Color Guard, led the event.

A wreath was also laid for each of the military services, and one for the 93,129 POWs/MIAs from all branches of the military; retired service members placed these wreaths. (One of these retired service members served in the Army's Third Battalion, Old Guard, at the Arlington National Cemetery while on active duty.)

These service wreaths are shown next to a rock wall which encloses the gravesites of ARW Patriot David Johnson and his wife Winefred; their son Benjamin, veteran of the War of 1812 and Justice of the Peace of the Chestnut Grove community in 1851, is buried behind the wall at the tall obelisk stone.

Bruce Mitchell, a descendant of David Johnson, is shown laying his wreath.

Ormand Means, a veteran of the War of 1812 has a wreath at his gravesite (in picture with David and Benjamin's graves in background). Relatives of Ormand's were also honored: J.O. Means, a veteran of the Civil War, and Willie Means, who was Killed in Action in the Battle of the Argonne Forest in WW I.

Amy Hendrix Stewart and Cindy Hendrix Wilson, descendants of George Wesley Mitchell, a Civil War Veteran, are shown at his gravesite. (David Johnson had a fairly unusual relationship to George: his son Benjamin's grand daughter was George's wife. David’s daughter was married to George's paternal grandfather.)

Private Darius Clark's marked gravestone is shown; he was a Civil War Veteran.

Other veteran graves marked:
- War of 1812: John Long
- Civil war: Robert Burgess, Thomas Burton, John Cain, Benjamin Conley, William Hazel, J.D.R. Long, John B. Long, John Mitchell, and Henry Royer.

Also marked were the graves of Solomon Long and Ira Gibson in remembrance of their gifts of land for the cemetery in the 1820s (Long) and 1887 (Gibson).

Thanks again to Julea Moats for organizing and conducting the event (her 2nd at the CGC) and to the Boy Scouts of Troops 91 and 142, and Girl Scouts of Troop 455 for helping out in site preparation, suppling a Color Guard and in laying the wreaths.

The WAA event in 2025 will be on Dec 13. As several millions wreaths have to be prepared, the WAA organization offers an incentive to order early (think Buy One, Get One) - - if you know you'll be sponsoring a wreath this year, please place your order now at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/AL0138 We'll get an extra one!

Thanks to Boy Scout Troops 91 (American Legion) and 142 (Westminster Presbyterian), and Girl Scout Troop 455 for their super effort at the CGC yesterday. Over 100 bags of leaves were collected and hauled to the road. There were several dads and "friends" helping out too. In the latter group were Bruce Mitchell (descendant of David Johnson, 1776 Patriot buried there) and Jacob Cevallos (a Marine who lives in the neighborhood).

Julea Moats will conduct a Wreaths Across America event next Saturday December 14 at 10 a.m. to honor all veterans. Active duty and retired military members will lay wreaths at the gravesites of known veterans (17) buried in the cemetery. A wreath will also be laid at the graves of Solomon Long and Ira Gibson for giving land for this historic old cemetery. (Solomon in the 1820s and Ira in 1887). Parking will be available at the south end of the cemetery or in the parking lot of the St Andrew Episcopal Church on that end.

The Boy Scouts will be out on Dec 7 to work on cleaning up the cemetery (8-12). Please help out on that date or anytime really if you have an ancestor buried there or just want to help beautify this historic place as a "jewel of the community" as someone has described. If you are able to give an hour or so, just fill a few bags and leave them in place and they'll be carried to the road later.

As a reminder Julea Moats will be leading a Wreaths Across America event to honor the veterans buried there in a short program on Dec 14 at 10 am.

Thanks to the following for contributions of labor and/or funds to help sustain the restoration effort there: Dr John Irle, Steve Caufield, Jerry Flowers and Ray Mitchell.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A super thanks to Dr John Irle and Steve Caulfield for cutting down and removing two VERY big dead trees in the CGC over the last few weeks. That's one of the trees still standing in the picture below; it's on the north side and next to the Danville Rd. That's Dr Irle with his chainsaw at the bottom. He also cut back a hedge row of privet and vines on the east side recently.

The other picture shows the tree on the ground and the stump is about 4' in diameter. The other tree was near the middle of the cemetery; Steve cut that one into smaller pieces and moved them out next to the road for the City to pickup.

And we should also note there was no damage to any of the gravestones. Thank you Gentlemen!

The Boy Scouts are cleaning up leaves on Dec 7 from 8-12. If you'd like to help please bring a rake and come on out.

As a reminder there will be a Wreaths Across America event at the cemetery on December 14 at 10am as described in a previous post.