06/02/08

Thanks for Jobs Well Done

Some recent accomplishments deserve our community’s accolades:

When Michael Bresnahan and Rebecca Brusnahan met through their mutual interest in genealogy—note the slightly different spellings of their last names—little did they know their hobby would lead to a full-blown restoration of a piece of Columbia County history.

The cemetery of Peter and Mary Ann Crawford had endured years of obscurity and neglect, disappearing beneath encroaching trees and brush and occasional late-night forays from vandals.

The cemetery gained attention nearly 20 years ago when the Maple Creek subdivision was carved out of Martinez woods that once were part of Crawford’s sprawling, long-forgotten plantation.  Columbia County’s Historical Society cleaned up the rock-walled cemetery, but it eventually fell into disrepair and neglect.

Just a few weeks ago, Michael and Rebecca discovered the cemetery adjacent to their home.  And the owner of the undeveloped subdivision property surrounding the cemetery was all too happy to unload it to the history buffs.

The result?  The couple has worked hard to clean up the neglected cemetery.  The final resting place of Crawford, who served as the county’s first clerk of court upon Columbia County’s 1790 founding—and who fathered the only man from the county ever to serve as Georgia’s governor—is finally getting the respect it deserves.

Amazingly, Michael and Rebecca recently visited a County Commission session to address commissioners and tell them of their plans for restoring the cemetery—not to ask for money for the project, but just to let officials know they were helping take care of a piece of their adopted county’s history.

This site was last updated 01/10/07