A new reference work covering Walton County, GA Cemeteries

East Georgia Genealogical Society
Monroe, Walton County, Georgia February 20, 2003

The East Georgia Genealogical Society announces the publication of a new reference work covering Walton County, GA Cemeteries. These books are now available to the public, to libraries, to genealogical societies, to historical societies, to government agencies, and to E.G.G.S. members.

This massive work is a completely new compilation. All the known cemeteries in Walton County, Georgia as of late 2002 are included. The work is being published in two volumes, Walton Co., GA Cemeteries (East) and Walton Co., GA Cemeteries (West).

State Highway 11 was used as the East-West dividing line for division of cemeteries in these two volumes. This dividing line is a historically significant route based on a road used by early settlers.

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy through the publication period. Latitude and longitude (GPS) coordinates are included. Global positioning equipment, provided by the Walton Board of Commissioners, was used for these data. This will allow City, County and State officials to mark maps with the presence of all cemeteries for zoning or other land use issues.

These books are dedicated to the late Walter R. Cox of Monroe, Walton County. Walter, an E.G.G.S. member, was an avid supporter and participant in this effort. Before his demise, Mr. Cox was Coordinator of the Walton County Cemetery Locator Project and felt strongly that burial sites should not be destroyed as time goes on and that the heritage of Walton County families be preserved

E.G.G.S. has also been aided in locating the sites of some of the little known, hard to find, graves by the Matthew Talbot Nunnally Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) of Walton County.

Jim Patton, President of the East Georgia Genealogical Society, said,

"These reference volumes have been long awaited by the genealogical community.

Walton County has been a central early Georgia county, through which many hundreds of settlers and their families have passed. Thousands of descendants of these early settlers continue to live in Walton County.

But also, scattered across our nation and the world, there are many tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of living descendants of these early settlers and their families.

Some descendants will find significant and long sought information for their personal genealogies and family histories contained in these volumes.

This work, which was begun in 2000, represents an enormous effort by many of our member-volunteers. Many thousands of person-hours have gone into this massive undertaking.

The publications would not have been possible without the generous support of the R. J. Taylor Foundation and the Walton County Foundation, Inc."

John Beckum, E.G.G.S. member, Walton County resident, and genealogist said,

"What do chiggers, mosquitoes, poison ivy, sunburn, rain, and mud have in common with the Walton County Cemeteries books? Those of us who did the field work found out the answer to this question in a hurry.

While a lot of cemeteries are well kept and well preserved, we found that a lot more were overgrown and hard to find. We kept on with our work, nevertheless. The results have been worth it!

We were careful to preserve cemetery data in the order of the graves for a given graveyard. Details were noted of all names, dates, and full inscriptions for every gravestone and tomb maker. We went to all sites on several occasions to check, recheck, and check again all data.

We wish that everyone with an ancestor who is buried here could come and enjoy beautiful Walton County. But for those that cannot or who are not physically able, we have brought the data they need to them. And no chiggers nor poison ivy!"

These volumes are beautifully bound, in 6"x9" size, 552 pages for "East", 624 pages for "West". Both volumes have full name indexes and pertinent appendices. Copies of these works may be obtained from the East Georgia Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 117, Winder, GA 30680. Walton Co. GA Cemeteries (Set): Members $58 Non-members $68 (+$6 s&h); individual copies Walton Co. GA Cemeteries (East) or (West): Members $34 Non-members $37 (+$3 s&h)

The East Georgia Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization which serves the following 28 Georgia Counties:

Banks
Barrow
Butts
Clarke
Columbia
Elbert
Franklin
Glascock
Greene
Gwinnett
Hancock
Hart
Jackson
Jasper
Lincoln
Madison
McDuffie
Morgan
Newton
Oconee
Oglethorpe
Putnam
Rockdale
Stephens
Talliaferro
Walton
Warren
Wilkes

The East Georgia Genealogical Society currently has over 380 members nationwide. Georgia residents account for 50% of the total, Texas for 10%, Florida 6%, California 4%, North Carolina 3%, and 23 other states make up the balance of 27%.

Objectives: 1) To disseminate and accumulate research materials concerning the early settlers of Georgia, specifically in the 28 counties (listed above) to aid genealogical research. 2) To collect, transcribe and abstract various county records of historical and genealogical significance through its quarterly, Georgia Settlers and other publications.

Quarterly: E.G.G.S. quarterlies are issued in February, May, August and November with a minimum of 40 pages per issue. Each issue is fully indexed. The focus of the quarterly is never before published county records abstracts, for the 28 counties served by E.G.G.S.

Membership: Open to any person interested in promoting the objectives of the East Georgia Genealogical Society upon payment of the annual dues. Individual memberships are $18/yr.; Family memberships - $23/yr.; Organization $18/year; and Student memberships - $13/yr.

Monthly meetings: Second Tuesday of each month at 7 PM.

Website: Visit the E.G.G.S. web site at: www.rootsweb.com/~gaeggs to learn the location and schedule of monthly meetings (speakers, topics, and map).

Other material to be found on the web site include

2003 Membership Form
Contents & pricing of quarterlies for 2000, 2001, & 2002
List of various book publications
Queries for the 28 counties represented by E.G.G.S.
Current E.G.G.S. project(s)
Jackson Co. Pauper's Farm List
Oglethorpe Co. Index to Estate Files 1790s to 1960s
Tax Defaulters Lists for:
Jackson Co. 1808-1811
Oglethorpe Co. 1809
Clarke Co. 1809 & 1812
Madison Co. 1812
Links to other genealogical sites