Cemetery's history is matched by its beauty

The cemetery is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- If you think a cemetery is the last place you'd want to go while taking a vacation to the sunny south, you've obviously never been to Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah.
With towering oak trees draped in ghostly strands of Spanish moss, magnificent marble statuary and manicured grounds rife with blossoming hedges, Bonaventure is much more than just your average graveyard.
Nestled on the gently winding banks of St. Augustine Creek, a stroll through Bonaventure is like a history lesson, a trip to an art museum and a walk through an enchanted garden all rolled into one.
As you soak in Bonaventure's unique brand of eerie tranquility, you'll marvel at colossal monuments in memory of forgotten Confederate war heroes and elaborate headstones that mark the graves of dearly departed children.
Place of rest
One of Bonaventure's most famous markers was erected in memory of little Gracie Watson, who died at age 6 in 1889.
Gracie's grieving parents commissioned Savannah sculptor John Walz to carve a life-size, painstakingly detailed marble statue of their beloved daughter.
Through the years, Gracie's tomb has become synonymous with Bonaventure, and every tourist who steps through the cemetery's iron gate searches for the sentimental statue that marks the grave of the long-dead little girl.
Little Gracie gained her fame after dying, but Bonaventure is also the final resting place of many people who were famous while they were alive.
Lyricist Johnny Mercer, who penned the words to the hit song "Moon River," and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Conrad Aiken are among the more famous Georgians who rest in Bonaventure.
The cemetery also contains the ashes of 344 Holocaust victims that were moved to Savannah from Hanover, Germany; hundreds of war veterans; and many of Savannah's most wealthy citizens, including prominent politicians, physicians, preachers and generals.
It doesn't take long to realize that Bonaventure has reigned supreme as the choice burial spot for Savannah's rich and powerful.
Monuments
The mammoth-sized monuments attest to that.
There are dozens of winged angels perched high upon stately granite tombs; colossal Celtic crucifixes that allude to Savannah's strong Irish population; and Greco-Roman styled pillars and arches that rise grandly through twining tree limbs thick with Spanish moss.
What is most striking is that many of the most elaborate tombs are from the 1800s -- an era when many people could not even afford a humble headstone.
Today, Bonaventure is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, but it's probably most famous for its roll in the novel and film "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."
In fact, the illustrious "Bird Girl" statue that appears in the photograph on the novel's cover can be found in Bonaventure Cemetery at the Trosdal family grave site.
Before it was a cemetery, Bonaventure was a plantation, and the earliest identified graves are those of the Mullryne family, owners of Bonaventure Plantation.
Little did the Mullrynes know that their small family plot would one day expand into a sprawling, 70-acre cemetery.
During the course of the years, Bonaventure Cemetery has changed hands many times, but in 1907 the city of Savannah acquired the land.
In 1994, patrons of the cemetery formed the Bonaventure Historical Society, and today volunteers work to preserve and restore the cemetery's beautiful monuments.
XFor more information on Bonaventure Cemetery, visit http://home.earthlink.net/~bonaventure.