118 Year Old Forgotten Grave Discovered In The Woods Of Georgia!

The forgotten grave of Lizzie Pearl Rees and many other unmarked graves forgotten in the woods of Georgia...

[AdventuresIntoHistory]

Only one name found in this sad forgotten cemetery. I would love to learn more about Mrs. Rees. It is possible she was married to CL Reese and not CF.... the video looks more like CL.

BTW.... I had my thrift store high visibility vest on cause we were in the woods in the midst of hunting season. 😳



Special thanks to gas fund contributors:
David G
Bonnie W
Helen C
And huge shoutout to Robert for support!

Support us on Patreon:

My flashlights:

[mariannelacrosse]

Very moving moment when Lizzie's name was revealed. You and your team are building the foundation of a documentary film, I can just envision it.

[mcwatersd]

Glad to see you are wearing vests. Too dangerous this time of year without. Also wise to protect your heads . Glad you found at least one marked grave. I can't believe they would bulldoze over s cemetery to build. Serves them right if they get haunted. Hopefully that one grave will save the cemetery. Before watching your channel would never have imagined there were so many lost burial sites. Keep Safe ❤ Keep Well ❤

[bonniejulien]

This might sound weird I wish there was some way for us to know the reason of their demise. Or famine

[Tomatohater]

I'm a lifelong northerner but I'll be the first to admit these southern grave sites must have been beautiful decades ago. You can feel the love that went into honoring their dead.

[lornahardin]

Thanks for bringing Lizzie Pearl back to the eyes of the world. Maybe put crosses on the other graves and dare the builders to put houses over them.

[anghoppi]

I appreciate what you guys are doing. You're modern historians.

[laurawalker]

I am almost 60 years old...and have visited many "forgotten" cemeteries in my life time. We have 2 on our of them our own "forgotten" family cemetery. It used to bother me to see cemeteries neglected....unvisited....and unremembered. But since I have been watching Side Step Adventures over the past 2 years....I have come to think about it a little differently. I have begun to notice that every single cemetery we have visited with you...especially the forgotten overgrown ones...seem to be a peaceful....quiet....natural place. Where the birds sing....and the sounds of nature serenade day and night....Our city cemeteries seem cold compared to these natural resting places. Personally I think that I would almost prefer to "hear" the sounds of birds and animals over lawn mowers and cars passing....😁

[RedHeart]

I have a suggestion. A graveyard find like this in Florida would likely bring construction to a dead halt, and there would be at least a full formal investigation (at least, if things are done right) in Florida. If you encounter an unmarked grave in this state, you are required to stop and call the police and inform them - they're supposed to send out a coroner and then a state archaeologist is supposed to come and investigate (It's a felony to disturb an unmarked grave any more after you realize it IS a grave). The coroner (or someone who is qualified) is supposed to turn it over to the state archaeologist if it's older than a certain age - I don't remember how many years ago. I suggest contacting the state archaeologist regarding the laws about lost and abandoned cemeteries in Georgia (I'm not that familiar with the laws there). You could be doing historians and archaeologists a huge favor by doing this - and genealogists.

I'd also suggest carrying a handheld GPS unit, and take a reading at each grave - you can compare the readings with your video so that each location is at least somewhat recorded in a repeatable way. If I was much closer, I'd volunteer to come along and help record the graves. There are numerous news articles about black graveyards being re-discovered here in Florida, especially in the Tampa - St. Petersburg area. You might find them interesting (I know some of the people who have worked those situations).

The fact that you found a name may be very significant - the person may have kinfolk still living and they likely would want to know, and if I remember the laws right, they have a major say in what happens to the grave. I'd have to drag out my archaeology laws book and go through it (it may have a section on Georgia laws, but the info would be a few years old) to tell you more. I will say this, based on things I've heard about, you would probably make the developers VERY angry with you if this turns out to be significant! (Some are more... modern and progressive, and might actually protect the graveyard - one developer here in Florida turned a roughly 10, 000 year old graveyard into a historical park and used it as part of the sales pitch - it's a hugely important one, where we found 10, 000 year old loom-woven cloth. It's called the Windover site.) If it's a minority graveyard, everything becomes doubly important, btw - because so many minority graveyards have just been bulldozed and built over (in Florida) in the past 100 years. Indeed, burial mounds (made of shell and so on) were often used as fill back in the early part of the 20th century.

[tashasmith]

I don't know where this is but there was Rees in Moultrie Georgia. South near Sunset Elementary School. That was years ago though and I don't know how to get in touch with them. There was a whole generation of Rees out there. Take care y'all and God bless

[howardwest]

Could you contact the contractor an show them the graves so they don’t disturb them? Maybe mark them too?

[steveclark]

Thank you for a very informative and interesting article ! Take care, stay safe and healthy wherever your next adventure takes you guys ! Doing well here in Kansas .

[tabithasresearchpreservati]

I do much the same except I clear all the debris from the grounds and research the names, of any, and ‘adopt’ the cemetery so I can preserve it.

[castlejeta]

I love your videos and appreciate your hard work. I just rips my heart out to see some of the war vets you guys find in these abandoned cemeteries. They should draft a law to protect vets and old cemeteries.

[tonyahaley]

I understand why you are loath to reveal the location of these sites, but I believe that Lizzie Pearl is worth it. I would have a missive ready to send if I knew the city's name. No doubt others would do the same.

[lessismore]

Hey Robert, have you ever heard of Kings Island Amusement Park in Ohio? There is a very old pioneer cemetery in their parking lot because it was to cost prohibitive to move and track down the decents so they
built around it. Graves from the 1830's located there.

[jeffjohnson]

Thank you again for the great fact finding video on the forgotten cemetery. Like we said before it's very sad we do not take care of the cemeteries and all the people that were here before us.

[karentate]

With the impending housing development in evidence, what is done with the so very obvious grave sites? Years ago, the family was contacted, graves moved for "progress ". What is done now to areas that are so old but clearly a cemetery. So many in GA, so much vacant property. Its unsettling to think these areas are just plowed over and cleared out. I would like to know. Thanks for your interest in this situation and your professional approach.

[cjpenning]

This is where local media might be useful.

[thedivinemrsjones]

Hello there...thank you so much for posting this delightful and thought provoking video. I had an idea...it may or may not be a good one...but, why don't you take some tracing paper or baking paper and a large wax crayon to get an impression of the writing of the head stones...you may get a clearer image of the words...(Rubbing the crayon over the paper on the head stone...like a brass rubbing) Just a thought...thank you again for posting...
Regards

Wales UK :)