CLARKESVILLE — The City of Clarkesville will work with a local tree company to remove problem trees from the city's historic cemetery.
That cemetery, located on land donated by Col. James Brannon in 1831, was home to the old Methodist church until 1881. It contains the graves of Jarvis and Eliza Van Buren. Jarvis Van Buren was the cousin of President Martin Van Buren.
Additionally, the cemetery contains the graves of Capt. W.H. Fuller's parents. Capt. Fuller drove the locomotive Texas in pursuit of the General in "The Great Locomotive Chase" during the Civil War.
The City of Clarkesville recently acquired the property and is working to preserve the cemetery from further deterioration. Also located in the cemetery are the graves of early county officials, as well as Revolutionary War soldiers.
"We had a great meeting today with a number of people from the state as part of the product resource development team that was hired by the Habersham County Chamber to come," said Clarkesville Mayor Barrie Aycock. "One of the biggest Clarkesville issues is the cemetery, which has just recently come under the ownership of the city. We are very excited about the opportunity to restore that, and will be doing grant applications and publicizing our plans."
The tree issue arose during a site visit to the cemetery on Monday.
"While we were over there today, they noticed that there is a tree very near one of our most illustrious graves that is in danger of falling on a grave or on a person, and we need to deal with it," Aycock said.
Councilman Franklin Brown said there actually are two trees in the cemetery that need to be removed, and suggested the council authorize City Manager Barbara Kesler and Special Projects Director Tim Durham work with a contractor to get both trees removed as quickly as possible.
"One of them is actually a public safety issue," Brown said in making a motion to that effect.
The council voted to proceed with removal of the two specified trees.
Located between Madison Street and Wayne Street, a short walk from downtown and the Clarkesville-Habersham County Library, the historic cemetery is open daily from daylight to dusk.
