Historical society rededicates Bartow County cemetery

EUHARLEE - A vital part of the past of this tiny, northwest Georgia town was honored Saturday, when the Euharlee Historical Society rededicated the newly cleaned Black Pioneer Cemetery. <br> <br> Residents worked hard for hours clearing and cleaning the once wooded acre between Euharlee&#39;s Presbyterian and Baptist churches where about 200 of the towns earliest settlers were buried between about 1830 to 1900. <br> <br> The cemetery&#39;s dedication paid homage to the many black settlers who carved out the town&#39;s past, said Mary Ellen Taff, president of the Euharlee Historical Society. <br> <br> Time, nature and neglect had taken its toll on the place, nearly obscuring the plot&#39;s historic significance. <br> <br> ``We knew the cemetery was there, and we thought everybody else did,&#39;&#39; Taff said. ``We were driven to the point that we had to prove it was a cemetery.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The cemetery was located between the churches because both black and white families attended church together at that time, Taff said. <br> <br> ``People didn&#39;t see color as a problem then,&#39;&#39; Taff said. ``We were friends in the first place. Everybody had to help one another to exist.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> It was only natural to bury deceased blacks between the two churches&#39; white cemeteries where everyone went to church, Taff said. <br> <br> The last person was buried in the plot around 1900, and few people living knew the cemetery existed. Lifelong Euharlee residents like Taff remembered it, though. <br> <br> Taff remembers her family talking about Hett Powell, a woman fondly known as ``Aunt Hett,&#39;&#39; being buried in the cemetery. <br> <br> ``My mother would have been 135 this year, and Aunt Hett was an old lady herself,&#39;&#39; Taff said. ``I have my mother&#39;s cookbook, and it has a recipe for Aunt Hett&#39;s Cake dated in the 1890s.&#39;&#39;