Bartow County, Georgia

This website has been created for several reasons. First and foremost, I've done this to honor the people buried at Old Macedonia. Their history is the shared history of thousands of their descendents and relatives. I hope that it helps those researching their family trees, and to learn more of their own family histories. I am related to a large majority of the people buried here, including my parents and brother, as well as grandparents going all the way back to a set of great-great-great-great-grandparents.

This website is done with much love and respect for those buried here in the hopes that their lives and history will not be lost to time. These include the legendary moonshiner whose story has appeared in several books and was interviewed by Charles Kuralt, the woman whose pallbearers were all her nieces, the man who dug his own grave, the woman who buried Allatoona's "Unknown Hero" during the Civil War, a Gettysburg Prisoner of War, the pioneer who was one of the area's early iron masters, the "Catfish King of Etowah," and more.

If you have any stories or information you'd like to share regarding our loved ones buried here or the Macedonia community, please feel free to contact me at eveningblues@aol.com I'll be happy to add it here.

(This information is for research purposes only. If you would like to use photos on genealogy websites such as ancestry.com, you have my permission, but please give proper credit to this site.)

UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS. The new URL for this website is www.oldmacedoniacemetery.com

The Macedonia Community of Bartow County

When you travel out Woodall Road on the Bartow County side of the Bartow/Cherokee County line, there are less than two dozens houses on your drive. However, once upon a time, there were hundreds of families that called this area home, as well as a school, a church, and a small store.

During the 1830s and 1840s, settlers began to converge on north Georgia. American Indians had just been forcibly removed from the area and marched west on a journey that became known in history as the "Trail of Tears."

The Abernathy and Summey families of North Carolina were among those early pioneers who settled in Bartow (formerly Cass) County, Georgia in 1842. The community, located in the Stamp Creek district, became known by many as Macedonia. It was also known by some as Abernathyville due to the large number of Abernathy families in the community.

Abernathy and Knight family circa 1900
(Macedonia school house in background)
CLICK HERE FOR LARGER IMAGE

The Old Macedonia Cemetery was established in the mid-1800s. The late Nat Abernathy stated that the first burial was a child of Lintford Abernathy. Lintford Abernathy then donated land to the church for the cemetery. Some years later, Richard Howell donated more land for expansion of the cemetery.

In the 1920s, Georgia Power began to make plans to build a dam for hydroelectricity. Macedonia was one of several communities bought out by the company. The families were allowed to stay on the property until construction began. The Great Depression put the dam on hold. In 1941, Congress approved the construction of the Allatoona Dam. Their concern was preventing the destructive flooding caused by the Etowah River in cities and communities downstream. World War II delayed the project again. On June 15, 1946 the Army Corps of Engineers officially broke ground on the construction of Lake Allatoona and the Allatoona Dam

As the families began to move out, dam workers completely dismanteled all the houses and structures. Because of the cemetery's location, it was not necessary to relocate the existing graves. A dike was built to protect the cemetery from flooding. A new road to the cemetery was built because the existing road from the church was flooded out by the creation of the lake.

Many of the descendants of the original settlers still live in Bartow and the surrounding counties. Today, the Abernathys, and two lines of the Howell family continue to hold family reunions at the cemetery. In the mid-1900's, a shelter was built, which provides a perfect setting for the large family gatherings.

After the year 2000, land next to the cemetery was acquired from the Army Corp of Engineers, almost doubling the cemetery size.

The Old Macedonia Cemetery is located on the banks of Lake Allatoona in Bartow County, Georgia. It is between Cartersville and Canton. Directions: I-75 to exit 125, east on Hwy 20, right on Woodall Road and follow the signs. The cemetery is approximately 5.5 miles from Hwy 20. The last two miles are gravel.

Listing of Graves at Old Macedonia Cemetery

Below is a listing of the graves in the cemetery. The links to the right of each name will lead you to more information on the individual. Having studied the family history of many of those buried here, I have tried to include any information that will be helpful to those researching their own families.

At the end of the list below, I have put the names of several Civil War veterans who are buried here.

If anyone would like to contribute photos or personal stories, please contact me at eveningblues@aol.com.

There may be mistakes. Please let me know if some of this information is incorrect.

The information and photos may be used for personal research and on genealogy websites such as ancestry.com. When used, please give proper credit to this site.
(last updated October 13, 2012)

If any of the links do not work, please let me know so that I may fix them.

Note: Due to Atkinson being spelled in a variety of ways, all listings here are under the single spelling "Atkinson."

Abernathy,

Grave/Obituary/Family

Information provided for research purposes only. Do not copy and paste on other websites.

Some known history about the families found in this cemetery:

• The Abernathy family came from the Lincoln County area of North Carolina during the late 1840s. Many of their descendants still live in the surrounding counties.
• The Dellinger family, also from North Carolina, came with iron works builder Jacob Stroup, who was establishing furnaces in north Georgia.
  According to "The Dellinger Family In Georgia" by S.E. Dellinger, MOSES and MINERVA DELLINGER are "buried in Macedonia Churchyard on the North shore of Lake Allatoona along with all their children except ROBERT and HARRIET."
  Many unnamed graves lie between the three sisters and the parents.
• Some family history states that the first person buried there may have been the child of Linford Abernathy, who donated the land for a cemetery for the Primitive Baptist Church. The time period suggests that this may be Linford, son of Nathan Abernathy and Eve Cline.
  Family accounts state that Richard L. "Dick" Howell also donated land to the church for cemetery use. After the families were moved out, the church relocated to a piece of land on Highway 20, closer to Cartersville.
• Jesse Marion Coley, son of Nancy Bullard and Morgan Coley, wrote a series of articles in 1923 for the Walker County Messenger. He recounted his childhood growing up in Bartow (then Cass) and the Macedonia community.
• The Knight family was originally from Halifax County, North Carolina. After the death of his father Meredith, Joshua Knight and other members of his family settled in Georgia. Joshua Knight moved his family to Cass (now Bartow) County in the 1840s. In 1849, he died during a smallpox epidemic in the nearby town of Etowah. (The community of Etowah was a thriving boomtown, populated by almost 4,000 citizens, until May 22, 1864, when the town was burned out of existence by Sherman's Union army.)
• The Howells are made up mostly by lines of the Summeys and Abernathys. Rebecca J. Summey married Stephen Howell in Cherokee County, Georgia, on March 7, 1866. Not much is known about Stephen, but the Howell name is well represented in the cemetery. Two lines of the Howell family still hold family reunions at Macedonia, one in August, the other in October.
• The Keever family was from Lincoln County, North Carolina. They moved here with members of the Abernathy family.

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Information provided for research purposes only.

Photos are the property of the site owner & contributors. For personal use only. Info and photos may be used on genealogy related websites.

The Williams Family

I can be reached at eveningblues@aol.com
This email address goes to the creator of this website. See information below for contacting cemetery committee.