Bonaventure Cemetery, Historical cemetery in Thunderbolt, US.
Bonaventure Cemetery is a 160-acre rural cemetery on a bluff of the Wilmington River in Thunderbolt, Georgia. Its entrance at 330 Bonaventure Road opens onto a dirt and sand road lined with live oaks whose branches carry long grey curtains of Spanish moss. The Gaston Tomb stands just inside the gates.
The site served as a private family burial ground for the Mullryne family from 1760 before opening to the public in the 1840s. Savannah assumed control in the early 20th century and gradually expanded the area for additional burials.
The cemetery grew out of Bonaventure Plantation, sold with its private burial ground by Commodore Josiah Tattnall III to Peter Wiltberger in 1846. The Bonaventure Historical Society, formed in May 1997, keeps an index of the burials. Among the graves are songwriter Johnny Mercer and the six-year-old Gracie Watson, whose statue marks her plot.
The entrance sits on Bonaventure Road, and main avenues are accessible by car or on foot. Some older sections have unpaved trails, so sturdy shoes are helpful in wet weather.
Novelist Conrad Aiken, born in Savannah, chose a bench within the grounds as his preferred resting place for his ashes, where visitors often leave martini glasses in tribute. His parents also rest here after his father caused a family tragedy in 1901.
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