SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, April 2025
Spanish moss, hanging from old oaks, dances in the breeze. Bright, warm afternoon sunlight streams across stone statues as I enter the garden of memories.
Azaleas bloom as tourists walk along rows of beautiful and historic graves. I’m amazed; like at Père Lachaise, I could spend here all day.
Morning started early at the Soil Family Expo, the event I’m in town for, where I set up with a community of growers and crafters to show my jewelry. The event was a success; now I’m exhausted, and this is a perfect place to recharge and unfurl.
Johnny Mercer’s family plot is nearby; his grave is shown in the opening scene of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” the movie and book set in Savannah. I stand here for a moment, reading song titles carved in stone with the sounds of birds and wind.
Then, on the way to the bluff overlooking the river, I encounter Corinne. Her statue’s empty, tragic gaze…allured to brighter worlds and led the way… allures me, too. What happened? I say a hopeful wish to her spirit. Her story must be known; I walk on.
Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those peepers? Jeepers Creepers, where’d ya get those eyes?
-Johnny Mercer (lyrics)
LOW COUNTRY
Savannah sits on a bluff next to the Savannah River, surrounded by salt marshes near the Atlantic coast. Established in 1733, it became Georgia’s first capital and a port city. It was an important city in the 1800s but didn’t experience as much growth in the 20th century, and it preserved its historic core.
Crossing the cable-stayed Talmadge Bridge over the river into downtown, I immediately encounter traffic and tourists. Parking is limited. Smiling teenagers pose for photos as I navigate to the steep historic steps to cobblestone River Street. “Plant Riverside” is a vibrant social scene of restaurants and shops. I watch a barge and tugboat float up the river and under the bridge.
Across the river from Yamacraw Bluff (historic Savannah) the expansive wetlands, indicative of the Low Country, are part of Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Rice was farmed here by enslaved people from West Africa starting in the mid-1700s. A sign states that the area was mostly inhabited by the enslaved farmers and considered unsuitable for plantation houses.
Here, Live Oaks stand draped in “Spanish Moss” – a bromeliad, not moss, and not from Spain – that sway in the constant wind, providing shelter as I look out over the salt marsh and rice fields to the shipping port and paper mill. That industrial area, along the river in west Savannah, is called Garden City.
Garden City is also home to Black’s Tropical Homestead: organizers of the annual Soil Family Expo. Sherrie and Bobby Black are the co-founding couple; they have a garden and make products like honey turmeric banana soap, wild yam cream, and cayenne salve. They also have a book, Adventures in Homesteading. Visit their website and blog to learn more about their vision.
The market for the expo is held on Saturday outside Savannah’s railroad and childrens’ museum, a beautiful historic brick train station with a roundhouse. The train runs around the lawn where we’re set up. Being here feels like being immersed in history. My sister is here with her herbal products; there are vendors offering honey, plants, homemade salves, salt, an electrolyte drink, items for kids, and educational information.
I enjoy the positive-minded community of the Soil Family, some of whom have traveled from Missouri and Indiana. In those areas, days of storms and rain have brought flooding and wind damage, but the weather is good here. The breeze can be intense but it balances out the sun’s afternoon heat and low-country humidity.
At Bonaventure Cemetery, I feel the late-day air begin to turn cool.
CORINNE
Corinne Elliott Lawton was born in 1846, eldest daughter of Confederate Brigadier General Alexander Lawton. During her teenage years, the civil war occurred: her dad was involved with multiple early battles, and then Sherman’s army captured her city in 1864. She passed away in 1877 at age 31 of an illness, likely yellow fever since there was an epidemic in Savannah beginning the year before. She was first buried at Laurel Grove cemetery, as was her dad, then both were moved to Bonaventure. Benedetto Civiletti, Italian sculptor, made her expressive statue…he’s “where she got those eyes.”
There are legends about Corinne taking her own life by drowning in the river beside the cemetery and why her statue faces away from the rest of her family. While those legends are based in fantasies, the contrast between Corinne’s statue’s tragic expression and her father’s majestic walk-through Heaven’s Gate monument next to her is apparent.
OTHER RESIDENTS OF BONAVENTURE
Family connections: Spencer Lawton, a more recent descendant of General Alexander, was a county district attorney and prosecutor in the 1982-3 murder trial of Jim Williams, subject of the book and film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Williams lived in (and restored) the historic Mercer house, which was built for General Hugh Mercer, the great grandfather of Johnny Mercer, in the mid-1800s. Spencer was featured in the book and film but his name was changed. I wonder if Hugh Mercer knew Alexander Lawton.
Little Gracie Watson was the only child of the manager of Pulaski House hotel in Savannah and a “favorite of the guests” there. In April 1889, at age 6, she passed of pneumonia. John Walz sculpted her statue, which is now behind a fence. While I stand here, a tour group comes over; the guide tells her story and says her gravesite is one of the most visited… we have “made the pilgrimage here,” …and the pilgrims often leave money. I see a dollar bill tossed through the fence. Gracie was much loved.
Noble Jones’ tomb seems to be one of the oldest in Bonaventure. I read that he was part of the first group from England at Yamacraw Bluff (Savannah-to-be) with James Oglethorpe in 1733. He was owner of Wormsloe Plantation, now a Georgia state park. Bonaventure did not exist yet when Jones passed in 1775. He was buried first at Wormsloe, then Colonial Park, and then here. Read more about him and the cemetery here.
I also find a particularly large Jewish section in Bonaventure. There was a Sephardic group that came to Savannah in the late 1700’s. Graves here appear to span the age of Bonaventure to the recent years. Herman Myers, first Jewish mayor of Savannah (1895-6, 1899-1907), has a large monument in this section. There is a brick Jewish Chapel and a holocaust memorial, too. One interesting thing I noticed: Jewish and non-Jewish graves are mixed on some rows (typically they are separated for differences in burial traditions).
Walking through this area of the cemetery (also sitting on the bench by the water works), I repeatedly hear sounds of steps and movement behind me. Each time I turn to look, I see no one; maybe it’s the wind blowing something around, but I see no stray objects either.
Bonaventure closes at 5 pm; I must depart. (This Garden is not open at Midnight.) It is now one of my favorite cemeteries in the USA…definitely visit if in Savannah, especially in spring when azaleas are in bloom.
As others have noted, there are some graves shown as being at Bonaventure in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” that are elsewhere. You won’t find Jim Williams here, for example.
It’s also worth noting the name “Bonaventure” comes from Latin words meaning “good fortune.”
Call me evil, call me “tide is on your side,” anything that you want. Anybody knows you can conjure anything by the dark of the moon.
Tori Amos, “Suede”
At night, the continuous breeze sweeps across the coastal lowland. It’s on the cool side. After a parting breakfast with the Soil Family, it’s time to leave this fertile, beautiful southern city with its history on full display. In a world of evil, goodness still can grow and persevere.
LINKS
The Soil Family and Black’s Tropical Homestead:
https://www.soilfamily.com/
https://www.blackstropical.com/
Bonaventure Historical Society
https://www.bonaventurehistorical.org/
Blogs about Bonaventure Cemetery and movies shot there:
https://adventuresincemeteryhopping.com/2015/01/16/savannahs-crown-jewel-visiting-bonaventure-cemetery-part-ii/
https://www.adastraexplorer.com/post/bonaventure-a-visit-to-savannah-famous-cemetery
About Savannah:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Savannah,_Georgia
LOCATIONS
Bonaventure Cemetery 330 Bonaventure Rd, Thunderbolt, GA 31404
Savannah Wildlife Refuge (historical trail through marshes and rice fields) Laurel Hill Wildlife Dr, Hardeeville, SC 29927
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/savannah/about-us
Georgia State Railroad Museum 655 Louisville Rd, Savannah, GA 31401
https://chsgeorgia.org/georgia-state-railroad-museum/
Plant Riverside District 400 River St, Savannah GA 31401
https://www.plantriverside.com/
MUSIC
On the way to Savannah and back, I listen to Tori Amos’ “To Venus And Back” (1999). The song “Suede” feels like it belongs here. “Datura” is a litany of plants and the line, “get out of my garden.”
There are many recordings of “Jeepers Creepers,” co-written by Johnny Mercer and included in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” but I like this one by Ethel Waters. It was one of the first recordings of the song, in 1938 (on this link it says 1921 – the song hadn’t even been written then).
This is the soundtrack to “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Many songs, including “Skylark” that opens and closes the film, were composed by Johnny Mercer. This version of “Skylark” was sung by k.d.lang. Note that the “Bird Girl” statue pictured in the title image and shown in the movie is no longer in the cemetery.
until next time,
Arianna
arianna's creative travels 