Archibald Gray Cemetery - Taylor County, Georgia

Remember the days when DNA testing was for solving crimes and finding fathers? In those days, the only time it was used for entertainment purposes was on The Maury Povich Show. But now, it’s hard to turn on the television without seeing a commercial for DNA kits. With the holiday season right around the corner, the current push is to ‘give the gift of ancestry’.

I, personally, had very little interest in digging into the stories of my ancestors – my still-breathing relations were already more than I could handle. But my interest was piqued when my mother got the results of one such test and it reported that we had less than 1% Native American blood in us. I, like my mother, was raised believing that my great-great grandmother was a member of a Cherokee tribe.  We had even been shown pictures of her, with hair so long it hung off of the porch on which she was standing. According to the test, we were primarily Scottish, Irish, and German; which explains why my aforementioned relatives think whiskey is a part of the food pyramid.

Mom is a retired detective who still enjoys solving puzzles and mysteries – especially as they pertain to history – and she has our ancestral roots traced all the way back to the 1400’s when our very own Sir Francis Bryan was born (ever watch “The Tudors”?  Yea, that guy!).   During her research, she found mention of an abandoned graveyard outside of Milledgeville in Georgia where somewhat-legible grave markers could still be found; so we packed up our gear and set out to find it.  We had to leave paved roads behind us and nervously rattled our way for two-or-so miles down a dirt trail that was most likely made by (and for) ATV’s.  And I say ‘nervously’ mostly for the reason that it was a brand-spanking new Chevy truck with a real nice paint job.

At long last, we found a clearing to the left of the path.  We were surprised to see that the little cemetery was fenced and had its name placed upon an archway over the entrance.  It was a nice gesture that would have been nicer if those who had erected it had thought to bring a mower or weed-eater.