Here’s a Georgia history mystery with an Independence Day twist.
How did a US patriot soldier who helped defeat the British in the War of Independence end up buried in Marietta, when:
- He died and was buried in Florida in 1832,
- The city of Marietta wasn’t chartered until 1834, and
- The Marietta cemetery where he rests wasn’t founded until 1866, and
- A civic parade in 1923 celebrated his actual arrival into Marietta?
It’s All Highly Unusual
The oddities don’t stop there. This soldier became a captain at the age of 16 and eventually rose to the rank of major general. Later, he was a two-term Georgia governor. In a bid for a third term, he was defeated by just over 600 votes in the state’s first gubernatorial election decided by popular votes.
His original gravesite in Florida was located in the backyard of a private residence after his cash-strapped son sold off the family lands for what eventually became a private neighborhood.
And, when his remains arrived in Marietta more than 90 years after his death, the city and civic organizations threw a huge parade to mark the occasion.