QUITMAN, GA. (WTXL)-- WTXL ends it's Brooks County Road Trip at the West End Cemetery.
The West End Cemetery memorializes hundreds of citizens, war veterans and even the city's founding fathers but there are also dozens of unmarked graves here.. That's why local leaders are coming together to make sure their memory along with the west end cemetery doesn't fade away.
"I was looking for an individual, he was the second doctor in Quitman. And I looked through a book, under the area of the West End Cemetery and he was not listed...I knew he had to be in that cemetery.. I went out there one day walked right to his grave...while I realized the book was good..It was not accurate." says John Romaine, Lead Historian of West End Cemetery.
Along with the misleading book, John made another discovery. The grave stones in the cemetery had become so old that the names were no longer visible. He says that alot of the graves need to be restored. That's when JOhn put together a team to do some research.
During this research, John found some interesting indiciduals that were buried in the cemetary, Including a guy that was shot in the civil war and the one who saved Quitman.
Among others, he also found a man buried in the cemetery who was friends and hunted with Davie Crockett.
However, while the restoration committee found a piece of history in the cemetery, it becomes a little more personal for the residents of the small town.
Tim Albritton, a long time resident of Quitman says, " It strikes a cord because I have family here..I can make sure their graves are preserved along with everyone else's."
As the committee works to restore the graves, fencing, and landscaping, they are also focusing on educating the community, exahusting every avenue to create awareness, and give the afterlife it's dignity.
