Welcome to the Woody Cemetery
Suches, Georgia
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| View from the top....... "Woody Gap" |
As you drive away from the busy hustle in the lowlands below you arrive at the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains. Our Woody ancestors planted the seeds of our rich and diverse heritage in these mountains. They were laid to rest in a beautiful wooded setting near Suches, Georgia in what the locals call " The Valley above the Clouds". This is "Holy Ground" for the descendants of William and Lady Sarah Percell Woody. From them we are forever united. On a crisp fall day in 1998 Jinnis Woody Wright, a descendant of Phillip Woody and her husband Jimmie left their home in Haralson County Georgia and took a trip to Woody Gap, in the great North Georgia mountains known today as the Chatahoochee National Forest. They would like to share their photographs with you here.
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As you make a sharp turn onto a red dirt road that leads to the cemetery, you think for a moment that there is no cemetery here. The road ends at a large open area surrounded and protected by trees. There is a long covered table and you can imagine many Woody's coming together there in times present and past. |
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When we started the walk up the hill the ground was covered with many layers of old and new fallen leaves. We could feel beneath the soft carpet of leaves what must have been graves, now lost with the passing of time. |
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Molly Lovingood Woody is etched into this hand carved stone. It is 4 or 5 inches think and probably made by her husband Jonathan before he left Georgia. A newer blue granite stone for Molly was placed there at a later date. |
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Molly Lovingood Woody Born 1756 Died 1845 Wife of Jonathan Woody |
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As the setting sun shines softly through the trees you can hear the approaching sounds of nightfall in the North Georgia mountains.John Wesley Woody born 1781 died March 9, 1866 Priscilla Treadway Woody born 1801 died March 15, 1888 |
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On the back of John and Priscilla's grave marker you find the names of all their children. |
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Sunset at the Woody cemetery |
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Isccac Washington Woody Born October 20, 1840 Died October 18, 1926. Beautiful stone with praying hands inverted over a black background |
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Night began to fall and as the sun passed over the mountains, it seemed to be turning out the lights. The sun was shinning long streaks of light across the cemetery through the trees where we were standing. |
| Everything was so peaceful, as the crickets and other night sounds took over. Jinnis said " It was amazing to stand there in such a quiet, peaceful place that is so heavily traveled and yet seemed to remain untouched". |
| This is only one of many Woody cemeteries that are known. The setting is unique for this cemetery in the mountains of North Georgia due mainly to the preservation efforts of Arthur Woody. Without his help these majestic mountains would not be as they are today. With his hard work, common sense and the desire to preserve and restore the forests and the life contained within, we have the beautiful mountains of North Georgia to enjoy. Hopefully forever. |