In describing his venture into the Waynesville area, writer, Carr McLemore, wrote in the Jesup Press-Sentinel, November 29, 1980, the following: "one goes through a veritable jungle in search for an old family cemetery...now for the researcher, the question arises: who really lies here? Oh, the names are there, but who were John M. Hazlehurst, Jane Johnston Hazlehurst, Mary Jane Hazlehurst and Layton (spelled Leighton) Hazlehurst? This question is deemed one of the Mysteries of Brantley County".
In Georgia's Land of the Golden Isles, Burnette Van Story writes that "In 1843 Mary Jane McNish was married (at John Couper's Cannon's Point Plantation on St. Simons Island) to Leighton Wilson Hazlehurst, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Wilson Hazlehurst whose families were among the earliest settlers of Glynn County". Also that "Ann Johnston McNish spent the war years with Mary Jane (her daughter) and her family at their summer home in Wayne County, where she died in 1869." Ms. Van Story goes on to recount that the Johnstons were related to the Coupers and when Ann and her sister, Elizabeth, were orphaned at an early age they were taken in and raised at the Couper home. John Couper's son, James Hamilton Couper also built a summer home (now called "The Lodge") less than a quarter of a mile from the Hazlehurst Cemetery.
Further research will be conducted in an attempt to solve this mystery but without documentation one could speculate that James Hamilton Couper once owned the cemetery land and this could be the reason it was placed on this site.
We Give Thanks to Chrissy Chapman , for providing these "genealogical jewels."
| NAME | 1860 CENSUS | 1870 CENSUS | 1880 CENSUS | Birth/Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazlehurst, Leighton W. | 39-M-Ga. | 49-M-Ga. | 59-M-Ga. | b.08/20/1820, d.08/2/1882 |
| Hazlehurst, Mary Jane McNish (wife) | 37-F-Ga. | 46-F-Ga. | b.02/14/1822, d.04/17/1878 | |
| Hazlehurst, Elizabeth P. | 16-F-Ga. | 24-F-Ga. | ??Eunice | |
| Hazlehurst, John McNish | 13-M-Ga. | b.04/21/1847, d.07/1/1884 | ||
| Hazlehurst, Anna J. | 11-F-Ga. | 21-F-Ga. | ??Eunice | |
| Hazlehurst, Mary | 8-F-Ga. | 19-F-Ga. | 26-F-Ga. | |
| Hazlehurst, Sarah E. | 6-F-Ga. | 15-F-Ga. | 24-F-Ga | |
| Eunice?? | 28-F-Ga. | |||
| Our Little Jane | b.10/26/1853, d.11/3/1853 | |||
| Hazlehurst, Fannie L., wife of Robert Hazlehurst | Sep. 1, 1867, Aged 53 years and 10 months | |||
| Hazlehurst, P. Alston | b.11/18/1846, d.11/13/1877 | |||
| Hazlehurst, Emily, wife of P. Alston | b.11/28/1853, d.11/10/1877 | |||
| Darling TIVI | Died 09/11/1856, Aged 2 years. | |||
| McNash, Ann | 70-F-Ga | 73-F-Ga | ||
| Johnson, Jane E. | 71-F-Ga. | Died Dec.5, 1877 |