Time capsule

As reported 42 years ago in the pages of The Columbia News, Thursday, July 16, 1964:

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I-20 unearths graves

Workers with the state Highway Department crews building Interstate 20 have learned to be leery of cedar trees and indentations in the earth - they usually add up to an old family burial plot.

"At the time we did the survey (for I-20) we did not know there was a family cemetery on the place," said surveyor Roy Lamkin.

"The place" is the old Morris homelands, located about five miles west of Grovetown on the north side of the Appling road.

Tom Lindsey, of the state Highway Department, said the owner of the property, Mildred Pollard Blanchard, had not been aware of the old cemetery, either.

All known descendants of those in the cemetery have been notified. Their permission has been secured to disinter and re-inter the dead. Lindsey said an undertaking firm will remove the remains to Hillcrest Cemetery.

The only indication of the old O.E. Morris Family Cemetery, other than cedar trees and indentations, is an old brick vault that serves as a double grave.

Lindsey was not able to give an exact date the burying ground was in use, but said it was probably the late 1800s to early 1900s. "As to who is there and how many, I don't know," he added.

Anderson wins

Gene Anderson was high scorer in a 4-H land-judging contest, qualifying for the Georgia Land Judging Team.

Scoring 225 out of 240 possible points, Anderson outscored more than 700 other contestants.

He and the other members of the four-man land-judging team will represent the state in the National Land Judging Contest in Oklahoma City.

Anderson, a junior at Harlem High School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Anderson of Grovetown.