History of Cemetery Island
The site was part of the Jarrett Burch Sr. family farm. He was one of the original settlers of Towns County, dying in 1856 and was buried on his own home place as was the custom in that day (little family cemeteries). The cemetery grew with additions of family members and neighboring residents until there were more than 300 graves in 1941.
With the coming of Lake Chatuge, it was determined that the lake elevation would isolate the cemetery. Hasty preparations were made for relocation and the cemetery was relocated to its present location on Sunnyside (Highway 288) with the exception of about 2 dozen graves whose families denied permission for removal. A few graves were moved to other locations, but the vast majority was relocated to the present-day Burch Cemetery. If a grave had no family members to approve or disapprove, it was automatically moved by "permission of the cemetery trustees."
More on Jarrett Burch Sr. and his wife Milly Pinson who were married on June 19, 1805 in Pendleton District South Carolina by the Rev. Isaiah Stephens, Pastor of Shoal Creek Church. Milly Pinson, born in 1787 in Spartanburg County South Carolina, was a daughter of war veteran Rev. Joseph Pinson and his wife, Margery, a granddaughter of the Rev. Aaron and Elizabeth Pinson who died in Laurens County SC during her late teen-age years. Jarrett Burch Sr., born in 1782 in NC, was a son of Henry and Susannah Burch of Rockingham County, NC and Pendleton County SC and grew up in a household devoted to civic affairs.
An interesting story about the relocation of the cemetery is that when the remains were being exhumed, Mr. Worth Hooper’s body was found petrified from the waist up. Another interesting story is that Mr. Canary McConnell, who had lost a leg in a sawmill accident, had had his leg buried in the cemetery. Upon relocation of the cemetery, he went to the authorities to sign the permission form for removal, giving his relationship to the deceased as “owner.”
Polly Simpson, Vice President
Towns County Historical Society
