Bason Cemetery - Stevens Street, Warner Robins, GA
Since 1984, SCV Camp 1399 has assumed maintenance and care for the Bason family cemetery at Stevens Street in Warner Robins. Previously, it had been abandoned, it was overgrown with brush and was in serious need of repair. Camp members and others came together and restored the cemetery placing a wrought iron fence around the identifiable graves as well as a marker plate and a flagpole. An article published in The Daily Sun described the work and featured a photograph of Compatriots A.O. Smith and Van Thaxton working at the cemetery. Camp 1399 representatives executed legal documents in 1984 designating SCV Camp 1399 as the legal custodian of the cemetery.
The cemetery (known as Bason Cemetery) is now situated in a residential neighborhood and is surrounded on all sides by residential homes. The map shown below shows its location; it is approximately at 210 Stevens Street. Camp members maintain the cemetery including grass-cutting and routine maintenance and cleanup on a regular basis. Camp 1399 keeps a Confederate flag or 1956 Georgia State flag flying at the cemetery at all times.
SCV Camp 1399 holds an annual memorial service in honor of the Confederate veterans buried there traditionally on the Friday evening before the Saturday designated for other Confederate Memorial day services in central Georgia. Usually it's the Friday closest to Georgia's Confederate Memorial Day, April 26th. See some sample photos below of Memorial services.
Confederate Veterans buried at Stevens Street (Bason) Cemetery | |
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Sgt. James G. Bason |
Pvt. John W. Bason |
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2nd Lieutenant William L. Burgay |
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Memorial Marker at Stevens Street Cemetery
"Dedicated to the Confederate soldier and to the Righteous Cause for which he fought."
----Lt. James T. Woodward Camp 1399 S.C.V.
Photos Stevens Street Memorial Services
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The following article appeared in the Houston Home Journal May 2, 2006.
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/963/public/news715660.html
Confederates remembered
05/02/06
By KIMBERLY CASSEL PRITCHETT
Gunshots could be heard
in a quiet area on Stevens Street in Warner Robins Friday evening, but it
wasn't a current act of violence that drew the shots. These shots were fired
as part of a memorial service honoring four Confederate veterans of the War
Between The States.
A crowd of more than
two dozen gathered amid a tiny cemetery on Stevens Street for the Sons of
Confederate Veterans Lieutenant James T. Woodward Camp 1399 Annual Memorial
Service honoring Sgt. James G. Bason, Co. G 62nd Ga. Cavalry; Pvt. John W.
Bason, Co. G 62nd Ga. Cavalry; 2nd Lieutenant W.L. Burgay, Co. K 11th Ga.
Infantry; and Pvt. Joseph S. Vinson, Co. C 6th Ga. Infantry, the four known
Confederate soldiers buried there.
Re-enactors from the
10th Ga. Volunteer Infantry and the 16th Ga. Volunteer Infantry, dressed
completely in traditional Civil War attire, assisted in the ceremony. The
color guard raised and lowered the second national Confederate flag, also
known as "The Stainless Banner," which was used from May 1, 1863, through
March 4, 1865. In addition, the re-enactors also presented a three-volley
rifle salute, which drew several curious onlookers.
"We take justifiable
pride in our Confederate forebears -- men and women who sacrificed their lives
and all of their worldly possessions," said Commander Chris K. Pritchett of
SCV James T. Woodward Camp 1399. "They made these sacrifices not for
themselves but for their children and their children's children. Confederate
soldiers won the admiration of the world by their courageous spirit."
April, according to
Pritchett, is the month SCV, celebrates Confederate history since April 26,
in Georgia, is considered a state-recognized holiday.
"SCV is the oldest
hereditary organization for male descendants of Confederate soldiers," said
Pritchett. "It is a historical, patriotic and non-political organization
dedicated to insuring that a true history of the 1861 to 1865 period is
preserved."
The SCV Camp 1399 meets
the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at Sonny's BBQ, 811 Russell Pkwy., Warner Robins.