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Macon is looking for loved ones to claim boxes of human ashes
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Macon-Bibb County is hoping to find people to accept 166 sets of human ashes that remain unclaimed in county archives ahead of a ceremony to disperse them later this year.
Big rooms are lined with shelves of cardboard boxes with notes in black sharpie about what they contain. There are Macon-Bibb county records dating back to the 1800s and there are also two skinny shelves in the back that hold the remains of 166 people. The county is asking for their loved ones to claim them.
Some of the boxes of cremains have been in the Archives and Records Center for 18 years. Kittie Cosper, the archives and records specialist, diligently cataloged the boxes of ashes. The oldest cremains are from 1985. Entry No. 113 reads, “Quinn, Mildred, 2018 (foot only).”
Anyone who wants to file a claim for a specific box of ashes will be able to do so until Sept. 19. After that date, the ashes will be scattered during a memorial ceremony at the new scatter garden at the historic Rose Hill Cemetery.
Parks and Beautification Director Michael Glisson created the scatter garden as a direct response to the coroner’s need to find a place for the unclaimed cremains, but in the future, anyone will be able to use the space.
“The whole spiritual idea is that you will live on through the trees and flowers,” Glisson said.
Glisson used ground penetrating radar to find a location at Rose Hill Cemetery that didn’t have unmarked burials and found an open spot at the front of the cemetery.
“It’s kind of fitting that it’s right up here by the main gate; they’ll get a lot of exposure,” he said.
Clerk of County Commission Janice Ross said she felt that it was time to give these ashes of cremated people an appropriate place to rest.
“We have babies," she said. "We have adults. We have a whole range of people from all sorts of cities and towns who just happened to end up here, and this was their final place.”
She said to do so, the county has to follow the proper protocols in order to release the ashes at Rose Hill. The county also has to advertise the names in the paper for four consecutive Fridays. After just two weeks, a few people have already reached out to claim their loved ones.
It is free to file a claim for a specific box of ashes and Senior Assistant County Attorney Michael McNeill can answer any questions. The state of Georgia does not require a specific relationship to claim the ashes, but if two people claim the ashes, Ross said the court will decide.
All claims are due Sept. 19. This article outlines how to file a claim and to who to direct questions.
The identities of the cremains are listed below.
- Adams, Samuel, 10/12/2004
- Allen, Willie, 2014
- Allison, William, 2018
- Aultman, Donnie, 12/6/2016
- Banks, Jimmy, 2015
- Barker, Alonzo, 9/18/2016
- Barrett, Marcia, 2018
- Barrow, Fleda Patricia, 2016
- Bell, Henry, 1/4/2017
- Bell, Marva Jean, 2014
- Bennett, Henry Tyrone, 2016
- Briscoe, Rodney, 10/21/2016
- Brown, Andrew, 4/25/2015
- Brown, Marslyah, Infant, 11/9/2016
- Brown, Richard, 2017
- Bruno, Baby Boy, 3/13/2012
- Bryant, Teresa Lynn
- Bullington, Imogene, 2009
- Burgess, Thomas, 2017
- Bush, Johanna, 2018
- Bush, Thomas, 7/13/2013
- Butler, Wilbur, 10/13/2016
- Caldwell, Curtis, 5/23/2017
- Campos, Kimida, 4/30/2013
- Carter, Charles, 5/15/2017
- Chatfield, Rose Marie, 10/17/2015
- Cheely, Robert, 8/19/2016
- Clark, Odelia, 6/16/2012
- Colbert, Eschol, 1/17/2017
- Coleman, Russell, 2/4/2015
- Coley, Joyce, 2005
- Colton, James, 6/4/2015
- Copeland, Calvin, 9/25/2014
- Craig, Maxie, 7/25/2014
- Cross, Willie, 9/28/2015
- Curry, Carl, 7/22/2014
- Dale, James, 2017
- Danials, David, 2018
- Daniels, Ronnie, 2013
- Davis, Betty, 11/19/2005
- Davis, Harold, 4/23/2015
- Dixon, Tommy, 2017
- Dominick, Jimmy, 2015
- Dowd, Ronald, 2017
- Dunlap, Lorraine, 8/9/2005
- Earley, Harry, 12/22/2006
- Eason, Albert, 2016
- Eaton, Charles, 2/2/2015
- Edwards, Thomas, 7/27/2015
- Elliott, Jessie, 4/22/2015
- Elrod, Vernon, 2/18/2016
- Etheridge, Baby Boy, 1/9/2017
- Evans, William, 2018
- Farrar, Bobbie, 7/24/2014
- Faust, James, 2016
- Fisher, Baby Boy, 3/3/2012
- Fleming, A.D., 12/26/2017
- Fortner, Miles, 2017
- Foster, Roy
- Gainey, Susan Smith
- Galipean, Myrna, 2008
- Galipean, Roger, 2012
- Garcia, Luis, 2017
- Gartrell, Johnny, 9/29/2013
- Gates, Alton, 2016
- Gibbs, Anthony, 1/12/2017
- Giles, Charles, 2016
- Giles, L Mordy, 2014
- Gleen, Jimmy Lee
- Glover, James
- Godfrey, Harold, 9/24/2014
- Golden, Fenton, 2016
- Goss, Judith Ann, 2015
- Green, Elizabeth, 2015
- Gulley, George, 2/20/2004
- Hancock, James, 2015
- Hargrove, Baby Girl, 2017
- Harris, William Keith, 5/25/2005
- Hartkoph, Johanna, 2018
- Henderson, James Leroy, 7/24/2015
- Henry, Donald, 1992
- Hicks, Mary, 2010
- Holbrook, Garland, 11/27/2017
- Holt, Larry Stafford, 2006
- Hons, Eleanor, 11/16/2015
- Horne, Thomas, 2017
- Howell, James, 2016
- Huhgley, Elijah, 2014
- Jackson, Baby Boy, 4/11/2016
- Jenkins, Kenny, 2017
- Johnson, Russell, 2014
- Jones, Virginia,2007
- Jones, Waymon III, 5/16/2013
- Kelley, John Jefferson, 2007
- Kent, Ruth, 2014
- Law, Thurza, 2005
- Leslie, Cora Ann, 2014
- Lewis, Patricia, 2017
- Lundberg, Peter, 2016
- Mays, Annie Mae, 2015
- McFarland, Maxie, 2013
- McKnight, Ross, 11/26/2005
- Michaels, James, 2017
- Mitchell, James, 2015
- Moody, Mark, 2015
- Morgan, Kathleen, 12/18/2016
- Morrell, Dorothy
- Oliver, Alphronia, 1/14/2014
- Pauldo, Eli
- Pentecost, Johnny
- Pomianowshi, Donna, 2015
- Proffitt, Larry, 2001
- Quinn, Mildred, 2018 (foot only)
- Richards, Hattie
- Ross, Bobby, 2014
- Ross, Gussie, 2013
- Rozier, Leo, 2/14/2014
- Rushin, Bertha, 7/9/2005
- Scheick, Thomas, 2017
- Scholz, Paul, 2014
- Simpson, James, 2010
- Sims, Mary, 2015
- Sims, Vernon, 2016
- Singleton, James, 2015
- Smith, Bessie, 2018
- Smith, Jimmy
- Smith, Willie, 2017
- Stafford, Baby Girl, 4/22/2015
- Stanley, James, 11/30/2017
- Stephens, Baby Boy, 12/1/2010
- Stevens, Jaylen Baby Boy, 9/24/2012
- Stubbs, Sharon
- Swint, James, 2017
- Taylor, James, cremated 1/16/2017
- Taylor, James, cremated 10/23/2017
- Taylor, Melton
- Tharpe, Baby Boy, 1/16/2013
- Tharpe, Hamcel, 2014
- Tharpe, John William
- Thibault, William
- Thomas, Della, 10/21/2005
- Thomas, Joseph, 2013
- Thrasher, Peggy, 7/17/2013
- Tolbert, Annie, 12/24/1985
- Trotman, Maude, 10/8/1991
- Tucker, Norman, 2013
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Walker, Herbert, 1/18/2017 (2 boxes)
- Walters, Julianne, 2016
- Ward, Eva Mae
- Warner, Barbara Jean
- Watts, Curtis
- Whimberly, Elisha, baby boy, 2018 (2 envelopes)
- White, Leon, 2018
- Whitfield, Carlton
- Whittlesey, Mark, 2018
- Wiggins, Virginia, 5/22/2014
- Williams, Authur Lee, 2018 (2 boxes)
- Williams, Charles, 2017
- Williams, Gerald
- Williams, Robert, 2015
- Williams, Timothy. 8/9/2014
- Wise, George