The story goes that when I-285 was being constructed, circling the city of Atlanta, the portion in Dunwoody near today’s Perimeter Mall had to be moved over slightly so as not to infringe on the historic Stephen Martin Cemetery.
140 years before I-285 was constucted, the land which includes Dunwoody and Brookhaven, as well as other parts of DeKalb County was home to the Creek Native Americans before they were forcibly removed. The land was divided into 202 ½ acre parcels and distributed by lottery to white settlers.
Many families came to Georgia at that time from South Carolina and other states in search of land. Stephen and Elizabeth Martin and their children were one of those families. The Stephen Martin Cemetery in Dunwoody is named for this early pioneer who traveled from South Carolina to Dunwoody around 1830. The cemetery is located between Hammond Drive and I-285, behind a shopping center. Dunwoody Preservation Trust has been caring for the cemetery for several years, including keeping the grass cut and maintaining a kiosk with information and a guest log book.
The three stone cairn graves in the cemetery belong to Stephen Martin and his first and second wives. It is believed his first wife, Elizabeth Garrett, is buried on the right as you view the graves from the kiosk and his second wife, Sarah Crowley, is buried on the left with Stephen Martin in the middle. The smaller stone grave to the right of Elizabeth is believed to be one of the children. Sarah Crowley Martin’s grave at one time had a wooden shingle type cover.
Elizabeth Garrett Martin was born in 1804 in Laurens County, South Carolina and married Stephen Martin at the age of sixteen. Their children were James C. Martin (1825-1865), Trythenia Parthena Martin (1831-1898), and Sarah Jane Martin (1849-1888). None of these three children are buried at Stephen Martin Cemetery. Elizabeth Martin died in 1847 and her burial is the first in the cemetery.
Stephen Martin married Sarah Crowley in 1854 and they had eight children. Sarah died in 1878 and Stephen Martin died in 1866. Some of their children and grandchildren are buried at Stephen Martin Cemetery and some are at other nearby cemeteries, such as the Sandy Springs Methodist Cemetery.
Sarah and Stephen’s daughter Naomi, known as Omie, married Thomas Franklin Spruill in 1866. They married about one year after Thomas returned from serving in Company C, 63rd Georgia Infantry. Thomas and Omie’s graves, along with four of their children and one grandchild, can be found just north of the kiosk in a row which is surrounded by a stone border. All of these children died early in life, as was common during this time.
Margaret Spruill, one of Thomas and Naomi’s children, married Moses B. Reeves and they are buried in the second row of the cemetery. The rows begin at the furthest point away from the kiosk. The first row only contains one grave, and that is for Edward Keith Moore, whose parents were Huie Keith Pete Moore and Vera Magnolia Reeves. He is the grandson of Moses and Margaret Reeves and died as an infant.
Stephen and Sarah Martin’s daughter Sophia married Joseph Spruill and they had nine children. Their daughter Luvader Spruill married James Tilman Morgan.
In the fifth row of the cemetery are buried Joseph and Sophia Spruill and some of their children, including Sarah Cordelia, William S. Spruill and his wife Tempie, their children Ollis and Lilla Mae, Nolia Spruill and his wife Nina May, and their child Elbert. Luvader and James Morgan’s child, Homer Morgan, is laid to rest here while his parents and siblings were buried in Turner County, Georgia.
Row three of the cemetery is the resting place for the Hardegree family. The name is spelled Hardegree on some markers and Hardigree on others. John Hardegree came to Dunwoody in the late 1800’s and married Catherine Elizabeth Dalrymple. John and Catherine had five children. Their son John William Hardegree fought in World War I and his grave is marked with a headstone commemorating his service.
There are many unidentified graves in the Stephen Martin cemetery, some marked only with one fieldstone or with a head stone and a foot stone. Rows four, seven, nine, ten, and eleven have only unidentified graves. The earliest known burial in 1847, but it is likely some of the unmarked graves are from an earlier date.
Between 1930 and 1932, Atlanta historian Franklin Garrett recorded all the known cemeteries in DeKalb County, including the Stephen Martin Cemetery. Seventy three years later, Phillip B. Anglin, surveyed all of Dunwoody’s cemeteries and published his findings in the book “Dunwoody, Georgia Historic Cemeteries: Silent Storytellers.” The listings are shown by rows, with each row numbered and a number for each corresponding grave. This cemetery has fourteen rows. Some rows have ten or more graves and others have only one.