Follow
Location: From Bonaire, Houston County, Georgia, take Georgia Highway 96 East to Thompson Mill Road. Turn right on Thompson Mill Road, proceed approximately two (2) miles to Hiawassee Drive and turn left onto Hiawassee Drive. Proceed for about 1/2 mile and the cemetery is on the left a few yards off the road.
This cemetery was originally surveyed by Addie P. Howell in 1977 and was included in her book "Cemeteries & Obituaries of Houston County Georgia, 1982, as the "'Thompson Cemetery."'
The cemetery became known as the Thompson Cemetery during the 1900's after the land became the property of Mattie and Charlie H. Thompson, the heirs of Garrett Smith, son of William Smith, Jr.
The cemetery is the family burial site for William Smith, Jr. and his family, located on the original homeplace. William Smith, Jr. moved from Washington County, Georgia in the 1820's and established a large plantation on several hundred acres of land that he purchased near the Ocmulgee River. By the 1840's, William set aside this land for the family cemetery as his family members began dying. The cemetery was used by descendants of the William Smith, Jr. family for the next century.
A final survey of gravesites was completed by Ms. Sandra Morton on 27 December 2009.
A major cleanup of the Smith Family Cemetery was initiated on November 21, 2010 and on December 11, 2010 a group of resident volunteers completed the clearing of all brush and overgrowth of the cemetery and work is now underway to restore this cemetery to honor the final resting place for those who pioneered this area.