On Feb. 26, 1843 the Friendship Presbyterian Church was organized
at a site along the present Route 293 near the Etowah River. The
site was donated by Arnold Milner for a church and cemetery for
family and friends.
Some ten years later, the church moved to its present location in
Cartersville on the corner of Bartow and West Main streets and became
known as the First Presbyterian Church. Friendship Cemetery continued
to be used as a burial site for more than 100 years.
The book, Cemeteries of Bartow, Formerly Cass Counties, published
by EVHS in 1973, lists a total of 89 graves on the site. However,
Carl Etheredge, EVHS cemetery chairman, believes that the actual
number of persons buried there was much higher.
According to the book, 3 people were buried in Friendship in the
1840's, 7 in the 1850's and 8 in the 1960's The last 2 burials were
in 1960. the book listed 16 names without a date of death.
The most commonly recorded names in the cemetery are Puckett and
Jones. Seven people with the last name of Puckett were buried there
from 1864 to 1905. Seven Jones' were interred but the only date
recorded was in 1921. Arnold Milner, the donor of the property was
buried there on April 24, 1852, three weeks shy of his 66th birthday.
Richard Milner, the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church, was
buried at Friendship in November, 1855.
The property was neglected for many years and became greatly overgrown.
For years, many of the motorists traveling on Route 293 between
Cartersville and Emerson were unaware that the brush and shrubbery
covered a cemetery.
In 2003, EVHS adopted Friendship as a project and began the task
of clearing the site. With the help of a brush fire and with assistance
of men from the Presbyterian Church, a great deal of progress was
made. When Bartow County work details began work at the site real
progress was made in removing dead trees and other debris.
EVHS volunteers have erected a sign and marked a trail.
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