Delineation of Jerusalem Cemetery, Ebenezer, Georgia LAMAR Institute Publication Series Report Number 160

In 2010, the LAMAR Institute contracted with the Georgia Salzburger Society to delineate the boundaries of the Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery at New Ebenezer, Georgia. This report presents the results of this undertaking. This work is the latest installment in a long-standing research association at New Ebenezer between the LAMAR Institute, the Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Georgia Salzburger Society. The study combines modern archaeological techniques and historic research to establish the cemetery’s perimeter. The primary product is a revised cemetery map with a newly defined boundary, which more accurately reflects the spatial distribution of human interments on this hallowed ground. By relocating some of these lost burials, this study strives to reestablish Jerusalem Cemetery in its entirety. Cemeteries serve an important role in helping people remember the past and to honor those who helped to shape the future. This effort will enable future generations to appreciate their sense of place in history while preserving the past. Jerusalem Cemetery was the primary burial site for the colonial and early federal era town of New Ebenezer. The cemetery was an important focus of the New Ebenezer community. The cemetery is located south of the town, which was located on the Red Bluff of the Savannah River in present-day Effingham County, Georgia (Figure 1). This is historic ground where the foundation of early Georgia was established. New Ebenezer was settled by German speakers who practiced Lutheranism (Jones 1984, 1990b). The pietist Lutherans of colonial New Ebenezer expressed modest burial practices and no graves from this period have been conclusively identified. The ravages of time, two wars, and neglect have taken away some landmarks of the mortuary landscape at New Ebenezer.