The origin of granite grave markers discovered behind a Henry County subdivision Thursday doesn't entail a historical mystery, after all.

Edwards found the markers Thursday morning behind the Northtown Cove subdivision off East Atlanta Rd. He said he discovered the markers after an acquaintance mentioned them to him.

Edwards went to the area himself, and the pile of grave markers aroused his curiosity.

The site held about a dozen granite markers, some stacked on top of one another, plus a large quantity of broken, white granite. Many of the markers had names and dates of birth and death inscribed on them, some as old as the 1930s.

Edwards said he wanted to make sure the markers hadn't been displaced from graves. He called the Henry County Code Enforcement Office, and Director Charlie Tomlinson went to the site.

Tomlinson in turn called the Henry County Bureau of Police Services, which sent an officer to take a report.

"We want to make sure that they're not stolen, or taken from a cemetery, or some illegal dumping," Tomlinson said.

As it turned out, the markers weren't stolen, but they were taken from a cemetery n with the families' permission.

According to Scot Ward, general manager of Ward Funeral Home and Fairview Memorial Gardens, the markers sit on land that used to belong to the cemetery. The land was used for storage, he said.

The granite pieces were marker bases, Ward said. The markers themselves were old ones discarded either when families chose a new style or moved their loved ones into Fairview Memorial Gardens and got a new marker.

The cemetery owners sold the land to the developer of Northtown Cove, Robert Lanier of Decatur.

Ward said cemetery workers had cleaned the land before the sale, but since the markers Edwards found were in a wooded area, "These got overlooked in the cleanup," Ward said.

Lanier could not be reached Thursday evening for comment on the plans for the site. However, a nearby resident, Andre Kelley, said he saw a man breaking up stones in the area and hauling them away with an all-terrain vehicle a few weeks ago.

Ward said no graves had been located on the property sold to the developer.

Still, Edwards said he intends to ask the police to investigate the matter further.

"(The cemetery) should be able to account for every one of those bodies, and make sure it's legit," he said.

http://www.henryherald.com/articles/2003/06/13/news/news1.txt