Fender Cemetery

This cemetery is indicated by a national landmark sign on the junction of US-221/122, Rt. 37, and River Road (aka Old River Road) in South Georgia, which is about 2 miles East of Lakeland. The sign (pictured below) has an arrow pointed up River Road. The Fender Cemetery itself is reasonably well maintained, but it's a haven for biting insects. I used up a lot of Off out there.

My 5th Great Grandparents, Josiah Sirmans (indicated by the sign) and Harty Hardeman, are buried there. Josiah was the first white settler of the whole area. His son, Senator Benjamin Sirmans, and Benjamin's grandson, Senator Franklin B. Sirmans are also buried here with their families. The village once named after the Sirmans family was located a few miles from here, but there is nothing left of it except "Old Sirmans Road" (unpaved) running through a thick forest with a few ruins in it.

I also provided a special page for all the Sirmans buried at the Fender Cemetery whose relationship is unknown to me.

Photos by Christopher Sirmons Haviland. You may download and use any tombstone photograph at this site as you wish.

In actuality, the Fender Cemetery is a short distance North on River Road, not East as the sign says. About 2.6 miles North of this sign, to be more exact.

The Fender Cemetery

Me with My 5th Great Grandparents
Josiah Sirmans & Harty Hardeman
Children: Benjamin, Abner (who married Elizabeth Kirkland, my 4th great grandparents), Rachel, Elizabeth "Betsey", Sarah Ann, Jonathan, and Joseph. Some of the children are buried here. Elizabeth Kirkland is buried here somewhere in an unmarked grave. I don't know where Abner is buried.

My 5th Great Grandfather
Josiah Sirmans
Son of Edward Sirman & _____
Husband of Harty Hardeman (m. 1790)
b. 1767, d. 6 Jan 1830

My 5th Great Grandmother
Harty Hardeman
Daughter of Thomas Hardeman & Elizabeth _____
Wife of Josiah Sirmans
b. 16 May 1774, d. 1848

Hon. Joseph Sirmans
Son of Josiah Sirmans & Harty Hardeman
Husband of Rebecca Smith
& Sallie Burkhalter
b. 16 May 1808, d. 7 Oct 1888

Note: Joseph was a Georgia State Representative in 1873-74 (Clinch County).

Rebecca Smith
Daughter of Rev. William Smith, R.S.
Wife of Joseph Sirmans
b. Nov 1811, d. 20 Dec 1852

Harris Sirmans
Son of Hon. Joseph Sirmans & Rebecca Smith
Husband of Lavina Johnson (daughter of David Johnson)
b. 12 Feb 1846, d. 2 Jan 1919

Henry Sirmans
Son of Isaac Sirmans & Nancy Richardson
b. Jan 1886, d. 17 Jan 1886

Senator Benjamin Sirmans
Son of Josiah Sirmans & Harty Hardeman
Husband of Martha Johnson (m. Jul 1814)
b. 6 Feb 1792, d. 1 May 1863

Note: Benjamin was a Georgia State Senator 1853-54; State Representative 1828-29, 1839, and 1840; and the first Postmaster in this area 1838-41. His wife Martha, daughter of David Johnson, is buried in an unmarked grave here. As Sirman is sometimes used as the spelling of this surname, sometimes the "s" is accidentally left off. I believe records have Benjamin as Sirmans not Sirman.

David J. Sirmans
Son of Senator Benjamin Sirmans & Martha Johnson
Husband of Caroline Holland
& Eliza Wilkerson
b. 1 Mar 1819, d. 24 Mar 1905

Hon. Josiah Sirmans
Son of Senator Benjamin Sirmans & Martha Johnson
Husband of Mary A. Roberts (m. 25 Jan 1841)
b. 25 Mar 1817, d. 20 Feb 1883

Note: Josiah was Justice of the Peace in Lowndes County, GA 1838-45.)

Mary A. Roberts
Daughter of John Roberts and _____
Wife of Hon. Josiah Sirmans (m. 25 Jan 1841)
b. 26 Apr 1826, d. 2 Apr 1903

Benjamin E. Sirmans, Sr.
Son of Senator Benjamin Sirmans & Martha Johnson
Husband of Francenia E. Carroll (m. 12 Dec 1854)
b. 14 Jul 1831, d. 22 Nov 1877

Catherine Anderson
Wife of David C. Sirmans
(David is the son of Benjamin E. Sirmans, Sr. & Francenia E. Carroll)
b. 4 Jan 1851, d. 21 Apr 1884

Family Lot for Senator Franklin B. Sirmans

Chandler S. Sirmans
Son of Senator Franklin B. Sirmans & Amanda Strickland
b. 29 Aug 1880, d. 30 Sep 1901

Senator Franklin B. Sirmans
Son of Hon. Ezekiel Johnson Sirmans & Eliza Bennett
Wife of Amanda Strickland (m. 28 Feb 1878)
b. 22 Sep 1853, d. 12 Mar 1915

Note: Franklin B. Sirmans was a Georgia State Senator.

Amanda Strickland
Wife of Senator Franklin B. Sirmans (m. 28 Feb 1878)
b. 7 Jan 1853, d. 7 Nov 1881

Hon. Ezekiel Johnson Sirmans
Son of Senator Benjamin Haviland & Martha Johnson
Husband of Eliza Bennett
b. 28 Feb 1824, d. 28 Apr 1900

Note: Ezekiel was Clinch County's first tax-collector, and became Justice of the Peace in 1853-54. On his tombstone it is written: "First white child born in Clinch C."

Eliza Bennett
Wife of Hon. Ezekiel Johnson Sirmans
b. 1828, d. 31 Oct 1903

Note: "Pioneers of Wiregrass" has 1828 as her birth date, but her tombstone has 1833.

Abner Sirmans
Son of Abner Sirmans & Elizabeth Kirkland
Husband of Mahaly Fender (m. 6 Feb 1854)
b. 6 Oct 1833, d. 18 Apr 1919

Mahaly Fender
Daughter of David Fender
Wife of Abner Sirmans (m. 6 Feb 1854)
b. 30 Aug 1837, d. 23 Dec 1900

Note: this is her original gravestone. After her husband died, the children had the double gravestone made. Note that her name is spelled Sirmons on this stone, and Sirmans on the stone made 19 years later.

John Frank Sirmans
Son of Abner Sirmans & Mahaly Fender
Husband of Sheba Fender
b. 1855, d. 1934

Sheba Fender
Wife of John Frank Sirmans
b. 1857, d. 1928

Talley Sirmans
Son of Abner Sirmans & Mahaly Fender
b. 18 May 1867, d. 13 May 1907

Rowan Sirmans
Son of Abner Sirmans & Mahaly Fender
b. 12 Apr 1861, d. 27 Jan 1935

David J. Sirmans
Son of Hon. Josiah Sirmans & Mary A. Roberts
b. 5 Nov 1850, d. 7 Sep 1890

Note: The tombstone calls him D.J. Sirmons Jr. The spelling change of the last name is not unusual in the Sirmans family, sometimes to differentiate between other Sirmans with the same given names living at the time. "Jr." usually indicates that he would be the son of someone of the same name, however in this case it may have been applied to him to differentiate him from his uncle, David J. Sirmans. Otherwise, there could be an error either with the gravestone or with the "Pioneers of Wiregrass" record (neither of which is unimagineable). The column on top of this particular gravestone has broken off and is standing in front of it (as of April 2003).

David F. Sirmans
Son of David C. Sirmans & Catherine Anderson
b. 20 Apr 1884, d. 25 May 1884 (age 1 month)

Also see my page for Sirmans gravestones of uncertain relation at the Fender Cemetery.

Otis Tulk "O'Tulkey" Sirmans
Son of Abner Sirmans & Mahaly Fender
b. 12 Apr 1871, d. 20 Dec 1900

Note: Committed suicide at age 29. Ironically his gravestone is cracked in half. It spells his name Sirmons.

Fender Cemetery

Town of Lakeland, County of Lanier, Georgia