“There’s Just One Last Favor I’ll Ask of You”

Written By: Tim Reynolds, President of Restoration Lindale, Inc. & the Lindale Cemetery 

This story is about a child’s dream becoming a lifelong passion.

The year was 1896 when the Massachusetts Cotton Mill began operations in Lindale, Georgia. The mill company brought a new way of life into the farming community, along with people from all around working in the mill. With the growth of the mill, a complete village was built. By 1902 the mill company began to move to the north end of Silver Creek with the addition of the number 3 mill. Construction was halted due to a small community graveyard being discovered on the west end of the property. The Massachusetts Cotton Mill Company had a decision to make. They could either not build the additional mill building in that location or disinter the 28 graves from the area and relocate the community cemetery. The mill company chose 5 acres just south of the mill on a peaceful knoll that offered a place for future burials, then had the 28 graves removed and reburied in what is known today as the Lindale Cemetery, affectionately known as Cemetery Hill.

The mill company began to offer free burial spaces to employees and their immediate families in the Lindale Cemetery. Each grave lot was marked by metal posts, and the mill company recorded no formal records of burials. It was up to the family to mark the grave spaces and maintain their lots. The cemetery entrance gate on Park Avenue always remained locked. You would have to go to the mill guard shack to check out the key for admittance into the cemetery.

In 1958, after roughly 56 years, the Pepperell Manufacturing Company began selling the mill houses, and changes came to the Lindale village. As time went on, the cemetery started to get less attention from those who had family buried there, especially as generations moved and or passed on. Once this happened, it didn’t take the cemetery long to become a victim of neglect. From the early 1960s to the mid-1990s, with each passing year, the cemetery property became around 85% overgrown in trees, vines, grass, and hedges. This made burials tough for locals with family buried here because it would take a few days to clear off a section just for a funeral.

At the age of 12, I would load up a trailer on weekends behind our tractor and carry a push mower, hand saw, and other tools, and head to Cemetery Hill. Once there, I would work to keep my great-grandparents’ graves clean, along with many graves around them. I have such a huge passion for this cemetery, and at an early age decided to do what I could to clear it off, but the project was just a tad much for a 12-year-old boy. During my senior year in high school, I became the Pepperell High FFA president. As it was getting time to hold a chapter community service project for the fall and winter of 1996, we were asked by our agriculture teacher to think of a service project. We would choose one at our next FFA meeting. Having previously worked in the Lindale Cemetery and growing up around it, I knew it was the right project for our FFA Chapter. I brought it up in the September meeting and told all of the club members that if they wanted to, we would meet after school and ride up to visit what could be our project. I took everyone on a tour, and it surprised my teacher and classmates. One classmate said, “As much as folks say they love Lindale, they allow this to happen?” Another classmate echoed, “Yeah, that’s not right.” It didn’t take but a second for everyone to agree that the Lindale Cemetery would be our community service project.

I remember having a tear in my eye as I brought up the cemetery for a chapter project vote. I spoke just a moment on the topic and how neglected it was. After I spoke, before I had a chance to bring the matter to a vote, my AG teacher Mr. Carey Harris said, “Mr. President, this isn’t a matter of vote or group discussion. We are going to do it”. I knew then that my teacher and classmates just how much this project meant to me. I remember replying to the club members that this was the cemetery’s last chance to see sunlight again.

Our first workday began in late September of 1996. After working from September to Christmas that year, the cemetery was around 65% clear of trees and overgrown brush. By late February 1997, about 90% of the cemetery was restored. After I graduated high school, I continued to work in my spare time, clearing roots and the remaining debris. I soon began receiving calls from locals wanting to help with the project. It was awesome seeing a cemetery that was around 96 years old being restored after years of neglect. I could never thank my classmates and many volunteers enough for supporting this project.

In the summer of 1998, several local Lindale families got together with me. They formed a nonprofit organization named the Lindale Cemetery Association, Inc. Its goal was to provide the preservation, care, and support the cemetery needed to remain free and clear of debris. When operating a cemetery, it takes funding to maintain it. While serving as the vice president of the Lindale Cemetery Association, Inc., I began mailing out letters to families with loved ones buried there asking for donations. The Lindale American Legion Post 136 matched us dollar for dollar up to $1500 a year. This allowed us to continue maintaining the cemetery for several years. In February 2012, our president Mr. Charles R. Warren, passed away, which moved me into the position of president of the Lindale Cemetery Association, Inc. Between February 2012 and June 2013, the donations and financial support trickled to almost nothing. Around this time, lawn care service costs were rising, forcing us to make some difficult decisions.

In June 2013, I founded and organized Restoration Lindale, Inc. This nonprofit organization focuses on restoring, preserving, and revitalizing the entire Lindale Community. While serving both organizations as president, overseeing both as I had initially planned was challenging. Time went on, and being the youngest serving the Lindale Cemetery Association, Inc., I had to think of ways to keep folks interested in the cemetery without losing interest in keeping it clean. The state would receive $50 annually from us to continue our nonprofit status when that money could have been spent on maintaining the cemetery. Restoration Lindale, Inc. stepped in and continued paying to maintain the cemetery grounds. Restoration Lindale, Inc. would host Berry College Student Volunteers each year, and we would work on numerous projects here.

In the summer of 2020, we voted to close out the Lindale Cemetery Association, Inc. and move all cemetery operations to Restoration Lindale, Inc., especially since we were doing all the work in maintaining it. Today, the Lindale Cemetery is owned and operated by Restoration Lindale, Inc. We sell each grave lot to maintain the funds to help continue the lawn care and maintenance of the cemetery grounds. Just this past year, 2020, we had 22 funeral services in the cemetery. This is the most burials in one year since the 1940s.

This cemetery has always held a special place in my heart. I always felt a special blessing from God that He allowed me to be the leader of the cemetery restoration team since the age of 12. At the age of 42, I still hold to this calling. For as long as God leads me to Cemetery Hill, I will forever answer to the tune of “There’s Just one Last Favor I’ll Ask of You,” And that’s simply answering “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.”

In Closing:

I didn’t write this story to pin roses to a man named Tim Reynolds, but to God. He alone called me to see Cemetery Hill restored, where services could be held again without having to cut down trees first.

I am very blessed, 

Tim Reynolds 

President 

Restoration Lindale, Inc.

Anyone interested in lots in the Lindale Cemetery may email us at: lindalecemetery@gmail.com or call us at 706-252-1918

Make sure to check out How Lindale Got Its Name by Tim Reynolds

Before and after photos of the Lindale Cemetery