John Mullryne and his family moved to Georgia from Beaufort, South Carolina, in 1764. Out of several thousand acres of Mullryne's property, the Colonel chose a home site on Saint Augustine Creek about three miles from Savannah. Here at his family home called Bonaventure, Mullryne took an active role in various local governmental duties. Mullryne was also contracted to build a lighthouse on Tybee Island, completed in 1773.
   The following years, 1775 to 1782 were very disruptive with Revolutionary War activities and especially when the City of Savannah was finally taken from British control. Labeled a traitor, Mullryne's property was seized and sold at public action, only to be purchased later by Mullryne's youngest grandson. Here, Josiah Tattnall and his family introduced island cotton from the Bahamas and called the Bonaventure Plantation home until his death in 1803. Tattnall family members were the first to be officially buried at Bonaventure Cemetery.
   Over a century had passed when the cemetery was sold to the City of Savannah. Placed under the supervision of the Park and Tree Commission, the cemetery was further expanded and the Bonaventure Historical Society assisted in its restoration. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
   Pictured here is the gravesite of Johnny Mercer, one of the many luminary figures buried in Bonaventure. One of America's most popular songwriters, Mercer wrote more than one thousand songs and earned four Oscars for his movie lyrics.

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