Bonaventure Cemetery is a rural cemetery located on a scenic bluff of the Wilmington River, east of Savannah, Georgia. The cemetery's prominence grew when it was featured in the 1994 novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and in the subsequent movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the book. It is the largest of the city's municipal cemeteries, containing nearly 160 acres (0.65 km2).
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansford. Subtitled A Savannah Story, with an initial printing of 25,000 copies, the book became a New York Times Best-Seller for 216 weeks following its debut and remains one of the longest-standing New York Times Best-Sellers.
Bird Girl is a sculpture made in 1936 by Sylvia Shaw Judson in Lake Forest, Illinois. It was sculpted at Ragdale, her family's summer home, and achieved fame when it was featured on the cover of the 1994 non-fiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Originally exhibited as Girl with Bowls at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1938, it was also exhibited as Fountain Figure, Standing Figure, and Peasant Girl. A 1967 book by Judson first referred to it as Bird Girl.
Edward Telfair was a Scottish-born American Founding Father, politician and slave trader who served as the governor of Georgia from 1786 to 1787 and again from 1790 to 1793. He was a member of the Continental Congress and one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation.
Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler was an American trial attorney from Savannah, Georgia, who had a leading role in the true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He was the owner of the University of Georgia Bulldogs live mascots Uga, a series of successively numbered English bulldogs.
Josiah Tattnall was an American planter, soldier and politician from Savannah, Georgia. He represented Georgia in the U.S. Senate from 1796 to 1799, and was the 25th Governor of Georgia in 1801 and 1802. Born near Savannah, Georgia, at Bonaventure Plantation in the early 1760s to Mary Mullryne and Josiah Tattnall, he studied at Eton School before joining Anthony Wayne's troops at Ebenezer during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he was elected brigadier general of the 1st Regiment in the Georgia Militia. He helped to rescind the Yazoo land fraud of 1795. He died in Nassau, New Providence.
Josiah Tattnall was a British emigrant to colonial America who became notable for his acts in support of the Crown during his time in Savannah in the Province of Georgia.
Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia Historical Society until 1920, the museum opened in 1886 in the Telfair family's renovated Regency style mansion, known as the Telfair Academy.
The Owens–Thomas House & Slave Quarters is a historic home in Savannah, Georgia, that is operated as a historic house museum by Telfair Museums. It is located at 124 Abercorn Street, on the northeast corner of Oglethorpe Square. The Owens–Thomas House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, as one of the nation's finest examples of English Regency architecture.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a 1997 American crime drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay by John Lee Hancock was based on John Berendt's 1994 book of the same name and follows the story of antiques dealer Jim Williams, on trial for the killing of a male prostitute who was his lover. The multiple trials depicted in Berendt's book are combined into one trial for the film.
The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
John Walz was a German-American sculptor most famous for his works created in Savannah, Georgia, United States.
Bonaventure Plantation was a plantation founded in colonial Savannah, Province of Georgia, on land now occupied by Greenwich and Bonaventure cemeteries. The site was 600 acres (2.4 km2), including a plantation house and private cemetery, located on the Wilmington River, about 3.5 miles east of the Savannah colony.
Greenwich Plantation was a plantation founded in colonial Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1765, on land now occupied by Greenwich Cemetery. The 100-acre (0.40 km2) site included a plantation house and private cemetery, and was located on the Wilmington River, about 3.5 miles east of the Savannah colony. It was located immediately to the north of Bonaventure Plantation, which existed until 1868 on land now occupied by Bonaventure Cemetery. Its mile-long driveway still exists to the left of Bonaventure's main gates.
Mary Telfair was an art collector, philanthropist and prominent citizen of Savannah, Georgia, United States. She bequeathed the foundation of the city's Telfair Museums, the first art museum of the American South, which has been in operation since 1886. It is housed in her former Regency-style home in Savannah's Telfair Square.
Sharon Plantation was a plantation originally founded in colonial Savannah, Province of Georgia. It covered around 200 acres (81 ha), on land bounded by Old Louisville Road and the Ogeechee Canal six miles to the west of the city.
John Mullryne was a British Army colonel who established Bonaventure Plantation in Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1761. A supporter of the Crown, he later drew the ire of the colonists after aiding the escape of James Wright, the British royal governor of the Province of Georgia, through his property during the American Revolutionary War.
Spencer Proudfoot Shotter was a Canadian businessman. A naval-stores magnate, he purchased Greenwich Plantation in Thunderbolt, Georgia, and renamed it Greenwich Place. The site is now occupied by Greenwich Cemetery.
Eleanor Torrey "Sandy" West was an American preservationist. She became the owner of Ossabaw Island, Georgia, and was its longest inhabitant at the time of her death. In 1978, sitting United States President Jimmy Carter stipulated that the island was to become Georgia's first heritage preserve.
