The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-04
TWO CLUES REMAIN
OWE MAY LEAD TO DISCOVERY OF
GREENE's REMAINS.
BOTH ARE TO BE FOLLOWED.
vACLEoD OR JONES VAULT THE
POSSIBLE RESTING PLACE.


work of investigation in Colonial
park Will Be Continued Until
Every Possibility of Finding the
remains of the Distinguished SOL
dicr Has Vanished-TheOry That
nemains Were Deposited i'm Jones
VauIt Rests Upon What Seems to
uc n solid Foundation of Fact.
Cen. Greene Contributed to the
t,uud with which the Search Is
Vow Being Made.
The work of searching the vaults and
.ravas in Colonial Park for the remains
., Gen. Nathaniel Greene. will be contin-
ned to-day, and will probably be conclud-
81 tomorrow or Wednesday. Two other
,ues remain to be investigated. and the
none that one of them will lead to tangi-
HE results is still INDUCED.
one of these in which the greatest conf
narrative confidence and reliance are re-
pose1. is derived from a passage in John
sons Life of Greene, published In the
early part of 1920. Johnson says that the
remains of Gen. Greene were deposited
in the old Jones' vault. The historian
came 10 Savannah to make a personal in
vestigation of the subject before he wrote
his biography of the famous soldier, and
he derived his information directly from
the clergyman who conducted the SER
vices at Gen. Greene's funeral.
1t has been learned that in the lifetime
of Mr. kimberley, ]. DeRenne, Sr, the
father of the present Mr.. kimberley De-
Renne, who is as his father was the head
Of the Jones family in Georgia, the re-
mains of those who had been deposited at
death in the old family vault, were re-
moved thence to a more modern and
handsome structure in Bonaventure.
1t is probable that the ravages of time
had destroyed in greater part the identity
Of any of the bodies which were thus
removed by Mr.. DeRenne, and that 1t was
impossible even then to distinguish one
from another. For this reason, it is like
~. the remains of Gen. Greene would not
have been recognized, even had they been
found and their removal to Bonaven-
ure would have taken place with those
of the ancestors of the Jones family.
Col. Asa Bird Gardiner and his asso-
GATES of the committee now conducting
the search have, therefore, been led to
entertain the hope that some traces of
Gen. Greene's remains will be found still
in the vault, if they were ever deposited
there A letter has been addressed by
Col. Gardiner to Mr.. DeRenne, in which
the latter is besought to lend his counte-
trio
work of locating the grave of the great
Continental and to give his permission
for the opening of the Jones vault He
has been assured that the work will be
conducted with all decency, propriety and
reverence, and it is believed, as it is
hoped, that his desired assistance will
be forthcoming.
Another clue to be investigated still is
that which locates the remains of Gen.
Greene in the vault of 'the MacLeods,
This was brought to the attention of Col.
Gardiner by a descendant of that dis
tnguished Georgia family, who wrote
him she had heard her grandfather say
that the remains of Gen. Greene had been
placed in his family vault.
So far lit has not been possible to locate
the Macleod vault with exactness. 1t is
known, however, that it stood by the
side of the Habersham vault and that
many years ago nobody living knew
which was which. A handsome marble
tablet now indicates the Habersham
vault, but it has been thought possible
that those who placed it there made
mistake and that it was the Macleod
vault which was thus adorned. At any
rate it is expected an investigation will
be made in the line thus indicated.
Yesterday afternoon Col. Gardiner. Mr..
Otis Ashmore and Mr.. A. d. Harden
had conference with Col. George A.
Mercer who is acting as an advisory
member of the committee. Col. Mercer
gave some valuable and interesting sug-
Sestions.
When the investigation has been con-
Guided the report of the committee, with
maps and diagrams accompanying, will be
made in triplicate. one copy of which
will be deposited in the archives of the
Society of the Cincinnati in Rhode Island,
under the auspices of which the search
is being conducted, a second transmitted
10 the Georgia Historical Society. and the
third to the Mayor of the city of Savan-
nah.
1t is an interesting fact that the funds
with which the investigation is being
conducted are derived in part from the
contribution of him whose remains it is
hoped to locate. At the institution of
the society each officer who became a
member contributed a months pay to it's
treasury. The society in Rhode Island
has used only the interest of this fund
and the principal still remains intact.
Gen. Greene's contribution, as he was
the senior officer from the state, was
greater than that of any of the others,
being about $40. 1T is rather remarkable
that one hundred and eighteen years af-
Ter this contribution was made, the in
terest upon it should help to defray the
expense of a search for the remains of
the donor In the fact itself may be de-
tected the hand of the irony of fate.