The County That Called Me by Becky Carden

“The County that Called Me”
Becky Carden
I have visited Pike County, Georgia on four different occasions. The first time I went, my dad and I were told to go to a certain cemetery that had a lot of Cardens and McLeods buried there. My 2nd great Grandfather was Owen H.R. Carden and his wife was Nancy McLeod. When we went to this particular cemetery and found no Cardens, nor McLeods, we left very disappointed, to say the least.

When my dad, out of the blue, decided to drive down a different street, Liberty Hill Road, we found another cemetery. It was fenced all around and we couldn't get in. Frustrated, but not giving up, we went to a nearby house and asked about a Carden cemetery we had heard about in the area. We were told to go to another lady's home who could help us. When my father approached the stranger’s door he was welcomed right in by a friendly woman. She told him she was going to call another lady and she sent us down to another house. When we arrived at this third house my dad got out of the car and the third lady came out of the house to greet us. It turned out that her maiden name was Carden! She took one look at my dad, and said, “I know he's a Carden, by that white hair.” Her husband then took us to a Carden cemetery that I didn’t even know about from my research.

During that visit to Pike County I got a lot of “vibes” from that place and loved it from the first time I went there. I kept going back, and tried to find where my McLeods had lived and where my Alexander McLeod was buried. I received some new information and got in contact with a lady that lives there. She told me if I would come back, she would take me to where my Alexander was buried and show me where he had lived! She took me to his unmarked grave, and then said, “I'll show you the road he lived on.” Come to find out, they lived on Liberty Hill Road, the very same road that my dad felt compelled to turn onto!

She told me that my McLeod ancestors ran a livery stable and there had been a stagecoach that ran up and down the road. They had taken care of the horses. Some of the McLeods married into a Cauthen family and their home is still there. They boarded and fed the people on the stagecoach. It is also said that there is a secret room which was used to help the slaves escape to the underground railroad! I have six different family lines coming out of Pike County, Georgia, so I feel it is only natural that I would feel such strong vibes when I was there! I feel like my ancestors were leading me to where they had lived!