I am honored, thrilled and humbled to have been asked to speak on behalf of the Louisa Harvard Foundation at the 150 Year Celebratory History Banquet of the Laurens Hill Baptist Church this month! Thanks to Pastor Gregory Jones for this opportunity to enlist support for the restoration and preservation of the Harvard Family Cemetery and the Laurens Hill Church Cemetery in Dudley. These grounds are the resting places of some of Laurens County's earliest settlers. Harvard, Lowther, Hagan and many other famlies are represented here, and it is fitting that the fundraising effort to restore these landmarks begins where their stories began.
The Louisa Harvard Foundation was created as a non-profit 501(c)(3) for this purpose - the restoration and preservation of our shared history. Our fundraising efforts have already attracted generous donations from friends near and far, however, the Laurens Hill Baptist History Celebration is the most fitting place for a formal kickoff of our commitment. The descendants have dispersed far and wide, but we are "bringing it home" to praise and honor God, remembering all He has done to sustain and preserve us. By honoring the memory of these ancestors and restoring their resting places to dignity, we remind ourselves of just how good God has been to us and how faithful He has been in answering the prayers of our fathers and mothers.