General Elijah Clark

General Elijah Clark, "Hero of the Hornets Nest," and members of his family are buried in the enclosed cemetery. Their graves were first moved from their original burial places near Graball (10 miles North) to a site on the Community House Grounds in Lincolnton in 1952 to prevent inundation by the Clark Hill Lake. Following the establishment of Elijah Clark Memorial State Park by Legislative enactment, the graves were removed to the present site in 1955 by special dispensation of the Army Corps of Engineers. General Clark was born in Edgecombe County, N.C., in 1733 and moved to what was then a part of Wilkes County, Georgia, (now an area of Lincoln) in 1774. When the Revolutionary War broke out he became a colonel of militia. His activities against the Tories gave him his nickname. He led American forces against the British in battles at Alligator Creek, Kettle Creek, Musgrove's Mill, Fish Dam, Blackstock's, Long Cane, Beatties Mill and two sieges at Augusta, the last one successful. He became a Brigadier General.