As you stand on one of the many hills in the Natchez City Cemetery and survey the scenery you cannot help but notice the beauty and peacefulness.

And, surprisingly to some, you cannot help but sense life in the cemetery: freshly mown lawn, blooming flowers, the sound of laughter and the smell of paint.

That’s right, laughter and paint. Both were being used in large amounts by the senior ethics class from Trinity Episcopal School this week. The class is one of many groups which helped prepare the cemetery for today’s Cemetery Awareness Day activities.

&uot;When Sarabeth Rountree, a member of the Friends of the Cemetery, called me about this project I felt it was perfect for us,&uot; said Gwen Young, senior ethics class instructor. &uot;This year we added a requirement of 36 hours of service time for the students and this certainly helps us meet that.&uot;

The project was cleaning and sprucing up one of the unattended family plots at the historic cemetery.

&uot;This particular plot is fun for us to do because it has close ties to Trinity Episcopal Church and of course the kids have all heard of the ‘Goat Castle Murders,’&uot; she said.

The plot Young is referring to belongs to the Dana family. The Rev. Charles Dana was renowned rector at Trinity. He moved to Natchez from Virginia where among his congregation was Robert E. Lee. Dana, who passed away in 1873 and his wife Elvira are buried in the plot.

Also buried there are their two sons Charles Backus Dana and Richard Henry Clay Dana. Richard, known as &uot;Dick&uot; Dana, lived with Octavia Dockery Glenwood. They were accused of killing Jane Surget Merrill or &uot;Miss Jennie&uot; as she was commonly known. And while someone else was later charged with the crime the &uot;Goat Castle murder&uot; was forever synonymous with Dockery, who was known as &uot;Goat Woman&uot; and Dana, who became known as the &uot;Wild Man of Natchez.&uot;

&uot;Octavia Dockery is buried right across the way from Dick and when we are doing tours people are always fascinated to hear about this couple&uot;, said Don Estes, director of the Natchez City Cemetery.

&uot;When Dana died in 1934 and the house was being cleaned there were many valuable items found in the house, including autographed books from Robert E. Lee.&uot;

But, like many plots in the more than 150-year-old cemetery, the Dana family plot falls to volunteers and the cemetery for upkeep, since no family members remain in the area.

Because of its age,the cemetery was established in 1822, there are many family plots where there are no longer any family members to tend to the plots.

&uot;Our grounds crew and I work to keep all the plots looking good, however if it wasn’t for the many volunteers that come out work with us we would never be able to keep the cemetery looking as wonderful as it does,&uot; Estes said.

In addition to the volunteers, two main groups of people who help at the cemetery are the Natchez Cemetery Association, begun in 1907, who oversees the care and general maintenance and the Friends of the Cemetery which began in 1996, they provide support by the way of volunteers and raising money – and hosting the Cemetery Awareness Day.

&uot;We have been doing Cemetery Awareness Day for five years now,&uot; Estes said. &uot;It has grown every year and I am anticipating this year being even better. We do walking tours and serve refreshments. It’s just a great way to see and learn about the cemetery.&uot;