The Dr. Guy Team, Handly Caraway and Laurence Layne decided to visit Dr. Guy’s grave in Jacksonville, Florida. The date was April 23, 2017.
Dr. Guy and family lived and had their home base in St. Augustine, Florida, forty miles South of Jacksonville. The Guy’s visits to Jacksonville was mostly on Baha’i business. They helped develop the Jacksonville Baha’i community, which essentially thought of Dr. Guy as a guru. From the perspective of Katherine Vernon, one of the early converts in Jacksonville, he was a revered spiritual teacher in his own right. Her writings have been uploaded to a historical research site called Baha’i Library.
Katherine Vernon was the scribe of the Jacksonville Baha’i community.. Her writings were gathered together in a volume entitled Baha’u’llah’s Garden. Baha’u’llah is the Persian millennial prophet, and originator of the Baha’i Faith.
We also knew that Katherine Vernon, one of Dr. Guy’s spiritual students and friends, had donated part of her family plot for the grave. We decided to finally give his final physical resting place a visit. Of course, in Baha’i teachings, Dr. Guy has a “station,” or place in the heavenly realms, and is involved in some kind of service work.
Find a Grave is an unusual site most likely not widely known to the general public, but familiar to historians, biographers, researchers, and those who seek out odd corners of knowledge. Here is the listing for Dr. Guy’s grave. The GPS coordinates are North 30°22.140″ West 81°38.648″.
We found the grave but it required a little bit of looking. Evergreen Cemetery is quite large so even with coordinates we had to drive around. Finally, we found a likely spot and there was Dr. Guy’s grave under a shady tree. It is a peaceful place.
Here is the Dr. Guy Team, Laurence Layne and Handly Caraway, spending time with Dr. Guy. It is one thing to know about your subject, it is another to visit the actual places he lived and his grave. It was an opportunity to think and meditate.
Here is the Vernon side of the grave marker. There are Baha’i symbols on both sides. On the Guy side of the grave marker there is a quotation: “Death Propfereth Unto Every Confident Believer The Cup That Is Life Indeed.”–Baha’u’llah. On the Vernon side the quotation reads: “Lo, The Sacred Pledge Hath Been Fulfilled. For He, the Promised One is come!”–Baha’u’llah
Two head stones on the ground marks the resting place of Katherine Vernon and her mother, Marion. At some point, Marion converted to the Baha’i Faith, which gave a great deal of joy to Katherine, who recorded that event in her writings. Many Baha’is, especially in Dr. Guy’s era, believed that the Bahai prophets fulfilled Biblical teachings and prophecy.
