CHURCH KNOLL BURIAL GROUND

FOUNDED: Pre-Civil War likely in the 1820's or 30's

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Church Knoll is a burial ground of those people enslaved at Fife Plantation (and possibly surrounding plantations) and some of their descendants after Freedom. Fife Plantation was one of the Savannah River rice plantations on the South Carolina side of the river located in what was Beaufort County, SC and is now part of Jasper County. It is a few miles from downtown Savannah, GA. While there are only five gravestones in the cemetery, ground penetrating radar indicates that there are over 600 graves. The size of the cemetery suggests that it was a burial ground not just for Fife, but for surrounding rice plantations as well which are now all part of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge next to Fife.

There is documentation of those enslaved at Fife in 1851, along with records from the Freedmen's Bureau related to Field Order No. 15, and subsequent 1866 labor contracts. These documents, along with censuses, have allowed for the possibility of finding descendants of those who are buried there. Many of the freedmen and women formerly enslaved at Fife and other nearby plantations settled in nearby Levy, Bellinger and Hardeeville, SC and their descendants still live in these communities.

BCN Contact Information:

Eleanor Harrison Bregman

eleanorharrison@me.com