BUENA VISTA PLANTATION CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1820s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

In 2019, archaeologists located an unmarked cemetery on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in upper St. James Parish, Louisiana, near the small Black community of Welcome. This location was formerly part of an antebellum sugar plantation known as Buena Vista, or Winchester, Plantation. The archaeologists did not excavate any of the burials in the cemetery to try to determine what, or how many, people were buried there. The present research was conducted in an effort to answer those questions, without necessitating additional excavation. In-depth historical, cartographic, and genealogical information was used to determine, with a large degree of confidence, that the individuals buried in this unmarked cemetery were likely slaves, freedmen, and their descendants, who lived, labored, and died on the plantation from the early 1820s to well into the twentieth century. Many of the descendant families, including the Butlers, Ceasars, Fishers, Geasons, Harrises, Hogans, Lallas, and Martins, continue to reside in, or maintain ties to, this portion of St. James Parish.

BCN Contact Information:

Don Hunter

dghunterjr@gmail.com

HOPEWELL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1891, but likely before

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Hopewell Cemetery is an abandoned African-American cemetery located on a wooded and eroding land tract that also includes the likely site of the first Anglo-American trading post and steamboat port used by early settlers, native Caddo Indians, and free and enslaved African-Americans. Multiple land owners own the land, and the City of Shreveport has directed storm water runoff to empty in the wooded area. Several graves are broken, open, and not documented, and very difficult to survey/document due to the elevation and vegetation. There have many several parties interested in cleaning it up, and we've trimmed sections of it up here and there, but it needs a lot of support to truly restore the cemetery / potentially relocate some graves to higher ground. Dr. Gary Joiner at LSU-Shreveport believes there are likely earlier graves there and many more than have been documented thus far. There are two WWI veterans buried there and several members of one or two families who were instrumental in the Stoner Hill neighborhood of Shreveport.

BCN Contact Information:

Friends of the Coates Bluff Nature Trail

info@coatesbluff.org

coatesbluff.org

HOLLY OAK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1800s

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Holly Oak is one of the oldest African American cemeteries in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Data has shown that enslaved people were buried in this cemetery, dating back to the 1800s. The cemetery, which is located in Pineville, is regarded as the most historic Black cemetery in Central Louisiana. The Holly Oak cemetery is the burial ground for many important people that had a significant impact on the community. Occupations of those buried at Holly Oak included things such as doctors, soldiers, teachers, lawyers, and civil right leaders. It is rumored that there is a mass grave of African American WWII soldiers buried in the Holly Oak Cemetery, due to the Lee Street Riot. The riot that took place Jan. 10, 1942, on Lee Street in Alexandria.  

This cemetery has many, many sunken and lost burials, some under weeds, some under water, some hidden in brush and nearby woods & brush. Residents that live on Holly Oak Street, as well as members of local churches in the area, have been working together to try and restore the cemetery.  

BCN Contact Information:

Wanda Johnson

Wanda.johnson7477@yahoo.com

LUTHERAN BENEVOLENT SOCIETY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1898

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Lutheran Benevolent Society Cemetery in Baton Rouge.

According to an item in an 1880 New Orleans newspaper, the Lutheran Benevolent Society in Baton Rouge was established in 1858. It obtained a charter in 1872 with one of the organization’s incorporators being a member of an African American family that has been prominent for many generations and lent leadership to the Baton Rouge community. Beverly Victor Baranco was a signee of the newly organized 1872 Lutheran Benevolent Society domiciled in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Although Martin Luther was a ‘hero’ to protestant churches and many followed his Lutheran religion, Benevolent Societies so named, were unaffiliated with any specific religion or church, particularly the Lutheran Church. The 1872 Lutheran Benevolent Society was organized as a mutual aid society to provide help and services to its members after the Civil War when the traditional help from the plantation system was no longer available. Using the same 1872 charter, on May 9, 1898 the Lutheran Benevolent Society re-organized and re-registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State. The following year on December 9, 1898, the Lutheran Benevolent Society purchased a tract of land of more or less six acres from William Garig. This original land purchase forms the present day footprint of the historic Lutheran Cemetery. Almost 40 years later, the Society’s legal status was inactive ... so, once again in its long history and again using the same charter, the Lutheran Benevolent Society was again re-organized and re-registered with the Secretary of State in 1935. Today, the cemetery is cared for through the kindness of strangers.

BCN Contact Information:

Lillie P. Gallagher

LilliePetit@gmail.com

MCDONOGHVILLE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Westside Cemetery Preservation Association

HISTORY:

McDonoghville Cemetery is a cemetery for the enslaved and formerly enslaved. It has been maintained under various jurisdictions; none of which based appear to be the legal owner(s) of the cemetery. McDonoghville Cemetery, originally a slave burial ground, was segregated in the early 1890's, as it was integrated between 1850-1890. Today it is unclear where the burials of the enslaved and formerly enslaved are located, even though the cemetery is still in use today and is maintained. 

The history of this cemetery as a slave burial ground is recorded in historical documents, yet the Jefferson Parish Historical Society sponsored a state marker in 2016 which omitted this history. Currently, I am working with a professor at the University of New Orleans who is including this cemetery in a cultural resource class that is currently being taught in the hopes of sponsoring a state marker that will address this omitted history. Also, this cemetery is rift with corruption that took place at the level of local governance allowing private business owners to violate the law, with notices of violations issued that were never enforced. This and other activities stemming from for profit activities associated with this cemetery have adversely impacted my family’s property inclusive of a false arrest in what is believed to have been an attempted land grab. A photojournalist is involved in documenting this and can be contacted if there is any media interest. Legal assistance may be needed in this matter.

BCN Contact Information:

Joan K. Garner

garner.empowerment@gmail.com