MOSES CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1880s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Moses Cemetery on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland, is located on poor land that was hilly, swampy and non-arable. Before the Civil War the land was bounded on all sides by slave owners. Although no documentation remains, there is a high probability that enslaved people from these were buried on this poor land as that was common across the slave states. After the Civil War, the land was sold to a number of free Blacks who established a thriving town there. A number of burials were documented there during the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, including a Civil War veteran who fought with the 30th Colored Infantry Regiment.

In 1910, an African American community across the DC border, which faced displacement to make way for suburban development, sought to move its Cemetery to the River Road location where it bought a one-acre plot of land in the middle of the community. Congressional approval was required to move the bodies which finally happened in 1920. In the 1950s, the River Road community came under similar pressure from developers and by the mid 1960s, the community had been driven off the land. The 1910 cemetery was buried under a parking lot while scattered other tombstones could still be spotted. The cemetery is now the center of protest and legal action to restore the cemetery.

BCN Contact Information:

Marsha Coleman Adebayo

nofearcoalition@aol.com

bethesdaafricancemeterycoalition.net

POINT OF ROCKS COLORED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1879

ADDITONAL NAMES: Point of Rocks African American Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This is an old African American cemetery. At one time this cemetery was affiliated with an AME church, but the church was torn down several years ago. The last burial took place in 1985.

BCN Contact Information:

Donna Nelson

det55@aol.com

HALFWAY AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1897

ADDITONAL NAMES: Halfway Colored Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Places

HISTORY:

Halfway “Colored” Cemetery (as it was known) was founded in 1897, when a Black fraternal organization, in Hagerstown, Maryland, purchased a piece of farmland outside town to create a new cemetery for Hagerstown’s Black community. The organization was called the Perseverance Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria. The cemetery was dedicated in August of that year with great ceremony. It was in use for about 35 years, with some 400 African Americans, mostly from Hagerstown, being buried here. The last known burials took place in 1932. The cemetery contains earlier graves too, dating as far back as 1844. The earlier graves are believed to have been moved to Halfway from the Bethel/Ebenezer A.M.E. Church cemetery in Hagerstown. At least thirteen veterans are buried here: twelve men who fought in the USCT in the Civil War, and one who fought in World War I. Others buried at Halfway include a Pullman porter, a midwife, a student attending Storer College at Harpers Ferry, a pastor, and business people.

Originally, the cemetery was six acres in size, covering most of what is now the 11000 block of Clinton Avenue, on both sides of the street. But by 1944, the Samaritan lodge had declined. The remaining members sold most of the cemetery property to a developer, retaining less than an acre as cemetery. The portion of the land that has not been sold is what makes up the Halfway African American Cemtery today. The cemetery is surrounded by houses and yards, with no direct street access as of 2020. The cemetery became overgrown and largely forgotten; most of the headstones were moved and broken, lost among the vegetation and fallen trees. Restoration efforts began in March 2020 and continue today. Surviving headstones have been located and cleaned; there are plans to restore the space and create public access. The Friends of Halfway African American Cemetery, incorporated in 2022, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

BCN Contact Information:

Emilie Amt

halfwaycemetery@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064853073592

ELLSWORTH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1876

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites

HISTORY:

The Ellsworth Cemetery Corporation was created on December 21, 1876. Leaders of the African American community of Westminster, including USCT Union Army Veterans, filed Maryland Articles of Incorporation to provide a burial place "for the Colored residents of Westminster, Maryland".

Through the years, Ellsworth Cemetery has been the final resting place of many African Americans of Westminster families. Black residents of the Carroll County Alms House and residents of today's Westminster Rescue Mission of all races are buried there. Strangers' Row accepts those who die Carroll County without known family.

BCN Contact Information:

Diane Boettcher

admin@ellsworthcemetery.org

https://cpmbs.org/

CATOCTIN FURNACE AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1774

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc.

HISTORY:

The Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery was rediscovered in the 1970s during preconstruction archaeological surveys for the proposed Route 15 corridor. In 1979, an archaeological data recovery excavation was undertaken and 35 graves were excavated. The human remains and associated artifacts recovered during the State Highway Administration excavations were taken to the Smithsonian Institution where they remain.

The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. began a reanalysis of the cemetery in 2014 including heavy metals, stable isotope, and aDNA. We also compiled documentary resources to help place the study results into the context of past and present living peoples with the goal of identifying the origins of and descendants of the 18th- and 19th-century enslaved workers at Catoctin Furnace. Forensic facial reconstructions of two enslaved ironworkers are in the Museum of the Ironworker and aDNA has identified five family groups.

The Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery may represent the most complete African American cemetery connected with early industry in the United States and may hold the key to understanding the origins of skilled African iron workers in the industry. Ultimately, results of this research will be utilized to increase awareness of the contribution of the African American workers to the iron industry at Catoctin, educating and informing the public about the role of African Americans in the industrial development of the United States.

BCN Contact Information:

Elizabeth Anderson Comer

ecomer@catoctinfurnace.org

www.catoctinfurnace.org

LAUREL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1852

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Laurel Cemetery was incorporated in 1852 as a nondenominational cemetery for African Americans of Baltimore, Maryland. In its early years, it was a premier burial site for people across Black Baltimore’s socioeconomic spectrum. However, by the 1930s, the site was overgrown and garbage strewn due to years of improper maintenance by the cemetery’s owners. In response to local neighborhood complaints and economic motivations on the part of the owners, legislation was successfully introduced by a local politician in 1957 to allow the demolition and sale of the property for commercial purposes. Although lot owners and NAACP lawyers petitioned to stop the demolition, the bulldozing proceeded following the removal of a few hundred graves to a new Laurel Cemetery site approximately fifty (50) miles away in Carroll County, Maryland. Today, the Belair-Edison Crossing shopping center occupies the footprint of the old cemetery. In the case of Baltimore’s Laurel Cemetery, the absence of historical memory and material culture signifying the existence of an important historical site is compelling. Although Baltimore’s history shows the loss of many cemeteries regardless of race or ethnicity, the size of the property (22 acres), number of burials, notoriety of individuals, and legal opposition to demolition make the Laurel Cemetery stand out as an important case study with broad implications. In particular, the overall number of burials is an important aspect of the site. The exact number will never be known as cemetery records were lost and Baltimore City death certificates do not start until 1875. Additionally, the property was known to have been used as a burial site for free and enslaved African Americans prior to its formal 1852 incorporation. Despite these blind spots, our review of Baltimore City death certificate has thus far revealed more than 13,000 burials from Laurel Cemetery (after a search of less than 30% of relevant records). At this point, it is safe to estimate that more than 20,000 burials will be revealed solely from available death certificate records.

BCN Contact Information:

Elgin Klugh

eklugh@coppin.edu

http://laurelcemetery.omeka.net/