ANGEL VISIT BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1867

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Angel Visit Baptist Church Cemetery has been a burial place for African Americans since the 19th century. Whereas we do not know the date of the first burial, the church purchased its first parcel of land in 1867 and we believe that the cemetery was started soon thereafter.

BCN Contact Information:

Bessida Cauthorne White

angelvisitbaptistchurch@gmail.com

GREEN HILL HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1872

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

In September, 2017, a group of Martinsburg, West Virginia residents formed a committee to look into the possibility of restoring the long abandoned Green Hill African American Cemetery. This .6 acre site is adjacent to Green Hill Cemetery, referred to as the "White Cemetery" as African Americans were not permitted to be buried there. Over the years, our site had been used as dumping area for their landscaping debris and it was generally used as a community dumping ground, with trash and discarded appliances. It was completely overgrown. In December of that year, a small group of volunteers met at the site to start work. Some 300 trees were cut down together with stumps that have been pulled and hauled away. On November 21, 2020, a dedication was held to acknowledge those buried there.

Since that time, volunteers have continued to maintain the landscaping, add improvements. Benches have been added, a stone cross has been placed on the site, a sign has been erected and the group has been established as a 501c(3) organization. Thanks to fund raising and local grants, a survey was done and determined that this plot of land did not convey to the Green Cemetery when the land was originally purchased for their cemetery in 1854. The surveyors uncovered a record from 1872 where a group of African Americans purchased the plot for $100 and became the original trustees. Our group retained a lawyer and it was discovered through a state statute that if we were able to find five descendants of an individual buried in the cemetery, we could petition the court to name new trustees. This was successfully done and we now have six trustees to oversee the continuing establishment of our cemetery. We are aware there are two lynching victims in the cemetery and it was the descendants of one of them, Joe Burns, which allowed this to be accomplished. We are continuing to make improvements, including having ground penetrating radar done, which located 225 graves, 20 of infants and children. We have raised funds to erect a fence between the two cemeteries.

BCN Contact Information:

Nancy Oudekerk

nmyster@comcast.net

Green Hill Historic African-American Cemetery | Martinsburg WV | Facebook

FORREST CITY COLORED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: Purifoy Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• St. Francis County Historical Society

HISTORY:

The Forrest City Colored Cemetery is a long forgotten African American Cemetery were several prominent black leaders and politicians are laid to rest. For example, JH Blount (the first Black Governale candidate), Wallace Purifoy (Black and Tan party), and Dr. RA Williams (founder of Supreme Royal Circle of Friends of the World). This cemetery has been forgotten. As well as the significant historical beacons buried here.

BCN Contact Information:

Angela Wilburn

wilburna2015@gmail.com

STARKVILLE COLORED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: Brush Arbor

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Brush Arbor, or Starkville Colored Cemetery, is an over 200-year-old, historically Black cemetery stationed central to residential life in Starkville Mississippi. It is among the oldest cemeteries in Starkville and has likely existed as a public graveyard since Starkville’s founding. Many notable names reside within the cemetery such as one of Oktibbeha county’s legislators, Ben Chiles, a World War II vet, and other African Americans instrumental in the development of Starkville. Despite being here since Starkville’s conception, the Brush Arbor/Starkville Colored Cemetery remains widely unrecognized.

Dr. Jordan Lynton-Cox of Mississippi State University is head of the Brush Arbor/Starkville Colored Cemetery Community-Engaged Field Program, a three-year project dedicated to historic preservation and restoration of the cemetery through decolonial methods. For information, email brusharbor@anthro.msstate.edu.

BCN Contact Information:

Dr. Jordan Lynton-Cox

jlynton@anthro.msstate.edu

MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1919

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Established in 1919, Memorial Park Cemetery is one of the oldest Black American cemeteries in Tampa. The 20-acre cemetery, located in East Tampa, holds over 6,000 burials, although the exact number is unknown. Throughout Memorial Park there are reminders of those who lived, served, and died in the city, from war veterans to the factory workers who made Tampa the Cigar Capital of the World.

In 1923, the southwest portion of Memorial Park Cemetery was dedicated to Black American veterans. This area is marked with the Florida Negro World War Veterans Memorial, and it was funded through the cooperation of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary and the Booker Washington branch of the Tampa Chapter, American Red Cross. The dedication of this portion of the cemetery was marked with services held by the Tampa Urban League on Memorial Day. At that time, burial space for Black Americans was limited largely to cemeteries outside the city limits of Tampa. The cemetery includes at least one veteran of the American Civil War. Veterans from nearly each 20th century war America participated are interned at Memorial Park Cemetery, representing over 150 years of American military history.

BCN Contact Information:

Tampa Parks and Recreation Department

neris.reyero@tampagov.net

https://www.tampa.gov/parks-and-recreation/parks-and-facilities

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

PLUMMERS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Prior to 1898

ADDITONAL NAMES: Mount Calvary

AFFILIATION(S):

• Save Austin's Cemeteries

HISTORY:

Plummers Cemetery is a historically African American, Upper South folk cemetery, containing family plots, handmade markers, and examples of art and craft. Plummers Cemetery was likely established prior to 1898, the death year of Jack Jones, possibly the first person interred in the cemetery with a marker.128 The cemetery may have been known as Mount Calvary Cemetery. No map of grave lots has been located for Plummers, and early twentieth century burial dates appear to be located throughout the site. Some family plots were clearly purchased as a unit and occupied over time, as in the other city cemeteries, but the condition or lack of grave markers makes the development of the cemetery difficult to determine today.

The cemetery is relatively small—only about eight acres in size—and burials have taken place fairly continuously throughout the 20th century and into the present day. Plummers Cemetery contains a variety of handmade, craftsman carved, machine carved, and military grave markers. Many of the handmade markers are poured concrete with inset letters and are notable for the content of the aggregate, which in many cases features large pieces of mica, a stone with high reflectivity, mixed into or pressed into the surface of the concrete.

BCN Contact Information:

Save Austin's Cemeteries

President@SAChome.org

sachome.org

EVERGREEN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1926 (early cemetery founded in 1891)

ADDITONAL NAMES: Highland Park Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Save Austin's Cemeteries

HISTORY:

Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1926 by Austin’s City Council for the exclusive use of African-Americans. It includes a portion of an earlier municipal cemetery called Highland Park Cemetery. Today, there are over 12,000 burials at Evergreen.

When you step into Evergreen and walk among the markers, you are surrounded by the people who helped build the community of Austin. Politicians, educators, businesspeople, artists, musicians, veterans, and laborers. The history of our city can be told by learning about the stories of people buried here.

BCN Contact Information:

Save Austin's Cemeteries

President@SAChome.org

sachome.org

UNION RIDGE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1830s

ADDITONAL NAMES: Davidson Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Union Ridge Heritage Association was created by the descendants of those buried in Union Ridge Cemetery and/or who attended Hord AME Chapel. The Union Ridge Heritage Association goal is to restore and maintain the cemetery and Hord AME Chapel. They wish to respectfully honor the family members buried at Union Ridge and pass on the knowledge of Union Ridge.

BCN Contact Information:

Charles Thompson

ctjazzy@gmail.com

BERRY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1880

ADDITONAL NAMES: Holy Resurrection Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum

HISTORY:

The Berry Cemetery, also known as Holy Resurrection Cemetery, is an historic African American burial ground; at least 73 individuals, mostly African Americans, have been interred in the cemetery since 1880. The cemetery is located near Ash Grove, a town in southwest Missouri, in the Ozarks region of the U.S. The one-acre cemetery is in a rural setting, on a rise overlooking fields and bordered on three sides by woods. The burial ground itself is a relatively open green space with scattered evergreen and deciduous trees, reached by a dirt track from a paved rural highway.

The Berry Cemetery today contains at least 60 historic grave markers including 25 inscribed head stones, 11 inscribed foot stones, 15 head or foot stones without inscriptions, six concrete markers, and a depression bordered by upright field stones. The cemetery also contains two (or three) stone cairns identified in Berry family oral history as Indigenous burials markers. In addition, in recent years, multiple wooden posts and Orthodox wooden crosses have been placed at previously unmarked graves. Among the historic stone markers, the most common materials are limestone and marble. Gravestone styles include tablet, block, pulpit, cross-vault obelisk, and unshaped fieldstone. Burials are arranged in rows oriented north-south and graves are oriented east-west with headstones at the west end of graves.

**Click to read more

BCN Contact Information:

Dr. Elizabeth Sobel

ESobel@missouristate.edu

Berrycem.com

FOX-HEMBRY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1831

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This Historic African American cemetery dates back to 1845, however the Fox Family took over the ownership in 1895 when the men of the family purchased one acre of land to be used “as a burying place for the colored people,” according to deed records. Deed records (Vol. 57, p 345) at the Denton County Clerk's office in Denton show the land was deeded on June 17, 1895, to A. Anthony, Will Nichols, Scott Fox, Word Watkins and Muice Craft. The one acre, measuring 208 and 3/4 feet on east, west, north and south boundaries was bought from Geo M. Hardy for $50.00.

The first recorded use of the site as a family cemetery was in 1873 when Joseph L. Lusk who was born March 16, 1835, was buried there. His grave is not readily identifiable, but members of the Fox family have pointed out a partial marker that they think is his grave. His burial is listed on the Denton County Historical Commission's survey located at the Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square. The next DCHC record of burials on the site were those of Jessie Fox, who was buried in 1880 at the age of three years old, and Frank Fox, who was buried in 1881 at the age of three months. Both were children of Scott and Lucy Ann (McKenzie) Fox. A survey of the cemetery made in 1978 and updated in 1990 estimates that there were as many as 24 unmarked graves and 21 markers that were illegible with 62 that were legible.

The family members have continued to address concerns and needs of the cemetery.

BCN Contact Information:

Fox-Hembry Cemetery

foxhembrycemetery@gmail.com

Contact — Historic Fox-Hembry Cemetery

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1919

ADDITONAL NAMES: Washington Cemetery; Booker Washington Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Booker T. Washington Cemetery is located off Illinois Route 163 (aka Millstadt Road) near the intersection with Illinois Route 157 in Cahokia Heights (formerly Centreville), Illinois. The cemetery is also known as Booker Washington Cemetery and Washington Cemetery. The cemetery was founded by Russie McCullen “R.M.C.” Green, an African American undertaker, on September 10, 1919. A plat of the cemetery dated January 30, 1920, contained 9 sections and 548 lots, and was recorded by the St. Clair County Recorder on March 17, 1920. An addition to the cemetery was platted in November 1966 by Gertrude A. (Hudson) Green, daughter-in-law of the founder and spouse of Edgar H. Green (son of R.M.C).

The cemetery did not have a perpetual care program for the graves. The present ownership of this cemetery is unknown. The cemetery is in poor condition and has been for decades. Weeds cover the graves. The property suffers from flooding, criminal activity, and illegal dumping. Booker T. Washington Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 12,000 African Americans including freed slaves, military veterans, and prominent East St. Louis residents.

BCN Contact Information:

St. Clair County Genealogical Society

sccgsoffice@stclair-ilgs.org

WILLIAMSON CREEK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1863

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Williamson Creek Cemetery is one of the oldest historic enslaved cemeteries in Austin, TX. The cemetery was neglected for years with a few volunteers making an effort to maintain the cemetery. The Williamson Creek Cemetery Care Association (WCCCA), since its first organized cleaning in 2020, has taken up the responsibility to care and maintain this cemetery. The WCCA non-profit organization goals are to actively promote, educate, and create awareness about the cemetery's historical significance. They plan to provide resources, workshops, and opportunities for individuals to learn about best practices for cemetery maintenance, historic preservation, and enslave genealogical research. They are dedicated to the preservation, beautification, and respectful upkeep of this cemetery honoring the memories and heritage of those who have passed away.

BCN Contact Information:

Cheryl B Johnson

williamsoncreekcemeterycareass@gmail.com

BETHANY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1893

ADDITONAL NAMES: BETHANY CEMETERY OF TRAVIS COUNTY, BETHANY CEMETERY OF AUSTIN

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Bethany Cemetery is located in east Austin on the 1300 block of Springdale Road across from Sims Elementary School. Other than the headstones that bear witness to the people who lived in the Austin community, the land has remained unchanged since the time in 1892; C.W. Jones paid $432.60 for the property that would become Bethany Cemetery.

Whether Mr. Jones had the intent to begin a cemetery for African Americans is unclear. However, during the time of his purchase, two graves of young children were already present on the property. Hellen Moore, an infant, was buried in 1879. Alice Maud Miller, 9 months old, was buried in 1886. Little is known about these two children. Other sources indicate that more burials may be present. The area where the property is located it was known as Hungry Hill.

In 1893, Mr. Jones and his wife, Emma, sold a 4/5ths undivided interest to John M. Holland, William M. Tears, Henderson Rollins and Allen Bradley. These five men formed the Bethany Cemetery Company. Jones was Superintendent; Holland was President; Tears was Secretary; Rollins was Treasurer; and Bradley was Assistant Secretary. These five men responded to a community need. When the Austin cemetery named Oakwood was laid out in 1856, q small section in the northeast corner was designated "for colored."

When the space was filled, as was the section for whites, the cemetery was expanded across Comal Street to the east, but did not include a section for blacks." Like many of the people who would find eternal rest in Bethany Cemetery, Henderson Rollins, C.W. Jones, Allen Bradley, and John Holland were ordinary folks who did extraordinary things. Mr. Rollins was listed in the City Directory as a laborer. C.W. Jones was a plumber. Allen Bradley was proprietor of a meat market on 1108 East 11th Street. John M. Holland was a real estate agent. Only two men, William H. Holland and William M. Tears reached prominence in Texas history.

In 1849, William H. Holland was born in bondage. Being enslaved, he received a college education in Oberlin College. After freedom, William Holland returned to Texas. He worked in Austin's post office, taught school and was elected as a Wharton County representative in the Texas House. There, he wrote and presented the bill for the establishment of Prairie View University. Through his efforts, the bill was eventually passed and today, William M. Holland is recognized as "the Father of Prairie View." Throughout his life, he supported education. During the time he served as president of the Bethany Cemetery Company, William H. Holland helped found the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth in Austin.

For thirteen years, he served as its president. Later, he began the Friends in Need, an organization that supported African Americans. Two years after founding the Bethany Cemetery Company, William M. Tears became one of Austin's first African American policemen. He served for six years. Then in 1901, he founded the Tears Mortuary, known as the oldest established business in Central Texas. In 1893, Bethany Cemetery was subdivided into burial plots. The Bethany Cemetery officers granted William Tears power of attorney to conduct all sales of burial plots.

The Bethany Cemetery Association is working to save and preserve this historical African American cemetery. Bethany is the first African American cemetery in Austin, Texas. It has many former slaves and at least two known Civil War Soldiers and many early East Austin residents. Presently, the encroachment of development is threatening the cemetery as it is in an area heavy with gentrification and developers.

BCN Contact Information:

Sue Spears

suesprs@yahoo.com

GOSPEL PILGRIM CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1882

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery is located in Athens, Georgia. The cemetery was founded 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, a Black benevolent organization, “to see to it that that deceased among their number, as well as all others of their race, not otherwise provided for, are properly and decently interred.” Over the course of its one-hundred-and twenty-one-year history, around 3,500 African Americans were buried in the cemetery (approximately twenty to twenty-five percent of those were formerly enslaved individuals). Most were interred during the cemetery’s heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, but many prominent Black Athenians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are buried at Gospel Pilgrim: Monroe Bowers “Pink” Morton was born a slave in 1856, but rose to become a wealthy Athenian and the owner of the Morton Theatre; Harriet Powers was a famous folk artist and quilter; Madison Davis went from slavery to the Georgia Legislature in 1868; and Ellen Green was a local resident who became a dean at Fisk University. Gradually, the cemetery fell into disarray and, after 1960, fewer and fewer people were laid to rest within its geographic bounds. In 1977, the last surviving member of the Gospel Pilgrim Society died of a heart attack. No long-term arrangement had been made for the cemetery's perpetual care, and it now has no legal owner. While nature as reclaimed the landscape, student and community groups sponsor occasional work-days to remove weeds, clear fallen branches, and pick-up trash. The last burials occurred in the early 2000s.

BCN Contact Information:

Tracy Barnett

tracy.barnett@uga.edu

KINSLER ENSLAVED CEMETERY

FOUNDED: N/A

ADDITONAL NAMES: Burnside Property

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The cemetery is located on property that was originally owned by the Kinslers', who are considered to be a founding family for the state of South Carolina. John Herman Kinsler, one of the enslavers, signed the document of succession from the union, served in the civil war, and surrendered at Appomattox with Robert E. Lee.

The cemetery is one of two known enslaved Kinsler cemeteries in Richland County. The graves are located under a grove of trees with a stream running close by. There are flat stones that resemble slate stone that serve as headstones. The headstones are of different sizes, possibly indicating the age range of the buried individual. It appears that the cemetery is buried on a hillside. The size of the cemetery is unknown as well as the number of individuals buried in the cemetery. Based on this limited information about these early Kinsler descendants, it appears that there was some respect for the burial practices of the enslaved Kinslers'.

BCN Contact Information:

Brenda Kinsler

bkinsler224@gmail.com

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

SAINTS AND SINNERS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

———

BCN Contact Information:

Dru Ann Welch

druannwelch@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095457311694

COLEMAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1966

ADDITONAL NAMES: The Churches and Fraternities Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Coleman cemetery formed on July 18, 1966. The founders of this cemetery are Robert Butler, Father A.M Cochran, Willie Dickerson, Mary Gaddis, Clinton Jackson, Rev S.B. Ross, Rev R.B. strong, George Turner, Ella Washington, W.F Watson, and Rev J.G. West.

BCN Contact Information:

Brenda Seegars

Brendaseegars@yahoo.com

RED HILL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1800s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Okefenokee Heritage Center

HISTORY:

Red Hill Cemetery is an approximately six-acre historically Black cemetery located in Waycross, GA. It contains roughly 2,000 burials and has unfortunately experienced vandalism for the past several decades. Red Hill is an important site for the surrounding African American community; numerous local residents have family members and other loved ones buried there. Oral Histories with local descendants reveal the untold stories of Black life in Waycross, of the churches and schools that were central spaces in the community, of the accomplishments and perseverance of African Americans. In this way, Red Hill is an important archive of local Black history. Through a collaboration between the University of North Florida and the Okefenokee Heritage Center, faculty, students, staff and community members have come together to restore Red Hill and document its history.

BCN Contact Information:

Felicia Bevel

felicia.bevel@unf.edu