Less than ten years ago, the church added concrete fieldstones with a central cross to mark the burial places of the enslaved. Prior to this addition, community members donated small wooden crosses to demarcate the 200 graves.
Regular field stones marked the graves of African Americans and slaves. Typically they did not have grave markers created by a skilled artisan. Instead, field stones, like the one depicted above, or wooden markers, signified their final resting place.
(Left) This photograph shows the former white crosses that predated the concrete fieldstones in the slave cemetery.
Photo: Courtesy of Scot Treadwell
Poured concrete fieldstones replace the rotted and severely damaged grave markers on the enslaved side.
Similar to the white side, the grave markers are oriented to the east.
The above footstone/headstone shows definite signs of workmanship. We can see several arches indicating a skilled craftsman worked this stone.
Unfortunately, this same stone also suffered vandalism. We can see two lines of letters scratched into the stone and then underlined.
There are many of these upright, unworked stones found on the black side of the cemetery. These stones are common in the Piedmont area, many of us may dig them up while doing yard work. It is impossible to tell if the family members placed this stone here in the 1800s, or if it was more recently relocated.
Here we see an older, possibly original headstone or footstone next a recent concrete marker.
A black metal fence surrounds the enslaved side of the cemetery.
