Cemetery Research

Howard County historian Beulah (Meacham) Buckner (1930-2005) identified a probable cemetery with enslaved people next to the Guilford Quarry in 1982 and it became listed in the Howard County Cemetery Inventory as F-82-096. On October 20, 1989, Ms. Buckner prepared a list of 27 "African American Graves in Howard County" and noted that cemetery 17 (Guilford cemetery didn't have a name then) was an "old cemetery believed to be a slave burial - Jedadiah 1826" behind 9135 Guilford Road. We do not know who Jedadiah might be. Ms. Buckner was able to discern just a couple of graves on this heavily overgrown site, less than an acre in size, but visits by various officials in 2018 revealed up to 80 or so burials are in this cemetery and a recent visit in 2020 indicates the number of burials is likely higher. The many granite field stones marking the head and foot of the gravesites, lack of engraved headstones, graves aligned and facing east, pre-civil war burial, and proximity to the main Guilford quarry lends strong evidence that many of the burials in this cemetery were enslaved people.

It seems that this cemetery contains burials of both White and Black people, although we have yet to determine why so many African Americans are buried there or who they could be. Perhaps a reader of this information can provide insights or contribute to a potential answer through research. Among the research efforts devoted to the cemetery was a training session for cadaver dogs as well as mapping of the stones and fosse (burial depressions). The cadaver dogs consistently picked up on the scent of human remains near trees and depressions in the ground throughout the site. They even caught a scent beyond the fence line of Route 32 whose property belongs to the State Highway Administration. The dogs and their trainers are just amazing! Photos of these activities are below.

The mapping performed by Kelly Palich (Upper Patuxent Archeology Group) and Jim Gibb (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center) could be useful in future endeavors. Ground Penetrating Radar done in a selected area of the cemetery was inconclusive. Please contact us for more information at guilfordhistoryhoco@gmail.com.