Cemetery gets facelift
|
According to records, the area in which the cemetery now stands was first used in 1891. The cemetery was given to the black community on Aug. 4, 1917 by R.L. Wood and George Looper and registered as a deed on April 17, 1943.
Over the years, different people have taken the responsibility of caring for the cemetery. Bud Martin, the son of Howard Martin, was one of the first. Then, Jack and Ora Walker took over until Jack died in 1968. After that, the cemetery became a dumping ground.
In 1980, a committee was organized to begin preservation. The committee included Mammie Looper, Bertha Shockley, Willie Mae Fisk (Martin) and Carrie Mae Wood. The committee succeeded in cleaning the area, which resulted in six loads of garbage and debris being hauled away.
The committee ended shortly thereafter. Wood continued her work to keep the area clean with help from volunteers for the next 25 years. To keep the area nice, she asked for donations.
When no donations were given, she donated her own money.
‘I remember seeing her in the back pinching pennies and marking sure she had enough to maintain the cemetery,’ said Wood’s daughter, Catherine F. Young. ‘She really loved that cemetery and took pride in it. So much of the heritage was lost and she didn’t want to lose any more. She worked diligently to keep it going.’
Although none of Wood’s relatives were buried in the cemetery, her husband’s relatives were. The cemetery that was given ‘in consideration of the love for the colored race’ found renewed love in Wood.
After more than 100 years without even a sign, Wood finally collected enough funding to purchase and have a sign installed with the cemetery’s name. The sign was placed in May 2004.
The sign would be one of the last contributions made by Wood to her beloved cemetery. She passed away Sept. 1, 2005 and was laid to rest in Bethlehem next to her husband, Malcolm, who passed away in 1987.
Before her passing, she passed on her love, her pride and her compassion. Young now continues the work in honor of her mother.
‘It is in her honor that I took over the care of the cemetery,’ said Young. ‘I consider it a blessing that I can keep it going for her. She always said that people should leave something for someone to go back to and a cemetery is the last place that a person will look for anyone.’
Young is currently trying to categorize the cemetery and identify all that were laid to rest there. The task is an uphill battle, as some of the plots have no stones, if they ever did, and some stones have suffered vandalism.
‘We don’t know who some of them are,’ said Young. ‘We may never know. I took out ads last year asking people to put markers up but very few were.’
Wood’s preservation attempt extended to the community. Before her passing, she began an effort to preserve the old Pleasant Hill School located on Starlight Road. The school was recently used as a community center and then abandoned.
Currently, Young is still trying to put names with several of the unidentified plots in the cemetery. She wants to get a committee together to continue with the preservation of the cemetery and the schoolhouse.