Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery

Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery [Image: Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery Plaque, courtesy of Preservation Chapel Hill] Location and Land Ownership The Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery is located near the Greenwood subdivision of Chapel Hill on land that once belonged to members of the Morgan, Hargrave, and Strowd families, early inhabitants of the area. Mark Morgan was among the first settlers in the Chapel Hill area and owned land in an area called the Chappel tract. Mark Morgan s son, Hardy Morgan, inherited the land and received additional land grants from the state of North Carolina in 1779 and 1788. Much of this land was later donated for the establishment of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery was part of Hardy Morgan s land holdings. The land passed from Hardy Morgan to his son, Lemuel Morgan. However, Lemuel Morgan was forced to sell the property at auction in 1845 in order to pay off a debt he owed his cousin, William Barbee. At the auction, Jesse Hargrave bought the property for $4300. The Hargraves owned the property, including the cemetery, for about 30 years before selling it to Robert Strowd. In 1928, the land was divided into sections and sold. 1 The cemetery is located at the end of the Greenwood Road and is thus part of the Greenwood subdivision, a neighborhood conceived by Paul Green and his wife Elizabeth Lay Green in the 1940s and 50s. Green gave the cemetery portion of the land to the Town of Chapel Hill in 1958. 2 [Image: Property of Paul Green & Others, October 14, 1958, Plat Book 66, Page 105, Orange County Register of Deeds, Hillsborough, NC] Burials The cemetery was in use from 1790 until 1915 for African American burials, predominantly slaves of the Morgan, Barbee, and Hargrave families and their descendants. Mark Morgan is known to have owned six slaves in 1755 named Rafe, James, Nell, Cate, Jude, and Cloe. By 1777, in the inventory of his estate, he owned 22 slaves. Since at this time slaves were inheritable property, it is likely that these enslaved laborers became property of Mark Morgan s son Hardy. As Hardy Morgan acquired additional land grants, adding to his father s property, he may have also acquired more slaves. The majority of the graves likely belong to these African American slaves or their descendants. There is some possibility that the cemetery was used for white burials as well. 3 Few of the graves are identified, but oral history tradition and interviews conducted with Hargrave descendants indicate that George Hargrove, who died in 1910, and his wife, Charlotte Hargrove, are buried in the Barbee-Hargrave cemetery. There are also stories of an engraved headstone that read Thomas and 1805. It was estimated before ground penetrating radar that there were about 40 to 50 graves in the cemetery. 4 1 David Southern, Report on the Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery, March 2011, in the Preservation Archive, Neighborhood and Preservation Efforts Records, Preservation Chapel Hill. Collection. 2 Deed between Paul Green, Elizabeth Lay Green and the Town of Chapel Hill, 1958, in the Chapel Hill Historical Society 3 David Southern, Report on the Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery, March 2011, in the Preservation Archive, Neighborhood and Preservation Efforts Records, Preservation Chapel Hill. 4 Scott Seibel, Investigation of the Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, May 2011, in the

[Link to pdf of David Southern report] Preservation Efforts By the late 1970s, the cemetery has fallen into disrepair. Margaret Robbins Davis, a resident of Chapel Hill, called for more attention to the cemetery and requested that a marker be placed in the cemetery to alert visitors to its historical importance. Davis felt that it wouldn t be long before the [Barbee-Hargraves] Slave Cemetery passes into oblivion, much as its occupants did, who were considered only three-fifths of a human and therefore not worthy of, in fact prohibited from, having their name on a marker. 5 Advocacy of town residents and organizations, including the Men s Garden Club and the Chapel Hill Historical Society, led to the placement of a plaque on the property, marking the cemetery as a final resting place and historical site. 6 In May 2011, the Town of Chapel Hill Department of Parks and Recreation contracted Preservation Chapel Hill to conduct research on the cemetery and ensure its preservation. PCH worked with Scott Seibel and Terri Russ of Environmental Services, Inc., to locate and record possible unmarked grave shafts. Seibel and Russ utilized geological and archaeological methods, including pedestrian inspection, soil density testing, and using a total station to record locations of possible graves. These methods of analysis involved taking note of depressions in the ground that might indicate a place of burial. Disturbed soil, which might indicate a grave was dug in a particular location, is also less dense than non-disturbed soil, thus soil probing can indicate the location of burials. Through the use of these methods, Seibel and Russ found that there were 53 potential burials, 24 of which had a stone marker while 29 had no observable markers. 7 Most of the potential graves were located in noticeable rows, making them more certain. [Image: GPR Results Barbee-Hargraves Cemetery, courtesy of ESI, Inc.] [Link to pdf of Investigation of the Barbee-Hargrave Cemetery by ESI, Inc.] [Link to Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=cr&crid=2313778&cscntry=4&csst=29&cscnty=1718&] 5 Margaret Robbins Davis, Editorial, Newspaper clipping, unknown source and date, c.1970s, in the Chapel Hill Historical Society Collection. 6 Clipping from The Chapel Hill News, 1979, (Volume 58, Number 76), Chapel Hill, NC, in the Chapel Hill Historical Society Collection. 7 Clipping from The Chapel Hill News, 1979, (Volume 58, Number 76), Chapel Hill, NC, in the Chapel Hill Historical Society Collection.

Old Chapel Hill Cemetery [Image: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, c.2012, courtesy of Preservation Chapel Hill] [Link to database of the interred] Location and History Overview The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, originally called the College Graveyard, is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was originally used for internment of university students who died during their time at UNC. The rock wall around the cemetery was built in 1835. About 1,600 burials are located in the cemetery, which is divided into six sections, A-B and I-IV. The cemetery was segregated by race, with Sections A and B serving as the African American part of the cemetery. The section designated for burials of African Americans was initially Section B. However, after the Civil War, Section A was added. Ellington Burnett, who died in 1853, is the earliest known burial in the African American section of the cemetery. Section I is the oldest white section of the cemetery. The first recorded burial there is that of student George Clark, who died on September 26, 1798, but most burials in this section are from the 19 th century. The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places, 8 and it is currently owned and maintained by the Town of Chapel Hill. [Link to pdf of National Register Nomination] Burials The burials in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery are generally well known, however, burials in the African American parts of the cemetery were often marked only by a field stone, rather than a headstone with an inscription. Because of this, many of the stones, not recognized as grave markers, have been removed or relocated, leaving these sections with many unidentified graves. Most of those buried in this section were either slaves or University laborers, while others were the slaves of faculty members or other Chapel Hill residents. Later graves belong to freedmen who may have worked at the University. Some of the known African American burials include those of freedwoman Nellie Strowd Strayhorn, who with her husband was able to successfully build a home and live in Chapel Hill during Reconstruction, a time of intense racial violence. Others include Wilson Swain Caldwell, a slave of the prominent Caldwell family; George Barbee, one of the oldest graves in the section; and Dilsey Craig, an enslaved person belonging to the Phillips family. The white section of the cemetery houses burials of prominent Chapel Hill residents including faculty and staff of the University. There are also enclosures used by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies for their member students. Some of the better known individuals buried in the white section of the cemetery include Joseph Caldwell, Nancy Hilliard, the proprietor of the Eagle Hotel, and Cornelia Phillips Spencer, among many others. 9 [Link to pdf of Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Brochure] 8 Terri Russ and Keith C. Seramur, Investigation of Portions of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, September 2012, in the Preservation Archive, Neighborhood and Preservation Efforts Records, Preservation Chapel Hill. 9 Chapel Hill Preservation Society and the Town of Chapel Hill Bicentennial Committee, The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, 1993, in the

Preservation Issues and Efforts The African American section of the cemetery has experienced several instances of vandalism, due in part to the issue with headstones lacking inscriptions and therefore not being recognized as graves. In the recent past, the western area of the cemetery, Sections A and B, was used as parking for visitors attending the 1985 football game against Clemson. The un-inscribed stones used to mark graves have also been used to help repair the stone walls that divide and enclose the cemetery. In 1999, the Black Student Movement at UNC lobbied for repairs to the headstones in the African American sections, as well as better acknowledgement of those buried there through the erection of a monument. 10 Preservation Chapel Hill worked with Environmental Services, Inc., to complete archaeological surveys of the cemetery in 2010, 2012, and 2013. The 2010 survey focused on identifying unmarked graves within a portion of Section B, one of the historically African American sections of the cemetery. Geophysical surveying, ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity, and soil density testing were all used to locate unmarked graves. Ground penetrating radar allows the surveyor to detect changes in the soil that indicate a disturbance that could be a grave shaft. Electrical resistivity similarly detects changes in the soil indicative of a grave shaft or of the metal hardware of a coffin. These methods resulted in the identification of 62 potential unmarked graves in Section B. 11 Another survey took place in 2012 with the goal of identifying unmarked graves in the remaining portion of Section B, as well as Section I. Again, ground penetrating radar and soil density probing were used. This survey identified and additional 199 potential burials in the areas surveyed, with the majority of these being located in the historically African American Section B. 12 A third study will take place in 2013 to locate unmarked graves in the final section of the original African American portion of the cemetery, Section A. [Images of ESI Study Results of Section B and ESI Study Results of Sections B & I, courtesy of ESI, Inc.] [Links to pdfs of Investigation of a Portion of Section B and Investigation of Portions of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, courtesy of ESI, Inc.] [Link to Town of Chapel Hill Inventory of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery Archival Collection http://www.ci.chapelhill.nc.us/index.aspx?page=438] 10 Eve Modzelewski, Demanding Proper Recognition, The Daily Tar Heel, February 25, 1999, in the Chapel Hill Historical Society collection. 11 Scott Seibel and Jay Thacker, Investigation of a Portion of Section B of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, February 2010, in the Preservation Archive, Neighborhood and Preservation Efforts Records, Preservation Chapel Hill. 12 Terri Russ and Keith C. Seramur, Investigation of Portions of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, September 2012, in the Preservation Archive, Neighborhood and Preservation Efforts Records, Preservation Chapel Hill.

West Chapel Hill Cemetery Location and History Overview The West Chapel Hill Cemetery was established in 1949 by the Town of Chapel Hill to be used by African American citizens of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. By this time, the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery faced concerns over capacity and maintenance. Since the West Chapel Hill Cemetery was developed after a 1947 North Carolina state law required the use of cemeteries for burial of dead, according to race, the cemetery served as the new burial location for African Americans while another new cemetery was established for whites, which is now the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery. 13 The land for the new African American cemetery was purchased by the Town of Chapel Hill from John W. Umstead, Jr. and Sallie R. Umstead. It is located near Jay Street, on the edge of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. The plan for the cemetery included 173 numbered plots and 423 unnumbered plots, with each plot being divided into six sub-plots, allowing for 4,200 burials. 14 Burials The first known burial is that of James Cobb, who died on October 29, 1949. Cobb was a cook and janitor at UNC, as well as a World War I veteran. Because the cemetery was not in use for very many years (its peak of use was between 1949 and 1955), the number of burials is low compared to the number of available plots. Desegregation resulted in the use of the previously whites-only Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery for burials of all races. The West Chapel Hill Cemetery was then only used for those who had already purchased plots. Later, since use was limited, a portion of the original land for the cemetery was sold. By the 1970s, the cemetery only had 63 of its original plots. The last known contemporary burial was Gladys Barbee in June 1969, and the last known burial was Willis Barbee, Sr. in March 1998. In 1973, the first archaeological survey of the cemetery was carried out, revealing 44 marked graves, 6 unmarked graves, and 1 footstone. The cemetery was surveyed again in 1975, finding 46 marked graves and 58 unmarked graves. As of 2011, there were 37 fully marked graves with many other recognizable unmarked graves. The survey also resulted in a list of 48 known, 4 likely, 3 possible interred. Interestingly, through the analysis of death certificates, there seems to not have been one universally used name for the cemetery. 15 [Link to pdf of Steve Rankin report] Archaeological Findings In 2011, a survey was done to locate marked and unmarked, undocumented graves. The survey used pedestrian inspection, electrical resistivity survey, and soil density testing. Some grave shafts and field stone markers were visible, making pedestrian inspection a valuable tool. The geophysical surveying methods were used to identify those graves that were not visible above the ground surface. The survey found that 60 percent of Sections A and B of the cemetery are not located within the present-day fenced in cemetery area. A portion of Section A is under Jay Street while a portion of Section B is located under nearby homes, built in the 1970s. Thirty-seven marked graves were recorded, and 13 Quoted in Steve J. Rankin, A Segregated Part of Heaven: The History of the West Chapel Hill Cemetery, May 2011, in the 14 Quoted in Steve J. Rankin, A Segregated Part of Heaven: The History of the West Chapel Hill Cemetery, May 2011, in the 15 Rankin.

the archaeological methods indicated an additional 66 unmarked graves. Ninety-six additional potential graves were discovered as well, for a total of 199 likely graves within the portion of the cemetery that is still maintained today. 16 [Link to pdf of Investigation of the West Chapel Hill Cemetery by ESI, Inc.] [Link to Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=cr&gssr=1&gscid=2342137&crid=2342137&pt=west%20chapel%20hill%20cemetery&] 16 Terri Russ, Investigation of the West Chapel Hill Cemetery, Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina, July 2011, in the