I’ve written here of Rev. John W. Perry, the Episcopal rector who served both Tarboro’s Saint Luke and Wilson’s Saint Mark’s for more than a decade beginning in 1889.
I was headed out of Tarboro back toward Wilson yesterday when a sign at the edge of a somewhat shabby cemetery caught my eye — it was Saint Luke’s graveyard. The cemetery was established in the 1890s and likely contains many more graves than its headstones would indicate. Rev. Perry, his wife Mary Pettipher Perry, and several of their children are among the burials.
The Perry family plot lies in the shadow of this impressive light gray granite marker.
Rev. John W. Perry 1850-1918 He served St. Luke’s Parish for 37 years with honor to his Maker and himself.
Mary Eliza Pettipher Wife of Rev. J.W. Perry 1854-1929 Our lives were enriched because she lived among us.
Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2023.
OMG! Tarboro is my hometown. 🙂
Thanks for stopping and taking these amazing pictures!
I love the fact that you took the time to explore the historical cemetery. Somehow it is seen as taboo to many of others that has this interest in this day and time. Thanks for the historical enlightenment and photos.
Thank you, Tonya! I will never pass a historic African-American cemetery without exploring a bit — and paying respects! Tarboro has two treasures in the Saint Luke Episcopal and Saint Paul AMEZ cemeteries. I was happy to see the Episcopal cemetery cleaned up last week, and I hope — with the right interest, time, and resources — that Saint Paul’s will be reclaimed.