Last weekend, a number of people inquired about what we know about who is buried in Vick. Here are some FAQs:
Do cemetery records survive for Vick? No. Vick was under the aegis of a Colored Cemetery Commission, but its commissioners have not been identified nor its records found. Nor have I found any deeds filed for plots purchased in Vick.
Do funeral home burial records survive for Vick? No. No plot maps, no burial registers. Burials in Vick were handled by families, by furniture companies, and by defunct undertaking businesses like Darden, C.E. Artis, and Hamilton. Edwards Funeral Home, which is still active, opened in 1948 at the very end of the era in which Vick accepted burials. No Vick records have been found for any.
Were the names on the grave markers the City removed circa 1995 recorded? No. Or, if they were, the City has not produced any such document(s) and says it has none.
Is there a Find-A-Grave account for Vick? Yes and no. There’s a Find-A-Grave for “Rountree-Vick Cemetery” containing 366 memorials — most derived from a good faith effort about twenty years ago to identify burials from death certificates and other records. Confusingly, Rountree, Odd Fellows, and Vick Cemeteries, though separate and unrelated, have been referred to collectively as “the colored cemetery” or “Rountree cemetery,” even on official records. We now know that the 366 people in the Rountree-Vick account are buried across all three cemeteries, not just in Vick. The Find-A-Grave entry for Rountree-Vick uses a photo of Odd Fellows Cemetery and carries this woefully inaccurate description: “The Rountree cemetery has been consolidated and all that remains of older markers from ‘Rountree’ is an obelisk to commemorate the numerous interments upon its grounds. A concrete path is visible from the parking lot which leads to the structure — the area is equipped with marble benches as patrons may sit and pause for a moment of reflection. The Vick cemetery is located adjacent to the Rountree obelisk. (This cemetery is located around the curve from Rest Haven – just pass the power station).”
Does the City of Wilson maintain a database of Vick Cemetery burials? No.
Does anyone? Sort of. I have created a spreadsheet that records the oldest African-American burials in the city of Wilson, including documented and suspected burials in Rountree, Odd Fellows, and Vick. Such evidence is drawn primarily from death certificates, obituaries, funeral programs, military headstone records, and oral history. This is a work in progress. The spreadsheet contains a little over 1000 entries, of which less than ten percent have been assigned a documented location. We know there are more than 4200 graves in Vick Cemetery alone, so you get a sense of the scope of the challenge.
