cemetery

On the trail of Barnes Cemetery.

Our discovery of the remains of Barnes Primitive Baptist Church began with a search for a slave cemetery and a school believed to be in the same vicinity. I’m fairly certain Barnes School actually was once near by, but L. Paul Sherrod Jr. said he had heard conflicting information about the cemetery, and we saw nothing that suggested a graveyard. This burial ground would have been associated with the plantation of Dr. Edwin Barnes, whose family cemetery I featured in a post Friday.

Today, a chance find that confirmed we’re on the right track:

Wilson Daily Times, 23 April 1955.

David Ruffin‘s funeral was conducted at Barnes Primitive Baptist, and he was buried “in the Barnes cemetery near the church.” So there is, or was, a Barnes cemetery near Barnes Church. But where?

Here is Barnes Church in a 1940 aerial photograph. The light gray area below and southeast of the church, showing few trees, is worth exploring in a search for the cemetery.

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In the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Isaac Ruffin, 52; wife Chania, 55; and sons Isaac, 22, Dave, 17, Grey, 7, and William, 5.

On 31 December 1903, David Ruffin, 21, married Celie Barnes, 19, in Stantonsburg township, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer David Ruffin, 24; wife Celia, 18; and children Clara, 7, and Daisy, 2.

In 1918, Dave Ruffin registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 6 January 1870; his nearest relative was Celia Ruffin; and he farmed for E.B. Graves.

In the 1920 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: tenant farmer David Ruffin, 41; wife Cellie, 33; and children Daisy, 22, Dessie, 10, David Jr., 6, and Lula, 4.

Larsey Ruffin died 6 August 1926 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 18 years old; was born in Wilson County to David Ruffin and Celie Barnes; and worked as a tenant farmer.

In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Dave Ruffin, 50; wife Celia, 45; daughters Clara, 28, Daisy, 19, and Lola M., 16; son-in-law John Hales, 39; grandchildren John, 10, Dave, 7, and Maizie Hales, 5; and son Dave, 19.

In the 1940 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Dave Ruffin, 50; wife Celia, 45; and [grandchildren] children David, 17, and Mazie, 15.

In the 1950 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Dave Ruffin, 78; wife Celia, 67; sons [sic] Walter Lee, 16, and George, 12; and sister Anna Artis, 77.

David Ruffin died 20 April 1955 at Route 3, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 2 August 1893 in Wilson County to Isaah Ruffin and an unknown mother; was married; was engaged in farming; and was buried in Barnes Cemetery. Carrie Hayes, 202 Pettigrew Street, was informant.

Ten days later: Celia Ruffin died 30 April 1955 at 202 Pettigrew Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 61 years old; was born in Wilson County to Calvin Barnes and an unknown mother; was a widow; was engaged in farming; and was buried in Barnes Cemetery. Carrie Hayes, 202 Pettigrew Street, was informant.

The Edwin Barnes cemetery.

We’ve spoken here and here and here of the plantation of Dr. Edwin Barnes, whose house sat near the intersection of modern Old Stantonsburg Road and Fairfield Dairy Road near those of his brother William Barnes and relative Wiley Simms. (Gen. Joshua Barnes was another brother.)

Edwin Barnes’ house was destroyed by fire in 2005. The sole trace of his tenure on the land is a small family cemetery tucked a few hundred feet from the home site under an enormous, lush boxwood. Here are buried Edwin Barnes, who died in 1885 at age 69; his wife Elizabeth Simms Barnes (1824-1875); and about a dozen assorted relatives.

But where are buried the dozens and dozens of men and women who worked Elias Barnes’ fields?  We know the locations of just one or two slave cemeteries in Wilson County. Unmarked or impermanently marked, these sites are forgotten and largely untraceable — plowed under or overgrown in the decades since the last burial.

Wherever the dead may rest, we honor and pledge to preserve their memory.

The cemetery rattles with dried stalks of dog fennel.

Edwin Barnes’ marble stele. The cemetery on this early spring day was weedy and unkempt, but shows signs of at least fitful cleaning.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2024.

Lane Street Project: future land use?

Back in September, Black Wide-Awake remarked upon the curious coloring of the Bishop L.N. Forbes’ cemeteries on the City of Wilson’s 2043 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map. Shortly after, Rest Haven, Hamilton, and Masonic Cemeteries were changed to blue, the “institutional use” designation that matches Maplewood. Vick Cemetery, strangely, remained the maize of medium-density residential. (Presumably, the color change was acknowledgement of an error, as I have not seen any notice of rezoning for the cemeteries.)

I recently noticed the map below in a bundle of documents attached to the 18 January 2024 city council agenda. The documents were assembled in support of the proposed conversion of the old Happy Valley golf course into 600+ houses and townhouses. (I have a lot to say about this folly, but it’s off-topic for BWA, so I’ll spare y’all.) This Future Land Use Map was pulled from the City of Wilson 2030 Comprehensive Plan and also shows Rest Haven, Vick, and Odd Fellows Cemeteries in maize. (Rountree Cemetery is appropriately blue.)

Then, on 2 March 2024, the Wilson Times published an article, “Planning board sets public hearing on 2043 Comprehensive Plan,” that includes this map:

It’s a little hard to see, so:

(1) is Maplewood Cemetery, designated red for “commercial.” So is (2), Rest Haven Cemetery. “Commercial” is odd, but (3) is absolutely chilling. “VACANT”? Vick Cemetery is a lot of things, but vacant is not one, as the 4,224+ bodies lying beneath its bland surface attest.

What in the magic kaleidoscope is going on here?

I did a little digging on the Wilson County GIS website. Rest Haven Cemetery’s Main Improvement Description is “Business-Mortuaries/Funeral Home.” Maplewood Cemetery’s Main Improvement Description is, oddly, “Business-Office Building.” (On a hunch, I checked Evergreen Memorial Gardens’, too. It’s the same as Maplewood.) Masonic, Hamilton, Rountree, Odd Fellows, and Vick Cemeteries’ Main Improvement Description is “Vacant.”

Maybe there’s no meaningful distinction among these differing descriptions for parcels of land dedicated to the burial of the dead, but I don’t see how any good can come of describing cemeteries as vacant, and, in my 2020 voice, stay woke.

Public hearing on the final draft of the 2043 plan is 6:00 PM, Tuesday, March 5. Y’all go down there and ask some hard questions.

Black Creek Cemetery.

I spent a delightful half-hour on the phone the other night with Mrs. Dazell Batts Pearson! In a recent post, I queried “Does Black Creek Cemetery have an African-American section? Is there a separate cemetery?,” and the BWA-hive responded. Yes, said Sebrina Knight Lewis-Ward, and her grandmother not only knows where it is, but went to Minshew School and can locate that, too!

Mrs. Pearson, who is 90, recalled that the cemetery was active when she was a child and into the 1960s. Funeral processions travelled down a dirt path alongside the railroad, crossed a small wooden bridge across a ditch, and then went over an embankment to reach the cemetery. In recent decades, the cemetery, now even more difficult to reach, has become overgrown. Saint John Holiness Church owns the cemetery parcel, but it is not clear whether it actually established the cemetery.

I’m looking forward to meeting Mrs. Pearson during an upcoming visit to Wilson and touring Black Creek township with her and to researching more about Black Creek Cemetery. Stay tuned!

Plat Book 20, page 21, Wilson County Register of Deeds Office, Wilson.

Thank you, Sebrina and Mrs. Pearson!

The resting place of the Prince A. Aldridge family.

We’ve met Prince Albert Aldridge here, He was a native of Fremont, in northern Wayne County, and was buried in Fremont’s African American cemetery.

This unusual gray granite triple headstone marks the graves of Aldridge, his wife Annie Aldridge, and her mother Bettie Edmundson Baker.  At the foot, another narrow block inscribed with first initials — P. A. B.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ann E. Aldridge, 60, tobacco factory feeding machine; husband Prince A., 63; and mother Betty Baker, 78.

Prince Albert Aldridge died 15 May 1953 at his home at 303 North Reid Street, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 11 January 1902 in Wayne County to George Aldridge and Dora Green; was married to Annie Aldridge; and worked as a plasterer. Oddly, his place of burial is listed as “family cemetery” in Wilson County.

Bettie Baker died 29 April 1960 at her home at 1313 Atlantic Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 June 1889 in Greene County, N.C., to Jack Edmundson and Rena Sauls and was a widow. She was buried in Fremont Cemetery, Wayne County. Annie Aldridge was informant. 

Annie Edmondson Aldridge died 27 February 1981 in Goldsboro, Wayne County. Per her death certificate, she was born 5 July 1888 to Bettie Edmondson; was widowed; worked as a laborer; and lived in Kinston, Lenoir County, N.C.

It is likely that Annie Aldridge purchased this set of grave markers from Clarence B. Best after her husband and mother died, and no relative stepped forward after her death to get the headstone updated. 

Look at the little town of Fremont putting everybody to shame in its care of its historically African-American cemetery. (Its historically white cemetery is Elmwood, which is in town. Fremont Cemetery lies down Highway 222, across Interstate 795 from the town proper.) There are likely more Wilson County residents here; I’ll check.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2023.

Cemeteries, no. 34: Sharpsburg Cemetery.

I found Sharpsburg Cemetery. And wow. Though it was active into the late 1990s, it has nearly completely reverted to woodland, with dozens and dozens of headstones standing above the forest floor, many in nearly pristine condition. Unlike wisteria-choked Rountree and Odd Fellows, however, these woods are easily traversed, though covered in naturalized English ivy.

The cemetery is on the Nash County side of Sharpsburg, down a gated track. It appears from county records to be privately owned. Its families lived in Nash, Edgecombe, and Wilson Counties, and I took photos with an eye for representation rather than Wilson residency. I’ll probably make a return visit when I’ve been able to study its known burials.

The gate threw me for a minute. But only a minute.

The open area at the front of the cemetery. The oldest part of the cemetery appears to be an area to the south deep inside the treeline.

Headstones, saplings, and grapevines. There was some trash at the site, but nothing to indicate it has ever been a dumpsite like Odd Fellows and Rountree. This clearly was a generally well-tended cemetery until perhaps 20 to 25 years ago.

  • Maggie Armstrong

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Ernest Taylor, 49; wife Lela, 47; and children Lawrence, 18, Billie, 16, Carrie, 14, Addie, 12, Lee, 11, Lela, 8, Mary, 7, Thomas, 6, Maggie, 4, Nellie, 3, and Robert, 2; and brother Fred, 20.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Ernest Taylor, 49; wife Lalar, 47; and children Tomie, 16, Maggie, 15, Mollie, 13, Robert, 11, Ona, 9, Blanche, 8, Roscar, 6, James, 5, and Daisy, 1.

On 30 December 1932, Richard Armstrong, 21, of Jarratt, Virginia, son of Gus Armstrong and William Ann Turner, and Maggie Taylor, 21, of Sharpsburg, N.C., daughter of Ernest Taylor and Lala Anderson, were married in Greensville County, Virginia.

In the 1940 census of Lower Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: farmer Richard Armstrong, 28; wife Maggie, 25; and children Earnest M., 6, Lawrence W., 5, Ivy Lee, 3, and Grady Earl, 1; widowed mother William Ann Armstrong, 68; and niece Mary Jeane McQueen, 15. Maggie and Mary Jeane had been Wilson County residents in 1935.

Maggie Armstrong died 11 February 1942 in Wilson, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 1 April 1915 in Wilson County to Ernest Taylor and Lala Anderson; was married to Richard Armstrong; was engaged in farming; and resided in Sharpsburg, Edgecombe County. She was buried in Nash County by S.E. Hemby, Fountain, N.C.

  • Ernest and Lalar Taylor, “Death is but life. Weep not.”

Ernest and Lalar Taylor were buried under a classic Clarence Best-carved double headstone.

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In the 1900 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: farmer Robert Anderson, 60; wife Margaret, 58; and children Lanie V., 21, Francis, 19, Lala, 17, Charlie, 15, and Lee E., 14, and grandson Luther, 8 months.

Oon 8 January 1902, Ernest Taylor, 22, son of Caroline Taylor, married Lila Anderson, 19, daughter of Bob and Margaret Anderson, in Toisnot township, Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Earnest Taylor, 29; wife Lalar, 25; children Lawrence, 8, Lula, 7, Billie, 6, Carry, 4, Eddie B., 3, Lee E., 2, and May B., 2 months; and sister Hattie, 17.

Lalar Taylor died 12 March 1942 in Rocky Mount, Nash County, N.C. Per her death certificate, she was born 21 June 1883 in Nash County to Robert Anderson and Margaret Rice; and was buried in Sharpsburg Cemetery by S.E. Hemby, Fountain, N.C.

Earnest Taylor died 4 December 1961 in Rocky Mount, Nash County, N.C. Per his death certificate, he was born 10 May 1880 in Wilson County to Caroline [maiden name unknown] and worked as a farmer.

  • Turner Joyner

For reasons that are not apparent to me, Simon E. Hemby was the undertaker of choice for many families in Sharpsburg Cemetery in the 1930s and ’40s. Hemby’s business (which is still in operation as Hemby-Willoughby) was in Fountain, Pitt County — some 21, two-lane miles away from Sharpsburg. Amazingly the temporary metal marker Hemby placed at Turner Joyner’s grave in 1938 is still legible.

In the 1880 census of Rocky Mount township, Nash County:  farmer Jason Joyner, 40; wife Milbry, 44; and sons Hawood, 16, Nevison, 13, and Turner, 12.

On 18 December 1889, Turner Joyner, 22, married Martha Pittman, 19, at Evelina Pittman’s in Nash County.

In the 1900 census of Sharpsburg town, Rocky Mount township, Nash County: day laborer Turner Joyner, 30; wife Martha A., 26; and children William S.T., 8, Ella, 6, Billie, 3, and Minnie S., 1.

In 1918, Bill Joyner registered for the World War I draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 9 December 1896 in Sharpsburg; was a cropper for Dr. Barnes “near cor. limits of Sharpsburg”; and his nearest relatives were father Turner Joyner and wife Emma Joyner.

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Turner Joyner, 52; wife Martha, 48; and children S.T., 27, Mary, 25, Maggie, 18, Annie, 15, Mamie, 13, Eva, 10, and Grady, 2.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Turner Joyner, 61; wife Martha, 56; daughter Annie C. Clark, 26, and children J.C., 7, James, 5, and S.T., 4.

Turner Joyner died 10 August 1938 in Sharpsburg, Township #14, Edgecombe County. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 September 1873 in Nash County to Jason Joyner and Milba Joyner; was the widower of Martha Joyner; and was buried in Sharpsburg by S.E. Hemby.

  • Harry Williams, “He Is Gone, But Not Forgotten”

You know I love a headstone artist, and Sharpsburg Cemetery contains many examples of the grave markers produced by this unknown person. He (almost surely) worked in concrete, stamping letters and numbers with a die or punch and incising elaborate floral designs with wedge-shaped elements. My guess is that this was a Nash or Edgecombe County artist, as I have not encountered this type of headstone in Wilson County cemeteries.

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In the 1910 census of Township #14, Edgecombe County: farmer Harry Williams, 51; wife Mollie, 39; and children Mandonie, 17, Mack, 16, Starka, 13, Turner, 11, Harry Jr., 9, Paul, 7, and Silas, 3.

On 11 February 1920, Harry Williams, 21, of Toisnot township, Wilson County, son of Harry and Mollie Williams, married Mamie Justice, 21, of Toisnot township, daughter of Preston and Carrie Justice, in Elm City, Wilson County.

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer Harry Williams, 22, and wife Mamie, 19.

Harry Williams died 1 July 1928 in Sharpsburg, Township #14, Edgecombe County. Per his death certificate, he was 30 years old; was born in Edgecombe County to Harry Williams and Mollie Lawrence; worked as a farmer; and was buried in Sharpsburg cemetery. Mondon Williams was informant.

  • Lillie Bell Williams

Lillie Bell Williams died 7 April 1929 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 23 October 1928 in Wilson County to Paul Williams and Gladys Howard and was buried in Nash County.

  • Jacob C. Bellamy

This appears to be the headstone of the Jacob Bellamy who was born 1891 to James H. and Cherry Bellamy and lived in Edgecombe County. It is a lovely little marble stone in an older area of the cemetery that is overgrown with English ivy.

  • Eskimo Parker

The delightfully named Eskimo Parker, a Nash County native, is one of several veterans whose grave markers are visible in Sharpsburg Cemetery.

Country burials.

With the exception of Heritage [formerly Elm City Colored] Cemetery, all documented Wilson County African-American cemeteries outside the city of Wilson are church cemeteries (such as Cherry Chapel, New Vester, Rocky Branch, and Saint Delight) or small family cemeteries (such as Farmer, Brantley, Williamson, and Taylor-Barnes). However, for the innumerable laborers who had no regular or long-term church affiliation and whose families owned no property, burial often took place on the farms on which they worked.

I wrote here of my unsuccessful attempt to locate the Black cemetery on Joshua Barnes’ farm, which probably began as a slave graveyard and was likely quite large. I have not identified the locations of any others, which likely numbered in the many dozens, if not hundreds. Graves in these cemeteries

Death certificates from just a couple of months in 1918 reveal some of the farms on which workers were buried. Their graves, if marked at all, probably had only wooden and fieldstone markers, which have not survived, and the graveyards are most likely lost in decades of overgrowth or plowed under expanding tobacco or soybean fields.

Carrie Horne was buried on “Mrs. Eliza Barnes Place” in Saratoga township on 6 October 1918.

This appears to be the farm of Eliza Overman Barnes, widow of Roscoe B. Barnes, who was living in Wilson on Kenan Street at the time.

James Taylor was buried 29 November, also on “Eliza Barnes Place.”

Nathaniel Rountree was buried on 22 October 1918 on “James H. Lamm Land” in Cross Roads township.

James Henry Lamm was a farmer-employer in Cross Roads township.

Paul Ruffin was buried on “Whitehead Farm” in Wilson township on November 28.

Perhaps, the farm of tobacconist Howell G. Whitehead III, who then lived on West Nash Street in Wilson.

David Mack was buried on 11 October 1918 on the “B.J. Thompson Place.”

Benjamin J. Thompson was a farm-owner in Saratoga township.

Henry Artis was buried on “Billy Barnes Place” in Stantonsburg township on 29 October. William Barnes is so common a name in Wilson County as to make identification of this farm difficult.

Though he was a city boy, Edward Simms was buried 12 October 1918 on “Steve Woodard’s farm.” There was only one Stephen Woodard in Wilson County at the time of Simms’ death, a 35 year-old African-American farmer living in Black Creek township. Woodard rented his land, rather than owned it, and it is unlikely it would have been known as his farm. In that case, the reference may be to a farm formerly owned by Dr. Stephen Woodard Jr., who died in 1897.

Andrew Nathaniel Barnes was buried 22 June 1918 on “Reuben Ellis plantation.”

Reuben Ellis was an African-American farmer. The “plantation” was not actually his. It was land his wife Mary Wyatt Lynch Rhodes Ellis had inherited from her parents, Wyatt and Nicey Hall Lynch, and we roughly located it on Old Stantonsburg Road near present-day Wedgewood Golf Club. (More about this land soon.) Thus, this was actually a family cemetery, though it is not clear that Andrew Barnes was a relative of the Lynch-Ellis family.

Sharpsburg Cemetery?

Does anyone know where Sharpsburg’s historic African-American cemetery is?

UPDATE, same day: Found!!

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In the 1900 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: Jordan Cooper, 55, farmer; wife Judy, 35; and children Daisey, 21, Thomas, 16, Thadeous, 11, Willie, 9, Golden, 7, Mary, 6, Elizabeth, 3, and Stella, 1.

On 4 January 1906, Albert Farmer, 21, of Edgecombe County, son of Orrin and Malvina Farmer, married Daisey Cooper, 24, of Edgecombe County, daughter of  Jordan and julia Cooper, at Fenner Gay’s in Edgecombe County.

In the 1910 census of Township #14, Edgecombe County, North Carolina: farmer Albert Farmer, 24; wife Daisie, 28; daughters Luler and Lillie, 3, and Adlona, 9 months; and brother-in-law Willie Cooper, 15.

Daisy Farmer died 22 October 1918 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 37 years old; was married; worked at “house duties”; was born in Edgecombe County to Jordan Cooper and Julie Barefoot; and was buried in Sharpsburg Cemetery. Albert Farmer was informant.

Lane Street Project: Johnston County reclaims its past.

This past weekend, Johnston County Heritage Center and Johnston County Heritage Commission put on a fantastic series of events focused on preserving the county’s African-American history and culture. Beth Nevarez, founder and principal of Beth Nevarez Historical Consulting, took notes for those of us who couldn’t be there:

“This past weekend I sponsored & attended @johnstoncountyheritage’s event: Reclaiming the Black Past: An Artifactual Journey. The event highlighted the importance of preserving spaces/places, artifacts and songs & stories that relate to African American history.
Friday evening we had a campfire conversation at the Boyette Slave House led by Joseph McGill of the @slavedwellingproject. Our gathering of about 25 discussed everything from those who lived in the Boyette Slave House & family history to issues of book bans and curriculums in schools today. We reflected on the importance of bringing awareness to the built environment that stands as a primary source of slavery’s past, as well as the importance of learning about that past in the present. Many thanks to Joseph McGill for leading this conversation & to the Stancil family who owns the property the Boyette Slave House sits on for hosting us.

“Saturday’s program included hearing more from Joe McGill on how he started the Slave Dwelling Project and the many ways in which it has evolved over the years. He spoke of the myths he works against including that slavery was only a southern institution.

“Then we heard from @philip_j_merrill of @nanny_jack_and_co about the importance and power of physical artifacts to preserve and share Black history. He brought along a number of interesting artifacts and spoke about ‘peeling back the onion layers’ of meaning and the many different ways artifacts, even some you wouldn’t expect, can be used to talk about Black history.

“We also heard both songs and history from @maryd.w who sang spirituals throughout her powerful presentation about the historical context of these songs and how they were used by enslaved people and later in the civil rights movement with coded messages hidden in their lyrics. These songs were passed down orally rather than in writing and contained messages of freedom and resistance.

“We concluded the day with a visit to the Sanders-Smith cemetery where descendants spoke the names of their ancestors buried there.”

WRAL News covered the gathering at Sanders-Smith Cemetery:

“Why is a cemetery hidden [in] a wooded stretch of land running alongside the highway – and directly adjacent to a modern day parking lot for the Johnston County Agricultural Center?

“According to [Todd] Johnson[, Executive Director for Johnston County Heritage Center], the land was all once part of the Sanders plantation.

“‘Ashley Sanders owned this land, which was roughly a 1,500 acre plantation,’ said Johnson. ‘His father was one of the largest landowners, who owned probably around 10,000 acres total. He left plots of land to his children.'”

…

“After the families enslaved here were emancipated after the Civil War, one of the men that had been enslaved on the property bought 25 acres of the plantation — including the cemetery.

“‘His name was Adam Sanders,’ said Johnson.

“By purchasing the cemetery land, Adam Sanders helped preserve the burial ground for future generations of his family – and help protect those who were already interred there.

“‘His parents were likely buried here,’ said Johnson.”

Many descendants of those enslaved by Ashley Sanders and family later migrated into Wilson County, such as Rodger Creech Jr., who attended Saturday’s observance at the cemetery. Future posts in Black Wide-Awake will attempt to make some of these connections.

Kudos to Johnston County for recognizing the importance of African-American history outside of Black History Month, for bringing Joseph McGill’s groundbreaking work to eastern North Carolina, and for recognizing Sanders-Smith Cemetery as an historic sacred space.

Wilson’s 2043 comprehensive plan.

The homepage of the website for Wilson’s 2043 Comprehensive Plan declares: “The City of Wilson is a place for innovation, ideas, and creativity. Wilson’s strengths lie in its welcoming community, arts and culture, and nationally recognized programs and infrastructure. In the coming decades, Wilson will be poised to harness growth from the Triangle and take advantage of its place in the region to continue to build a welcoming place for all.”

More: “The Comprehensive Plan is a roadmap that provides guidance on where and how a community will grow and change over a period of time. The City of Wilson uses this as a policy document to set priorities and make important land use and investment decisions. The 2043 Update will revise sections of the Wilson Growing Together: The 2030 Comprehensive Plan to reflect the changes that have occurred in the community in the past decade and to support a renewed vision for the future of the community. In some cases, issue areas will be added that are not part of the original 2030 Plan. …

“The updated Comprehensive Plan will address land use, development, transportation, public investment, and identify other community priorities. The Project Team, led by City of Wilson staff, was supported by local consultants at Clarion Associates and VHB. As part of this process, the City of Wilson gathered input from the community to guide the development of a renewed vision for Wilson.”

The image below is a detail from the Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map. The parcels shaded blue have been designated “institutional” for future land use zoning. “Institutional” land has “uses related to community services, such as fire stations, libraries, schools, civic buildings, water treatment plants, and the like.”

I placed the upper circle over Maplewood Cemetery, which is appropriately shaded blue. What is going on in the oval though?

Here’s a close-up of Bishop LN. Forbes Street. The blue blocks on the left represent various churches colored “institutional.” The blue block at the top is B.O. Barnes Elementary School. The smaller blue blocks below it are Rountree Missionary Baptist Church and the two halves of its cemetery on B.L.N.F. Street. Strangely, though, the other five cemeteries on the street are shaded maize, “2-4 units/acre (med-density residential),” and part of Odd Fellows is green, “agricultural residential (rural residential).” Huh?

Why would these cemeteries be marked for the same future use as the neighborhoods around them? An oversight? Nefarious design?

The City is holding two more Open Houses for the public to review and provide feedback on the draft Comprehensive Plan. Ask why Vick Cemetery and Odd Fellows Cemeteries and the other L.B.N.F. cemeteries are not “institutional.”

Thanks to Jon Wesley Mullins for bringing this to my attention!

[Update: 9/18/2023 — the map has been updated, and the Masonic, Hamilton, and Rest Haven Cemeteries are now blue! Vick remains in limbo, but we appreciate this start.]