Oak Grove Methodist Church in Screven County was founded in 1876 by freedmen and women. The current church building dates to 1919. While the church is no longer in use and has fallen in disrepair, the cemetery is still active. This is one of my favorite church buildings. Between the setting and the colors, it’s one I am glad to have seen in person.
This a well cared for church and cemetery in Jefferson County, Georgia. The vernacular headstones and some of the ledgers are incredibly interesting. One of the ledger stones reminds me of stained glass. I wondered as I photographed it if glass was once there.
In doing a doing genealogical search, I am unable to determine why it is Professor Lewis Seabrook. I was hoping to find out that he was a professor for a local college. In census data, he is listed as a farmer. Maybe he was just so knowledgeable that he earned that name.
The church was founded in 1867. It was one of the founding members of the Walker Baptist Association. Members initially all hailed from the plantation of Noah Smith.
This is one of the most impressive vernacular markers I’ve ever documented. If you’re familiar with the Nettles Death Masks in Alabama, I consider this marker as important as those masks. Down a sandy road, this small rural cemetery in Sandy Bottom is likely not threatened by development but by time and location. The ledger stone is cracked and the marker is leaning forward.
I was unable to find a great deal about Bessie and her family. She was married to a man who was 20 years older than she was. Her parents were John and Amelia “Mealie” McKnight and her husband was Lonnie Jones. On her birth certificate, it was revealed she died due to malaria.
Started in 1879, Holt Cemetery is a potter’s field cemetery in New Orleans that is primarily a Black cemetery. The plots are free. The only charge is for the burial.
It is filled with vernacular headstones. At 7 acres, it is a small, densely packed cemetery. It is still active. When I visited, they were preparing for another funeral.
I know people are often dismayed at the state of the cemetery. I find such beauty in the handmade markers. There are generations of families buried together here. It simultaneously speaks to the connection of families and the horrible history of racism in Louisiana and the United States.
The city of New Orleans did spend money in 2013 to repair and stabilize the cemetery, but individual plots were not part of the stabilization project.
Outside of Carlton, Alabama, Mt. Nebo Baptist Church’s cemetery contains death masks created by Isaac Nettles. Nettles created these masks by making molds of the subjects’ faces while they were still alive, which is different from the traditional death mask made after someone passes. The three-person marker represents Isaac and Cora’s three daughters and rests atop Cora’s grave. There are two other markers made by Nettles. These are deteriorating quickly. In 2020, Hurricane Sally caused significant damage to the masks. These are incredible pieces of folk art. At one point, there were four death masks. One was made for Isaac’s mother Selena/Celina. It was damaged by Hurricane Frederick in 1979. The markers were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Located in Lincoln County, Tennessee, the Rose Hill Cemetery began in the 1820s. It is still an active cemetery.
