Years ago, I had the pleasure of touring many of the region’s abandoned graveyards with two elderly men. These men were T.J. Caldwell and Joe Hart of York, S.C. I think they liked the idea of having someone young along as “protection” but also, as the historical commissioner for the county, had a little input into preservation of cemeteries. We traveled back roads for years climbing over fences, knocking on doors, and fighting brambles to reach and then record these sites.
It became an enjoyable outing for me, a break from the office and a means of seeing part of the region I had never traveled. We found abandoned cemeteries under power lines, along river banks, in cow pastures, on the edges of major highways, and often buried far in the woods where a family cemetery had once been a central gathering spot. In all nearly one hundred sites were recorded and marked on a map for preservation. We took the extraordinary step to get the local county government to also pass restrictions on development and demolition of these sites.
Unfortunately, when word got out that the county was passing these restrictions, at least one farmer immediately plowed over the cemetery on his property. But others built nice enclosures and the staff at the Historical Center of York County continues adding to the list and has also recorded many of the GPS coordinates.
If you know of an abandoned cemetery in your community, be sure to let the local historical museum know of its location — it’s important! Joe Hart left his cemetery records and genealogy files to the young man who had accompanied him on his weekly treks. I gave them to the local archives and thus a new research center for history was born.