Slave Cemetery

In 1996, we found these piles of rocks. We first thought that they were cleared from fields, but this site is thought to be an old field. A stone mason who was at Clay Hill to work on the first Eagle Scout Service Project completed at CHMF (the bridge at Little Angel Spring) said that the stones were placed on the piles not thrown on them. This lead us to consider whether these rock piles might be something more. In 1999, we had a site visit by Archaeologists from the US National Park Service. They used ground penetrating radar to study the site. They confirmed that each rock pile was likely a shallow grave. None of the graves had markers. Although we have not completely mapped the graveyard, we believe that it extends on both sides of this path and that there may be 75 to 100 graves here. Slavery existed here for a period of sixty five or more years. We have no proof but believe that those buried here were slaves. The names of some slaves who were on the property are known from court records.

There are additional graves at two additional sites on the CHMF property. These are similar to those in this cemetery but in both cases total two graves.

 Published 30 May 2014 ;  last modified 28 March 2018          © Clay Hill Memorial Forest 2014