Category: Evergreen Municipal Cmetery

Association For Gravestone Studies Meeting

Have you ever wondered if there were other people who love cemeteries as much as you do? Have you ever wished that you could meet a bunch of them all at once and feel like you belonged?

Well, that wish can come true, my friend. Two weeks ago I went to the first meeting of the Florida Chapter for AGS. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I was at the last CRPT conference when a short meeting was held to see if there was any interest in starting a Florida chapter. Every person at the conference was interested. We all signed our names and info on a sheet to express our desire to start the chapter, and within a few months, it was done. Shelby Bender is our chapter president and not only did I recognize her at the meeting, but there were other people there from previous CRPT events. Because of that I felt comfortable right away an less like my shy, reclusive self.

When I got to the Alachua County Library in Gainesville I was about 30 minutes early. It was a chilly, overcast day and I walked two blocks to Starbucks to get something warm to sip on during the meeting. By the time I got to the meeting room there was a small queue of people waiting to sign in.

The library looks dull and beige-ly boring from the outside but the interior is gorgeous, with huge wooden beams overhead and a cool green color on the walls. It was a very soothing, grounding space and I thought regretfully of the 10 years that I spent in the Orlando Public Library, which always looked and felt like a prison to me. I know some people love Brutalist architecture and I think that’s great, so you go right ahead. The world needs all kinds of people.

There was a woman standing behind me in line as I waited to sign in and I turned to her and said, “This library is beautiful.” I was in awe of the meeting room, which had stained glass panels at the top of the room with a pattern that made me think of an eclipse. She smiled and agreed…and we’ve been talking ever since. I had met author and speaker Chris Kullstroem from Tampa, and I was in for an entertaining afternoon.

I was also thrilled to look up and see Keila and her fiancee walking in. I knew they were going to be attending the cemetery ramble afterward, but did not know they would be present at the meeting. We had to keep our chatter to a  minimum during the presentation but I’ll admit that I did pass a few notes. After the meeting and business at hand we met in Evergreen Municipal Cemetery for a walk and guided tour.

The cemetery covers 53 acres and was established in 1856 with the burial of a baby girl, Elizabeth Thomas, and then her mother 8 months later. She had given birth at 40, and I can only imagine what she went through in 1856. I actually did not know this at the time of our tour or I would have listened a little more carefully, but their marker is pictured below, carved by W.T. White. First burials are always a curiosity to me, since that seems to be what starts a cemetery most of the time, rather than land deeded or given specifically for that purpose. When the land was sold one acre remained a graveyard until the city purchased it in 1944, though there was a cemetery association in the 1890’s that managed the site. It now holds more than 10,000 people on it’s 53 acres, but Find A Grave lists a number in the nine thousands. The cemetery has a nickname, “The Wondrous Place”.

There are many notable burials here and our guide walked us through while telling story after story, but apparently one of our number was particularly offended by the fact that he left out a grave that she wanted to see, and she was pretty vocal about it. It was the grave of Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade. He had an unassuming grave near the roadway, and the guide pointed it out to her (it was so close we could read his name) but she continued complaining and at that point, I became offended as well. My cemetery zen only goes so far, apparently. It was the only thing about the day that irritated me.

We also learned that there was a notable stone mason who made several of the stones in the cemetery, W.T. White from Charleston, South Carolina. Headstones were delivered by bringing them along the coast and then up the St. John’s River to Palatka for delivery. I recalled hearing a similar story in St. Augustine in the Huguenot Cemetery about the headstones being made in Charleston and thought it was fascinating. White’s headstones can also be found in Tolomato Cemetery in St. Augustine. (See below.)

I also was very drawn to a headstone that said Our Mary, with a small, ghostly female image carved out of the stone. It had it’s hands held as if in prayer and a pale, pleading face tilted upward. It was simple and almost folksy in it’s style. I loved it.

I’d like to go back to this cemetery with just a couple of people so I could wander on my own and also check out all of the bells and whistles that they have- including an extensive audio tour with 38 places where you can listen to a recording about the person buried there. There is a tour brochure that you can download here.

All in all it was a great day with friends, and if you’re interested in joining your local chapter of the AGS or starting your own chapter please visit their website for more information. I’ll be cemetery hopping with Keila this spring, and reviewing one of Chris’s books on here soon, so there are adventures to look forward to. Also, is anyone going to head to that abandoned funeral home in Jacksonville with me or not? If you’ve been, please tell me. If you’ve been and were arrested for trespassing, please don’t comment. I don’t want to be anxious about going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Float Like A Butterfly…

…Sting like a bee, your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see. 

I don’t know how many people know that Muhammad Ali’s famous line was actually coined by his cornerman, Drew Bundhini Brown, who also wrote speeches for Ali. He did a lot of things that would have been notable in his day (or even today). Brown was in an interracial marriage in the 1950’s, acted in numerous films including The Color Purple, had a son who was a bomber with the Navy, and was an all around fascinating guy. 

Amazing life, right? So when Drew Brown died in 1987 after a severe fall in his home, you would think he’d be buried with more to mark his grave than a cracked ledger stone with no name topped with hand poured ‘sculpted’ concrete. The cemetery itself is in a sad state of decline, so it’s quite possible that there was a headstone at one time. He was 59 when he died and was born in Midway, Florida. 

Supposedly, he’s there. He is buried next to his father, who has a headstone and was a veteran. His name was also Drew Brown.

There are no concrete cemetery records for Page Jackson. It’s been a free for all since it started out with the first recorded burial in 1869, so right now there’s not a way to confirm that this is Mr. Brown’s grave. But it’s what everyone says when they talk about the cemetery. A funeral record could prove it, but it’s easier to get your hands on a funeral record from the 1880’s for Page Jackson that it is for the 1980’s. If you know otherwise, call me up. There is a map of the cemetery located at the Sanford Historical Museum that supposedly shows sections of the cemetery but I don’t believe it actually serves as a cemetery map with named graves on it. If so it would be a miracle.

 So for now, let’s just enjoy the mystery together. Personally, I believe that’s his grave since there are family members nearby. If you visit the cemetery he is located on the right side of the center section near the end, but if you pass the Faithful Servant headstone you’ve gone too far. Enjoy!

Page-Jackson Cemetery and Deep Woods OFF

This is a cemetery that I would like to draw your attention to for several reasons.

  1. It’s historic. Many Sanford pioneers are here and the plot for Zora Neale- Hurston’s family may possibly be here, though Zora herself is buried in Ft. Pierce.
  2. It needs help from the community in order to be restored and preserved; it’s in danger of being lost to the woods and the clean-up for this site is overwhelming.
  3. It is chock-full of burials and monuments…but you can’t see them unless you have a good can of bug-spray and sturdy shoes.
  4. Because of it’s delicate condition and value as a historical resource, this cemetery has really stolen my heart.
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Shiloh Cemetery entrance.

I found this cemetery when researching the Evergreen Municipal Cemetery, which is made up of five different cemeteries that have bled together throughout the years, forming an enormous arterial network of graves and monuments. Four of the cemeteries include Shiloh (maintained by a church), Restlawn and Lakeview (maintained by the city of Sanford), and the odd child… Page Jackson (not maintained by any one except volunteers). I haven’t been to the fifth one yet but it’s in there somewhere.

The ground there is spongy from burials and sunken graves are everywhere, some of them up to a couple of feet deep. Some of the ground has been cleared by a group of volunteers, revealing old headstones, some handmade, and a ground littered with funeral home markers. Most are rusted but in good condition to read since they were filled out by hand in the days before the typed paper ones. These are on thin sheets of metal from Eichelberger Funeral Home in Sanford, most from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Here is what I love about the markers- most are written in the same handwriting. One person had a very long career in funeral service. The funeral home is still servicing the community under the name Wilson-Eichelberger Mortuary.

Past the cleared area you start to notice headstones in the woods and you charge in out of curiosity (if you’re like me) or sit on the dirt road and squint into the woods in fear (if you happen to be cemetery phobic). Thankfully both of the people I went with aren’t scared of anything.

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In a family plot.

The woods are separated by the dirt road, and in another section of woods I started finding entire family plots, some with concrete barriers to mark the space, some with rusting chain still looped between poles. I’ve never seen another cemetery like it. I stayed on that side for awhile noticing that there seemed to be quite a few veterans graves, and there were also crime line notices posted all over the place. People were being encouraged to call if they noticed any suspicious activity – besides me and my friends walking through the woods in astonished silence. At one point the woods thinned and then ended abruptly in front of a huge trash pile and a large, flat field full of other graves, mostly with ledger stones rather than headstones. This was Shiloh Cemetery.

After being in the shady woods coming out into the bright field seemed surreal. The original cemetery gates were gone if they ever even existed, but the brick entrance was there and you could just make out the word ‘cemetery’ in faded white paint. The graves were painted bright colors or just left in plain concrete, and one had a man’s name spray painted onto the surface to serve as his marker. There were no dates, and on my second visit there were new burials sporting flowers with bright blue ribbons resting on top of the sandy soil.

Page Jackson is an African-American cemetery and is Sanford’s first black cemetery. Many of the graves are unmarked and in my reading I read that William Page-Jackson was a gravedigger at the cemetery and allowed people to bury their dead for free for many years. Eventually the place was called after him, because he was the resident authority over the space. He did what he wanted. In another account, I read that he was a farmer that had land that adjoined the cemetery, and it was named after him for that reason. I don’t know which account is true but I suspect it’s the second one.

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Handmade stones for Sarah King.

Meanwhile, this cemetery feels like it’s waiting to be found, like it has more stories to tell. People are looking for their family members and I know that one day when the space is finally cleared, there will likely be many more surprises awaiting volunteers and families. One surprise that I got while visiting was to find a team of paranormal investigators on the property with all of their equipment. The group leader described the cemetery as “friendly”. I loved that.

Currently 6 acres of the cemetery are not owned by the city, but the rest of Evergreen is. That means no maintenance from the city. It seems impossible in this day and age that these places can come to this kind of end, but it is surprisingly easy when you’re not really sure who owns the land or who has the right to work on it.

This cemetery has a history of vandalism and because of that police patrol the area on a regular basis, including at night. There is also a house on the property that is inhabited. (“My dream house!” I gleefully told Shawn. He laughed, but I could smell the fear.) If you visit this cemetery please walk carefully, don’t go in tick season, and put back anything you touch. Also, report any vandalism to the police, though it’s doubtful you will see anything with all of the activity in the area.

I picked a funeral home marker up off the ground that was handwritten and 58 years old, still perfectly legible. I put it back knowing that that was the only thing left to tell where Mr. Frank June was, and in a few years, no one will know anyway unless something is done for this place. The next time I visit I’m planning to just bring trash bags and fill them up. Every little bit helps and I don’t own a weed whacker or a chainsaw. And did you know that if you buy the dry version of Deep Woods OFF it will actually roll off of your skin in a powdery mess if you happen to accidentally touch any part of yourself after it’s applied? I didn’t either.

For more information about the cemetery and previous efforts at clean-up and restoration, you can visit this article from 2008.

Thanks to Keila and Shawn for the great photos!