The cemetery appears on a 1923 surveyor's map of "Shuman Property." The map shows "Shuman Avenue," which has now become part of Remount Road, at its intersection with South Boulevard. The cemetery is located at the corner of Youngblood Street, which did not exist at the time the map was made. The lot size is 100 x 110, so it appears to have been a very small family cemetery.
History:
A member of the Torrence family says the cemetery was started for their slaves. The family had a home and property around the present-day Presbyterian Hospital on Elizabeth Ave. in Charlotte.
Documentation:
Undated newspaper article by John W. Harden
Location:
When this cemetery was relocated to Sharon Memorial Park in 1988, the tombstones could not accompany the remains, since the cemetery only allows flat markers. The tombstones were placed in Steele Creek Presbyterian Church in 2007. Directions given in an early source say to go 1 1/2 mile on Nations Ford Rd. past the WBT Radio Station. Take the first dirt road to the left through the Kirkpatrick place to the Pineville water line. The cemetery is to the right in a wooded area surrounded by a five foot stone wall.
Documentation
According to authors Howard and Ruth White, the church used to be next to the cemetery and was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s. This is not a complete list of burials. This cemetery is near new subdivisions and an elementary school. It is on private property. If anyone has an interest in this cemetery, please contact Mr. Lawrence Mayes at 704-673-7411
Documentation
(1) "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," in Mecklenburg: The Life and Times of a Proud People, by Howard and Ruth White (J. M. Productions: Brentwood, TN, 1992), pp. 310-311.
There is information about this cemetery in Hunter's Sketches of Western North Carolina and Foote's Sketches of North Carolina.
Documentation
(1) Violet G. Alexander wrote about this cemetery in the North Carolina Booklet, Vol. 15, pps. 152-157.
(2) See also Kytja Weir, "WHEN LOST GRAVES AND GROWTH COLLIDE - PROJECT ON HOLD AS HOSPITAL RELOCATES 1770S CEMETERY", Charlotte Observer, May 17, 2007, p.1A
This cemetery has many unmarked graves and only one readable stone. In 2001, the property was owned by the Bethel Fire Baptist Holiness Church of God of the America. This cemetery can only be easily identified from Dorman Lane by one large stone.
Documentation
(1) Pam Rasfeld abstracted this cemetery on 11/13/1999.
(2) This cemetery was abstracted by Jane Johnson in 10/2001.
The church owned another cemetery on Wendover, near the intersection with Marvin Road. According to an article on page 20B of The Charlotte Observer on 9/28/1977, there were several stones on the property. One was marked Anne Kinto, 1/30/1888. A member of the D.A.R. at the time of the article believed this to be a slave cemetery. The Observer also wrote about the cemetery on 1/16/1978, p.9B. A more recent article in The Charlotte Post dated 8/11/2004 says the property belonged to the Lloyd Presbyterian Church and has at least 86 graves.
This church members merged with two other local Presbyterian churches, Ben Salem and Grier Heights, and the church building was torn down. According to researcher Deborah Nance, other people are buried in the cemetery , but they do not have headstones. Some of the records are from the Alexander Funeral Home, Inc. The cemetery is behind a large office building.
Documentation
(1) Deborah Nance abstracted this cemetery.
The church was organized in 1884. Some names in the cemetery are Gresham, Gluyas, Griffin, Reames, Stephens, Price, Faires, Blythe, McCoy, Kirksey. The cemetery is behind the church. The property is on a hill. The best view of the cemetery is from the back of the church.
Documentation
(1) William J. Charles survey for the Mecklenburg Genealogy Society on 7-25-1983.
(2) Mary Beth Gatza abstracted the cemetery burials, which are incomplete.
This is not a complete list of burial records. There is a dirt road between 2 homes on Liberton Ct. that will dead end at the cemetery.