Letter to the Editor: Taylor Black Cemetery - Culture, Heritage, Identity - A story of Restoration
Taylor Black Cemetery is located off Griffin Road in Bullhead Township, Greene County, North Carolina in the middle of a field. Though it wasn’t always like that, when it was first created it was a communal place with a house next to it. However, through many changes in the deed it has been relegated to something as little known as a stop in famer’s field. To get there you must travel down a barely trodden dirt path. The first documented burial in Taylor Black Cemetery was Lucinda Edwards Taylor in 1893, information which was obtained from the 1939 Greene County cemetery survey. Over 100 years of history buried in one area and no one barely even remembers it or knows it is there. As a community it is our job, nay, our responsibility to look after our own heritage because if we won’t do it, then how can we charge the task to someone else and expect satisfactory results. This became the reason for our non-profit so that we can make sure we honor the men and women that came before us as they eternally watch over us in spirit, the least we can do is maintain their final resting space.
Now I ask you, what do you think about when you think about someone you love that has passed on? Is your first thought of the wonderful memories that you have shared? Do you think of how beautiful it would be to hold them in your arms? Well, I would beg to think that most of you would love to speak to them just one last time. This is where the value of the cemetery lies and the importance it can bring to someone’s life. Recently I did a search into my father’s side of the family tree and with the help of my family discovered that we have 130 years of history, of loved ones and of heritage buried in an out of the way cemetery called Taylor Black Cemetery.
Our group is called Taylor Black Cemetery, named directly after the Cemetery itself. We are currently working on 5013c status as we grow our non-profit. We have officially joined the The Black Cemetery Network’s prestigious group. Through family research we have identified over 300 people buried in the cemetery and are currently working on other projects for beautification, rejuvenation and restoration.
This immediately brought up my next questions of where is it and how does it look. When you want to show your parents, the ones that gave you your life, some respect, then typically you go out of your way to do something nice for them. So begun my trip to honor the ones that gave my father life, that gave my grandparents life, and their parents and so forth. The simplest way I can honor the dead is the maintenance and upkeep where they are buried. This is where my journey ends and begins all at once.
To learn more about our organization, see our burial catalogue go to www.taylorblackcemetery.org.
Torrance Gardner
