The cemetery survey was started for the
purpose of recording and identifying grave
sites throughout Gates County. My husband
Jim and I took an interest in the plight
of family cemeteries and single graves
long ago when we first started running
across them while we were working. We
have trapped Gates County for boll weevils
and gypsy moths for quite a few years
and while tromping around in fields and
woods we run into neglected or forgotten
sites. Since we are both trying to trace
our own family trees we know the exasperation
that we feel when we hit a brick wall
on one line or another and cannot find
any documentation to lead us back another
generation. Our families originate in
other counties here in the state and beyond
and we are unable to spend the time searching
for cemeteries in those areas. I know
in my heart that many of our family members
who we can't find information on are probably
buried in small family sites, grown up
or simply in the corner of some field
somewhere with no way of us gaining that
information. We can't find our ancestors
that way at this point but we can find
them for people researching the county
that we live in.
We have lived here in Gates County for
12 years and love the area dearly. The
people of Gates are friendly and caring
individuals and have been nothing but
helpful in our research endeavors. I have
full faith that the vast majority of residents
will be supportive of our efforts and
will go out of their way to help. After
all, these are their ancestors too and
generally people want their family history
to be valued as well. This is in no way
and easy task and I don't see a finish
line anywhere in the near future, but
rest assured that we will remain committed
to persevering till the end.
Every day that goes by is another day
that could see the end to some small cemetery
tucked away in a corner of the county.
Logging operations, new development, and
ignorance of their existence can mean
total destruction of unknown cemeteries
whether accidentally or on purpose, which
gives a sense of urgency in finding, transcribing
and marking the locations of these last
resting places. Many small family cemeteries
are gone due to the fact that it was common
practice in this area for people to use
"Grave sheds" instead of permanent
markers. These "sheds" were
wooden roofs that were built over the
grave of the deceased, and of course wood
is not permanent. Over the course of time,
these grave sheds rotted away leaving
no sign of the cemetery or graves at all
except for a sunken depression in the
ground. Unless a family member had the
foresight to erect a stone monument in
it's place, the graves are gone for all
time. Gates County has never been a place
where people had large sums of money for
things like tombstones, so these were
very common place here. There is nothing
we can do to save the information that
has been lost on these burials, but we
can try to do something about the marked
ones.
For the most part, it is only Jim and
I that do the majority of the transcriptions
with the help of our 7 year old son Caleb
who has grown to love and appreciate old
cemeteries as well. However we do have
a list of people who have helped in many
ways, and who have donated the information
and photos that they have gathered on
their own. We can't do this alone and
we greatly and deeply appreciate these
volunteers. Because of this, we would
like to give our deepest thanks to the
following individuals (in no particular
order):
Raymond Parker Fouts
Chris Perry
Patricia Hall
Elsie Richardson
John Kittrell
Joe Lang
Walter Askew
Renee Haynes
Cheryl Eure
Ron Hill
Bill Marley
We'd also like to thank everyone who
has given us support in so many other
ways, by giving us information on the
whereabouts of cemeteries, by supporting
us in our endeavors, and for telling us
how much they appreciate our work. Without
each and everyone of you, this wouldn't
be possible.
Cheers to all,
Julie
