Final resting place not final By Clay Cansler, Wilson Daily Times Staff Writer After lying undisturbed for nearly 120 years, a few Wilsonians will receive a new resting place soon. Road expansion for a new subdivision prompted the removal of a family graveyard near Dewfield development across from the Seventh-day Adventist church being built on Lake Wilson Road. Large cedars covered the three to six graves, which are now in the way of a deceleration lane for the 52-house subdivision being built by Kingsmill Homes. Crews are still digging to determine how many graves are at the site. Ward Sutton, owner of R. Ward Sutton Cemetery Services, said it appears to be the Perry family graveyard. A headstone atop the ground marked the grave of Jane Ellen Perry, who died Jan. 28, 1886. Among remains found Tuesday were handles, screws and glass from a coffin, a glass button and reddish brown skull fragments from a corpse. Unfortunately, nothing was found that could identify the corpse, although Sutton said it appeared to be a man from the size of the grave. Remains from the graves will be transferred to Maplewood Cemetery, where they will be individually casketed and entombed. A marker will announce the graves' original location and a notation will be made in the county courthouse. Mike Webb, engineering assistant with Green Engineering, said an advertisement was run in The Wilson Daily Times for four weeks announcing the removal of the graves, giving relatives an opportunity to voice opposition. No one voiced any objection. Joan Howell, who has published three books on genealogy and old graves in Wilson County, said she has not been able to find a lot of information on the Perrys. She said it appears John Perry, husband of Jane, remarried after her death. His remains and those of his second wife may be there. There had been rumors the cedars hid 20 or 30 slave graves, but Webb said residents might have confused the Perry lot with a bigger graveyard down the road. To be sure no graves are missed, crews are unearthing a 50-foot by 50-foot area around the graves. Workers used finding rods, like those employed to determine the location of septic tanks, to locate the graves. Sutton said soil disturbed by digging remains soft. About 2 feet below ground, an observer also can tell where a grave is through discoloration of the soil. The rich brown of decomposed coffin wood and of the corpse are easy to spot against North Carolina red clay. Sutton said a person can tell a lot about people by their graves. Since the first grave dug up was probably that of a man judging by its size, it is likely that the remains of his wife will be to his right facing the east, which is customary in burial. Personal effects and ornaments remaining often give an idea of the gender and wealth of the entombed. After 30 years of digging up graves, Sutton said he's found all sorts of things under the ground, including glass eyes. "You have it, I've dug it up," he chuckled. "It's like the good book says, 'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.'" G. Hunter Ferrell [email protected]