-----Original Message----- From: Phyllis Campbell <belann@wirefire.com> To: TNLAWREN-L@rootsweb.com <TNLAWREN-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, 6 December 1999 09:16 Subject: [TNLAWREN-L] [WHITE] Help Save Hickory Log Missionary Bapti (fwd) > > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >From: "Katherine White-Duke" <wylchild@hpolicy.duke.edu> >Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 09:57:21 -0500 >Subject: [WHITE] Help Save Hickory Log Missionary Bapti > >Hi List, > >I got this message from another list. Does anyone out there have >any ideas for this person on how to save their historic landmark? If >so, please reply to the e-mail address below. > >Katherine White-Duke > >From: dbj@monmouth.com >Subject: Help Save Hickory Log Missionary Baptist Cemetery > >Hello List, > >Hickory Log Missionary Baptist Cemetery is located in a small Northen Geo >rgia >town called Canton. It was established 6 years after the end of slavery b >y my >ancestors, other former slaves, and their descendants. Contrary to what's >stated in the article, the oldest graves date back 150 years and are in d >anger >of being relocated to make way for a shopping center. Any ideas or advise >on saving Hickory Log Missionary Cemetery would be greatly appreciated. > >Please do not hesitate to forward or re-post this article, we hope to bri >ng as >much public attention to this as possible. > > >Thanks, >Dbj > > > >Bid to save cemetery gathering supporters >BYLINE: D.L. Bennett, Staff >DATE: 11-27-1999 >PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution >EDITION: Home >SECTION: Local News >PAGE: H2 > >Preservationists are rallying to prevent the relocation of a Canton >cemetery, but developers remain committed to moving the burial ground >begun by former slaves. "I can't put a financial value on it, " said >Judson Roberts, president of the Cherokee Historical Society. "But it is >one of the oldest and largest African-American cemeteries in the county. >It's a historical resource for the county." The Hickory Log Missionary >Baptist Church's cemetery of more than 400 graves is on ground developer >Mike Sasser plans to use for an expansion of Riverstone Plaza, a >600,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex. Sasser said the >127-year-old cemetery would be better off moved than left inside the >boundaries of the 650-acre commercial development he's just getting off >the ground. The unkempt cemetery sits high on a hill overlooking the firs >t >phase of Riverstone. Current grading plans call for slicing more than 60 >feet from the hilltop. The plan would leave the one-acre cemetery standin >g >out like a beacon. "If it were on grade, we'd do everything to work aroun >d >it, " Sasser said. "I can't think of anything that works." The historical >society has turned to Canton lawyer Doug Flint to clarify ownership of th >e >land. So far, he hasn't found the deed. "We feel pretty strongly the >anecdotal evidence and use of the property is enough to establish >ownership," Flint said. "It's a sad situation when a cemetery stands in >the way of 'progress.' " Sasser contends he bought the land and cemetery >from the Jordan family, descendants of Philip Keith, who, church official >s >say, originally gave two acres for the church and cemetery in 1872. "We >have title insurance on it," Sasser said. Church members, though, say the >y >still own it even though no deed can be found. "Everybody's looking for >that deed right now. It's like the Ark of the Covenant," Roberts said. Th >e >issue will probably be decided by the Canton City Council, which would >have to approve Sasser's request to relocate the cemetery. He says he wil >l >file a request in about six months. Mayor Cecil Pruett said he'd prefer t >o >see the community and developer come to an agreement, rather than leaving >it to the council. "If they can't get together, then we will hold a publi >c >hearing and decide," Pruett said. "There are some things government just >shouldn' t be involved in." The council already is being lobbied, Pruett >said. Cherokee County commissioners joined those backing preservation >Tuesday when they voted unanimously to send the City Council a letter >asking it to block the proposed move. The commissioners admitted they had >no authority in the matter. They just wanted to have their say. "It anger >s >me that the development community can ride roughshod over all kinds of >things," said Chairman Emily Lemcke. "They think they can play God. It's >wrong. Where are our values as a community?" > > > >ILLUSTRATIONS/PHOTOS: Riverstone Plaza developers want to relocate the >estimated 400 graves in the cemetery of Hickory Log Missionary Baptist >Church. Map shows location of cemetery. Inlaid map shows cemetery in >relation to Metro Atlanta. / Elizabeth Landt / Staff > > > > > > > > >© Copyright 1999,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, All rights reserved. > > >D.L. Bennett, Staff, Bid to save cemetery gathering supporters., >11-27-1999, pp H2. > > >-- >Daniel Byrd Jr. >85 Pleasure Bay >Long Branch, NJ 07740 > >Email: dbj@monmouth.com >Day: (732)532-3327 >Evening: (732)870-0579 > >------- End of forwarded message ------- >Katherine White-Duke >http://www.dreamwater.com/wylchild/tree/wyltree.html > > >==== WHITE Mailing List ==== >%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% >..........................WHITE MAILING LIST........................... >YA'LL SUPPORT ROOTSWEB NOW! GO ON AND VISIT: http://www.rootsweb.com >%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% >