The following story by Bo Petersen of the Charleston South Carolina Post and Courier newspaper appeared on the front page of the paper Monday July 30, 2001. I think it will be of interest to all who are interested in the fate of old cemeteries. Forgotten or in the way, Old Cemeteries Pose New Problems By Bo Petersen of the Post and Courier Staff They are the overgrown resting places of farmers or slaves, age-old community graveyards, the forgotten plots of prehistoric people or rural families who had little but to spend on their dead. The calls come every week or so, another has been found out of the way -- or in the way, said Dan Vivian, SC Archives and History survey coordinator. He guesses tens of thousands of old graveyards lie across South Carolina. "There are burials everywhere there has been human settlement," Vivian said. Today these humans are everywhere. In the booming lowcountry, finding these graves raises difficult questions for family or community as well as the developer. Developing property is ways that would damage burial sites is a felony. The law allows graves to be moved with permission but the process is cumbersome and costly. Sometimes it's history in the woods, like the Bible Sojourn Cemetery. Sometimes it's family in the roadway, like the Jones cemetery. Somebody wants a piece of land. Somebody lies in peace there. What happens next can be excruciating. This is a tale of two graveyards. Bible Sojourn Back in the woods in Lincolnville, a historic old cemetery falls to a tangle of undergrowth and lost deeds. Century-old headstones drop into the brush off a dirt road extension at the edge of town. Iron railings c rack under dropped tree limbs. The cement boundary posts are all but buried. The Bible Sojourn graveyard holds Charles and Martha Seele, who were among the town's founding families in 1889. It holds William Seele, the intendant (or mayor) who served 40 years. It holds a host of the originals who carved the town's freedman heritage. For generations it was considered the town cemetery. Today, civic leaders paying new attention to that heritage consider it one of the few remaining links. It's so far gone it might not be noticed by someone walking down the road. While development impinges on other graveyards across the Lowcountry, neglect has orphaned the Bible Sojourn Cemetery. The 2 3/4 acres were deeded in 1905 to the Bible Sojourn Society of Lincolnville, a group of community leaders who mostly were members of Ebenezer AME Church. Ninety years later, the tract was bought at a delinquent tax auction by Decator Frasier, a Dorchester County Resident who frequents the auctions. Somewhere in between the hands holding the heritage let go. "I had no idea, no idea," said 80-year-old Helen Polk, a Seele descendant, as she walked the woods to see the headstones for the first time in years. As a child she helped clean the graves. Now, "It's not a place you can come alone," she said. The town's Civic League and Parnessa Seele, who grew up in a home nor far from the woods where much of her family is buried, are pushing for the town to reclaim the old cemetery. "It's one of the few historic things we have left," said Christine Hampton, Civic League president. "We're going to take responsibility for the dead the way they took responsibility for us," Seele said. Frasier, who bought the property for $300 as an investment, is holding onto it as an investment. " I know it's a very historic property. I've always kept a historic perspective of the property," Frasier said. He was first approached a few years ago about deeding the cemetery to the town. He's thinking that over, he said. Charleston County was owed less than $135 in taxes and penalties dating back to 1984 when the 1994 delinquent tax auction was held, according to county tax records. The property's appraised value was $400. The county property record notes the tract lost a tax exemption status on 1974, but neither auditor nor tax office personnel could say why. A cemetery should have been tax exempt, they say. Nobody seems to know who paid the taxes from 1074 to 1984. Nobody is really sure what happened to the society. The suspicion is that as people moved away or aged and died, the connection was lost. Everybody assumed somebody else was taking care of the place, said Seele, who lives in New York. After a while, fewer and fewer people even knew it was there. The last burial was some 20 years ago. Charles Von Seele was a stowaway immigrant in the 1800s who bought land on the outskirts of Charleston. According to the stories Parnessa Seele heard growing up, Martha Seele might have been a slave sold with one of those properties. "He bought land on James Island, got slaves and fell in love with one," she said. Martha was freed at 15 years old. They married as well as they could. The laws didn't recognize the interracial marriage at the time Charles died, and the will left their Lincolnville farm "To my faithful friend, housekeeper, Marhta Seele." The graveyard was deeded to the society out of that farmland, by the couple's daughter, Mariah Edens. A century later, the county delinquent tax sale notices were sent to "Bible Sojourn Society, Lincoln Avenue, Lincolnville." The first, in 1994 appears to have been signed by a Dorothy Simmon, but no one in town has heard of her. The final notice was returned, unable to be forwarded. The graveyard now is a tangle in the woods. "I can't believe this," said Edna Wilson, Polk's daughter, blinking back tears as she walked among the vines and graves. "I mean, this was a cemetery." Jones Family North Main Street in Summerville soon will be widened to 10 lanes at a revamped Interstate 26 interchange. A new entrance road will be built to a Wal-Mart doubling in size. A mammoth mall is in the works across the street. More shops and restaurants are opening. More motels are going up. In the middle of it are five old graves. The Jones Family Cemetery is a toehold on the past in a blast of suburban commerce. It will stay put, if William Muckenfuss has his way. The five graves lie in a thatch of trees at the North Main Market entrance road near Hardees. That road was laid around the graves after a concerted effort was made to move them. A T-shirt vendor alongside the graves was moved for the new entrance road. The graves aren't going anywhere. In the late 1980s and earlier 1990s, first Berkeley County, then the town of Summerville tried to declare the graves abandoned, in order to move them. The town annexed the property, which is in Berkeley County, in 1986. The developer, the late W. W. Walker, offered to pay for the relocation. Muckenfuss and more than 30 other family members said no. The graveyard holds the Rev. M. A. and Susan B. Jones, who set it aside for family plots on the 67 acre farm they owned in the early 1900s. The land was sold but still farmed until the center was built in the 1980s. Muckenfuss didn't know the graves were there until a family member told him of the effort to relocate. He has led the family's resistance. Jones was his grandfather. "Have you ever felt like something was driving you into (doing) something and you don't know what it is?" he said. "I prayed to God to save those graves." Muckenfuss said he asked Walker about setting aside the graveyard as a park amid a large median strip between an entrance and exit road. Walker offered to pay to relocate the graves to an established cemetery, said W.W. Walker Jr, his son. The younger Walker said that if someone had made that kind of offer to him, "I would have done it, if I had somebody pay to give my family peace and quiet versus a busy intersection," he said. The family's resistance has nothing to do with money, Muckenfuss said. "I've been handed double barrels by both sides, and it's cost me a lot of money," he said. "If they touch that land, I guess they're in for a real awakening." Few of the family involved in the effort still live in Charleston. They're scattered across the Southeast. Muckenfuss, who lives in Atlanta, is now 82 years old. He is adamant. His youngest daughter will take up the fight if he can't, he said. The town asked Muckenfuss in 1997 for permission to clean up the site and re-work its borders. Muckenfuss said no. "It is our fervent desire that the property in question be left in its current state," he wrote. The state Transportation Department's plans to rework the Wal-Mart entrance take the curb and gutter "just past the corner post of the chain link fence" but not onto the graveyard, said Steve Morgan of DOT. He concedes that the widening might have been planned to avoid the cemetery. "I don't want to stand in front of progress. But I don't want progress to step on me," Muckenfuss said. He's not bothered by the commercial hub grown up around the cemetery. The cemetery doesn't bother the development, he said. "It really doesn't hurt it a bit. It could really be fixed up right," he said. "As far as moving those graves, I can't do it." Bo Peterson covers Summerville, Lincolnville and Dorchester County. Contact him by e-mail at bopete@postandcourier.com or at 843-745-5852.

You may have this info, but Mom's papers have John Otis born around 1776 in Bedford (I know county lines changed in 1700's and may have involved same area using different county names depending on year) Papers have John Otis with 2 wives and 10 children. 1st child was Ransome by 1st wife and other 9 children were William, Silas, Otis, Wythe H., Catherine, Mildred, Julia Ann, Elizabeth, and Giles. Papers have children and grandchildren of Ransome and children of William and Silas listed as James Silas. Rosemary

Meredith: Yes, I am Kate's grandson. She married George Streiff in Newton, Kansas and they lived in Wichita, Kansas where my father, Patrick Harris Streiff was born and he also married there and had his own family including me. I currently live in Kansas City, Kansas. Are you related to Kate? Look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to e-mail me at pdstreiff@email.com

Would anyone have information about the following Macon County marriage? OWEN BAXTER MYERS AND JEWELL LAVINA TERRELL? They were married on 17 Sept 1925 Thank you for any information you have. I have enjoyed reading from the site for some time. However, this is the first time I have made an inquiry. Not sure of the format. If there is a better way to inquire for info let me know/ Thanks Joe Brown Indianapolis, In

I am looking for information on James Johnson and Sally Bruce who were married in 1828 in Sumner Co, Tn. need names of ancestors on both sides. Please if you have any knowledge of these people in records of any kind I would like to know about it. I will share what I have of their daughters genealogy. Shirley Shouse

Are you related to Kate Harris who married George Streiff, I think, in MO?

Regrading the 1810 census, there is an excellent book, "The Reconstructed 1810 Census of Tennessee" by Charles A. Sherrill that is a substitute for that census. Mr. Sherrill used tax lists, court minutes, church records, wills, deeds, and other sources from 1809 to 1811 to create the list. In all, there are 61 different sources cited. It is a valuable tool in lieu of the census. J. Pruett Nashville

According to "The Census Book" by William Dollarhide the 1810 census records as a whole were not burned. Washington was burned by the British in 1814, but the only records that would have been there at the time were the 1810 District of Columbia census schedules. The original census schedules from 1790 until 1820 had been stored in district courts throughout the country until a law was passed in 1830 requiring them to be sent to Washington. At that time, many of the records were not returned or had already been lost by the various states. The first census records available in Tennessee according to another book "Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920" was the 1810 schedules for Rutherford County and part of Grainger County. Then in 1820, only records from middle Tennessee counties exist, which had been stored in Nashville. Eastern Tennessee records that were stored in Knoxville were lost and not returned in 1830 when the law was passed. Lisa

Thanks everyone for the info on the Censuses. I always learn from this e-mail list. Pam Vick

This site has information and help on SirCam. http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2001-22.html Ladye Jane Hunter

I have an Estelle Tarrents in my family line. B: 08-17-1908, D: 01-21-1995 in Simpson Co, KY. Married to Marshall Frank Clouse. Let me know if you come across this name in your family research.

http://www.linkline.com/personal/xymox/fraud/fraud223.htm searching for Center, Centers, Senter, Hale, White, Newmeyer, Baumeier, Bogema. Sometimes you must Remember, Doing genealogy is like trying to herd cats .Pauline BaumeierGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

Whoever wrote "The Story Tellers" put into words exactly how I feel- thank you for posting it. Sharon __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/

Looking for any information or links to a Jarrett Ross. I believe his father may have been John Ross. Jarrett was born sometime around 1830. I would appreciate any information.

----- Original Message ----- From: <CBStark@aol.com> To: <TNSUMNER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 4:24 PM Subject: Re: [TNSUMNER] Re: 1810 Census If you check Southeastern Genealogy Online at http://www.segenealogy.com/sgo03_tn.htm you will find that: Federal censuses for TN for 1790 and 1800 were lost;Only Grainger and Rutherford Cos. are extant for 1810; only 26 counties in middle and west TN have 1820 census records (they are listed); all counties from 1830 thru 1880 are extant; the 1890 census was lost; and all counties from 1900 thru 1920 are extant, Similar census record availability can be found at this site for all SE states. Richard A. Bain dickbain@charter.net

In a message dated 07/27/2001 2:47:31 PM Central Daylight Time, thecatlady@mindspring.com writes: > My understanding is that the White House was burned in 1810 but not > other Federal buildings. _The Source, A Guidebook of American Genealogy_ by Szucs and Luebking and published by Ancestry states that the 1790 census "..... schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia were burned during the War of 1812....." (pg 110). This reference says nothing about the censuses for Tennessee in 1800 and 1810, but it was my understanding that they were burned when the British burned Washington. Don't know where I heard that, but.......... Joyce

Am trying to locate descendants of David (1787-1852) & Elizabeth "Besty" Butterworth (1788 - 1863) Talley. They came to Sumner County from Campbell County, VA in early 1800s. They latter moved into Davidson County where they were living at their deaths. These are believed to be their children: Jerome, Benjamine, AC & David C. Talley and daughters Constantia Adelaid Hendershott, Elizabeth Josephine Bailey, Sarah Hoffa & Elizabeth Hunter. Any information or leads appreciated. Can contact me at matr48@aol.com. Thanks Margie Talley Roberts.

William Leasor\Leaser married my great grandmother Elizabeth FLANDERS, 1858 IN Sumner Co. Tenn. does anyone connect to this family,they later went to Hardin Co.Ky.

Actually the 1890 census didn't get burned.....its was destroyed by water damage that occurred when Firemen attempted to put out the fire in the building where it was stored. More info at http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/1890cen1.html TNGENWEB's Census info site http://www.tngenweb.org/cntylinks/tutorial.html According to the above site Rutherford Co. and parts of Grainger are all the schedules that survive for 1810 US Census of TN. Hope this helps Marie Beckman

I have Harriett O. Woodall born 1844 Alabama daughter of Drury from 1800 Pendleton District, Anderson county, SOuth Carolina died 1850 Oktibbeha county, Mississippi son of WIlliam Jones born 1798-1860 I am ver interested in Knowing More about Harriett if possible