These cemetery flowers and carved grave stone mark an interesting (and obscure) part of Jackson County history. Several years ago, a number of descendants of former residents of the old "Jackson County Home" discovered that a large number of the people who had lived in the county home had been buried on a nearby hill, and the majority of tombstones and grave markers had disintegrated (or had never existed). Since no one knew who was buried there, a local church organization asked several "dowsers" to use their skills in locating graves. According to the dowsers, they found evidence of over one hundred unmarked graves. As a consequence, several church organizations have attempted to discover the names of the deceased and establish a memorial for them.
Friday, May 7, 2010
THE JACKSON COUNTY HOME CEMETERY
These cemetery flowers and carved grave stone mark an interesting (and obscure) part of Jackson County history. Several years ago, a number of descendants of former residents of the old "Jackson County Home" discovered that a large number of the people who had lived in the county home had been buried on a nearby hill, and the majority of tombstones and grave markers had disintegrated (or had never existed). Since no one knew who was buried there, a local church organization asked several "dowsers" to use their skills in locating graves. According to the dowsers, they found evidence of over one hundred unmarked graves. As a consequence, several church organizations have attempted to discover the names of the deceased and establish a memorial for them.
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Now here is another cemetery I would love to see and take some pictures of the markers.
ReplyDeleteWell, this one is out on the Webster Road. Traveling from Sylva to Cullowhee (107), you will turn at the intersection with the Ingles store and proceed about 200 yards to the entrance of the N.C.
ReplyDeleteTransportation office. If you will look down this entrance road, you will see the scene in the photograph above.
I wonder how many more "lost" or almost-lost cemeteries are in Jackson County.
ReplyDeleteThe Love family cemetery is still there, perched on the hill next to half-finished hotel across from Walmart. Sons of Confederate Veterans did devote a little effort to cleaning it up a couple of years ago, but it is suffering from neglect.
Members of the convict-labor-railroad-construction-crew that drowned near Dillsboro (in the 1800s) are buried above the Cowee Tunnel, so I'm told, but I'm guessing their graves would be be hard to find.
There must be other vanishing traces like these.
Yeah, every now and then, I ask someone who seems to know a lot of Dillsboro history where the graves are for those convicts who drowned. They always say "somewhere above the Cowee Tunnel." Maybe it is time for the dowsers again.
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