Oakland receives grant to restore historic black cemetery

The town of Oakland is moving forward with a project that is nearly 20 years in the making. The Oakland Historic African-American Cemetery, established in 1882, will get the respect town officials say it deserves through a formal preservation and management plan.

A detailed report — written by representatives of Cardno, the town’s consultants to the cemetery project — was shared with and approved by the Oakland Town Commission at its July 12 meeting.

The report outlined an overview of what work has been done in the cemetery, located at 16789 W. Colonial Drive; all archival research conducted; an assessment of conditions to graves and markers with the help of ground-penetrating radar; and a management plan to remove invasive plants and stabilize and repair grave markers.

This plan was developed through a $25,000 matching historic preservation grant the town received last year.

Cardno started clearing invasive vegetation to allow the preservation and management plan to continue progressing.

Oakland also is receiving an African-American Cultural and Historical Grant of $85,000, which will allow the town to implement the management and preservation plan with a list of physical improvements. Construction projects will include completing the faux wrought-iron fence that runs along the front of the cemetery and adding brick pillars, clearing the remaining invasive trees and additional underbrush still present, building walking paths throughout the cemetery, replacing the PVC pipes and pin flags with actual stone markers, and adding wayfinding and informational signage.

In a letter of support included when the town applied for the grant last year, Betty Wade and Mona Phipps, two residents involved in the cemetery restoration, wrote: “Being able to document the history of the cemetery is significant to understanding the story of how our community was founded and the importance of our heritage.” “Seeing the cemetery restored would add a sense of pride while honoring those who are buried there.”

The cemetery is the resting place of freed slaves and families who migrated to West Orange County following emancipation. Burials were conducted from 1882, when the cemetery was established, until around 1950. The cemetery contains archaeologically significant African-American seashell and folk grave markers.

After the last burials, the cemetery was practically forgotten and allowed to become overgrown. The cemetery was “rediscovered” in 2004 when Florida’s Turnpike Authority officials were at the site to discuss road-widening plans. Ground-penetrating radar located the bodies, whose gravesites and headstones were buried under decades of weeds, downed trees, debris and neglect.

Nearly 20 years ago, Wade, an Oakland native who is a past cemetery board president and has family members buried there, embarked on a mission to uncover her community’s cemetery. She and former Town Commissioner Phipps, who also served on the cemetery board, as well as local church members, initiated cleanup efforts but that work stopped and the land again became overrun with weeds, tall grass and.

The town assumed responsibility of the cemetery from the cemetery board in 2014. A Boy Scout troop helped clean up the area and built a new entrance off Oakland Avenue.

LAID TO REST

There are 48 visible marked graves — 16 that can be identified — in the historic cemetery. According to the report, “the remaining graves have either a temporary marker, a footstone or fragment of a headstone or base with no indication of who is buried in the grave.”

The report stated this is a Christian cemetery, as indicated by spiritual headstone iconography and gravesite embellishments.

Each identified gravesite includes a detailed description of the headstone and site as well as information gathered about the deceased.

These are some of Oakland’s earliest residents.

Aaron Herriott was born in 1860 and died Feb. 7, 1925. His headstone includes an etched hand pointing upward, “a symbol that the soul has risen to the heavens,” according to the report. He was one of seven children who never had any of his own after marriage. He was a teamster and owned his house.

Joe Grady was born in 1856 and died 1919, and iconography indicates he was a Freemason. Two small flowers etched into the corners of the marker signify “eternal love, memory, youth, hope and sadness,” the report states. Grady worked as a day laborer, possibly for the nearby turpentine still. His cause of death was listed as pneumonia, but the report states the illness was likely the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Liza Fulton, born in 1872, died in 1919. Etched into her headstone are a hand pointing up and a wreath representing spiritual victory. She was a laundress and a cook.

James Arthur Wesley Walker was born in 1882 and died in 1918 from the Spanish Flu, one month after he registered for the World War I draft. He was a Freemason and a truck farm laborer. After his death, family members frequently decorated his grave with shards from butter dishes. It is believed that his son, George Walker, also is buried in the cemetery, but the location is unknown.

Robert Moses Johnson, born in 1899, died in 1918, likely of the influenza pandemic. His pedestal tombstone, although broken, is one of the more ornate and includes the inscription, “In loving remembrance of our dear one.” He was a farm laborer; his father, James Johnson, was the original cemetery trustee.

Bettie L. McFarlane was born in 1916 and died the next year. Hers is the oldest marked grave remaining in the cemetery.

Mabel Evelen Howell died in 1924 at the age of 4. Her stone includes a dove, the symbol of purity and the Holy Spirit.

Tom Davis and Della Davis shared a tombstone. He died in 1937, and she joined him in 1944. He was born around 1875, and she was born about eight years later. They married in 1922, and by 1930 they owned their own home, valued at $800.

Priscilla Taylor, born in 1905, died in 1923. It is likely her sister, Alma Taylor McNish, is buried in the cemetery as well.

Carry E. Coleman died in 1921 of acute Bright’s Disease (now known as nephritis). She was born in either 1913, according to her stone, or in 1899, according to her death certificate. She has one of the more ornate headstones, which also reads “Gone to a better land…” and “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

Mary Rich died in 1922, according to her headstone; but her death certificate lists her as Mary Ricks with a birth year of 1870 and a death date in 1923. She died of paralysis — likely a stroke.

Mallie J. Pierce Eason was born in 1915 and died in 1943, 12 days after her marriage to Lewis Emanuel Eason of Ocoee. Her father was original cemetery trustee Solomon Pierce.

Bulah Brunson was born in 1891 and died in 1927. Her headstone includes her name, dates of birth and death, and the word “Mother” in large block letters. Landscaping stones appeared to have been added later. She worked as a domestic. She died in a hospital of septic peritonitis from a pelvis abscess.

Mamie Lue Dixon died in 1925 of “malaria fever after childbirth.” She was born in 1899.

Joseph Johnson was born between 1887 and 1890 and died in 1939. He was drafted for service in World War I and also worked as a laborer for the ACL Railroad, a farm laborer and a clothes presser.

Willie James Crosky died in 1949, and his gravesite was identified by a simple metal marker. A portion of the paper set behind glass remains legible.

Janice Manigo was born around 1877 and died in 1934. Her metal marker was discovered in 2014 but was not found during this survey. She was a domestic servant and died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Richard Croskey was born around 1877. He was a laborer on a truck farm. He died in 1936 of cerebrospinal syphilis at the Orange County Home. The note on the undertaker’s card states the “family came for body… Done their own work.” The casket cost was $14.50.

Catherine Geddis’ grave was not found during this survey, but the report states an interview in 2004 with her granddaughter, Masrine Gibson, indicated she was buried in the cemetery. Gibson remembered periodically cleaning up the cemetery and enjoying a picnic lunch. She said her grandmother was a freeborn woman who was born in 1880 and died on her birthday in 1938.

Tom Leonard’s grave also was not found during this survey, but Gibson, his stepdaughter, remembered her last visit to the cemetery was for his burial in 1945. He was a sawmill laborer.

Many graves are marked with portions of headstones or metal markers, but those stones or paper inserts are now illegible, mostly because of weathering.

“Several other possible graves were marked with metal candle holders, a metal hook or metal flower holder,” according to the report. “One grave, identified in 2008, was marked by a Ford Model T axle, but that item was not found in this survey.”

MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDATIONS

The maintenance plan will include removing brush and vegetation at least once a month; assessing trees, trimming and removing dead limbs or trees prior to hurricane season, and inspecting the cemetery after each big storm; properly cleaning headstones; and conducting yearly condition assessments for grave markers and cemetery landscape.

An outline of grave market stabilization and repair was provided as well.

PVC pipes have been placed where bodies are known to be buried, even if there is no identification.

A memorial kiosk will be installed with a general history of the cemetery. Other possibilities include forming a cultural history and education tour of the town that would include the cemetery, identifying it as a bird-watching sanctuary, and creating a space for contemplative and spiritual reflection.

“Without the two of you we wouldn’t be where we are now,” Mayor Pro Tem Mike Satterfield told Wade and Phipps.

“We owe you a lot of gratitude,” Commissioner Sal Ramos told the women.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

• The commission approved phases 1B and 2 of the Briley Farms community on the north side of the town.

• The Town Commission approved the consent agenda, which included an agreement between Oakland Avenue Charter School and Discover After School for the financial management of the after-school clubs, a special exception to serve alcohol at the Jan. 28 Oakland Heritage Day event, the town manager’s report, and the 2022-23 calendar for the Arts & Heritage Center.

• The commission approved the annexation, Comp Plan amendment and rezoning of the property at 17500 Broad St. to allow the owners to connect to the town’s water system.

• Commissioners approved the voluntary annexation requested by London Central LLC and Dowlat Nankissore, who owns land at 17987 and 17979 State Road 438. He said he would like to build a nursing home on the property.

• Mayor Pro Tem Mike Satterfield read a proclamation honoring the contributions of Francine Coleman Postell, a lifelong resident of Oakland who served as mayor from 1987-89 and as a town commissioner in 1997-98.