Wrapping it Up

This past week, we finished up the data collecting portion of the project. Before anything, I would like to take a moment and thank all of the volunteers for their help with this project. Without them, I probably would not have done half of what we accomplished by now. You guys are awesome! :)

Early in the week, we visited J.S. Stone Memorial Cemetery in Melbourne. This cemetery is home to the graves of Melbourne's earliest African American pioneers. Most of the graves are vaulted and many of them unmarked. A vast majority are in need of some form of maintenance. Many of the graves are extremely worn, damaged, and covered in biological growth. Lawn maintenance is a huge issue in this cemetery, with grass towering over headstones and weeds almost as tall as I am. After almost five hours of data recording over a period of two days, we were able to gather the data needed on all 878 graves.

It seems as though someone attempted to do something about the
overgrown grass but didn't quite finish the job. 

There were over fifty graves hiding in the overgrown grass and weeds.

Another hidden grave

Graves completely encompassed in weeds

Vaulted grave with a weathered granite headstone

A tiny grave being damaged by tree roots

Unique pebble decoration on one of the unmarked vaults

Two extremely weathered upright headstones. The one on the left is made
of marble while the one on the right is concrete.

This headstone is not only damaged and illegible, but it has
been moved from its original location and propped up
against a tree. We will never know who this headstone
belonged to or where its grave is located.  

Beautiful family plot. These are some of the very few graves that are well
maintained in this cemetery.

Another beautifully maintained grave adorned by grave
articles.

Homemade concrete headstone

Just down the street from J.S. Stone Memorial Cemetery is another historic African American cemetery: Line Street Cemetery. This part of Melbourne used to be known as Crane Creek Heights. Line Street cemetery was established in 1901 and was the second African American cemetery in Melbourne, the first being the cemetery located at the old Macedonia Baptist Church building nearby. Sadly, there is nothing left of that cemetery. Line Street Cemetery is home to thirteen graves, most of which have upright markers that are made of marble. The cemetery is in decent shape, probably because it is surrounded by a 6ft chain link fence that is locked at all times. Thankfully, the City of Melbourne, its current owner, was nice enough to grant me access to the cemetery.

Sign at the cemetery's entrance

View from the street, looking north

View of the cemetery, facing south.

This marble marker was initially upright, but was somehow knocked over
and broken. It is now laying flat and embedded concrete.

Upright marble marker from 1913.

Our last stop was Georgiana Cemetery in Merritt Island. This cemetery is absolutely beautiful and has quite an interesting history. Established in 1878, it is home to many of the area's earliest Caucasian pioneers.

Looking into the cemetery from the entrance

 The oldest grave is that of a man named Edwin Fish, who died in 1878.

Upright marble headstone of Edwin Fish

The most intriguing grave, that is, historically, is that of a young woman named Ethel Allen. Most locals are familiar with the story of her gruesome murder, which took place in the fall of 1934. Her killer was never found and her body was laid to rest in Georgiana Cemetery. For those of you that are curious, here is a great blog entry written by genealogist Michael Boonstra of the Central Brevard Library and Reference Center. It provides a detailed description on the story of Ethel Allen and her mysterious death.

Ethel Allen's grave (flat, homemade concrete marker)

Another sad story is that of the Smith sisters. The three girls, ages six, eight and nine, drowned in the Banana River on June 14, 1916. Here is another great blog entry by genealogist Michael Boonstra which tells the story of the Smith sisters. Sadly, the beautiful marble headstone that they share was damaged and is now broken in half.

Grave of Myrtle, Mary and Martha Smith

Here is another interesting grave marker. It belongs to a woman named Ruth Jane De La Matyr Chester, who died in 1901. Originally from New York, Mrs. Chester moved to Brevard County after losing her husband George in 1936.

Mrs. Chester's unique grave marker, a large boulder

Upright marble marker from 1940

Beautiful zinc marker

No, not THAT Edward Cullen. (upright granite marker)

A great shot of some of the newer markers.

Handmade concrete markers 

This marker is made of slate. It is the only one of its kind that I have seen
in the ten cemeteries I visited.

A tree grew right through this grave. Truly an unbelievable sight!

So that about wraps up the data collecting portion of my project. I had a lot of fun visiting the different cemeteries and viewing firsthand all of the differences between the sites. Next on my to do list: organizing all of my data! This upcoming week, I will be analyzing my data more in depth and breaking down statistics regarding grave markers and the level of maintenance for each cemetery. I hope everyone is as anxious to see the results as I am!

Until next week,

Lareyne