The area is full of family cemeteries, many of which are lovingly maintained and easily identified with signs and decorative fences around their perimeters. But there are probably many small, family plots that have long been forgotten and now lie under weeds and thick forest growth. If you think you’ve stumbled upon such a spot, Melissa Timo at the state archaeology office wants to know about it.
Timo is a historic cemetery specialist and works with individuals across the state to confirm the sites of cemeteries. Timo and her team are constantly adding sites to their list, thanks to the help of ordinary citizens who make reports to her office.
She was back on the tri-weekly history segment of Town Talk Thursday with Bill Harris and Mark Pace and discussed how to report a long-lost cemetery and how to best care for stone grave markers to best protect and preserve them.
The reports seem to come in waves and, not coincidentally, she said usually happen in March and April, then again in October – those months when folks are likely to take leisurely hikes or are just spending more time outside.
It’s important to note that, according to North Carolina law, it’s illegal to disturb a cemetery, whether it’s on private or public land. And while there aren’t many requirements for a landowner to maintain a cemetery on his or her property, landowners cannot dump trash or pull up headstones or otherwise disturb the property.
Sometimes, Timo gets information about possible cemeteries gathered from oral histories or stories from individuals who have seen clusters of daffodils or stacks of fieldstone near a depression in the ground. Or there’s one really old cedar tree among a grove of much younger trees. It takes a little detective work and keen observation skills to identify cemeteries, especially when the “surface remains” – grave markers, headstones, etc – are not in view.
“I always say safer than sorry,” Timo said, “especially because we’re talking about the resting place of human beings.”
Contact Timo at 919.814.6265 or email her at Melissa.timo@ncdcr.gov to report a possible cemetery site or to learn more.