The burial location indicated in the
Delaware Death records is usually clearly listed as 'Mount Olive'. In the
earliest records - some locations are indicated as rough
street addresses.
In
earlier records, though, various references appear. Even though these are
alternate names, at least one person has been identified in Mount
Olive where the burial location is indicated by a different name or
description.
Notes from 'The
Churches of Delaware' by Frank R. Zebley.
Mother
A. U. M. P. Church is located at 819 French St. Peter Spencer originally was a
member of Asbury Church. The church was built in 1813, rebuilt in 1827 and
enlarged in 1842. There is a small graveyard to the rear of the church. Union
American M. E. Church, colored, is located at 1206 French St. There is a
graveyard to the rear of the church. St. Peter's U. M. P. Church, colored. The
first services of this church were held in the colored cemetery on Union St.,
near Front St. They purchased a lot at 2nd and Union Sts.
There was a caretakers house on the property from 1914 until after 1939.
Undoubtedly both burial records and plot maps were kept at that time. If anyone
knows of the existence of these records and would like to help reconstruct the
cemetery records, please contact me.
Undertakers who served families at St. Peters and Mount Olive include:
L. W. Palmer
Joseph Bass
S.V.B. Carty
Wm. E Grinnage
Annie Brierly
Ed R Bell
Wm. E Grey
Wm Gumby
Pre-1850
Extracts
of the earliest state-wide Delaware death records which mention
African-Americans (including enslaved persons) has been included to assist in
family history research. These earliest records do not reference cemeteries by
name. Several persons mentioned in this file do have relatives buried in St.
Peters. The burials marked 'unrecorded' in these pages may refer to the 'Affr
Cem' found on the 1868 county map - the marked site would be close to the Front
and Union St location of the later St. Peters and Union cemeteries. The
unrecorded burials may also be on King Street. By 1861, further burials at the
site of Peter Spencer's grave were banned by city ordinance.
The
earliest recorded burials in Wilmington (1847ff) are found on film 005190436
(accessible through www.familysearch.org). Although no place of burial is
recorded, these entries are included with the note 'early burial'. Active known
burial grounds at that time were the churches downtown, including Peter Spencer
plaza (African Union); a small cemetery at 2nd and Tatnall and the African
cemetery indicated at the edge of Wilmington in the 1868 Beers New Castle
County map.
http://nc-chap.org/chap/beers.php
1861
- Several
African-American cemeteries, close to churches, are active in Wilmington prior to
1861, when this ordinance was enacted. Despite the ordinance, burials continued
at several sites, most notably at 12th and French. An ‘Affr
Cem’ is indicated outside the Wilmington city limits. Mt. Zion and St.
Peters were both outside the city limits at the time of their establishment.
1868
- A map of Christiana -
Centerville shows three dots, apparently labeled as Aff. Cem - one west of
Front and Union and two east of Front and Union; south of Pyle's property. If the dots represent early cemeteries
where St. Peters and Ezion grew; was there a cemetery west of Front and Union?
View and Enlarge this map to see the church
locations (12th and French, 10th and King)
1870 - St. Peters - an historic moment
St. Peter's African
Union Methodist Protestant Church, was founded by Rev.E. H. Chippey who
preached on a platform in a graveyard on Union street and built their first
church in 1870. (History of the State of Delaware, vol 2, pg 35e, pg 793. Henry
Clay Conrad - available at www.ebooksread.com)
Death Records in the period 1870 - 1890 mention burial locations: St. Peters
(included in this site); Front and Union (included in this site); Union / Old
Union at 12th and French (included in this site); Ezion (2nd and Union -
included in this site); Mt. Zion; Baptist Cemetery (10th and King)
1870 Wilmington City Directory - No specific African-American cemeteries are
mentioned. Churches include: African Union, French above 8th; Union American,
French above 12th; E. Zion, 9th and French; Wesleyan Union, Poplar above 5th
Cemeteries which appear in the maps and city directories include
"old" Cathedral (also called St. Peter's RC), Wilmington and Brandywine,
Cathedral, Old Swedes and Riverview.
By 1870, the Secretary of War recorded 3 veterans' burials at St. Peters.
From 1872 -
1885, burials appear at the cemetery identified as '12th and French', 'Old
Union' and 'Old AUMP'. The Lockman family, for example, has members
buried in Union Cemetery, St. Peters Cemetery and Mount Olive. Other early
cemeteries of interest for African-American genealogy include the Baptist
cemetery at 10th and King St; Delaware City, Pigeon Run, Old Cathedral, Wilmington
and Brandywine, Mt. Zion, Silverbrook and the public burials grounds (these
include New Castle County Cemetery, Poor House, Alms House and Potters Field).
1879/80 Wilmington
City Directory
Union
American, 12th above French. The burial ground identified as 'Old Union' is
located at 12th and French.
No specific mention
of African-American cemeteries appears.
Churches mentioned
include:
Union American, French above 12th
Mount Olive Chapel, Poplar above 5th
St. Peters Chapel, Second above Union
Ezion M.E. Church, Ninth and French
African Union, French above 8th - this is the original cemetery where Peter
Spencer was buried. Referred to as AU Churchyard in burial records.
819 French St
1879
Wilmington City Directory
St. Peter's Chapel. 2nd above
Union. St.
The location of St. Peter's cemetery is refered to as '2nd and Union' or 'Front
and Union', but is not mentioned in the city directory
Between 1885 and
1895, the most active cemeteries in the Wilmington area include St. Peters,
Union, Ezion, old Baptist and Mount Zion. After 1895, Mount Zion becomes the
most active cemetery; followed by St. Peters. No further mention in the records
appears for Union, old Union or Ezion. Although other cemeteries (Old Swedes,
Wilmington and Brandywine, old Cathedral, Cathedral) are shown in Wilmington-area
maps (city directories or local play maps) - none of the African-American
cemeteries are shown on any historic map located so far. The 1868 map of
Christiana district shows 3 small dots labeled as 'Aff Cem' on the city line.
1884
Cemeteries named
in the Wilmington area death records include:
St. Peters (Front and Union, 2nd and Union)
Mt. Zion
Union or Old Union (12th and French)
Baptist (10th and King)
Ezion
1884 Wilmington
City Directory
St.
Peter's Cemetery - located between Front and Second; and Union and Pyle
Most African-American cemeteries do not appear in the city directory.
Ezion Cemetery - burial ground of the Ezion M.E. Church. Located between 2nd
and 3rd and Union and Pyle's Lane
1890 Wilmington City
Directory
Ezion Cemetery -
Burial ground of Ezion M.E. Church, located between 2nd and 3rd and Union and
Pyle's Lane
No mention of St. Peters or Union Cemetery
1895 Wilmington City
Directory
Ezion Cemetery -
Burial ground of Ezion M.E. Church, located between 2nd and 3rd and Union and
Pyle's Lane
No mention of St. Peters or Union Cemetery
1895 map
of Wilmington - although several African-American cemeteries were active, they
are not noted on this historic map. Approximate locations are shown:
Front, Union, 2nd, 3rd
French above
12th, King above 10th
1898/99
Wilmington City Directory
UNION
(colored) - West of Union on Pyles lane from Lancaster to Second St. (no
reference to St. Peters)
'Union
Cemetery' may refer to either the cemetery located on French above 12th or St.
Peters – but burials at 12th and French are often
listed as ‘Old Union’.
(and some
stones have been located in Mt. Olive from burials listed as 'Union' cemetery.
1898/99 Wilmington
City Directory
EZION
cemetery - Burial Ground of Ezion M.E. Church; located between Second and
Third; and Union and Pyle's Lane.
1899 - 1914
The first
burial mentioned in a death notice was 1900, that of Daniel Hamilton.
Early burials
Bayard, Frederick M d
1 Jul 1901 aged 5m
Loper, Rita d 8 Nov 1901 aged 17y
Loper, Elmer d 22 Jul
1902 aged 9m
Both Mount Olive and
St. Peters are active, although is appears St. Peters was used for infants. In
burial records between 1899 and 1914, both St. Peters and Mount Olive are named
as active cemeteries. References to 'old Union' cemetery (12th and French) are
not found.
1905 Wilmington City
Directory
Ezion Cemetery -
located between 2nd and 3rd and Union and Pyles' Lane.
Union (colored) - West of Union on Grant, from Lancaster Ave to 2nd St
1906
Wilmington Star, 26
Apr 1906 ‘Conditions at Saint Peters Cemetery’
The report was to the
effect that for years the cemetery has been full and that no more permits for
internments should be given to any undertaker. The report declared that the law
has been grossly violated as the graves in some instances have been dug only
two feet deep. “The colored people have a new cemetery beyond Silverbrook
and no more internments ought to be tolerated in St. Peters cemetery”
1909 –
Unidentified Cemetery discovered on W. Second St.
News-Journal,
Wilmington DE 08 Jan 1909 pg 5 - Had struck a colored Cemetery, the existence of
which many had forgotten.
While some colored
men in the employ of Humphrey Littelpage, a contracting cellar digger, were
digging and excavations for a cellar in the rear of the buildings at No 305 and
307 West Second street this morning, they unearthed several human skeletons and
also parts of several coffins. The men who were doing the digging were startled
when they came across the articles, as they thought that there may have been a
murder and the victims buried there. The articles found were three human
skulls, two or three shin bones and some hip bones, besides the decayed parts
of two or three coffins.
All the bones were
badly decayed, showing they had been in the ground a long time. While the men
were digging up the skeletons an old resident of that section of the city who
was passing stopped and upon seeing the bones and parts of coffins, he stated
that about a half a century ago a colored church and cemetery were located
there and the cemetery was where the skeletons were found. This statement mad
the diggers feel much easier and they went back to their work, keeping a watch
for more bones. The bones were piled up and the coroner will be notified, so
that he can make an investigation of the matter and have the bones removed.
1910 Wilmington City
Directory
Ezion Cemetery -
located between 2nd and 3rd and Union and Pyles' Lane.
Union (colored) - West of Union on Grant, from Lancaster Ave to 2nd St
The
Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware) 20 Sep 1910, Pg 12
City Council members,
accompanied by members of the local Board of Health, will make an inspection of
the cemeteries next Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock.
The cemetery which is
bounded by Lancaster Avenue, Second Street, Grant Avenue and which lays against
the rear of eleven hourses in Anderson’s Row, is owned by the A.U. Church
in French Street between Eighth and Ninth streets; know as St. Peters. This
cemetery is used for burying infants but the company owning it also owns Mt.
Olive Cemetery, which is about two miles from the city on Lancaster turnpike.
Mt. Zion cemetery,
which is owned by Ezion Methodist church, is on the west side of Second Street,
between Union Street and Grant Avenue; between Union Street and Grant
Avenue. The avenue runs along the
extreme western end of the land to old Cedar Grove lane, which is about 100
feet east of third street.
Besides those who
complained of the odor, other complained against the disorder of the occupants
of Anderson’s Row, which according to the neighbors, is most
disagreeable. This appears to be at its zenith every Saturday night.
The Morning News
(Wilmington, Delaware)
24 Sep
1910, Sat, Page 1
The lines of the two
blocks show, according to records at the City Registry Bureau, an area of
158,259 square feet, divided as follows: 93,833 square feet in the block
bounded by Second Street, Third Street, Union Street and Grant Avenue. Of this
tract, 48,729 square feet is owned by the Zion cemetery, whose lands run north
of Second street in the land of William Boyd, which contains 50,105 sq feet.
The deed of the land owned by the Zion cemetery calls for a strip along Union
Street, which is owned by the Old Company Road. This strip, which is very
small, lays but a few feet back from thebuilding line. The Mon Company also
owns part of the bed of Grant Avenue and some land on the west side of Grant
Avenue which totals to about 15,300 square feet. The St. Peters cemetery owns,
according to the records, about 63,000 square feet in the block running along
Lancaster Avenue, Grant Avenue, Second Street and in the rear of
Anderson’s Row. This row, which is owned by Helen Anderson, contains
22,800 square feet and on it are erected the eleven buildings known as
Anderson’s Row in Union Street, north of Lancaster Avenue; along with a
blacksmith shop on the corner, a small one-story store on Lancaster Avenue
besides the adjoining house.
1911 – City
Council
The Morning News
(Wilmington, Delaware) 27 Jan 1911, Fri, Pages 1& 2
From a demand for $20,000
to a sum hardly more than nominal is the drop taken by the trustees of the
cemetery of the African Union church at Front and Union Street in the
negotiations that have been going on for some time … of the city
acquiring the cemetery land to be converted into park purposes or to be sold in
order to abate an alleged nuisance.
The following
proposal was submitted to the trustees of the Mount Ezion and St. Peter;s
cemeteries for their consideration. That the trustees make a proposaition of
the sum for which they can secure a tract, say five acres, for a new cemetery,
including the question of removal of bodies; the city to take the old cemetery
and agree to turn over to the cemetery trustees any equity aquired by the city
by sale of same within a given period, say five years from the date of the
agreement.
Wilmington Del Jan
10, 1911. As counsel for Mount Zion Cemetery Association I submit their offer
to sell the city their land at Second and Union Street, now used as a cemetery.
The city to pay my clietns $25,000, furnish them with five acres of land on the
Lancaster Turnpike outside of Wilmington adjoining a cemetery alongside of the
Peoples farm, and thereupon my clients will remove all bodies and convery their
land at Second and Union Streets, to the city. George Lodge
Wilmington Del Jan 12
1911 Referring to the cemetery of the African Union Church, situate on
Lancaster Avenue, north of Union street in this city, I beg to advise you that
my clients have found it difficult to procure satisfactory bis for the removal
of the bodies buried in the said cemetery, and have found that such removal
will be much more expensive than anticipated. However they authorize me to
offer their entire cemetery to the city for the sum of $20,000, for which price
they will purchase a new cemetery outside the city and will bear the cost of
removing and reinterring the bodies now buried in the present cemetery.
On Jan 18, 1911 the
committee held a meeting with A.G.B. Anderson, who owns several properties at
Lancaster Avenue and Union Street ; who made the following proposition –
to dispose of his entire holds for the amount of $22,000.
1914 - Cemetery Move
The Evening Journal
(Wilmington, Delaware) · Thu, May 21, 1914 · Page 9
St. Peter’s
colored cemetery at Second and Union Streets, is to be abandoned and the bodies
removed to another cemetery….The cemetery is controlled by the trustees
of the African Union Church of this city, and they intend to remove the bodies
in the cemetery to the Mt. Olive cemetery, west of Silverbrook Cemetery and
outside the city limits.
Zion cemetery, which is
in the same vicinity, will not be removed. Johnathan Chippy is chairman of the
board of trustees. The cemetery is about 60 years old.
General Contractor
Gilpin Ave
May 26 1914
Union Church of African Members
I will move all the bodies of the graves of St Peters Cemerty at Front and
Union Sts and bury them in Mt. Olive Cemetery, for the sum of two thousand four
hundred and fifty dollars.
William Campbell
Contracts dated Jun 1914 - work to be completed within four months. Plain pine
boxes were to be provided if original coffins not intact; all headstones,
footstones, markers and ornaments to be moved and re-interred
St. Peters and Ezion were adjacent cemeteries.
It is possible that some burials from Ezion were re-interred in Mount Olive at
that time.
1919 Wilmington City
Directory
Ezion
Cemetery - located between 2nd and 3rd and Union and Pyles' Lane.
Union (colored) - West of Union on Grant, from Lancaster Ave to 2nd St
The city directory still lists both cemeteries at these locations.
1919 - Removal of
Ezion Cemetery
The cemetery at 2nd and
Union (called Ezion, Union, and sometimes Zion in the early death records) was
sold and the burials transferred to the new Mount Zion cemetery. The Morning
News (Wilmington, DE) 26 Oct 1918 page 8. Bids have been advertized for by
William E Grinnage for the removal of several hundred bodies from the Negro
Burying ground at Second and Union St. The cemetery was established about 75
years ago. Some of the stones in the cemetery bear dates as early as 1843.
New Mt Zion cemetery on the Lancaster Pike adjoining the P & R Railway at
Silverbrook, a burial ground exclusively for Negroes is now finished.
The Evening Journal
(Wilmington, Delaware) 20 Sep 1919 Sat pg 8
Bids have been
advertised for by William E Grinnage the undertakes for the removal of several
hundred bodies from the Negro buying ground at Second and Union Streets. This
cemetery contains over an acre, and is so filled with bodies that no more can
be accommodated. The cemetery was established about 75 years ago. Some of the
stones bear dates as early as 1843.
There is no possible
way of learning how many bodies have been buried at the cemetery as no definite
records have been kept and what records have been preserved through the years
are not available. The bodies are to be removed from their present location to
the Negro cemetery, on the west side of the Philadelphia and Reading railroad
tracks along the Lancaster turnpike.
1921 –
Completion of Mt. Zion
The Evening Journal
(Wilmington, Delaware) 12 Sep 1921, Mon, Page 6
New Mt Zion Cemetery,
on the Lancaster Pike adjoining the the P&R Railway at Silverbrook, a
burial ground exclusively for Negroes is now finished and is a source of pride to
those who projected it and to colored residents in general.
They found a place is
1914, bought it, secured the deed and all necessary papers that year. They went
to work to build the cemetery. They cleared off the rubbish, pulled down some
of the hills, filled up gullies and low places, built fences, laid out
driveways and walks; planted trees and dug out a ditch. The next thing was to
remove the dead from the old to the new cemetery, which was attended with much
difficulty. The old graves were nearly filled with water and made it very
tedious.
1938 The Motorists
Green Book
Several residents of
Mount Olive ran Tourist Homes in their houses, and were mentioned in the Green
Book. (NYPL)
1939 - WPA (Works Progess
Administration)
Surveys
are made of Mount Olive Cemetery (459 stones and plots identified) and old
Union Cemetery (5 stones identified)
BAPTIST - An African-American burial ground was located on King St. above 10th.
It appears in records 1881 - 1890. It is referred to as 'Baptist Burying
Ground' (col).
Mount
Olive appears in death records from about 1899 to 1984. Some burial records are
unclear - two places of burial appear on this death record
NOTES:
According to local neighbors, many coffins were found during the construction
of Bancroft Parkway. In 1972, a supermarket was renovated at 2nd and Union, and
additional burials were discovered during the renovation. In 1988-89, the old
Union Cemetery at 12th and French was moved during construction of the MBNA
complex downtown.
1965
1965 is
the last year a significant number of burials occur at Mount Olive. Many family
members are buried in Mount Zion and Silverbrook Cemetery (close by) from 1969
onwards.
Does
anyone know the history on this? Burials seem to resume ca. 1972.
1996
MBNA Construction
The
Mother UAME Church Cemetery: A Late Nineteenth Century Black Urban Burial
Population During the Sununer of 1996, MAAR Associates, Inc. (MAl), was asked
to undertake the excavation and removal of burials at a documented cemetery
located on French street in the downtown area of Wilmington, Delaware. The
cemetery property, associated with the AD. 1853 Mother UAME Church, was
scheduled to become the site of an eight to twelve story MBNA America office
tower, and the owners, working with the Church and the Delaware Historic
Preservation Office, contracted with MAl to determine the limits of, removal,
and analysis of the contents of the original cemetery tract. To assist in the management
of the project, representatives of the client (both MBNA and the Mother UAME
Church) and an Osteological Advisory Committee were established. An MAl
research team conducted excavations on a six day-a-week basis in order to
complete the burial removals within the allotted two months. During this period
MAl completed the identification, definition, recording, and removal of more
than 260 graves, including coffins, crypts, items of clothing, and grave
furniture. The next six months were spent in the osteological IS study of the
burial population, in artifact analysis, and in the interpretation of funeral
practices and the cemetery as a whole. Comprehensive project reports have since
been published.
Archeology Report
The News Journal (Wilmington,
Delaware) 16 Jun 1996 Sunday pg 1
For more
than a century, the oldest among them had lain in rest in the soil behind
Mother Union American Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington. But because the
church property – and the adjoining cemetery – is being sold to
MBNA Corp, the ornately etched coffins and fragile remains of 347 people were
painstakingly raised to the surface in May in preparation for re-interment
elsewhere in the fall. The partially paved-over cemetery bounded by 12th
and French St.
Two bishops
have been identified, including the remains of the Right Rev Edward Williams,
the churches first pastor and first bishop of the denomination. He died in
1894, his wife in 1908. There were also graves dating back as far 1854, three
years after the church was organized. The most recent burial site was 1908.
Only 16 names, some partial, have been found on grave plaques. The remains will
be turned over to the church for re-burial on the grounds of it’s sister
congregation, Mount Pisgah UAME church in Summit Bridge in November. At some
point between the late 1940s and early 1950s, the cemetery was sold by the
church. The cemetery was one of two ‘Spencer’ burial grounds on
church properties that grew out of a religious movement begun in 1813 by Peter
Spencer.
On
Find-a-Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2188424
////////////////////////////////////////////
Never scrub. scour, scrape or use any
brushes or other harsh tools on a lichen-darkened stone. These can be very
damaging to a stone’s surface. Enoch
Jefferson, USCT. He enlisted in the US Navy in NY Nov 1863 - 5'2", scar on
chin. waterman. He had originally enlisted under an alias, Samuel Jefferson
(6th Regiment, Delaware Infantry Co F), but then joined the Navy. He received a
pension for his service; as did his wife. The family appears on the 1880 census
on DuPont St in Wilmington (Florence is 9 in 1880, Enoch works in a brickyard).
6 month time lapse. I sprayed them with D/2. Walked away. (I flinch when I see
videos of well-meaning and poorly-informed people scrubbing tombstones... they
are destroying them). Before / after
Information
on D/2 – it’s expensive, but proper care is critical.
http://d2bio.com/
(available
from many sources)
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Mitsawokett of Delaware
Free African Americans
Memories of Old Wilmington
