Our Heritage

Couple seeks to revive history by restoring local cemetery

By John Underwood john@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 11/2/16

 

BAY MINETTE — Some people might consider walking through a cemetery to be a chilling experience, but for others it is a step back in time, a way to relive history and discover …

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Our Heritage

Couple seeks to revive history by restoring local cemetery

Posted

BAY MINETTE — Some people might consider walking through a cemetery to be a chilling experience, but for others it is a step back in time, a way to relive history and discover one’s ancestry.

For one small cemetery, tucked well back in the woods off of County Road 112, just south of Perdido, that history has been lost for decades, but thanks to the efforts of one local couple, it is being brought back to life again.

For Sandra Baggett Williamson, the journey she and her husband Bill have been on for over a year to clear brush and uncover plots at the High Pine Cemetery is a personal one. Many of her relatives, including members of the Baggett, Flowers and other families, are buried there.

Many of the families who have long called North Baldwin home are represented in the small cemetery, which includes at least 100 graves on the 80-acre plot, possibly more.

“We’re uncovering new headstones every day,” said Bill Williamson. There are probably many more that are either unmarked or marked by a simple rock that make them hard to find.

Names such as Campbell, Cabaniss, Denton (the family who helped build the road leading up to the cemetery, which bears the name Denton-Ford Road), are among those buried at the cemetery, just to name a few. The cemetery includes World War I and World War II veterans and the owner of a logging company who helped shape the landscape of the area.

It also includes evidence of a time when medicine was scarce and medical advances were yet to come.

“There are so many young women in their teens and 20s buried here alongside their infant children,” Sandra Williamson says. “It can be heartbreaking to think about so many lives cut short.”

One of the oldest plots uncovered is that of Celia Smith Beck, Sandra Williamson’s great-great grandmother, who died in 1911. Other plots date back into the 1800s and early 1900s. Her great-grandfather, Seaborn Serrell Baggett, is also there, along with many members of his family.

The little cemetery and the community it represented is a part of the history of Baldwin County itself.

Tucked back in the woods off of County Road 112, the High Pine Community was built and populated by the logging workers who were prominent in the area and remain prominent in some areas of North Baldwin today.

For years, the community included several homes, a church and of course the cemetery, which was located behind the church.

“There is still evidence of where the church was, along with a couple of homes,” Bill Williamson said.

For whatever reason, however, the community began to dwindle until all that was left was the cemetery.

Local resident Dyson Flowers maintained the cemetery for years, cleaning it out, weeding and cutting the grass, keeping the plots clean of debris.

But as his health failed, Flowers began to frequent the cemetery less and less and when he died, there was no one to maintain it.

The Locke family owns the land now. Bevelon Devan Locke, who died in 1997, was the last person to be buried in the cemetery in 1997.

“By that time it was so grown up that they were barely able to get in here,” Bill Williamson said.

His wife, Mary Locke and their children now own the property, but have so far not been involved in the restoration of the cemetery.

“We reached out to them, but have not heard back,” Sandra Williamson said. “We certainly want them to participate and welcome any interest they might have here.”

Members of a local blacksmithing group, Bill and Sandra Williamson have been involved in demonstrations through the Baldwin County Archives & History Department for years.

“I often heard stories about my family’s cemetery and knew it was there,” Sandra Williamson said, “we just didn’t know exactly where it was.”

Through research and talking to officials and local residents, the Williamsons were able to find the cemetery and began work to restore it in May of 2015.

They’ve done a lot of the work themselves, but have had help from a dozen or so residents along the way, including members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans group, which came and helped as recently as the weekend of Oct. 15. A local logging company has also helped with the clearing of the road.

So far, the Williamsons have uncovered nearly 90 graves, discovering one on the day of their interview, Oct. 13.

They have been in contact with the Alabama Historical Commission about having the cemetery declared a historic site.

“We have been told to record everything we think might be a grave marker and once we have all the information recorded, we can present it to them and they will consider having it declared a historic site,” Sandra Williamson said. “To me it already is a historic site.”

A lot of work has been done, but there is still a lot of work left to do, the Williamsons said.

“As long as there’s work to be done and we’re able to do it, we’ll be here,” Bill Williamson said.

He said he wanted to reach out to any relatives who might have information on family members buried at High Point to contact them. He also wanted to let residents know that if they want to visit the site, to do so with reverence and respect the property owners surrounding the cemetery.

If you have any information regarding the cemetery, would like to donate time or funds toward the cemetery’s restoration or want more information, you can contact Bill or Sandra Williamson, 251-964-5100, 251-716-2453 or email williamsonbd@gulftel.com, or the Baldwin County Archives & History Department, 251-580-1897.