Where a

tangle of vines and underbrush once obscured the past,

new rows of cedar crosses now mark century-old graves

believed to be those of former slaves and former slave

owners.

Members of

Antioch Baptist Church, on Woolsey-Brooks Road near

Fayetteville, have spent the past year recovering a grave

site that sits on the east side of its property. Several

other churches sent workers from time to time, and a

month ago the jungle was transformed into an oasis.

"While

this site may have been neglected in the past, we felt it

necessary to uncover and maintain it," said the Rev.

Dr. Elton Johnson, pastor. In his remarks during a recent

ceremony marking rededication of this site, Johnson

added, "This is our watch and, as in the past,

Antioch Baptist accepts its responsibility."

Member R.

O. Maxwell had a felled cedar tree in his yard and

decided to make cedar crosses from it. Another felled

cedar was found in south Georgia, hauled back to Fayette

County, and he made about 100 crosses between the two

trees. These were used to mark the grave sites uncovered,

but the church needs at least 75 more to complete the

job.

Anyone who

knows of a felled cedar tree is asked to call the church

at 770-461-8270.

It is

believed that at least a part of the newly uncovered site

may contain graves of slaves of early church members.

The church

is one of the oldest in Fayette County, having been

constituted in March 1829. It is fortunate to have all of

its original records.

A check of

the minutes of March 5, 1829, reveals a listing of the

original 19 charter members, including

"Milley," "Ester," "Paul,"

"Peter" and "Jack," who are listed as

colored servants of the Gay and King families. While it

is not known just where they are buried, it would seem

that perhaps it was somewhere on the church property.

The minutes

of August 1868 report that the black members asked to

stay with Antioch Baptist until "they can organize a

colored church."

Blacks were

members of the church, according to its minutes, until

the early 1870s, at which time (July 1871) a number of

these members asked for a letter of dismissal, perhaps

going into a church of their own.

Antioch

Baptist did not dismiss its duty to the community,

though, and the minutes of August 1897 stated: "They

had measured off ground four by six rods for burrying

(sic) ground for colored people." (This translates

into about a half acre).

While the

minutes do not state on which side of the church grounds

the former slaves were buried, it stands to reason that

it was the site recently uncovered. There are only nine

marked gravestones, and the death dates begin in 1890

forward, with about 160 unmarked sites.

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