(SAD) HIDDEN SLAVE CEMETERY IN GEORGIA | PART 1

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

A lot of history here... an amazing forgotten cemetery. We uncovered so many forgotten graves on this trip. Glad I finally make it back. Subscribe to the new Vlog: kzbin.info/door/56vh2L-M0czmoTRLhSMaxg PayPal Tip Jar: www.paypal.me/rwrightphotography Special thanks to gas fund contributors: David G Colleen C Bonnie W Helen C And huge shoutout to Robert for support! Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/SidestepAdventures My flashlights: olight.idevaffiliate.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=282

[@nancyholcombe8030]

Hi Robert, I noriced that one of the marked areas you were looking at was almost completely covered by what appeared to be boxwood shrub or something like it. The graves I found on my parent's property as a child were marked in the same way. The headstones were crude but we discovered that the shrubs enclosed the entire area. This was a common way to mark graves in lots of Europe including England, so I wonder if the family used it to mark where their loved one was. Thank you Robert, Robert and Cody for knowing that slaves and their graves are just as important as the large tombs that house the rich. We all belong to Mother Earth and are precious in God's sight.

[@castlejeta9019]

Thanks for the video, you guys should put up bright orange signs in these cemeteries. So folks like that hunter are aware they are using a cemetery for this purpose. Plus after reading georgian law once you remark a cemetery it will be preserved.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

@MoonChild just guessing here my friend, but I could hear and see high winds and rain during this video plus a local gun range was firing away at targets. I could hear them fine but the audio was hampered by the weather and gun range activity without question.

[@shannahuffman4655]

Robert, was their a plantation close to where that cemetery? Or what would be left of one

[@nancyholcombe8030]

@@shannahuffman4655 I've no idea what Robert found but the lay of the land there says that there was farmland all over the place! Usually that means plantation, sharecroppers or both at some point.

[@karenlouks6481]

Makes you wonder how many times we walk through a wooded area and didn't know Fieldstone were Graves just astounding

[@moretoexplore6736]

I was just thinking the same thing. I have explored old homesteads so probably a few unknown or forgotten cemeteries as well. Robert's videos are so educational; I will explore with more awareness next time.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

Not always but most of the time, the folks burying their loved one will stand a slab stone upright, turn a large stone with a smooth surfaced side up or turn a stone where, even now, it is obviously in an unusual direction that it wouldn't have formed or broken off that way. If that stone has a sunken area attached or close to it, it's probably an old grave. Stones can be covered but don't tend to sink in Georgia because the clay is just too dense. If the stones are scattered and break apart easily, that is shale or slate rock which naturally breaks off into sheets but is too brittle to use as a marker. Quartz, granite and marble, all once plentiful in north Georgia will break into shapes but if you see rub marks, drawn lines or semi circular indentions in these stones then people shaped them at some point in time. Alot of poor family plots in the mountains took pieces of the stone that were blown apart by TVA or road crews to use as head and foot stones too.

[@tellingtheirstoryphotography]

I wonder the same thing I live in Beaufort SC and it seems all the land was different plantations but where are the slave graves? Its sad.

[@janetprice85]

An old church in Great Smokey Mt Nat. Park has field stone grave markers at Smokemont.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

@@janetprice85 most of the graves before TVA went through the Smokies are marked that way. The families may make indentions in the stone with tools or write on them but most families know exactly where each of their kinfolk are buried! We in the city should have such excellent memorization abilities!

[@AYWalton]

I found Josie Copeland in the census and she had a daughter Loula who married a Hamler. (I think that was one of the headstones that you found before finding Josie's) She was living with the Hamlers at the time of her death. I just found a descendant of Josie who has her in their family tree. I have sent her a message and that you have made a video where her ancestor is shown. Hopefully she will reply and find this video. I really admire what you guys are doing. Your work might eventually preserve some of these historic gravesites.

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

That is awesome!! And thank you so much!

[@jaynebrown693]

Angela that is so wonderful... I hope you hear back from her.

[@karenlouks6481]

My feelings exactly it's a shame it might be nice to find some family members to take care of the graves

[@nancyholcombe8030]

Very cool that you would take the time to find someone else's family! I hope they answer and are delighted that you did this. I would be!

[@AYWalton]

@@nancyholcombe8030 Thank you so much! I consider it way to give to the genealogy community. I hope that I get a reply.

[@robertforrest7956]

Hooray for Sidestep Adventures!! All these lost souls, and you're the only ones bringing this forward. THANK YOU. 🎃☠️🕸️🕷️

[@YT4Me57]

They aren't lost at all.

[@susanwilliford4067]

Forrest or Forrester in your tree?

[@robertforrest7956]

@@susanwilliford4067 Forrest....

[@susanwilliford4067]

@@robertforrest7956 tracking mine, we had a bunch of Forrester

[@kristithompson68]

Very sad that the Plantation owners couldn't at least provide a simple stone with a name and date. At least give them some dignity in death since they had none in life

[@cynthiacarter665]

If the slave owners gave the slave "dignity" of any kind they would have to view them other than monetary value. People in the slave trade of any kind did not act toward the black man that would cause them to question the sinfulness of slavery.

[@its-_-foxgrrr6041]

Slaves weren't considered humans

[@travishorn1847]

Something people don’t understand all plantation owners didn’t own the slaves. Land owners owed most of the money to the politicians that owned the slaves.

[@drizzey680]

You expect a Slaveowner to care about someone's dignity ? lol 🤡

[@adesewaiwalewa7621]

How does one become a plantation owner without being a land owner! The plantation was land, and they used slaves to farm the land.

[@hellomikie92]

I live in Marietta ga, and I know where a few hidden grave sites are just in the cobb county/ cherokee county area. Georgia is covered in these old cemeteries. Fascinating really, and in many cases, sad too.

[@monikas5125]

Hi from Georgia bartow county

[@georgiadronefootage4136]

Hello from lee county Georgia. 🖑

[@AYWalton]

As soon as I saw the thumbnail, and shape of the stone I knew what it was! BTW the Museum for the Mosaic Templars (pronounced mo-ZAY-ick) and the site of the founding of the group is in Little Rock Arkansas. They have an amazing history! The organization was actually established in 1884 when they got their charter from the state of Arkansas. It was for men and women alike, not a women's organization. They lasted until the years of the depression. People joined it all over the country. As literacy grew many people actually did know their ages. In this case Jennie was born 30 years after slavery. Most likely her entire family may have had burial policies with Mosaic Templars. (I am originally from Arkansas, which is why I know a little bit about the Mosaic Templars. Her birth year may have been off, but clearly she was not born a slave because the Mosaic Templars was created almost 20 years after slavery ended. Some of the early burials were of people who had been born into slavery, but as years passed, younger members joined as their families had become members of this society. But note---these stones usually belonged to people who through much work, had worked themselves into a degree of financial stability to afford membership in this benevolent burial society. Not necessarily were they people of "wealth", but who were stable hardworking people who had worked to insure certain benefits for their families. I am always excited to see such stones which meant that there was also a chapter in that local area in the early 1900s. Here is more info on the Mosaic Templars: www.mosaictemplarscenter.com/

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

Thanks for the great info... I did not know details of the MTA stones until I filmed that cemetery over in Alabama a while back - but had seen them before in the case of this one and also Samantha Street.... if you haven’t seen the one on Samantha Street yet I’ll send you the link. It is one of my favorite places - maybe because I got to “know” Samantha’s life story unlike so many places I find.

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

I also did not know it was for men and women...

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWHFdqeOdtp7mNE

[@rsstrickland9554]

Angela, Samantha Street and Jennie Horton have not been documented in the MTA members database. Do you know how to get them added? Thanks.

[@AYWalton]

@@rsstrickland9554 I shall find out for you. I have close friends in Little Rock who may be able to assist.

[@tallSycamore]

So sad to see field stones marking the graves of so many who toiled under the domination of slavery. Each one marks a life's story. I wish you could tell us more about them. Keep up the good work.

[@tallSycamore]

@@laurab1089 The enslaved individuals had no choice in their lives. They didn't toil to build their future. Many of them had their families taken from them and sold. Their existence was anonymous, and marking their grave sites with field stones seems like the final injustice.

[@Hurricaneintheroom]

Fieldstones were very common. Not all areas had the proper stone masons to create beautiful tombstones and some people were too poor. There are plenty of homemade stones as well. Fieldstone markers are not limited to just black people or poor people. After the Civil War a lot of people lost everything and could've lived in a place where everything was burned down. Formerly wealthy people were buried with only a pile of rocks to mark their graves or field stones.

[@willemvdspek]

my wife was years ago in georgie and still saw signs said; white only..so very sad.

[@homerth1555]

Baker Cook was an African-American. Son of Mondy and Ercy Cook. He lived in Talbot County, Georgia in 1880, Milners Cross Roads, Harris County, Georgia in 1910, and Rough Edge, Talbot County, Georgia in 1920.

[@corenajones5533]

I have so much respect for you in bringing light to these forgotten cemeteries & graves, love the work you are & have done for the people of all races. I pray that ones watching will take from what they learn from you & in their states & counties carry on your example. I like the mention of lillies, I think these are irises, my great grandmother who pasted away at the age 102, called these Flags, it's a very old southern name for them. Please continue your work & God Bless You

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

My grandmother called them flags too.😊

[@indianagrandmary1298]

Corena Jones I agree, those are irises. I have them here in Indiana, they spread like crazy.

[@LifeMostSouthern]

Oh wow! I just learned several new things. I had no idea there was an organization like that for former slaves, which is important. It gives one more piece of information that leads to a better understanding of the time and place, which is something I truly want to understand.

[@terrelllewis7508]

Mam, a lot of black history has been covered up n deleted from the books, especially positive things.... U have 2 continue research 2 discover it.... Marsha.

[@tonynorris1250]

It's sad that somehow some kind of protection for the property could be marked by a Historical Marker...😢🇺🇸

[@eileenmurphy5718]

Thank you for letting people know about this history.

[@cindylou6084]

Robert, you have so much respect for the people buried there. Even pointing out indentations in the ground, you are acknowledging the people buried there. We don't know who they are but God knows their souls and treasures each one. What a blessing you are!

[@jaynebrown693]

Amen to your words.... well said . God knows ALL THOSE SOULS and wipes all their tears. Hold them tight Heavenly Father🙏

[@lindsaymacpherson8782]

Loved this first part and yes very sad . Who knows how many are really there? waiting for part 2 Thankyou for sharing it with us

[@rikspector]

Robert, I just finished reading many of the replies and it's heartening to find people whose ancestors were discovered by you. Your site is so diverse, not only cemeteries but historical and not so historical but fascinating locations. Well done, Cheers, Frederick "Rik" Spector I have ancestors lost forever by the holocaust in Germany, but even without graves their heritage and these poor peoples heritages will live on with the help of people like you.

[@ricknelson576]

Your videos everywhere today.. loving it. Thanks for video Sir Robert.Stay safe

[@traceysweepersgirl6866]

If the Tree's could talk!

[@Chas5971]

Thank you Robert for educating us on these poor men and women who where never recognized for all their hard work. The respect you show while walking through the cemetary with your crew is amazing. Thank you and God bless you!

[@lindatanner8726]

My grandmother was a Horton. This was so cool to see these cemeteries. Good job!

[@jchristensen6941]

My family is from Southwest Nebraska and there is a tradition of taking treasured Irises from the garden and transplanting them around a person's grave. My grandmother and great-grandmother both have Irises from their own gardens planted around their graves.

[@user-randi1987]

All those unnamed people, so sad. Good video, Robert

[@goodgracious6364]

You guys are such blessings and a true wonder to watch!

[@willemvdspek]

iam from the netherlands and watch it every day..thank you robert and your friends..i learn so much and great to watch..keep doing it!

[@angelwings2265]

Really enjoyed this video. Please hurry with part 2. I even read every comment & the information & stories were awesome

[@cynthiacronin2794]

Leaves of three, let it be.😃

[@rs91268]

First awesome video sir

[@giaatta9303]

Thank you for honoring ALL our ancestors so respectfully!!

[@ellencox9650]

This video was very touching. Keep up the great work! Btw,young Robert looks like he gives great hugs!

[@cindylou6084]

Yes, I agree!😊

[@tinab802]

To think the only ones to see that cemetery were deer and a hunter and the hunter was more interested in the deer to even report the cemetery to a church. I heard the hunters in the background since you all are going into the woods at hunting season you all should were a yellow vest so they can see you better.

[@wallacebell4311]

Blaze Orange is what people need to wear during hunting/killing season.

[@barbarashirland9078]

I recently discovered your videos. I love old stuff. I am particularly impressed with how respectful you and your people are. Thank you.

[@jeffjohnson4015]

Great video, really enjoy watching you find the graves and the added history you include. Look forward to part 2 of this one. Great teamwork and thanks for taking us along !!!

[@luciledevries478]

To give these people recognition is a godsend thank u not forgotten

[@sarahquinn5218]

Great video. I believe this is the Shippy cemetery.

[@dewey4533]

Robert and Robert, thanks for all your love, sharing and knowledge. May God share with you the love you share with us. Field stones, who knew?

[@lindamccaughey6669]

That was just great. It’s such a shame they didn’t get proper headstones. Thank you so much for showing these I’m always looking forward to them. Thanks for taking me along and please stay safe

[@deniseoftedahl8937]

The day is instantly better when I watch one of your adventures!

[@garyjohnson4608]

It's such a shame that these graves have been neglected for soo many years

[@BUHNANUHBREAD]

I'm glad that you saw my comment abt the organization. Looking forward to part 2.

[@LadyTomoyo1]

I just found this channel today and I can't stop watching. I love history and genealogy, I used to work at my home town's archives. Your content is great and I am amazed at how much information the viewers provide as well, it is really worth it to check the comments.

[@robertharrell7948]

Lady Tomoko , Arigato gozaimashita

[@joannewinter7879]

Wonderful work gentlemen. This video is fascinating. We really need to remember these people💜😊

[@marypalmer1062]

Excellent work today Well done!

[@lynnebunning7273]

Well done Brian, you do a wonderful job clearing the graves, same with Cody behind the camera, Brain & Robert with history & details of the graves. You make a wonderful team. Looking forward to part two. Cheers from Australia Lynne 🇦🇺🐨🦘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🇦🇺

[@jonathanlacrosse7688]

Great Video! It is very interesting that there are some very old Boxwood plantings that have gone wild. It's a "highend" plant. Am very intrigued by the re-cycled stones Looking forward to the next chapter.

[@maryannanaya7126]

So sad these graves are covered up. Forgotten until now. Thank you for posting again.

[@laurabronson3717]

You two Robert’s are great at this. Bless you for doing this.

[@majorpayne5289]

👍Good stuff! Glad I found your channels. Side note; I personally can visualize poison ivy, oak, sumach & it’s oils cling to me w/ instant break-out! I’m an ol KY boy that loves the woods but sure can’t handle the “leaves of three”! Thx for the videos!

[@marygarner5249]

Poison Vine l can look at it and break out love your Adventures always appreciate all the hard work you put in to your videos and the History you keep alive

[@donnadouglas5680]

I grew up in Vermont always visiting old cemeteries with my grandmother. I love the history of cemeteries. Love your video, very interesting.

[@scott1395]

Thanks Robert, love your vids on these cemetarys! As a child I used to visit my grandparents (who lived in woodland ga) and they would travel around to different privitive baptist churches on different sunday's to church! I was young and loved to wonder around the cemetarys and read the stones and wonder about the people buried there! It's something that has been a part of me since! I feel a kinship with what you are doing, as it is something I firmly believe should be done and would love to have to time to do! Everyone of these old cemetarys holds people who lived, loved, suffered, and died like we do! It's a shame that so many cemetarys fall into neglect due to descendants moving away or dying off! These people need to be remembered and their cemetarys marked! Everytime I visit and old graveyard in the woods my first thought is I need to clean this place up it's wrong for this place to be like this! My dad is 95 and has lived here in Greene co ga his whole life I've been given a history lesson riding down every dirt road every time we've traveled them! So I've become an amature historian here! I've always been an old soul, thinking of the old times and not caring much about the modern! How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been!!! Thanks again Robert,Robert and Cody!

[@cherrysmart3500]

Were Primitive Baptist Church attended by coloured folks?

[@scott1395]

@@cherrysmart3500 hi cherry, that's a good question,. I don't recall seeing any the times I attended with my grand parents! My gut tells me that black folks pretty much attended their own churches and weren't called primitive! In my hometown in ga there's a part of town called Cannan! It's where as a child I remember most of the blacks of the community lived! It was settled right after the civil war when blacks were freed! At that time my blacks attended church in white churches! At about that time some of the white got together and thought maybe the black folks might want to have their own church and donated land in Cannan to them to build a church! The church is still in operation today, having been built with donated materials from another church that was torn down in town!!! As modern times came the black folks have moved to most any part of town they choose to live! Which is great, I'm just old enough to remember segregation and it's good to see everyone of any color do well if they put fort the effort!!

[@randomvintagefilm273]

This information is so helpful for our african americans as far as their genealogy research. To have a name and stone where they could visit would be amazing for them. Thank you for doing this. Awesome stuff. I hope a descendant can find this.

[@dewey4533]

I have to say, this is so interesting. We all need to find our ancestors. You bring love and comfort to the souls of the forgotten. Thank you.

[@rysaj1]

This is awesome that you found this cemetery. I also find it interesting when older folks die on their birthday.

[@valeriealexschiel320]

Thanks for your respect and concern over these long forgotten graves and yes these black lives mattered.

[@metalheadgamer6666]

Unfortunately, not according to the BLM movement, since only certain Black Lives Matter to them. I believe that every single life should matter, when they are deceased, colored or not.

[@redpill5471]

Hi Robert. Good one! Those plants you found are not lily's but iris. I bet they are really old. Iris rhizomes have a tendency to move on there own lol. They are like potato or peanut plants. I have dug some up and planted them at home. It's really cool to see what colors they were. Most are in the shade at cemetery's but once put in the sun (as they originally were) they do really well. No worries about where you take them from. Just be sure to leave some so they can continue to spread naturally. Love your videos. Thank you thank you for the adventures.

[@steveclark4291]

Thank you for sharing this with me and also documentation of these cemeteries ! Take care , stay safe and healthy wherever your next adventure or research takes you guys ! Doing well here in Kansas .

[@timothyhopkins6960]

It’s truly wonderful you found this holy place. The Lily’s are so loving ,put there to try and keep them remembered .

[@thekidveto]

Love how you say enslaved & not slaves . Thank you

[@lifewithcamille517]

Gladly watching all the ads in the video so you can receive your KZbin money. That's the least I can do is not skip ads. Thank you for your care of our departed ❤

[@marymcguffin9370]

Great vlog Robert & Robert. Very fascinating. I just came back from a trip in northern mich. While my sister and i were there we stopped at a cemetery. It was still used and taken care of but i found a very old stone marked 1855. Almost unreadable but i took a pic and studied it. The woman who was buried there has my 1st & 2nd name & died at the age of 65. Scary thing about it I'll be 65 in january. Make me wonder. 🚙🔎😱🔦 it was an amazing trip alot of old history in that cemetery. Be safe

[@Teresa65-p2y]

So sad to see this...I always want to go to these places and clean up

[@TS-bn7zt]

You just get better and better guys, your content is superb big high five guys👍

[@susanboucher9732]

Awesome tour. So many field stones, and reused headstones. Big cemetery!

[@dorenedaniels7493]

I have enjoyed this very much thank you both God bless you 🙏❤️

[@bevanstacykearse9099]

Was hoping you guys would go back..excellent historical research you guys keep getting more and more awesome

[@marceleigner4244]

Hi there. I discovered your amazing channel a few days ago and I love it. This is great Work and I really like these Woods in Georgia, you also have a nice Southern Accent, that I love to listen to. Keep up the good Work. Greetings from Vienna, Austria.

[@robertharrell7948]

Thanks Marcel Eigner and please like and share .

[@ghost-ez2zn]

Excellent as usual. Thank you for sharing this.

[@texas060]

Im so happy that you and the others have Chosen to record History of different Cemetery's an places like this. It is such a shame that slaves were buried an only had field stones to mark where they were laid to rest. I know tho it was the way it was years ago. Still such a shame. However Thanks to you 3 maybe some wherefore how the Cemetery Can be recorded as im sure it most likely wasn't since it was on private land an such places were lost. Thank you again.

[@shellydehart8217]

I sure em loving n enjoying these videos. Very fascinating n so knowledgeable of history. I wish I had gotten more interested in this years ago. Please tell the other Robert that I thank him for trying to clean up some of the markers n area. Can’t wait for the sequel.♥️♥️😊👍

[@marystotts1939]

I’ve seen one other slave cemetery in Catawba, AL. Eagle Scout project uncovered and identified some of the graves. The field stones would be so difficult to identify if you didn’t know it was a cemetery. Thanks for sharing.

[@seagoingcook]

You're doing a fantastic job but I wonder if you record the graves you find like on Find A Grave?

[@Granny2470]

Can’t wait for pt 2 !!!! Thank you

[@donnal.oglesby4806]

your videos are very interesting and so happy you are recording as much history and names as possible, BTW love the new camera, really get great close up focus which the old gopro can not do..

[@rosagarza5264]

Robert’s you are awesome so respectful, it’s so sad that they are forgotten but thanks to you by us they will be remembered, could you please go back to old Silas to see if his grave has finally been repaired. 🙏🙏

[@mandysmith3861]

I wonder if the various pieces used as headstones could be ones that may have been broken before ever being used and “scraped” and they were allowed to use them to make the graves? 🤔

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

Yes exactly. There was a video that should’ve gone up before this one explaining that at another site. Oops.

[@deirdresullivan2177]

Love watching you out and about it's very interesting 👌and one of my favourite things to watch here in Ireland 🇮🇪 🙂

[@nadineash1297]

I think it's so awesome what you guys do.. it broke my heart to see all them lonely greys.. God bless you guys. ♥️🙏

[@davewoodworth1762]

Enjoying this adventure. Look forward to many more.

[@jessicamckinney9825]

You should write a book and publish all your photos!

[@sandraplonka5225]

Wonderful camera work. Also, sounded like a shooting range?

[@MillerMeteor74]

The green plants that are scattered around the cemetery look like iris to me, though I've never seen iris spread like that. I also thought I saw daylilies at one point. The big overgrown green shrubs look like boxwood, though it's possible they are some sort of ornamental holly. Boxwoods have a distinctive smell, making them easy to ID. Anyway that's another really interesting cemetery. I really enjoy your adventures.

[@its-_-foxgrrr6041]

You immortalized alot of lost and forgotten people. Now people get to visit them everyday. Something they would never had believed if you told them when they were alive.

[@marypalmer1062]

Both of you are passionate about what you do.

[@scottsotak8788]

Nice job!! I love old graves and slave history. You managed both. But why the war zone in background?

[@kimleone5496]

Thank you about the comment about the camera for the hunter I felt the same way It's a freaking cemetery. Respect the dead. Roberts you guys are great The way you clean off the headstones and walk around obvious graves shows how much you respect people.

[@ivanabaleta9026]

Hallo guys great video thank you much love from Croatia

[@christhompson4270]

Thank you for sharing this sad but historical video. 👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️🇦🇺

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

There must have been a monument company nearby and they were given the broken or discarded pieces. So sad...❤ Thank you for recording them.

[@kathybolen2391]

Hey guys I love watching your shows I’ve always been very intrigued on finding or graveyards in walking through them and I really interest me that y’all are doing I’m here in Georgia if you could can we start tacking on where the cemeteries are located I don’t know if I have been able to see that but I would love to be able to visit some of the places that you point out I know there’s a lot of them that are even around here where I live in Georgia and Duluth and it really makes me sad to see how people just kind of forget family cemeteries and I guess it’s not always their fault I mean people die off

[@bettyprussia9777]

Love to hear about the slaves and their info. Thank you for caring ❤

[@janecarolhogue3140]

Karen has a point how many unknown graves have we walked over As always Robert thank you so much for this video

[@gayleloy7111]

Another great video. Love you all. Stay safe. Love you all. Love from Australia. Xx

[@yarnhappykim9294]

Thank you for sharing, please be safe out there and God bless you and your family and friends

[@sherronbell4961]

Just an amazing video and cemetery

[@sheafan1971]

Glad you guys have the proper equipment to get the graves better noticed.

[@ebmayes]

Those "lilies" are actually IRIS! The big shrub with the base in the middle of it is boxwood, a very slow-growing ornamental shrub that frequently were planted around fine homes in the South.

[@dreamseer7]

I can hear what sounds like booms or guns? going off in the background. Would be interested to know what it really was, it seemed like it just echoed through the forest as you guys were walking.Thanks for sharing and giving compassionate care to these forgotten places.

[@emilyneal7888]

My family were very poor. My great great grandparents graves were marked with a cedar tree at the head of the grave. They now have headstones.

[@peachesb-georgia1125]

Emily...it took me almost 25 years to get headstones for my parents and sister...

[@moretoexplore6736]

Robert - Slaves were not the only people who did not have headstones. My great-grandfather died when his is youngest son was only 6 years old. The only marks of graves in that area are the indentations in the ground and some very old records that list him as one of 6 buried there. I reached out to families of others who are there several years ago to see if they wanted to chip in for a headstone with all 6 names on it but did not hear back from any of them. Another issue is that the cemetery is on a very steep hill that is accessible only in summertime. Two years ago the caretaker told me that she doesn't maintain the grounds regularly because no one has asked her about it in years.Incredibly sad.

[@robertharrell7948]

Correct Robin Solo . Poor people , just enough to survive in post civil war economy .

[@AdventuresIntoHistory]

Yes, I am aware. In this case it was an old slave and then descendants cemetery

[@peachesb-georgia1125]

I had avoided watching any of the slave cemetery videos until now... those poor people...I don't want to imagine what they must have gone through... may they all rest in peace...

[@lucilleharris2864]

So sad to know that these are unmarked.