Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This incredibly valuable book is described by its author as “a survey of cemeteries where folks listed as Lumbee Indians, Mulattos, and free persons of color are buried” (p. 10). Barnhill, assisted primarily by her granddaughter but also by others (who are acknowledged on p. 10) has recorded the key information from all legible stones and markers in 163 cemeteries, most of them in Robeson County. [She included one from Scotland County and one from Dillon County, South Carolina.] The cemetery lists are alphabetical by name of cemetery or family; for example, Galilee Baptist Church Cemetery, Locklear (Hayes) Family Cemetery. Barnhill has given an in-depth snapshot of each cemetery. She begins with the road or highway location of the cemetery, and sometimes includes a photograph. The essential information from each stone and marker is recorded: full name; nickname; birth and death date; relationship (husband, wife, son, daughter); military or other professional information. Notes are made about broken stones; stones or markers that can’t be read; stones that don’t include names; wooden markers or concrete slabs; metal plates; and fenced areas. In large cemeteries, the lists are divided by section. Barnhill notes that some family cemeteries are being destroyed due to sale of land and construction. She hopes that these records will help people know where their family members are, or were, buried.