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A fallen tree puts in perspective the dangers of growth continuing to destroy the history of Pinehill South’s graveyard.

A row of family graves made visible due to a day of cemetery clean-up.

The oldest marker of Pinehill South reading, “In memory of Jessie Davis, son of John and Matilda Davis, born May 5, 1897, died June 15, 1898, We Will Meet Again”

Photo of Derric Scott during his 80-hour clean-up.

The grave of 17-year-old Mary Latham, “The Sun Shine of Our Home”

Story by Elisabeth Altamirano-Smith

Photos by Derric Scott

A few years ago, Chilton County Historical Society President Derric Scott saw an online cemetery photo of someone claiming the photo was taken at the “black Pinehill Cemetery.”

Pinehill Cemetery (23500 Highway 31) is one of Jemison’s largest cemeteries dating back to the beginning of the 1900s when Jemison was established. However, it is most notably a Caucasian cemetery and it prompted Scott to investigate where the original Pinehill community and the African-American cemetery was located.

“Around 1870, back before Jemison existed, before Thorsby existed, around where Pinehill Cemetery is now located was the Pinehill community,” said Scott. “It was a lumber town. I have found some documents referring to ‘Pinehill church’, which may have been across the street from the cemetery or on the same side of the road closer to where Victory is. It looks like when a newer (Caucasian) church was built closer to Jemison, the old Pinehill church was then used by the African American community and they began burying their loved ones on the north end of Thorsby in the ‘black Pinehill Cemetery.”

Scott now refers to the two Pinehill Cemeteries as “Pinehill North” and “Pinehill South” to differentiate.

The church was used up until about 1930. Scott speculates that the church might have been destroyed during the 1932 tornado damage that was widespread across the community. The closure of Pinehill church most likely made the African American community migrate (possibly to Holly Grove) and build a new church elsewhere (along with a new cemetery), leaving Pinehill South to be slowly forgotten.

To find a more precise location of where the abandoned cemetery might be, Scott visited the Latter-day Saints historical records department (which keeps a vast collection of historical records of all communities) and searched through old death certificates for where African Americans were buried at the turn of the century until he found an address near the modern-day Pinehill North Cemetery.

Scott and historical friend Billy Singleton discovered the old African American Pinehill South Cemetery on the north tip of Thorsby near Highway 31 completely obscured by trees and growth and without road access.

“It is very difficult to navigate because all of the graves have sunk down about two feet so it is dangerous to walk around out there but very obvious where the graves are,” said Scott.

The Alabama Historical Commission granted Scott access to survey and clean the property. Overall, Scott said the cemetery is one-acre in size with approximately 100 burials, many of which do not have a headstone or are made-up of concrete markers and the name is washed away.

The oldest burial Scott has found was for Jesse Davis, buried 1898 and the newest burial for a World War II veteran “Campbell” buried in 1960. Last names in the cemetery are made up of many common African American names of Chilton County including Campbell, Tyce, Tyus, Reed, Reid, Johnson, Singleterry and Davis.

“There are so many notable graves in the cemetery,” said Scott. “There are three World War I soldiers. There is another area where three little girls are buried — Mary, Mable and Mamie Latham.”

Some of the most notable markers read: “Sleep on Sweet Babe and take thy rest. God called thee home and He thought best”; “The Lord is my Shepherd. She was the Sun Shine of our home”; “Gone but not forgotten”; a masonic emblem and military information.

Scott has already spent approximately 80 hours working in the forest to clear brush and trees, but is requesting community help to clear the area so that the cemetery can be maintained and remembered.

“There are little family cemeteries and small church cemeteries around Chilton County; dozens of them and they are lost,” said Scott. “Maybe one or two neighbors know about them, but once the headstones are gone, they are forgotten. They need to be respected. They need to be preserved. I am trying to locate them, document them and clean them up.”

Scott is organizing a clean-up day for the African American Pinehill South Cemetery and requests that the City of Thorsby, organizations, companies, families with the last name of the deceased and community members looking for community service hours to contact him regarding the clean-up days.

“The first clean-up day will need someone with heavy equipment like a bush hog to clear the area so people can come in and have access to the property,” said Scott. “The following clean-up day volunteers can cut down 3-inch wide trees that are coming up and cut away growth.”

For more information about the cemetery and to sign-up for clean-up days, contact Derric Scott at derric.t.scott@gmail.com or 205-531-5590.

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