When local civil rights advocate Willie Hudspeth and Cross Roads resident Gary Holtzman first rediscovered a forgotten cemetery near Pilot Point earlier this year, it was an overgrown mess, barely distinguishable in the middle of the field, and only marked by a rickety wooden sign that said “Old Slave Cemetery.”
Then the duo fought for it, and just months later Holtzman could barely believe he was standing in the same spot.
"Oh I mean it's awesome,” he said overlooking the grounds on Saturday, “it's almost like a ‘real’ cemetery now."
Truly, a lot has changed since NBC5 first told the cemetery’s story in late June. At the time, Hudspeth’s efforts had helped convince county commissioners to take-up the cemetery and commit to restoring and maintaining it; as he and Holtzman visited the grounds every weekend to slowly clear away the brush personally.
Since then Denton County has sent in crews to start cleaning the place up as well as historians and volunteers to start learning more about it.
Now they’ve cleared up the brush and debris through the tree-dense field and allowed light to again reach graves that have been covered for years.
A new group of volunteers, including many local high school students, worked Saturday morning to spread mulch over the grounds and make it a little more presentable.
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Peggy Riddle for the Denton County Office of History and Culture said efforts were underway to identify how many people are buried in the cemetery and who some of them are; possibly locate living relatives.
One of the biggest efforts though: to restore the cemetery’s true identity.
The sign labeling it the “Old Slave Cemetery” has been removed; likely added with the rusty barbed wire fence sometime through the years.
Riddle’s team is now working to get it labeled and recognized for the church and community that once buried its fallen members there: the St. John’s community.
A predominantly African American community of freed former slaves, Riddle said the St. John’s community likely utilized the cemetery until as late as the 1930’s when the community was absorbed into surrounding ones and the cemetery was lost.
"They came here to start a new life, and they prospered, and I think it's evident they prospered,” said Riddle.
The county has already started working to get a historic marker placed for the community so they, and the church are never again forgotten.
As for the actual cemetery, Denton County leaders plan to continue the work to reclaim it and then to work providing regular maintenance.
Holtzman praised the efforts of the county leadership and said he looks forward to keep volunteering on the project and learning more about the cemetery as it finally gets the respect it’s long lacked.
