Form 10-300 (July 1969)

UN I TED S T In E S D c P /'\1\ T M E i'!T 0 F THE II'-l T ::: RiO R N!\TICi'-lAL Pf\R:< SeRVICE

lock between A.nn lC;raven and ts CITY OR TOWN:

Beaufort STATE

CATEGORY OWI'-IE RSH I P

(Check One)

XJ Oi stri ct 0 Sui Iding tXJ Public Public Acquisition:

0 Si Ie 0 Structure 0 Private Din Process

0 Object 0 Both o Being Considered

PRESEN T USE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

0 Agricultural 0 Government 0 Pork

0 Commercial 0 Industrial 0 Private Residence

0 Educational 0 Mi litary []j Rei igi ous

0 Entertainment 0 Museum 0 Scientific

Cemeter Association of Beaufort STREET AND NUMBER:

CITY OR TOWN:

STATE

ST A TUS

rzJ Occupi ed

o Unoccupi ed

1KJ Preservation work

in progress

o Transportati on

!ZJ dther (Specify)

cemetery

I ACC ESSI BL E

I TO THE PUBLIC

'( es:

o Restricted

129 Unrestricted

o No

o Comments

CODE

North Carolina

n 0' c

~

~ -<

C ;;: CD (TI

;u

0

11 0 ;0

-7

U

C (Il

m D

r -<

10i'l

(Clloc/( 0110)

Exec I knl [:") Good [~~j Unoxpose:J em,wl T

(Chuck One)

OriCjinal Sile

The Old Ground, \i'Jhere Be aufort IS ci tizens have been burie d for ~vell over hvo centuries, is, even for the t tOitTn of Beccufort) an

peaceful;1 place where a sen~) e of the past is e spe cially s The cemetery is located in the block behveen Ann, Graven) and Broad streets and measures at its greatest e:x:panse LJ.L.O feet by 266 feet. It is inl the shape of a rectangle ~vit11 an d extension to the north and a centril square projection to the south. Three churches border the cemetery. It is l surrounded by a concrete Ivall) ~'lhich has re cesse d panels bet~Teen D osts tOD·oecJ. by simple sphere s The bUL"'ying groul1d is shaded by ma~y .L d i

old trees) notable among -which are Ii ve oales ~vhose branches are CDvered by I reslu'rection ferns) which rev-ive after each rain0 Instead of the usual smoo'uh grassy eJ\.}Janse) the ground is covered vvith fallen leaves, among v,rhich grm,v ivy and other vines A profusion of aZcdeas and naturalized daffodils bloom in the spring

I

The cemetery is rather crmvded \ivith markers Ivhich follolrJ a variety of I designs) including table stones;1 obelisks) and official military markers The best Imown is that of Otway Burns) a naval hero in the Wax' of 18120 His grave is marked by a large box-like stone) in the top of which is em.bedded the C~1non from his privateer) the Many of the older graves I have simple vertical cypress slabs some seventeen designs in all) each itn th a weathered) lichen-spotted texture Another corrmlOn grave treatment I is the construction) in front of a stone marker) o~ a sort of grave cover of brick) usually about tw·o feet in height) which protects the grave from beingl Ivashed out in the sandy soil Some are rounded and some are of a gabled con

jl

figuTation) but all run approximately the length of the coffin beneath--whe ther of a tall man or a small child --providing a vivid and somber reminde1" of those vvho lie buried These occur singly:; but more frequently are lined I

up in lcun:Lly grou1Js Many of the family plots are surrolmded by hcu1dsome !

Ivrought and cast-iron fences Probably the most outstanding is tha t enclosi:hg the Norwood plot, Which was manufactured by S Patch of Boston in 1865 I

Round arche s adorned Ivi th volutes support the narrow railing Spiral pos ts II VI

with elaborate finials flank the gate) which features entwined scrolls) flowers) and leaf motifs I

iI- f I h t . D • I I 1 1 I I' .LJ JYlany 0 lJ e sones, varYlng .Lrom slmp e ones GO e aooraGe monumenlJS 'Vvl ul'l

urns) figUTes) and crosses) are signed) prolliding a museum of the stonecuttet1s art during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries The makers! :Tiarks e'vi- !

dence Beaufort I s orientation to the sea and to relatively dist?,nt coastal Ii

cities rather than to inland North Carolina, for the stones come from such places as Boston) Charleston, Brooklyn, and Baltimore 0 From North "Carolina only the port city of Wilmingtcin is represented TrB re are some 200 stones I from tr.B pre-Civil War era, approximately forty-five from the war period) about 150 from 1865 to 1900" and a few twentieth-century markers :

I

LU

w.J

Pre-Columbian:

Appropriuic)

[] 16th Century

CI 171h Ccniury

AREAS OF SIGNI FICANCE (Check One or More {Hi Appropriate)

Abor iginal 0 Education

o Prehistoric 0 Engi neeri ng

o Historic 0 I ndus try

0 Agriculture 0 Inventi on

0 Archi tecture [Xl Landscape

0 Art Archi lecture

0 CommGrce 0 Literature

0 Communi cad ons 0 Military

0 Conservotion 0 Music

x] 18th Century

X] 19th Century

o Political

[Xl Religion/Phi­

losophy

o Science

[2:1 Scu I p lure

o Socia l/Hurnan-

itorian

o Theater

o Transportation

[] 20lh Ccn,ury

o Urban Planning

o Other (Specify)

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE /1

In June 1724) the trustees of the tmvn of Beaufort deeded to the Ilt'lar-I dens of the Parish of stv Johns and the rest of the Vestrymen;> II lot 91 -' Old TO"W11 This acquisition of land for the church--and pre for a cemetery as well--is the eaTliest defini te date indicating the use of the present burying grolmd for that purpose Since the lot itJas a public one, and the site of the courthouse where the church had been meeting) it is likely that bUTials may have occurred there earlier Although the earliest legible date of death on a tombstone is 1756) many of the older markers rwe no dates or their inscriptions are so weathered as to he illegible There are also many unmarked graves

The cemetery was enlarged in 1731 -' when Nathanael Taylor -' "by and with the consent of Richd Rustull) senr J and Joseph' Bell) Esqr) (Commissioners) 11

gave all of lot 81) Old Town (adjacent to lot 91)) to the inhabitants of the I

tOTm for a bw."ying ground Burials wae probably confined to these t1;vO lots : 1111til 1820) 1;vhen the Methodists acquired lot '101) Old Town, and erected a !

church on part of the lot Tne cemetery 1;vas enlarged again 1;-Jhen the Baptist$ acquired part of lot 72 in 1851, and when the Methodists bought part of lot I'

71 in 1853 for a new churcho In each case the part of the lot not occupied by the church building added to the area of the burial ground. Both Nethodi*t structures still stand, and a nevJ brick church occupies the site of the ori-I ginal Baptist structure The tOTfn lot) lot 81;; must have filled up early, I for by 1828 the commissioners, recognizing a need for additional space) I ordered that a new cemetery be surveyed and laid off 0 In -]867 the commissiOl\ers began the planting of elm trees in front of the churches that border the I cemetery~ ,

In the ceme tery are buried people who played notable roles in the eit:h-I teenth an~ nineteent~ century history of, th~ state . Colonel William T~ompsO~rl,; a revolutlonary soldler vJho was a delegalJe lJO the Hlllsborough (C;Onventlon 'Captain Otway Burns) whose pri va teer) the took many prizes durir:lg

I the War of 1812) who served in the North Carolina legislature -' and vJho made in his kiln many of thG bricks for Fort IVlacon; (Confederate (Captain Josiah Pender, vJhose forces took Fort ]VIacon in April, 1861; ]VIary and Robert IChad1;\Q rVJho adopted and edu~ated a y~u~g Chin~se stowawa~ named Soong, 1;vho even became the father OI Madame (c.:hlang Kal Shek and Nadame Sun Yat Sen

Today the cemetery encm~passes part of lots 71, 72,82,92) 101, and a~l of lots 81 and 91 Included are the original burying -~n3 JYletho-dist cemetery -' and the Baptist ceme'tery The 1;vhole area 1;vi th its lichen-

U,'il _ •. -\ ~ I)E?)'I:~TMENT 0:= THE li'lTERIOR :f i'I,'I TIONAL ?AR:< S'::RVICE Carolina

COU.'l TY

Carteret

B.

3n~rU3 cl scones shaded great trees is pervaded by an atmosPhere of age) peJ.ce) s'nd pleasant melancholia that makes it one of the most memorable spots

01103 of North Carclina1s most picturesque cormnunities 'The range of tomo-s t·J;~/:; C:.8 sign is quite remarkable) from the prirni ti ve grace of the simple

.slabs to the 300er flJflctionalism of the long brick grave covers to o1. Y 1.3. te memori:lls of the Victorian period. Particularly notable is the

ctascriptiv8 Ob;.Tay Burns markar--a cannon atop the grave of a naval "iJ Tha cams tary is a grant-in-aid project of the Ceme tery Association of

OT'G J under the auspices of the Di'nsion of Archives and History.

I i I !

I

I I I

I

I· !

I

I I I

J GPO

iO·3000 (J UI)l 196~1)

UNITED STAT[S D PM\H\[;,j OF THi: IN ERIO;=< 1'1;\ T /O;~ 1\ P ;\ f<:( S:::: r~ V I C L::

v

COUto! TV

G;\ TE

oncrusted stonos shaded by trees is pervaded by an of age) peace) and asant melancholia that makes it one of the most menlOrable spots in one of North Carolina! s most picture sque comrnuni tie s~-th8 seaport tOvm of Beaufort

G" Dlu1l1 y

County Courthouse, Be ter ( s " Deeds, iJlJil1

State of Archives and (Sub~roups : Dee ds) vEIls) of the Hethodists in the

Ral

NevY Bern

toJ::en from stones in Old (Comrnuni ty Graveyar'd in Beaufort" II Gom­al1d edited for the Departmel1t of Archives aJ1d

the Carteret County Historical Society, Hiss

iLIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: COD CODE

STATE: CODE COUNTY:

STATE: CODE COUNTY:

STATE:

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na­

tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law

89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion

in the l'\ational Register and cerLify that it has been

evaluated occorciine; to the criteria and procedures set

forth by the National Park Service. The recommended

level of significance of this nomination is:

Na tional Local

Name

H G vJOl1eS I

Title ~-:;.-.... S-""t""""J t.e-.JJf[j22 rt;men t of

I hereby certify that this property is included in the

National Register.

Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation

Date

A'fTEST:

GP 0 9 0 1 .0 e 7

:=o;m 10·3L'O,) (July 19.:iY)

U i'\ I TED S TAT S [) I::> M~ T ,\\ c:: :'1T 0:= T H i N I~ I o:~ NA TI001/\L e/d~l( sa~vl

I V

.'J T;\

COUI'lTY

"Records of the Proceedings of tr.a Commissioners of the Town of Be It

various dates, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, TO~Jn Hall, Beaufort.

Wrenn, Tony P. printed, 1

'Alexandria, Virginia pri vately

\\ '/ UI

/)\\ ,~

~

" (I ) H ( (~)~~ ;:;. ~

)(, $) 0

~ ~ H r<

((

B

A

o c e

I

t

, i l ,.

! •

~ -: