Month: November 2019

There is an interesting entry in the Plantation Journal of Charles Manigault, 30th October 1864: “We met with a very sad loss to the Plantation. Mr. William Capers our experienced Overseer died on this day. He was a remarkable man and a true gentleman and I made more a companion of him than merely regarding him as a simple Overseer.”

Capers was actually related to Manigault because they married sisters. He went on to tell about Capers – “Mr. Capers assisted me in numerous ways during our four years War. He sent me regularly vegetables and other articles to my half-starved family in Augusta and also advanced me money, which I always returned. His Remains are deposited in the Church Yard, Cherokee Hill, not far (one mile) from where he died.”

William Capers’s grave is unmarked and the only information in the Cemetery archives indicates that he was born in 1816 and died Octo0ber 30, 1864 and that he was 49.

Also in the archives is the notice that Christmas Moultrie’s son Hardee is buried in the cemetery with no marker and the notice that he was born in 1895 and died in 1935.

The following is an accounting of a visit to Cherokee Hill Cemetery in October, 2019, by Dr. Simona Perry and Luciana Spracher, Director, City of Savannah Municipal Archives.

Most graves in Cherokee Hill cemetery are laid out south (headstones) to north (footstones). There are also most likely many more graves in this site than there are markers, since there is so much bare ground Most of the graves with stones are on top of the hill. There is a slope that goes down towards the back of the cemetery (west). On the bottom of that slope are other grave sites, many unmarked and some marked. These graves are laid out west (headstones) to east (footstones). In general marked graves have professionally etched engravings or bronze plaques, but there are some where the names and dates have been hand-etched. According to Ms. Spracher, this hand carving is rather common in other area African American cemeteries.

Christmas Moultrie’s grave site is on the north side of the cemetery in a grove of tall cane grass and bamboo, near to other grave sites. There is a footstone at Moultrie’s grave that says Grandfather. To the immediate east of his grave are those Lucinda Brace (1893-1980) and Estella Ford (1896-1981) with “Loving Sisters” on their markers.

There is a slope that goes down to the back of the cemetery (west). On the bottom of that slope are other grave sites, (footstones). In general, marked graves have professionally etched engravings or bronze plaques, but there are some where the names and dates have been hand-etched. According to Ms. Spracher, hand carvings are also fairly common in other African American area cemeteries.

The book – Life and Labor on Argyle Island: Letters and Documents of a Savannah Rice Plantation 1833-1876 edited by James M. Clifton makes reference to Cherokee Hill Baptist Churchyard and could offer more information.