How I Accidentally Ended Up In the Wrong Cemetery

A couple of months ago, I was in a cemetery looking for a tombstone of a white person. But I came to realize that I was in a black church cemetery. The person died in 1939, during a time when most churches were segregated. I needed to be at the cemetery for the church that was historically white, but I wasn’t. So how did I end up in a cemetery of a black church? An obituary led me astray.

My trip to the wrong cemetery

A 1939 obituary identified the place of burial as [Town Name] Baptist Church. I googled that church name, one popped up with the same name, and I planned my trip to the cemetery.

The death certificate listed the deceased as widowed but I had been unable to find death information for his spouse. Since I had his place of burial, I was hoping his wife was buried there too and that a tombstone would identify her death date. Could I luck out and solve this mystery thanks to the obituary giving the place of burial?

When I arrived at the cemetery a few weeks later, I found only 40 or so graves with the earliest tombstone from 1998. A sign on the church said the church was established in 1903 and rebuilt in 1998. I wondered if it moved locations in 1998 and an older cemetery might be located elsewhere.

The church was closed. I tried calling the church number but no one answered. I tried finding another cemetery using maps on my phone and searching for other cemeteries in town. After not finding anything, I left the church and asked someone for help. I explained what I was in town for and I asked her if she knew where the old cemetery was. She then explained that I had been at the black church and that I needed to go to the white church. I was so stuck on the name of the church reported in the newspaper that I neglected my due diligence in making sure I was at the right church.

A very, very brief overview of black churches

The history of black churches in the United States is complex and varies by location and denomination. Some black churches were formed because black individuals wanted their own place to worship in order to gain independence and to separate from white-dominated churches.1 In other instances, white congregation members donated funds to build black churches in order to keep black churchgoers out of their congregations.2 Regardless of the origin of the black church, many black churches still have congregations primarily made up of black individuals. For instance, National Baptist Convention, USA have primarily black congregations, and Southern Baptists have primarily white congregations.3

Black churches were central to the Civil Rights Movement and formed a tight community as they fought for the rights they deserve. Unless there have been dramatic changes in town demographics, if a church is an all (or mostly) black church now, it was likely a black congregation at its formation.

The deceptive obituary

Okay, maybe the obituary wasn’t deceptive. The problem is I was reading the newspaper with a 2021 mindset rather than a 1939 mindset.

The newspaper had [Town Name] Baptist Church. Looking at it from a fresh perspective, the Town Name was likely just mentioning the town the church was in and not identifying the church by name. The newspaper’s audience was likely the white members of the community and the need to state that it was the white church or to state the church’s exact name were unnecessary.

The two Baptist churches in the town had the names [Town Name] Baptist Church and The First Baptist Church of [Town Name]. Both churches were established early enough that they would have been either all-white or all-black churches. The town currently has less than 200 residents, and it is historically a small town, and likely could not support two white Baptist churches. That meant one of those churches was likely historically white and the other historically black.

Since I was looking for a white person, my genealogical research needed to determine which church was historically white, regardless of the demographics of today’s congregation. Although in this case, it seems that the demographics of the two churches still generally match the historical demographics.

I typically would have searched to make sure I had a historically white church. My error was in taking the newspaper’s description literally.

Location, location, location

How can you tell the difference? A church was often deemed an essential part of a town and was, therefore, often built in the center of town.4 As landowners were typically white, the first churches built typically supported white congregations. Many black churches are newer and were built when the black community could support the church. However, to add to the confusion, if a new church building was built for the white congregation, the old building might have been designated as a black church. But as a general rule, white churches would likely be near the center of town and black churches were likely on the outskirts of town.

Looking at the churches on a map can help identify which churches are in the center of town.

Baptist Church names

In my situation, I was looking for a Baptist Church. A church that currently has First Baptist Church in its name was likely originally a white congregation. But black worshipers may have been allowed to attend at some point in the church’s history. In Atlanta, as black membership grew, separate churches were built. They had separate names, such as Zion Baptist Church and Bethlehem Baptist Church even if they still fell under the organization of the First Baptist Church.5

With regard to Baptist churches, words such as First, suggest that it was the oldest church in town and likely the white church. If one church had the town name and the other one did not, the one with the town name was likely the white church. However, in my case, both churches had the town name (although one had First in its name).

Words like New suggest it was built after the first, and suggests a black church. Black churches often distinguished themselves by giving their churches names found in the Bible, such as Zion and Bethlehem in the Atlanta example above.

None of these tips are universal, but they may provide hints for which church to start with when trying to decide which Baptist church the person in question attended. Many churches have also been built in recent years making it sometimes difficult to determine from an internet search which churches were original.

Church cemeteries

Google maps often have satellite images which may help to determine if the church has a cemetery. Inactive cemeteries don’t always show up in an internet search. Some churches have websites or phone numbers. A phone call can help determine the date of establishment, if the church was historically black or white, and if they have a cemetery.

Additionally, if an old church cemetery has tombstones, it is likely a white church. Black individuals (and many white individuals) often did not have the funds for a tombstone.

Social media pages

Some churches have a social media presence. Looking at social media pages can help you infer if a church was historically black or historically white if the current congregations are primarily either black or white.

My story again

As I return to the tale of my cemetery search, I reflect on all I have learned through this experience. While I did find the correct church, there was no tombstone for the person I was looking for. In fact, the church only had a few old tombstones. It was in a rural town and it is quite possible there was not a lot of money to spend on tombstones.

In my story, the white church was in the center of town and the black church was on the outskirts of town, next to farms. The black church had a social media page and it was evident that it was a black congregation. The white church was the First Baptist Church. Had I not been led astray by that obituary it is fairly obvious where I should have started my search.

While I did not find what I was looking for, I learned a valuable lesson. Hopefully this Lineage Tracer won’t be misled by a newspaper article in the future.

  1. L.H. Whelchel, African-American Churches: A Way Out of No Way (St. Paul: Paragon House, 2011), 112. ↩

  2. Edward J Robinson, Hard Fighting Soldiers: a History of African American Churches of Christ (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2019), 43. ↩

  3. “About NBC: The National Baptist Convention, USA,” The National Baptist Convention, USA (www.nationalbaptist.com: accessed 30 Sep 2021).The National Baptist Convention, USA was formed in 1886 and is the oldest and largest African-American religious convention. Exact statistics could not be found but it is still advertised as an African-American religious convention, suggesting primarily black congregations.

    “Southern Baptist Convention Member Profile” The Association of Religion Data Archives, (www.rda.com: accessed 30 Sep 2021). Southern Baptists broke off from Baptists in 1845 over their disagreement with slavery. Southern Baptists originated as the Baptist church for slaveholders. A 2014 survey showed that 91.2% were white. ↩

  4. “Colonial Ameria Places and Buildings in Town” Technology Solutions, Inc, www.ducksters.com: accessed 29 Sep 2021). ↩

  5. L.H. Whelchel, African-American Churches: A Way Out of No Way (St. Paul: Paragon House, 2011), 126-127. ↩

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