Old Tabernacle Cemetery

Some images submitted by:Michael Vaughan
Special Thanks to Michael Vaughan for making this special trip to photograph these markers.As you can tell, this is a very old cemetery.Several years ago, some men from Memphis came and did some extensive clearing of the overgrowth but there is still work that could be accomplished. This cemetery is in a wooded area that is hard to reach and rarely visited.

Billie Hitt reads the sign for Old Tabernacle. Most of the letters have fallen off. Mr. Jake Bryan proceeds on into the area where the tombstones begin. There are a lot of sandstones marking graves. When Shed Hill and Rebecca Davis did a cemetery census, they recorded 37 tombstones. At one place, we could count 6 graves in a row that were marked with sandstones. Some markers have been pushed aside by the timber growing in the graveyard. Members of the Parker Family came in in 2002 and did some massive cleaning. You have to be careful walking because of the stumps that were left. Billie and Mr. Jake agree that in the late spring, "Roundup" needs to be brought in and heavily sprayed over the whole area to remove the stumps and saw-briars. Then later in the year, another application applied. [I am not sure who took these pictures]

This cemetery is on the property of Martha Bell Hubbard. She said that to the west, slightly down the slope were several unmarked negro graves. At one time, these families had worked for her father/grandfather. There was once a "main" road from Pittsboro going slightly south, that passed to the eastern side of the cemetery. Faint traces of the "old road" can be seen. Over time, this road was closed and another was built further to the west. The cemetery can be accessed by going thru Mr. Jake Bryan's pasture; however, it is a fairly long walk. Permission MUST be obtained in advance!

Attached are several grave markers that I made photographs of back in 2003. The one listed as Covington - I will update the death year as soon as possible.Note: The coloring on the markers is chalk.  It will wash off in a good rain and does not seem to destroy any of the stone's finish.

Click on the linked name to see the images

Bailey, Emeline Cozart  10 Jan 1830 – 14 Jul 1889

Bailey, Hayman Morris   6 Feb 1832 – 26 Aug 1873

Bailey, Winney L.   10 Mar 1858 – 14 Feb 1859

Box, Willie H.   18 Dec 1863 – 31 Dec 1887

Bryant, C. C.  18 Sep 1817 – 25 Aug 1897

Bryant, Infant   29 Sep 1897 – 1 Nov 1897

Bryant, Jessie Christopher   26 Jun 1892 – 2 Sep 1899

Bryant, Lerier Beatrice   19 Jan 1904 – 10 Oct 1904

Bryant, Matilda A.   20 Aug 1827 – 18 Jun 1900

Bryant, Samuel M.   14 Sep 1869 – 13 Mar 1870

Bryant, William Harvey   31 Jan 1899 – 10 Oct 1900

Cantrell, Cordia Lillian  19 Feb 1894 – 17 Aug 1899

Cantrell, Infant  6 Sep 1899 – 6 Sep 1899

Carter, Axie Gene Diggs  1820 – 1917

Carter, Leonard   5 Dec 1890 – 16 Aug 1930

Carter, Sarah Jane Bailey   27 Nov 1861 – 4 Mar 1934

Carter, William Thomas   28 Jan 1860 – 16 Jan 1923

Chism, Josephine Terry  1846 – 1892

Covington, Emma Estelle  20 Jun 1873 – 17 Sep

Cozart, Infant  1920 – Nov 1920

Davis, Hiram C.  10 Mar 1852 – 3 Oct 1856

Davis, J. W.   8 Oct 1856 – 15 Nov 1856

Davis, Mary E. F.   29 May 1820 – 4 Mar 1857

Hallum, Margaret Frances Cozart  8 Mar 1839 – 29 Jan 1927

Hallum, William M.  10 Dec 1865 – 15 Jun 1886

Hallum, Woodson Carroll  16 Mar 1839 – 28 Feb 1920

Johnson, Luella S. Bryant  4 Feb 1862 – 6 Sep 1891

Mahan, Infant  died 20 Nov 1887

Mahan, Infant  15 Jun 1883 – 15 Jun 1883

Moorman, Benjamin  29 Aug 1783 – 3 May 1850, 2nd image

Parker, Henry P.  1827 – 1899

Parker, Mary Catherine Vaughn   20 Jul 1856 – 8 Jan 1900

Parker, Nancy Jane Barnes   1829 – 1892

Smith, Sinah  25 Jan 1793 – 2 Mar 1868

Smith, Thomas  16 May 1786 – 23 Jan 1862

Terry, Amos Lawrance  22 Aug 1883 – 24 Nov 1884

Terry, Arthur Wilburn  23 Sep 1876 – 9 Jul 1878

Terry, Nettie  2 Jul 1859 – 9 Jul 1888

Vaughan, Jerome Benjamin  8 Jun 1833 – 4 Mar 1889, 2nd image, military marker

Vaughan, Mary Jane Benoist