Although President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, slaves in the South were not free. Even though General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865 essentially ending the Civil War, slaves were not free. It was not until the June 19, 1865 when the final enforcement of the Proclamation was carried out in Texas that southern slaves learned of their freedom. But even then, they were not free. In fact, the Proclamation only referred to "rebellious states," those who seceded from the Union and were part of the Confederacy. There were still enslaved people in the North and other states who would not know of their freedom until the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6, 1865. Even then, they were not free. Enslaved people owned nothing when they were told that they were suddenly free. They could leave and go anywhere they wanted. But where could they go? They owned no land or house. They owned the clothes on their back and that was it. They could now be paid for their work on the plantation instead of being free labor, but in the case of the southern plantations, the Confederate dollar had just been declared worthless as a result of the war and many plantation owners were now bankrupt. They couldn't afford to pay them. The practice of sharecropping became the best "win-win" situation for everyone which lasted well into the 20th century. Former slaves could stay on the land, harvest a crop for their family and to sell, in exchange for farm labor. Legal slavery, basically.
Reconstruction attempted to lift the African American family up and give them some support. Black men were allowed to vote or run for office. Employers could now hire Black workers (if they chose) and pay them a wage (even if it wasn't close to what the white men were getting). But, the white supremacist movement around the turn of the century in the South pushed back any progress that had been made during Reconstruction and even removed voting rights from African Americans who had once been enslaved but were granted freedom on Juneteenth. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s in America raised the question: is not every man, regardless of race, equal in the eyes of God? Even today, we see the tides of racism come and go and some still don't consider themselves totally free.
BUT WAIT.
Juneteenth is still an incredibly important day. June 19, 1865 marked the beginning of freedom for African Americans in the United States. The road has been hard since the days of slavery, but Juneteenth is to be celebrated as it is a declaration of freedom. I have had the privilege of visiting the final resting places of many people who had been born enslaved but died free. I've also been to unmarked graves where those buried never got to experience freedom. Today is about those people. Today is about remembering the struggle of the generations of enslaved people and the final moment of victory when freedom could begin.
There are still examples around the world of how people from different races, cultures, and religions are mistreated. We live in a fallen world and until the day of Christ's return, we will never change the heart's of evil people. But today, we can stand together in love and unity and recognize that the ending of slavery in America was the beginning of equality and freedom for everyone.
photo gallery
The Meck Neck Cemetery in southern Iredell County (belonging to Mecklenburg County until 1998) is one of the few that I can confidently say holds the remains of enslaved people. I believe this site was a common burial ground for multiple slaveholding families including the Patterson, Houston, and Conner families. There are also several burials of those who survived enslavement, but whose families could not afford headstones. I would love to have a GPR survey conducted on this site to obtain a number of possible burials. I'm guessing 40-50, but probably more.
The Zion Hill AME Church Cemetery is located in Houstonville, Iredell County. Some of the earliest and oldest charter members of this congregation survived enslavement. Descendants are still being buried here even though the church is no longer standing. It was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and insurance issues disallowed the church to be rebuilt.
It's always difficult to put names to burials of slaves or former slaves. Mary (left) and James are buried at the White's Mill Cemetery and have markers with their names engraved. This was a community burying ground for slaves of several local families including the Chambers, White, and Barkley families in Statesville, North Carolina. A study of this site was conducted by TRC Companies in 2022 and I'm so happy to say that this site is safe and protected. Thomas Dacons (right) was a prominent member of the New Hope community and although he was born into slavery, his legacy as a founder of the Summerville Baptist Church still stands in the form of an obelisk for him and his wife at the now abandoned church cemetery.
The slave house of the Hall family is still standing in Statesville not far from Bethany Presbyterian Church and Freedom Presbyterian, the first Black church in Iredell County following the Civil War. In July 2023, the Hall families (both white and black) gathered together for the most unique family reunion I've ever experienced. Stories were shared and friendships were formed. We toured the white church (Bethany) where many slaves were forced to sit apart from the white congregants. We toured Freedom Church which was formed with the help of a white Presbyterian minister who open a school for African Americans on his property. He taught them how to read and encouraged them to own land to embark on their journey to freedom. Events like this are how society heals. We can't undo the wrongs of the past, but we can ensure that the future does not make the same mistakes.
The Green Street Cemetery. I spent so much time in this sacred place studying the people who are buried here and the history of the land when the library received a grant to conduct a GPR survey of the site. Of the 2,224 souls who rest here, about 400 people (that we know of) were born prior to 1865. These people were born enslaved but died as free men and women. I was honored to clean the headstones of two such individuals. George Adkins and Edmond Petty. Petty was enlisted in the Colored Troops during the Civil War and his family is currently exploring options for a veteran marker to be placed here.
To those who survived enslavement, we honor you. To those descendants of enslaved people, we see you.
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