At the edge of a farm field in the woods lies a cemetery secret to most humans in the area but the trees know about it. The name “Mayes” was literally carved into an old beech tree. Time has stretched the letters as the tree grows older and wider, but the inscription is as clear as the day it carved. This is a particularly old cemetery, the oldest marker dating from 1825 and the last known burial is from 1909, although there is no stone. There is a total of five stones with inscriptions, two fieldstone marking burials, and four clear impressions which indicates burials.
The patriarch of the Mayes/Mays (variations on spelling) family who are buried here was Benjamin Mayes (1757-1835). Benjamin enlisted in a Virginia regiment during the Revolutionary War, and according to his pension application, removed to Iredell County around 1799.<1> Benjamin’s son, Richard (1786-1876), is buried at the family cemetery along with his wife Nancy (1790-1879).
It is highly unlikely that slaves are buried at this site, or anywhere on the old Mayes property. In the 1850 slave schedules, there is no listing for Mayes in Iredell County, and in the 1860 slave schedules, only one Mayes is listed and it is likely a different branch of the family or else unrelated based on the location. Oral tradition tells that the Mayes property played a role in the Underground Railroad’s efforts to send slaves to freedom in the north. The Mayes family were staunch Methodists, many of which were abolitionists. It is most likely that the Mayes family members who are buried here did not own slaves and were possibly adamantly against the institution of slavery altogether. New Salem Methodist Church is not far from the family property and several Mayes’ are buried at the church cemetery. Richard Mayes (1786-1876) played a role in the early beginnings of New Salem. In the church history files, there are several references to the Richard Mayes Preaching House and the fact that the Mayes family home served as a church before a formal congregation had formed in the area. Meetings were taking places as early as 1832.<2> The current location of Union Chapel Baptist (once known as Gay’s Chapel) was originally known as New Union Church and it once housed a Presbyterian congregation, the Methodist church which became New Salem, and the Baptist congregation which still uses the building today.
This cemetery is deeded off as a separate portion of the land and is listed with the State of North Carolina Archeology Office to ensure its survival from development which is taking over much of the land in the surrounding area.
<1> “U.S. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 December 2022), entry for Benjamin Mayes and widow Luetitia, North Carolina.
<2> “Centennial Celebration is Underway,” Statesville Record & Landmark, 11 February 1970, p. 1, cols 1-4.
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