Winthrop alumni Andrew Lazenby, class of 2006 and 2009, purchased 100 acres of land in Rock Hill that contained 144 graves of enslaved Africans.
During the process of purchasing the land in Oct. 2021, the previous landowners notified the current landowners about the presence of the cemetery on the property. However, they were not aware of the location and the current landowners were able to search the property for markers on the graves.
After finding the graves, the landowners made the decision to place markers on all of the graves.
“We made a decision to place a marker on all the graves as a show of respect and as insurance that these will not be lost again in the future,” Lazenby said. “We contacted a stone cutter / carver in SC to have the stones made. Each stone simply has a number.”
Additionally, the landowners are contracting a metal smith from North Carolina to help construct a fence and gate to surround the site.
Joel Hohmann has been hired by the property owners to do research on the history of the land to help the landowners understand the origin of the graves.
“We looked at various battles, disease outbreaks, itinerant churches, etc. and it was during this process we discovered the plantation this land was associated with, and that this was an enslaved cemetery,” Lazenby said. “While we have the name of the plantation owners and have found some descendants, we are not releasing that information to the public until the event on February 25th.”
According to the Nation Ford Land Trust statement concerning the 144 graves, the “Nation Ford Land Trust will host a ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate the loves of, ‘The 144’.” The property owners will be in attendance.
The event will be held on Feb. 25, 2023, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be a question-and-answer panel with the property owners and Nation Ford Land Trust which will be moderated by Emiene Wright of Our State Magazine.
Dr. Corey D.B. Walker, the interim dean of the school of divinity and director of African- American Studies at Wake Forest University will be the keynote speaker.
There will only be 144 tickets sold for “The 144: Honoring the Long Ancestors” and will be $75. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.nationfordlandtrust.org/the-144/.
“All ticket proceeds will be considered as fundraising donations to Nation Ford Land Trust, a 501© (3) non-profit organization that works to conserve and protect land throughout York County,” Megan Mahoney, the land trust associate said. “NFLT is the main organization behind the set-up of the event and the event itself is intended as a fundraiser to help NFLT protect more greenspace and potentially other properties.”
Moving forward, the site will remain protected and available for the descendants to visit. The site will not be open for the general public. Visits will be coordinated with the landowners to ensure that the area remains safe.
Information concerning the names of the plantation associated with the graves, the plantation owners and the descendants are remaining private but will be released at the event on Feb. 25, 2023.
