A Bit of Cole Cemetery History

The Cole family occupied this site beginning as early as 1820 (the oldest dated tombstone) and they sold the property to Richard Rue in 1866. Rue and family are buried near Moselle, so they are not possible burials. Sometime later, the site was used by local African-American families as, basically, a public burial ground. This seems to have started during the ownership by the Ming family. Purportedly, there is a Ming slave cemetery, but it is believed to be located farther east than the nearby Ming Cemetery. The Cole site was not a slave burial ground during the Ming's ownership.

In the late nineteenth century and into the mid-twentieth century, South Point (now the eastern-most portions of Washington) had become known as a “black” community. Using death certificates and obituaries, we can almost prove that the Cole Cemetery, then owned by the Ming family, did indeed become what I am calling the South Point (African-American) Community Cemetery.

The two large tombstones that we re-erected were those of John and Jennie Findley. John was the owner of a store at South Point, perhaps the only store owned by an African-American in Franklin County up until that time. He dropped dead in Dr. Stierberger’s office in Union in 1924, where he had gone for treatment as he had been feeling ill. His burial, alongside wife Jennie who had died six years earlier, seems to be one of the last, if not the last, at the site.

This cemetery suffered from intentional partial destruction about thirty to forty years ago. Fortunately, a couple of the discarded headstones have been kept safe by a nearby neighbor. He is willing to return them to the site.

This narrative is condensed from a report shared by Marc Houseman of the Washington Historical Society.