Home > United States of America > Virginia > Danville City > Danville > Freedman's Cemetery

Freedman's Cemetery

Memorials	:	0
Location	:	Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate	:	36.5761100, -79.3893300
Description	:	The nine-acre Freedman's Cemetery was established in Danville in the 1870's for formerly enslaved and free African Americans. It is located behind the Danville National Cemetery, burial ground for Union soldiers who perished in Danville prisons during the Civil War, and adjacent to Green Hill Cemetery, site of memorials to the Confederate dead. Because there are scant burial records for Freedman's Cemetery, it is uncertain exactly how many people are buried there. Fifty-five gravestones, however, were documented by Piedmont Lineages, as part of a five-year cemetery project led by Mary Leigh Boisseau for the Virginia/North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society. A sampling of... Read More	The nine-acre Freedman's Cemetery was established in Danville in the 1870's for formerly enslaved and free African Americans. It is located behind the Danville National Cemetery, burial ground for Union soldiers who perished in Danville prisons during the Civil War, and adjacent to Green Hill Cemetery, site of memorials to the Confederate dead. Because there are scant burial records for Freedman's Cemetery, it is uncertain exactly how many people are buried there. Fifty-five gravestones, however, were documented by Piedmont Lineages, as part of a five-year cemetery project led by Mary Leigh Boisseau for the Virginia/North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society. A sampling of the standing stones shows Freedman's Cemetery remained an important burial site for African Americans into the twentieth century, even though the segregated Oak Hill Cemetery opened in 1901, providing an alternative burial ground for blacks. Physical Description Among those African Americans who have identifiable plots in Freedman's Cemetery are: The Holbrook family, including Levi E. Holbrook (1866-1907), a South Main Street property owner, who in 1898 organized Danville's Holbrook & Cunningham Funeral Home with U. S. Cunningham; The Yancey family, including William Alexander Yancey (1850-1925), who became principal of the Danville school in 1881 (and was the first African American to be named a principle in Danville); and his wife, Florence Elizabeth Yancey (1857-1930), a Petersburg teacher who came to Danville in 1875 to teach at the same school; Waldron S. France, who died in 1918, the first black soldier from Danville or Pittsylvania County to die in World War I; the city's American Legion Post 29 is named for him. In 1972, the Danville Register published an article on Freedman's Cemetery, calling it the "city's lost Negro cemetery" and noting its state of disrepair and neglect. The city of Danville now mows and maintains the cemetery, but many of the gravestones are broken, and a number of stones lie almost obscured in the grass and dirt. (Description: African American Historic Sites Database, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, link: http://www.aahistoricsitesva.org/items/show/160#.Va8_9_laZ0c).

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Freedman's Cemetery?
Freedman's Cemetery is located at 761 Lee Street Danville, Danville City ,Virginia , 24541USA.
Freedman's Cemetery cemetery's updated grave count on graveviews.com?
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Where are the coordinates of the Freedman's Cemetery?
Latitude: 36.5761100
Longitude: -79.3893300

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Nearby Cemetories:

1. Danville National Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5769043, -79.3895035

2. Green Hill Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5760994, -79.3908005

3. Oak Hill Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5696983, -79.3917007

4. Episcopal Church of the Epiphany Columbarium
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5841790, -79.3964420

5. Grove Street Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5827408, -79.4013367

6. Johns - Hamilton Burial Ground
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5637400, -79.3853680

7. Baker Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5831871, -79.4083023

8. Linzy Boyd Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5579980, -79.3800210

9. Mountain View Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5815020, -79.4137590

10. Leemont Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.6030998, -79.3842010

11. Edward Kyle and Cordelia Evans Hall Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5880142, -79.3557704

12. Aetz Chayim Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5875360, -79.4244510

13. Danville Muslim Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5926660, -79.3572330

14. Spirit Filled Holiness Church Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5444640, -79.3954177

15. Schoolfield Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5618054, -79.4275235

16. East New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5830600, -79.3434900

17. Turpin Street Cemetery #01
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5877778, -79.4347222

18. Fitzgerald-Forbes Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5877778, -79.4352777

19. Turpin Street Cemetery #02
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5880556, -79.4355550

20. Shady Oak Baptist Church Cemetery
Gatewood, Caswell County, USA
Coordinate: 36.5389670, -79.3707090

21. Gatewood Family Cemetery
Gatewood, Caswell County, USA
Coordinate: 36.5357090, -79.3951890

22. Johnson Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5889940, -79.3398460

23. Phillips Family Cemetery
Gatewood, Caswell County, USA
Coordinate: 36.5327240, -79.3793430

24. Hamlett Family Cemetery
Danville, Danville City, USA
Coordinate: 36.5490510, -79.4327990

Freedman's Cemetery

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