Antioch Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Out here in Henderson County, there's a two-acre patch of ground that holds more history than its size might let on. Back in 1883, the trustees of the New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church purchased that land from J.

Thomas and Oma Henry. They meant it as a resting place, and that is exactly what it became. The cemetery has long served the Black farming community of Antioch, and it does not take long standing there to feel the weight of that purpose.

The earliest marked grave belongs to Allen Delorah, who died in 1894. But here is the thing about a place like this, the marked graves are only part of the story. Beneath that soil lie numerous unmarked graves, early settlers, ministers, people who built something out here before anyone was keeping careful records.

That is the nature of pioneer ground. You know more lives were lived than names survive to tell you. Antioch Cemetery stands as one of the earliest graveyards in this part of Henderson County, a burial site for many of the area's pioneers.

Two acres, purchased in 1883, holding the community's dead going back to a time when that farming community was still finding its footing. The land remembers, even when the stones do not.

What the marker says

Located on a two-acre site purchased in 1883 by the trustees of the New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church from J. Thomas and Oma Henry, this cemetery has long served the Black farming community of Antioch. The earliest marked grave is that of Allen Delorah, who died in 1894. The cemetery contains numerous unmarked graves of early settlers and ministers. One of the earliest graveyards in this part of Henderson County, Antioch Cemetery is the burial site for many of the area's pioneers. (1984)