Little Flock Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Little Flock Cemetery, out in Leon County. Pull over if you can, because this one's worth a slow listen. Little Flock Baptist Church took root in this area in 1854.

That's before the Civil War, before the state had fully decided what it wanted to be, and already families were gathering here, putting down names and putting down roots. Baldwin, Cothern, Hamlet, Lamb, Shipp, Steapleton, Thomas. Say those names out loud sometime.

They've got a weight to them. The churchyard began serving as a cemetery as early as 1860, when Meedie Lamb became the first we know of to be interred here. Eighteen-sixty.

The ground was already holding memory before the war even ended. And it kept right on holding it. Decades passed.

The land was officially deeded in 1903 by W.C. Jackson, set aside for use as a schoolhouse, a church, and a graveyard. Three things a community needs to survive: a place to learn, a place to worship, and a place to lay its people to rest.

Between 1907 and the early 1920s, the Bear Grass Coal Company operated two mines in the area, and with those mines came new families, new names, new stories folded into the community's long story. Many of them are buried here, including several miners of African American and Hispanic descent whose graves in the northwest portion of the cemetery remain unmarked. No stone, no name to read aloud.

But they're here, and this marker says so, and that matters. The rest of the cemetery holds veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, religious leaders, pioneer families, landowners, and one Tom Foley, renowned fiddle player. I like that he made the list.

I like that whoever wrote this marker made sure he made the list. Today, an association maintains the cemetery, and every year the community comes back together for a memorial day, to reunite and to honor the families whose names and stories make up what this place calls its rich history. That's not just a phrase on a marker.

That's a promise kept, year after year, to people who put their lives into a piece of Leon County ground and trusted somebody would remember.

What the marker says

Little Flock Baptist Church began in this area in 1854. Early member names included Baldwin, Cothern, Hamlet, Lamb, Shipp, Steapleton and Thomas. The churchyard was used as a cemetery as early as 1860, when Meedie Lamb was interred here. The church and community have continued to use the burial ground and property, officially deeded for use as schoolhouse, church and graveyard in 1903 by W.C. Jackson. Between 1907 and the early 1920s, the Bear Grass Coal Company operated two mines in the area, bringing new families to the community. Many associated with the mines are buried here, including several miners of African American and Hispanic descent buried in unmarked graves in the northwest portion of the cemetery. Other community members interred at Little Flock Cemetery include veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II, religious leaders, pioneer families and landowners, and Tom Foley, who was a renowned fiddle player. Today, an association maintains the cemetery. Members hold an annual memorial day to reunite and honor area families, whose names and stories are part of the community's rich history.