On a slightly inclined hill, spotted with mature cedars there is an Afro-American cemetery that has existed since shortly after the Civil War.
Claiming several acres near the historic town of Lancaster, Kentucky, it is a cemetery that holds past citizens of the local black community. There is not an official name posted at the cemetery entrance.
 |
| Cabal Marritt Junior |
Cabal Marritt Junior is one of the persons that looks after the care of the cemetery. His parents and past friends and relatives are buried there. I had some questions about the cemetery and called Cabal to arrange a meeting at the cemetery.
We met on a beautiful sunny day last fall. My main questions were about several of the grave markers that appeared to be handmade. Cabal said that he thought they were, probably made by Bobby Warren who used to run the pool hall in Lancaster. Unfortunely, Bobby died some time ago.
This spring I revisited the cemetery. When I was leaving I met a man named Jamie that told me that it was Bobby Warren that made the handmade grave markers. He said," I know because when I was young I used to help Bobby make them. We would have different molds for the shaping and then would pour cement in them."
What I also observed about these handmade grave markers was that they had a square indentation on their face that held a hand written inscription of the name, birth and death of the individual. Over this was placed a glass pane for protection. There was some variations to this identification technique such as a tin square being used.
The handmade grave markers are simple folk types that are part of the culture of the cemetery.
Jamie added a few more words about Bobby Warren. "Bobby didn't charge a lot for his grave markers, that way most folks could afford one. For those that couldn't pay he often just gave them one for nothing."
I thought about what Jamie had just told me. I realized that not only was there a reaching out of local community in life but also in death.
