Taylor-Swinson Historic Memorial Cemetery Honors Over 200 Unmarked African American Graves
On Friday, May 23, 2025 the cemetery was finally able to recognize more than half of those buried in the cemetery without a tombstone, the association raised a memorial in their honor.
The Earliest Known Burial that has been found is Lucinda Edwards Taylor - 1893.
“Our ancestors live until they die, but their spirits live until the last time that their names are mentioned, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Lenny Swinson told WITN. “We’re trying to keep their names alive forever.”
A Snow Hill native, Swinson says the rich black family history of the cemetery was almost lost forever.
.png)
Snow Hill, North Carolina
“This cemetery, once almost buried, gone, forgotten, it has produced ancestors from Civil Rights leaders, CEO of AARP, and National Teacher of the Year in 1976. All of these folks’ ancestors are from this cemetery,” Swinson says.
In remembrance of his heritage, he formed the Taylor-Swinson Historic Memorial Cemetery Association in 2020 to restore the graves that had been buried in brush and overgrowth for decades.
“When I come out here alone, it’s very quiet and peaceful. I remember how my father was,” Minter, a participant and board member of the association, says. “He was a very quiet man, a sharecropper. I came from humble beginning, and so I’m really thankful.”
The cemetery’s association started with five members in 2020 and has grown into an association with over 300 members in just five years.
Swinson says the cemetery’s history dates back to 1904 when his relative, Lewis Swinson, purchased 25 acres of land, which included the cemetery.
Source: By Elise Sandlin/witn dotcom- Published: May 23, 2025 at 6:29 PM EDT
From The Taylor-Swinson Historic Memorial Cemetery Website
From a 1939 Cemetery Survey that was performed across every county in North Carolina, for both black and white cemeteries, we know that Lucinda Edwards Taylor is the earliest documented burial. When Lucinda Edwards was born in 1849 in North Carolina, her father, Aaron, was 20, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 14. She had one son and five daughters with Lewis Taylor between 1874 and 1881. She died on October 2, 1893, at the age of 44.
The cemetery is located on Griffin Road in Snow Hill, Greene County, North Carolina, and sits back in the middle of a field. Access to the public is via a dirt path on private property.
Cemetery Statistics:
+300 souls interred (documented & verified)
+175 headstones
Over 250 marked Graves through ground penetrating radar
Family Names: Edwards, Rouse, Shephard, Swinson, Taylor and many more
Thanks to family research, we have been able to compile a listing of over 300 souls who are interred in Taylor Black Cemetery. If you have information on any persons not listed in our catalogue please click the link below to add a person to our database. Records collected include photos, death certificates, headstone photos and more. If there is incomplete or inaccurate information, please send us an email, with the correct information. We would also like to collect life stories and photos of your loved ones.
Here is the link to their burial records: https://airtable.com/appvzJnz14JhV50UV/shrVE9N8lC1refwOv/tblX785jaOqjXfbPn