Lt. Carl A. Bailey Memorial Cemetery and Other Early Black Burials, Charlotte County, Florida, 1993

              The Burial Grounds in Hickory Bluff
Today there is a small fenced-in area on Rowland Street in what was originally Curry's 1886 Addition to Hickory Bluff where 'colored' were buried.   Actually this and another small site about 1/4 mile south near the high water mark for Charlotte Harbor are two of the oldest areas designated as cemeteries on official records.   While all evidence of the latter has disappeared, the 'Colored Cemetery', as it was then called, still exists and is presently considered as county-owned-property (ref. Charlotte County tax # 78756-000000-2). The 12 May 1886 plat drawn by K. B. Harvey even indicated that some graves existed at that time.   The area was then in Manatee Co. FL. An article in the February 24, 1984 Daily Herald - News, a former Charlotte County newspaper, described this cemetery and discussed a part of its history.   Its author, staff writer David Flechsig, gave the names of the fourteen individuals believed to be buried there -
George Roberts, Jordan Roberts, James Roberts, Lewis Roberts, Ester Lowman, George Lowman, Glorene Owens, Centhia Coleman, Ben Coleman, Victoria Gator, Stephen Gator, George Wetherbee, Julia Mack and Emesiah Mack
Mr. D. C. Smith of Punta Gorda FL, former caretaker of the cemetery, provided this list to Mr. Flechsig.   The article indicates that no official cemetery records were kept but some of the other material in it, especially the part which refers to the sale and ownership of the land is misleading.   Actually in July 1891, July Roberts, who lived nearby, purchased this plot (ie. lot 7 of Block 6) from Mary & Hiram Curry.   Undoubtedly Mr. Roberts, a black man, knew that it was a cemetery and probably purchased it to preserve its status as such.   Records indicate that both July and his wife. Tenia, died in the 1897-1900 era.   Perhaps they are buried there too since all of the 'Roberts' listed above were their children.  Because no official records were kept for any of the burials in this cemetery, one must wonder as to who was buried there - especially those prior to 1886.
Other Burial Sites
Reference to other burial places can be found in numerous newspaper accounts of the accidental or tragic death of 'Blacks' in Charlotte County.   For example, the 27 July 1916 Punta Gorda Herald describes the death of "Clarence Thomas, a young negro who was a member of the railroad local section crew, was killed instantly by lightning ...". Later the article states that he was buried in the railroad cemetery at Acline on Sunday afternoon.   Today there is little evidence that there ever was a cemetery there.   Another article in December 1926 states that three unnamed negroes drowned in the Myakka River while working on the railroad bridge at El Jobean.   This article does not say where they were buried but there is an old cemetery near a canal at the intersection of Black Ave. and Doolittle Lane.   This burial site is sometimes referred to as the 'Convict Cemetery' but others, especially single freemen who worked on the railroad or in the local turpentine plant, may have been buried there too.   Some writers have suggested other burial sites but little real evidence exists today to support their claims however there is an abandoned cemetery near Hull in DeSoto Co. where some early area 'Blacks' could have been buried.
19 CCGS 12/93