North Monroe Colored Cemetery 

This cemetery in Monroe, NC, and bound by the streets -- Adams, Stafford, Carr and Wiatt -- has gone by many names.  It is one of the oldest burial grounds for the black community of Monroe, NC, and it went by several different names including:  Methodist Cemetery, People's Cemetery, New Town Cemetery, Monroe Cemetery.  Because it is adjacent to Hillcrest City Cemetery, the black municipal cemetery that began around 1940, the older grounds have been combined with it on Find A Grave under the name of "Hillcrest City Cemetery".  But it is actually a separate burial ground that is no longer used.

The photo shown here was taken in 2005, when I began the project of "reading" all of the markers on these old "original" grounds as well as the ones in Hillcrest. Several others, volunteers and some staff of the Union County Library,  helped with this reading.  Each marker had a form that was filled out, noting the condition of the marker, what type, such as "tablet on base", the material it was made of and of course what was inscribed and any other details.  The reading took at least two years.

 A database was created and printed for the Dickerson Genealogy & Local History Room.  It was intended to be stagnant as it was a reading for that time.  Find A Grave had become popular online and it was deemed, by myself, that it could hold the current or up-to-date information for the cemetery. However if any marker was uncovered later, for I believe there are markers just beneath the surface, then those would be added to the printed list in the room (while I was still working in the room).

An example of a marker that could be beneath the surface is Guy Chambers. His marker was seen in the 1914 NC Historic Cemetery Survey.  A card from the 1914 survey with his name and date of death was found at Family Search as well as it being listed in Clara Laney's "Union County Cemeteries 1710-1914 and Roster of Confederate Revolutionary Soldiers", page 55. But the marker was not seen during the 2005-06 reading. It should be noted that Chambers' burial is the oldest on record for this cemetery.

Viney Crowell, also in Laney's book but also not seen at the time of the 2005-06 survey, was later uncovered when a portion of her marker with her first name was found in 2013.  Photo here was taken after her marker was uncovered. However, in 2025, the lower portion of her marker has sunk and no longer readily seen.

 

Col. Walkup's Map

For years I had pondered over poor black and white copies (and poorly cited too) of this map.

Along the side is written "Made by Col Sam Walkup".  A year is attributed to the map:  1866.  (none of this is seen on this image, which is only the center portion of the map)

To write about Col. Walkup would require another post (and yes, maybe I'll do that one day) but suffice it to say that Samuel Hoey Walkup (1818-1876) was a "Renaissance Man" - he played the flute, was a lawyer (graduate of Chapel Hill), statesman (elected to the State Legislature), soldier (a general in the State Militia, later a Colonel in the Confederate Army - 48th N.C.), a diarist and letter-writer of his day.  But this post was to be about the map!

I once made an effort to find the real map and I contacted the wonderful folks at Chapel Hill, knowing that they had at least one of his diaries.  I figured they had the map and that they would scan it and post it at their map site.  They did their very best to find the map but it wasn't there.  And then I remembered that one of the books that used the image (again, very poor quality) had noted it was from the State Archives.  I apologized and then scoured the N. C. State Archives' catalog online and came up empty-handed.

In short, I gave up.

The image shown here was shared by researcher David McCorkle.  He found it just inside a Union County Court Minutes book at the North Carolina State Archives. (CR 097.311.3 Union County Superior Court Minute Docket 1866-1877 - the map is drawn on the very first page)

Imagine the shouting (yes, of joy!) when he sent me a recent email saying, 'hey, look what I found drawn in an odd place!' (or something like that - sorry David, I do not have your email in front of me).

Long story short, I ordered a scanned image of the map for the Dickerson Room of the Union County Public Library.  We hope to be able to print it out large enough for study.

We are, well, at least I am, excited!

And I continue to ponder about the 'why' of the map.  If Col. Walkup were here today I would like to know was this for his own purpose?  Did he just want to keep track of his neighbors?  If you look at the image here, Walkup's home is drawn in blue and labeled with his initials "SHW".  (he also  takes the time to actually give his home a roof)

That alone has led me to believe that his home, later in the way of Belk's new building (built around 1904 but don't quote me on this - it would be the first time that Belk built a building for his store in Monroe though), was turned and moved to face Franklin Street.

Walkup would be long dead by that time but his half-sister, mother of [William] Henry Belk and married to a Simpson at the time, was probably living in the house.  I say "probably" as I have no real proof of that.  If you study the Sanborn Maps of Monroe, you will  find that a house appears behind the Lee Department Store building in 1908 (who would deliberately build a house behind a department store???) - it is my belief that this was Col. Walkup's former home -- turned and moved.  And there is proof that the house behind the Lee Building was Mrs. Sarah Walkup Belk Simpson's!

Walkup's home can be seen in Sanborn Maps for 1885, 1892, 1897, and 1902.  Not to mention the 1882 Gray's New Map (see http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/ncmaps,1003) which has "S. H. Walkup" written over the house in question (I believe the exact same house seen here in McCorkle's image).

I have gone on long enough at this time - but suffice it to say that maps are fascinating and I look forward to having a high quality image of Walkup's map and finally knowing where the original truly is!

To learn more visit the Dickerson Room of the Union County Public Library (Monroe, NC) and ask for:  Civil War file, Walkup, Locked File 3, Drawer 1.  Within this file has been assembled images of the various maps for pondering over the home and articles/information found on Samuel Hoey Walkup.[2026:  These may all now be in the Walkup obituary/family file]

A nice bio was written by Mike Elliott about Col. Walkup and his wife, Margaret Pamelia (Minnie) Reece Price.  It can be found in "The Heritage of Union County, North Carolina" Volume I, pp 444-445.

You should also be able to find information about Walkup on the Internet.

-Patricia Poland, January 8, 2014 (tweaked a bit 1-9-14, revised 1-16-14 to clarify location of map in court minute book, give the year as 'attributed' and to not imply that the map was 'stuck' in the book) Removed link to jpg image of map at Union County Library's site, October 2025.

Freedom Riders in Monroe!

On February 14, 2010 an obituary for Genora Covington Marsh ran in the Enquirer-Journal (Monroe, NC).

With little notice by the general public, the woman who as a young girl became an iconic symbol in the struggle for Civil Rights, was laid to rest at Hillcrest City Cemetery in Monroe, NC.

Genora  and other local youth walked with a group of Freedom Riders that came to Monroe the third week of August 1961.  They were known as the “Monroe Nonviolent Action Committee”.

The photo you see here is a postcard reprint made years later – it was a semi-famous photo in its day but Genora’s name was often left off or misspelled. 

Snapped by Declan Haun, a photographer working for the Charlotte Observer & Charlotte News, the photo was taken about 24 hours before the "racial flare-up" on Sunday, August 27th, 1961.  This was the last day of the picketing around the Union County Courthouse protesting the injustices of racial segregation.

Our local youth participants had undergone quick training on how to be passive in the face of insults, possible physical violence and to not resist arrest while walking on the picket line. 

We are in the 50^th anniversary ‘season’ of the Freedom Riders’ journey into history.  The first freedom rides began in May of 1961 and would continue through December.  Mixed-race groups, mostly college students, under the guidance of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and some veterans of the 1947 “Journey of Reconciliation” bus ride, began their journey in two buses from Washington, D.C. on May 4^th . Destination:  New Orleans.  Their goal at all times was to be and act non-violent in any confrontations that might arise.  Half of them would make it to Birmingham and face an angry mob.  The first group would be halted in Anniston, AL (where the fateful burning of that bus occurred, but thankfully no casualties).  The rides would continue…

Why were they taking these rides?  They were trying to force the bus stations throughout the south to comply with the 1946 U. S. Supreme Court ruling concerning interstate travel which simply said, you cannot segregate or discriminate passengers based on their race as it may impede interstate travel.  (the catch being– it had to be interstate travel, you could not be traveling from Charlotte to Raleigh – you had to be going through the state to another state.

So why come to Monroe?  Our official bus station was at 300 W. Jefferson Street – but this was not the focus for the trip here.  They didn't even arrive by bus and The Freedom Riders themselves had varied and different reasons for coming.

One reason is offered here in the next several paragraphs. 

The racial incidents and discrimination in Monroe had received nationwide attention among the African-American community.  Some newspapers would run small stories but for the most part the black media such as “The Afro-American” newspaper and Jet Magazine were doing the reporting.  There was also a small local newsletter that was being mailed to persons outside North Carolina--“The Crusader” was written and published by Robert Williams, a local Civil Rights activist and NAACP leader.  

Williams believed in armed self-defense and was often quoted from his impassioned "violence meets violence" speech.   He was "at odds" with the NAACP and CORE and had publicly debated (in print) Rev. Martin Luther King on "Violence vs. Non-Violence" (The Liberation, September and October 1959).

Two fellow Civil Rights activists took notice of all of this:   Paul Brooks, a Freedom Rider and divinity student who, for a time, became a field representative for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC, Martin Luther King’s organization) and James Forman, who would rise as a leader within this era and was most noted as turning around the struggling organization, SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). 

Intrigued by Williams and after an initial visit here in early August, they wanted to form a group and show their method of demonstrating in a non-violent way.

The Union County Public Library will be featuring a month-long poster display in the month of August 2011 that will lay-out the events of that tumultous week.  On August 27th, 2:30 pm, a brief program will be given to be followed by a commemorative walk -- a symbolic walk to honor and remember those who marched for "freedom for all".  For more information please contact the Dickerson Genealogy & Local History Room at 704-283-8184 x5236. [Digital images of the posters can be seen at one of our Pinterest Boards here]

For more information about the Freedom Riders (and their rides) please visit the PBS site:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/

For more information about August 1961 in Monroe, NC  - please visit us at the library and ask for the vertical files:  UCVF:  Williams, Robert - Freedom Riders and/or read James Forman's "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" (Chps. 19-28); Raymond Arsenault's 2006 "Freedom Riders:  1961 and the struggle for racial justice" (Chp. 10) 

Note:  The library's extensive vertical files of newspaper clippings/articles and the two texts mentioned here were used for this posting.

To read the words to Pete Seeger's "The Ballad of Old Monroe" go to: http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/MALVINA/mr211.htm