Pebble Hill Plantation's Historic Workers' Cemetery
For over seventy-five years Pebble Hill Plantation was the home and workplace for hundreds of men and women. Many of these workers were laid to rest at Pebble Hill in the Workers’ Cemetery.
Pebble Hill's Workers' Cemetery
Pebble Hill’s Workers’ Cemetery is located in a quiet area, canopied by the oak and pine trees that characterize the landscape.
There are 169 marked graves within the brick walls of the cemetery, 97 of which are inscribed. The oldest is inscribed with a death date of 1898.
Because of the age and fragileness of many of these graves, the cemetery remains one of the few private areas on the property and is not open to the general public.
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In 2013, the Geospatial Analysis Planning and Preservation Center at Thomas University conducted a survey of the cemetery’s graves. In this survey, students collected images and information about the grave markers inscribed with names, dates, and other epitaphs.
Of the 97 inscribed markers, 56% were in fair condition. Because of the nature of the material used and the lack of depth of the inscriptions, many have not stood the test of time. Because of these conditions, the markers will continue to deteriorate.
In 2021, the GAPP Center was invited to revisit the cemetery project with updated technology to improve the accuracy of the grave locations. This survey was conducted on all 169 visible graves in the cemetery, not just the ones inscribed with an epitaph.
Each marker was evaluated by comparing the 2021 grave conditions to the photographs from the 2013 survey. If a marker remained legible, its material was intact, and it hadn't shifted from its position documented in the 2013 survey, it was marked as 'good.' If the marker's inscription was eroded but still legible, had sustained minor damages, or showed a decrease in quality since it's documentation in the 2013 survey, it was marked as 'fair.' If the marker's inscription was illegible, had sustained major damages, or had shifted greatly from its position documented in the 2013 survey, it was marked as 'poor.'
Of those 169 grave markers, 139 were in poor condition, 21 were in fair condition, and 9 were in good condition.
Many surnames are represented multiple times across the cemetery.
The most common surnames include McQueen, (found 11 times), Mitchell, (found 10 times), and Davis, (found 9 times).
The Cemetery reveals a rich history of the workers who called Pebble Hill Plantation home.
Kate Hanna Harvey owned Pebble Hill from 1901 until her death in 1936. After Kate’s death, her daughter Elisabeth (Pansy) Ireland Poe inherited the estate and maintained the property until her death in 1978. Both women kept meticulous records relating to their employees. From these records and the historical preservation performed by Pebble Hill, as a museum, and Thomasville’s Jack Hadley Black History Museum, written and recorded oral histories provide this project with a great deal of information about the individuals interred in the cemetery.
Pictured here is Mack McQueen, dog handler at Pebble Hill Plantation. This photo was taken in 1907 and features Mack with several hunting dogs.
When Kate became the owner of Pebble Hill, she utilized it as a sporting estate where quail hunting was a popular pastime. Keeping and training dogs was a vitally important job which was held by Mack for decades.
Sarah Johnson, sometimes referred to as Aunt Sarah, was a former slave of Thomas Jefferson Johnson, founder of the plantation. After the Civil War, Sarah remained at Pebble Hill. When Kate took ownership of Pebble Hill, Sarah became nanny to her children, Livingston and Elisabeth (Pansy).
Pictured here (circa 1907) is Sarah dressed in her uniform tending to young Pansy while Kate looks on.
Charlie McQueen was Mack McQueen's nephew but was raised in his household. Charlie worked with his uncle caring for the animals.
Pictured here Charlie handles a work horse while Pansy pushes a till.
While not every grave in the Workers’ Cemetery has a name and not every relationship is certain, much of our knowledge of relations, birth, and death dates is due to Kate and Pansy’s meticulous recordkeeping.
Easter at Pebble Hill, 1910.
Records were organized by family groups which included the head of the household, children, and others who were living in that household and what their relation was to that family. Handwritten notes were often made outside the margins with updates and corrections to the record. These records served the women in preparation for the Easter and Christmas events at Pebble Hill.
Easter and Christmas were always special events at Pebble Hill, and Kate and later Pansy made sure every worker, spouse, and child received gifts.
Because of these records, we are able to confirm dates and relations of many buried in the cemetery.
Below is the map created from the 2021 survey of the Workers’ Cemetery. This map contains the names, birth, and death dates of those buried in the cemetery. For those without a name or date, an individually assigned identification number has been given to aid organization.
Pebble Hill Plantation's Historic Workers' Cemetery
