Ebenezer AME Cemetery

These GPS points were collected on November 6, 2021 by Jason Herrmann's Digital Archaeology Class at the University of Pennsylvania. Students traveled to the historic cemetery in Malvern, PA to begin the process of digitally preserving this site.

First, a precise GPS unit was used to record the location of each grave marker. The students then split into groups and set out photographing the stones. All headstones have an associated picture that was used in later analysis to match up GPS points with the physical marker. Some stones were photographed with more detail in order to create 3D models using  photogrammetry . This is a method of creating three dimensional models of a physical object using photos from several angles. These days, your iPhone is more than sufficient to create a detailed model. However, in addition to iPhone photogrammetry, digital humanities specialists from Van Pelt Library were also in the field to preserve headstones. They brought a structured light scanner to more accurately model the grave markers, as well as part of the church ruin.

With guidance from Professor Herrmann, students carefully flew a UAV around the site. All of the aerial images on this page were captured by a drone. Precise flying allowed the drone to photograph the interior of the church ruin, which was inaccessible by foot. The structure is beginning to collapse and climbing inside could have been dangerous.

A drone was also used by Professor Herrmann in March to capture an orthomosaic image of the cemetery. The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was flown around at fairly close range and many pictures of the ground were taken. Then, software was used to stitch the photos together to create a cohesive image.

Much like the land itself, the history of this significant cemetery has not been well preserved. Not a lot has been written about Ebenezer, although the people buried here were important men and women in their community. In August of 1989, Daniel P. Baker wrote a  short history of the cemetery  for his Eagle Scout project. As part of his work, Baker cleaned up the grounds and made a map of the headstones he was able to locate.

A woman named Carla writes a blog called  chestercountyramblings.com . She  first posted  about Ebenezer in 2013 and she has been reconstructing the history of this place since then. Even though she had just learned the name Ebenezer, her first post wonders why this site has not been protected.

Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was built in 1832 on a road originally called Yellow Springs Road. Today, the the ruin sits on Bacton Hill Road in a town called Malvern. Back in the 1800s, the small neighborhood was called  Valley View . The Reading Rail Company was planning to build a new line connecting west Chester and Phoenixville. The railroad planners were saying that the line would cut through "back towns," which was eventually shortened to Bacton.

Chester County tax records indicate that they men living here were "free," but most of them were likely  former slaves . Once they were given their freedom, the men were given land on Bacton Hill. They primarily worked in quarries and on the railroad that was built through the area. Members of the community would have attended church services at Ebenezer, one of the  earliest AME churches .

The  African Methodist Episcopal Church  (AME) itself was founded in 1787 by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other members of the Free African Society. After facing racial discrimination in American Methodist churches, they met in Philadelphia to establish a safe place to practice their religion. Richard Allen, a former slave from Delaware, became a pastor leading a small group of African Americans to establish a new Methodist church. Bethel AME was the first church officially dedicated in 1794.

Records show that the  land was purchased from James Malin in 1831 . The stone church was constructed in 1832 and the oldest gravestones found in the cemetery date to the early 1830s. The church was in use until 1848, when riots and other conflicts shut down the congregation until 1972. In December 8th, the church was reopened for use and it was later dedicated Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 22nd, 1873. The church continued operating traditionally through at least 1910, as the most recent headstone is dated 1916.

Sometime around 1910, the  church fell out of use.  The structure was abandoned until the 1940s, when it was revived again. At this time, electrical wiring was put in and there was a large gathering of prominent men from Chester County.

By the time  Claude Bernardin  was a child in the 1960s, the church had been abandoned again. He used to live in the Bacton Hill neighborhood on Conestoga Road. He has fond childhood memories of meeting friends in the church, which he describes here:

"The old church was a wonderful place. Back then it still had a roof, a wooden floor, and altar, a podium, and even church pews. The windows were huge, with deep inset windowsill and very large wooden shutters. The floor was beginning to show signs of wear, and rot. If my memory serves me correctly there wasn't one broken glass window. However, the roof did have holes in it."

Bernardin also shares that the interior was lined with  cherry wood paneling . There were shutters on the inside and outside of the windows, as well as a ladder in the right corner that led to an attic crawl space. He used to have secret meetings with his friends inside the church and, as far as they were aware, nobody ever knew they hung out in there.

The way the cemetery is situated on the hill means that rainwater flows directly through it. This has been  slowly eroding  the ground over time. Whenever they noticed it needing some maintenance, Bernardin and his brothers would go into the cemetery to pull weeds and pick up fallen headstones. As the ground eroded further, the brothers would bring shovels and buckets with them to fill in the missing land. Bernardin remembers being able to see into the graves on some occasions. He describes one grave site that was affected the most. It is located about 6 feet behind the church, down the hill and behind some trees. He says the water ran right over this spot and one time he actually saw human remains. The boys did not know much about the history of this place, but they knew that it should be respected and preserved.

In the 80s, Bernardin and most of his friends moved away. When he returned to the church a few years later, it had already collapsed.

"All of us still say we were lucky to have grown up in that region. Between the woods, the streams, the wildlife, the history you just couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up."

Hiram Woodyard is the only man from the 1800s buried in the cemetery with written records about his life. He  served in the Union Army  and was a member of the congregation at Ebenezer.

He lived on the corner of Conestoga Rd. and Bacton Hill Rd, right behind Ebenezer. The remnants of his one room cabin were  discovered and partially excavated  by Claude Bernardin when he was young. The cabin is located behind a white and green farm house, which still stands today. Bernardin dug up bottles dating between 1880 and 1900, which would fit with the timeline of Woodyard's life.

In 1989, when Daniel P. Baker was mapping the cemetery for his  Eagle Scout Project , he took note of Woodyard's life. He was a tall man who was well known in the community. Stories were told describing how he would travel through lumber roads with teams of horses and never get stuck, no matter how treacherous the roads got. He was a well-respected man and his headstone reads:

• HIRAM WOODYARD
• DIED DEC 20 1900
• IN HIS 76 YEAR

When Professor Herrmann's class visited the site in November of 2021, the headstone was in a state of disrepair. It has fallen down and now lies face up on the ground. The inscription is no longer readable and the stone was identified using Baker's map.

This site is quickly deteriorating. The ground is wet and the headstones are starting to sink into the grass. The history of Ebenezer is significant and representative of a successful community of African Americans in the 1800s. The church has already collapsed significantly and as the headstones disappear the story of this place disappears with it.

One benefit to digital preservation is its relatively minimal difficulty. Physically preserving the cemetery would be a considerable undertaking, requiring a team of people and funding, whereas this website has been compiled primarily by one person. In addition, physical preservation alone would not do much to draw attention to Ebenezer.

Digitally mapping this cemetery and creating this site will preserve the history of Ebenezer in the digital space. This provides a way for the public to easily access a collection of information about the cemetery. The 3D models also allow users to actually interact with the headstones in a virtual space, rather than just looking at a picture.

Traditionally, this information would have been published as a written article on a website somewhere. However, the cemetery was mapped using accurate GPS coordinates which were loaded into  ArcGIS , a map-making program. GIS (geographic information system) mapping allows researchers to analyze spatial data and combine different types of data on one map. Most archaeologists are using GIS maps these days, but when their research is published, the maps themselves are often shown as flat images as opposed to an interactive map. This diminishes the potential effect of a GIS map, also called a  deep map .

The goal of a deep map is to  display multiple types of data at once , which is often not possible with a simple image. The interactive map at the top of this page was created in ArcGIS. Clicking on a point, each of which represents a headstone, one can see information about who is buried there. The interactive component encourages readers to engage with the information in a way that a flat image would not. The whole benefit of digital storytelling is to show, not tell.

Besides losing the moveable component of a GIS map, one enormous drawback to textual publications is that 3D models cannot be printed on a piece of paper. Interfacing with 3D models  increases understanding  of the subject matter. Virtual manipulation is sometimes even better than physical manipulation, especially in this case. The physical headstones are sometimes difficult to read, but you can adjust the settings on the models to make it easier. Also, when you are interacting in a virtual space there is  no risk of breaking  the artifact.

This website was created using  Story Maps , an application designed to produce public facing website that integrates GIS maps and other virtual interfaces, including 3D models. This solves the aforementioned problems, and provides a simple way of sharing information with the public.