On The Restoration Os
7^'
Academy Hill Cemetery
BY FRED PROFFITT
• - > The cemetery on Academy
Street, three blocks distant
from the public square, which
had come to be known as
Academy Hill Cemetery and
is now officially so named, is
probably the oldest cemetery
in or near the town of
Burnsville-public or private.
A deed by the late S.W.
Carter and wife Laura convey- 1
ing the now enclosed tract of 1
approximately l‘/« acres (en
closed, that is, on three sides
by a fence but on its south 1
side by an imaginary line 1
between it and a newer i
addition) to a group of five
local citizens for use as a
public cemetery, bears a date
in the 1890's; but these are
well marked graves in the <
northeast corner of the
enclosure dating back to the
1830 sas well as some that j
were originally well marked i
but by stones that have i
become damaged by erosion i
and discoloration to such ane i
extent that their dates are no i
longer distinguishable.
TRUSTEESHIP
So far as is known, or any
record can be found, the
persons named in the Carter
as trustees for the 1
adrf&Histration of the trust
thereby created,
organized as a board of
trustees for such purpose, or
ever did assume responsibil
ity for the care and mainten
ance of the property as a
cemetery. And if they did not,
then it must have been
because they understood that
burial space within the
enclosure was to be free to
anyone who might want to lay
claim to a family or an
individual plot. It is [in fact
generally believed- that all
occupied space therein was t
acquired without cost to the
deceased, their families or
their estates-excepting of
course the Carters and those
who would have inherited the
property had it not been so
disposed of.
There was in fact little
need of any organized trustee
ship or any other form of
direction of maintenance of
the property as a cemetery
during the first forty years or
so following the naming of the
trustees. New graves were,
during that time, being added
at a rate that resulted in there
being at all times an
interested group of surviving
relatives who could be depen
ded on to see to it that the
property was kept looking
"like a cemetery should
look.”
Nevertheless, it was un
fortunate that the trusteeship
should have been allowed to
expire. This became apparent
when, at about this time, a
public cemetery of a different
kind appeared in the com
munity-one in which no
burial plots were free, but
were obtained under title
Cystic
Fibrosis
Campaign
Newdale, Micaville and
Windom Communities will
conduct the Cystic Fibrosis
"Kiss Your Baby” Campaign
September 12 to October 1.
Every mother of a youngster
is requested to kiss her baby
\vith special attention to the
taste of the skin.
A major sign of cystic
fibrosis is a high salt content
in the perspiration. The local
chairperson emphasized that
l ther two-fold campaign is
• designed to alert parents to
the symptoms of CF and other
i' lung-damaging diseases of
“ children and to collect funds
in support of medical-scienti
fic programs at the 116 care,
; teaching and research centers
in the United States. Many of
the 150,000 North Carolina
‘ youngsters who suffer with
one or more lung diseases are
• treated at the Duke CF Center
which.is supported by cam
paign funds.
. - Please make generous
contributions through the use
of the canisters placed for this
purpose in the following
community businesses: New
dale Grocery, Howell Gro
cery, Robinson’s Texaco, Ro
' binson’s Gen. Mdse, Dellin
ger & Silver Gro., Pine Hill
GrjlJ, Kates Mustang Station,
- Ed. Gouge’s, Laurel Mountain
•” Crafts and Jay Styles Gen.
Mdse.
which carried with it a
guarantee of permanent care
and maintenance. Since then
no burials have occurred in
Academy Hill Cemetery, oth
er than in already established
family plots; and graves of at
least three persons, previous
ly buried therein, have been
moved-two of them to this
new local cemetery, the other
outside the county-all of
course to cemeteries in which
such care and maintenance is
assured. In consequence of
these developments, the ce
metery had become increas
ingly neglected-by late last
year, it was in a very sorry
state indeed.
DESCENDANTS MEET
But it was then that some
of the “remnant” of the
aforesaid groups, together
with some second and third
generation descendants of
persons buried therein, de
cided that something must be
done to restore the cemetery
to some semblance of what it
once was-an attractive, well
kept small cemetery-and
provide for its future care and
maintenance on a permanent
basis. A letter was according
ly drafted outlining these
developments and giving no
tice of a planned group
meeting of concerned person,
to be held January 9th for
consideration of ways and
means that might lead to the
attainment of these objec
tives. The letter was signed
by 18 members of the group, a
hundred copies were prepar
ed and one was mailed to each
of more than fifty persons
known (or presumed) to be
interested in the future of the
cemetery.
Woman Is
Volleyball
The Yancey County Re
creation Commission will
sponsor a woman’s volleyball
league. Interested persons
should begin forming teams
now and turn in the team
name to Charlie Hensley,
Board of Education office.
There will be an organiza
tional meeting on Thursday,
September 16 at 6:00 p.m. in
the courthouse, room 3.
Anyone having questions
should contact Gordon Banks
at 682-2243.
Revco
Celebrates
ICont’d from page 1]
fellow employees will blow
out the 20 candles on the cake
as their part of the celebra
tion.
From a two-store start in
Detroit, Michigan, Revco has
become the nation’s largest
retail drug store chain based
on the number of stores. A
pioneer in everday low dis
count prices, Revco has grown
by merging with White Cross
drug stores, and by purchas
ing the Parkview-Gem stores,
as well as opening stores in
attractive locations.
Come by Wednesday,
September 22, and help
celebrate with cake and )
refreshments. (
3far£torl|jJ|j|
JIMMY LEE WILSON )
Jimmy Lee Wilson, 29, of I
the Swiss Community died J
Saturday afternoon in Wilkes
County. A native of Yancey
County he was employed by
Glen Raven Mills of Burns
ville for the past four years. J
Surviving are the wife, t
Mary Jane Garland Wilson l
and two sons, Russell and
Richard Allen Wilson of the l
home; the parents, Wayne J
and Minnie Jane Willis \
Wilson of Route 3, Burnsville; l
a sister, Mrs. Herman Carroll
and a brother, David Wilson (
of Burnsville; the paternal i
grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. '
Gus Wilson of Burnsville and /
the maternal grandparents,
Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Willis of
Burnsville.
Funeral services were held
at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the First /
Presbyterian Church of
Burnsville. Revs. Pat Hardy (
and Howard Buchanan of- j
ficiated and burial was in the '
Ferguson Cemetery at Swiss.
And now, following this
first meeting, a second. on
April 23 and a third on May
14, all objectives have been
attained-the re
stored to a status equalling, if
not surpassing, any that it had
ever known, with provision
made for its future care and
maintenance on a permanent
basis. A detailed account of
how this has been brought
about would, I fear, be too
long to make our local paper's
news columns. But it is hoped
that this abridged account will
be able to do so and that the
many non-resident contribu
tors to its trust funds and the
clean-up job since establish
ment of the permanent trust
may be thus informed as to
what has been accomplished.
FUND-RAISING CAMPAIGN
At the January 9 meeting,
following a unanimous agree
ment that no plan for a
cleanup job could be worth
considering unless and until
assurance could be had that
the cemetery could thereafter
be self-supporting-with at
least future care and mainten
ance assured-it was decided
that a fund-raising campaign
should be organized for the
purpose of raising funds
necessary for both purposes
with the provision that, if the
amount raised within ninety
days from that date was not
sufficient to establish a
permanent trust fund in at
least the sum of $5,000.00 the
undertaking would be ad
judged a failure and all
contributions returned to their
respective contributors.
At the April 23 meeting,
following a by the
Association’s Treasurer that
almost $6,000 was in hand or
pledged, it was ordered that
$5,500 be set aside for
investment as the permanent
trust in a certificate of deposit
in The Northwestern Bank,
bearing interest payable
quarterly at the rate of 7‘/j%
for a period of six years, and
at the expiration of that time
and each succeeding sixth
year thereafter, be renewed at
the then prevailing highest
interest rate allowed by law.
And it having been agreed
that a non-profit corporation
of unlimited duration would
provide a better means of
insuring the perpetuity of the
trust than would a simple
trusteeship, articles of Incor
poration, which had been
prepared for consideration int
the event of such a decision
were presented, considered
and approved; and it was
ordered that application be
made to the State for a
Charter based thereon, to be
issued (j to Academy Hill
Cemetery, Inc.
INCORPORATION
At the May 14 meeting
(final for the Association
formed at the January meet
ing) officers and a Board of
Directors, as provided for in
Articles of Incorporation,
were duly elected and assum
ed their respective positions.
The Board of Directors was
called into session and,
among other acts, appointed
an Executive Committee,
composed of three corporation
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members, wnich will, under
delegated authority, adminis
ter the cemetery’s affairs,
including income from the
permanent trust fund and
from all other sources; and
will be responsible for the
?care and maintenance of the
cemetery.
Following this meeting,
the Association's treasurer
turned over to the Corpora
tion’s newly elected treasurer
(Mrs. Elizabeth E. Stamey of
RFD-1 Burnsville) contribu
tions amounting to $6,265
(from which nothing had been
withdrawn for any purpose)
and the additional sum of
$32.05 interest earned on his
passbook savings account
during the fund-raising cam
paign. And she has obviously
received some additional con
tributions since it is known
that the Executive Committee
have spent close to a thousand
dollars during this period on
restoration and maintenance.
And this does not include the
surface removal of a consider
able growth of young hard
wood timber, wild grape
vines, etc. which had taken
over a large part of the
cemetery-had in fact en
croached on and obscured
some well marked graves.
This was done by the Town
free of charge, but was a
cleanup job the
Association several, hundred
dollars.
SPACE IS AVAILABLE
In this process of restora
tion, which has involved the
use of a power saw, massive
dirt removing machinery and
heavy duty trucks, a consider
able area of quite attractive
burial space was uncovered in
the original 11/*l 1 /* acre tract.
And burial plots therein will
be : as they have always
been-available free of charge
to any and all persons who
may desire to claim them.
The cemetery can and will
be self supporting under
funding arrangements that
have been provided for it-to
the extent, that is, that
nominal maintenance can
remain constant. But much
needs to be done before the
entire tract can be sown to
grass on a desirably smooth
surface; and there are and will
continue to be other improve
ments that should be made so
long as there is any vacant
space left within its boun
daries. And so the Corpora
tion will continue to solicit
additions to its membership
from among those persons
who now have close relatives
buried therein, and have so
far made no contribution to its
future care and maintenance,
as well as from those who may
hereafter seek space for such
purpose.
MEMBERS OFCORP.
Since there are of course
no share holders in this type
of corporation, members of
this one will be those who
have made a contribution,
regardless of the amount, to
the cemetery’s trust funds;
and each member will be
entitled, in person or by
proxy, to one vote in the
election of its officers or other
matters that may come before
its annual, or called, sessions.
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