Davidson River Is One of County's Oldest Cemeteries

The Davidson River Cemetery in Pisgah Forest is among the oldest cemeteries in Transylvania County.  It is just over 2.3 acres and contains approximately 600 graves.  The oldest marked tombstone reads, “Thomas Patton b. 1726, d. Mar 29, 1808.”  Many early settlers and county leaders are buried there.  Family names include Cagle, Clayton, Deaver, Davidson, English, Gash, Hamilton, Lyday, Mackey, Neill, Orr, Patton, Poor, Young and many more.

Smoke from the burning of cleared over growth gives the old cemetery
an eerie appearance.

In 1914 Glade Creek Baptist Church paid $100  for about 0.16 acres on the northeast corner of the cemetery for a place to bury African-American members of the community.

In 1976, Edna Street Reid was instrumental in creating the Davidson River Cemetery Board of Trustees.  Her interest stemmed from a desire to revitalize the cemetery where much of her family was buried.  Reid and others worked tirelessly to clean up trash and over growth, erase motorcycle paths, repair sunken graves, clean and repair headstones, and raise funds to support the once neglected cemetery.  They also undertook deed research to establish the property's boundaries.  The group won 2^nd place in the Western North Carolina Beautification program for their efforts two years in a row.

The Waightstill Avery Chapter of DAR has worked to mark the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, beginning with Thomas Patton’s grave in 1976.  There are also a number of veterans of the Civil War, WWI, and WWII, as well as others who served in the military buried at Davidson River.

In early 2017 David Reid donated his mother’s cemetery records to the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room to provide current and future researchers with access to this information.  Included is a three-binder containing the Board’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, years’ worth of minutes and other records, plus correspondence.  An additional notebook provides a census of burials and information on unmarked graves.  A scrapbook kept by Mrs. Reid contains photographs and articles chronicling the journey to restore and protect the Davidson River Cemetery.

Clean-up reveals an important piece of Transylvania's history.

Over the next few week’s Picturing the Past will feature a few other Transylvania cemeteries.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.