153-Year-Old Cemetery Is Rejuvenated: Young Latter-day Saint Volunteers Pitch In to Restore Historic Graveyard

By Francisco Vara-Orta Austin American-Statesman Staff Volunteers handle heavy lifting during a day of cleanup at Williamson Creek Cemetery, a historically African-American graveyard. Photo by Jay Janner, American-Statesman. Edna Satterwhite's heart would break on every visit to her relatives buried in the Williamson Creek Cemetery. Trips to visit the gravesites of her grandfather, parents, five aunts, an uncle, and a nephew were tough enough for her physically. But the chest-high brush and weeds in the historic South Austin cemetery left her emotionally frustrated. "I used to come out frequently to clean up the headstones and made sure their graves looked clean," the 82-year-old said. "But now that I got this walker and I'm older, I couldn't clean it up anymore. I could barely even see where my mama was buried." Satterwhite's aquamarine eyes gleamed Saturday morning as she watched 350 youth volunteers of 20 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregations from Austin and San Antonio revitalize the 153-year-old African-American cemetery on Little Texas Lane, near Stassney Lane and Interstate 35. Paul Darby and his wife, Norris, admire a historical marker for the cemetery where Darby's parents, grandfather, and sisters are buried. Photo by Jay Janner, American-Statesman. "I think God sent them," Satterwhite said. Mason Smith, a 17-year-old from San Marcos, said he listened carefully to Satterwhite's story. "Seeing how Ms. Satterwhite had to come to the cemetery and found the condition of her loved ones' gravesites, we knew it would mean a lot to do the project," Smith said. "We are restoring a legacy today and must be aware of the slavery history in our region." About 260 slaves are buried at the cemetery. The first was James P. Eagle, who died in 1863, said Tony Jones, president of the cemetery association. Jones is a descendant of Alfred Overton, a slave freed by the Emancipation Proclamation who died in 1913. The other 540 people buried there are slave descendants, one of whom was buried last year. As the group worked, old markers peeked out again from under brush and dirt. Members of the cemetery association checked to make sure the markers were cataloged in the directory of those buried on the grounds. Slaves and descendants of slaves are buried in Williamson Creek Cemetery in South Austin, but it had become overgrown with weeds. Volunteers, from left, Valerie Garcia, 14; Kolt Way, 16; Bryce Lyman, 14; Zachary Edwards, 15; and Joshua Stevens, 15, volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, clean a grave site. Photo by Jay Janner, American-Statesman. Many of the headstones have decayed, and plots are sunken in, but Jones said the cemetery association hopes to pick up where the youth left off. "Seeing the cemetery in better shape makes me feel that we are rejuvenating our African-American roots today," Jones said. "It would have been costly to fix it up, but now we are in a better place to keep it up." Jones said the cleanup isn't good just for the relatives of those buried there but also for Austin and its understanding of lesser-known post-Civil War African-American history. As the restoration wound down Saturday, Jones and other volunteers laid down a new pathway of rocks and mulch and prepared to mount a historical marker presented to the cemetery association by the Texas Historical Commission in 2000. Saturday's cleanup at Williamson Creek Cemetery wasn't limited to gravestones. Viliami Kaufusi trimmed a tree at the graveyard, which is the final resting place of about 800 people. Photo by Jay Janner, American-Statesman. "It may be odd to say this," Satterwhite said, "but I know that I'll look forward to visiting (the cemetery) again. Hopefully, other people will be able to appreciate what it means."