Old Soldiers Cemetery
Cleanup
One of the major graves in the cemetery was of Rev.
Madison Campbell (1823-1896), was a slave who was freed in
1863 and served as pastor to First Baptist Church in Richmond
and helped to start several small African American churches in
the county including the New Liberty Baptist Church which was
founded in 1866 in Berea,
KY. Both First Baptist Church of Berea (Middletown) and Farristown
Baptist Church honor New Liberty as their "mother church".
More than 30 boys and girls helped with the cleanup
Cutting low hanging limbs, that might obstruct visitors
to the cemetery, was one of the tasks.
Gathering brush and filling the city dump truck was
one of the tasks.
Refrigerators, phones and dead animals were mixed in
the bushes in the cemetery.
Workers were ready for a drink of water or a soft drink
after working in the cemetery.
A girl from the Elizabeth Baptist Church takes a break
after a morning of raking.
Additional work still awaits cleaning and cutting crews.
And the setting of stones still needs to be done.
Cutting some of the bushes was a real struggle.
The cemetery is a treasure of local history.
It seemed as if the cutting never ceased.
Although work still needs to be done - the Boys and
Girls Club members along with local Kiwanis and Rotarian civic
groups made an impact on the cemetery.
To
see additional photos of the Old Soldiers Cemetery cleanup click
here
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