Upstate Cemetery Preservation Alliance of SC

Upstate Cemetery Preservation Alliance of SC Nonprofit organization committed to preserving and protecting cemeteries in the Upstate of South Carolina.

The Cemetery Alliance is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and protecting cemeteries in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Our purpose is to ensure that these important historical and cultural resources are protected for future generations through education, advocacy, and preservation efforts. Through our educational efforts, we aim to raise awareness of the significance of cemet

eries in our communities, as well as the threats they face from neglect, vandalism, and development. We believe that by educating the public about the importance of cemetery preservation, we can inspire individuals and communities to take an active role in protecting and maintaining these valuable resources. Our advocacy efforts focus on promoting policies and practices that support cemetery preservation, such as providing funding for restoration projects, implementing protections for cemeteries in land use planning, and enforcing laws against vandalism and theft. By working with elected officials, government agencies, and other stakeholders, we seek to ensure that cemeteries in Upstate South Carolina are recognized and protected as important historical and cultural assets. Through our preservation efforts, we work to actively protect and maintain cemeteries in the region. We provide training and resources to volunteers interested in cemetery cleanup and restoration, and partner with local organizations and municipalities to fund and coordinate preservation projects. By taking a hands-on approach to cemetery preservation, we strive to ensure that these important cultural resources are protected for generations to come. Please consider donating to help our cause by going to this link https://paypal.me/UCPASC

We are incredibly grateful to a generous individual who was kind enough to cover the cost of the Ground Penetrating Rada...
09/02/2026

We are incredibly grateful to a generous individual who was kind enough to cover the cost of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) services provided by Omega Mapping. Their generosity made it possible for us to conduct this important survey and document burials that would have otherwise remained unknown.
After a day and a half of work, Len with Omega Mapping Services finished the GPR survey in Section V at Springwood Cemetery in Greenville last week.
I first recorded Soringwood Cemetery in 2004 and added it to Find A Grave. At that time, I thought Section V was just like any other section of the cemetery-but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Over the last couple years, I have learned just how different and special this section truly is.
Section V is all that remains of the Elford Cemetery, also known as the “Colored Cemetery.” In 2004, there were 13 known burials marked with headstones, with death dates ranging from 1863 to 1900. We all assumed there were additional unmarked burials, but we had no idea just how many would be revealed through the GPR survey.
The results were incredible. We placed 572 flags marking unmarked burials, and there are also approximately 25 burials marked only with rocks. Find A Grave has pictures of the burials with headstones. Unfortunately when I read this cemetery in 2004, Henry Gantt had a marker. I have been unable to locate it again.
Some Background History of Elford Cemetery
The history of Elford Cemetery helps explain why Section V at Springwood Cemetery is so important and why so much of its history has been lost.
Originally, the only street adjacent to the cemetery was Church Street. In 1957, Church Street was widened. Through an article we located in the Greenville News on Newspapers.com, we learned that several graves were going to be moved as part of the road construction. The article listed the names of several individuals whose graves were to be relocated, meaning those graves must of had headstones at the time.
According to the article, the graves were to be moved either to Richland Cemetery or to another location away from the new, wider street. If any of those individuals were reburied in another cemetery, I have been unable to locate them.
Then, in 1969, the cemetery was once again affected by road construction. Academy Street was being extended, and unfortunately, the new road was going directly through Elford Cemetery.
We located another newspaper article concerning the removal of the graves. It stated that between 250 and 275 graves were going to be moved to Pinedale Memorial Park in Piedmont. A legal notice published in the Greenville News also listed six headstones that were to be moved.
A couple of years ago, we visited Pinedale Memorial Park and were able to locate four of those six headstones. Sadly, we were unable to locate the marker for Richard Moultrie.
Richard Moultrie was a firefighter with the Palmetto Fire Company and was killed in an accident on July 4, 1881. One of our members notified the fire service about Richard’s story, and in 2024, he was formally recognized for his service in Columbia by the South Carolina Fire Services Association. His name was also added to the Firefighter Memorial Wall.
The story of Elford Cemetery is one of repeated loss and disruption. Roads were built through portions of the cemetery, and hundreds of graves were moved. Yet, as the recent GPR survey has shown, hundreds of individuals still remain in Section V, the majority of them in unmarked graves. Their presence beneath the ground is a powerful reminder of how much history remains to be discovered and preserved.
I am adding a few of the articles and pictures from doing the GPR.



After 2 1/2 days of helping Len with Omega Mapping Services, we finally completed the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) sur...
08/29/2026

After 2 1/2 days of helping Len with Omega Mapping Services, we finally completed the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in Simpsonville today.
Bethlehem Baptist Church has a remarkable history. Founded by Rev. David K. Morton in 1867, the church was started under a brush arbor by former slaves. Knowing the history of this church and cemetery makes this project even more meaningful.
I personally have a strong connection to this cemetery. In 2004, I documented the cemetery and added it to Find A Grave. Then, in 2017, I compiled a cemetery book for the church and donated it to them. The book contains an alphabetical listing of those buried there, along with documentation such as death certificates, obituaries and funeral programs.
Before today, based on existing headstones and other available documentation, we had documented 449 burials. The GPR survey located an additional 518 burials. Many of these burials more than likely predate 1900. The majority do not appear to have been buried in traditional caskets, while a portion appear to have been buried in wooden caskets.
One of the most exciting moments was uncovering two headstones that had previously gone unnoticed and were no longer visible.
Debbie and I felt truly privileged to be able to place the 518 flags marking the previously unmarked burials. Seeing the flags spread across the cemetery was a powerful reminder that there are so many individuals buried there whose final resting places had been forgotten or were no longer visible. It was an honor to play a small part in helping bring recognition to those who have lain in unmarked graves, many of whom may have been buried there for more than a century ago.
We went back Saturday afternoon to Bethlehem realizing we had missed a small area and found 21 more burials.



We want to thank Billy Crawford and Tom Hagood for allowing us to visit the Hagood Family and Enslaved cemeteries locat...
08/24/2026

We want to thank Billy Crawford and Tom Hagood for allowing us to visit the Hagood Family and Enslaved cemeteries located near the Hagood Mill Historic Site in Pickens County.
Billy was kind enough to spend time with us and share some of the history behind these cemeteries. I believe Billy said the cemetery property was originally owned by Joseph Chapman, a captain in the Revolutionary War who died in 1836.
The drive into the cemetery makes you feel like you are going back in time. Once you get through the tree line, you immediately see the cemetery.
Joseph Chapman and his wife, Mary, are buried in a small stone-enclosed of the cemetery. We were told that Mary was from Ireland and wanted a traditional Irish burial. Based on what we told and what we observed, they appear to be the first burials in the cemetery.
Also buried there is James Earle Hagood, he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and owned and operated the historic Hagood Mills.
The cemetery contains a wide variety of headstone types, including box tombs, flat tablets, obelisks and traditional vertical markers. In addition to the Hagood family, we found other surnames represented, including Goodwin, Ambler, Bruce, Mauldin, Robinson, Griffin, Martin and Alexander.
We were also surprised to see the cemetery is still being used for burials. Robert Wallace Bruce was buried here in 2021, showing that this historic cemetery continues to be an active place of burial for families connected to the area.
On the south side of the family cemetery is a fenced area believed to be the enslaved cemetery. The burials are marked with fieldstones, and a couple of the stones have markings on them, although we were unable to make them out.
At some point, someone conducted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in the area, and you can still see remnants of the markings from the survey. It is believed that the enslaved cemetery is larger than originally thought. Plans are being made to move the fence farther out and conduct additional ground-penetrating radar to determine the extent of the cemetery.
It is always special to visit these historic places and learn more about the people and families that came before us.




I want to thank Chris Smith for taking me to two cemeteries today located in Laurens County. The first cemetery is loca...
08/19/2026

I want to thank Chris Smith for taking me to two cemeteries today located in Laurens County.
The first cemetery is located on Grandwood Blvd, off Fairview Road. There is evidence of close to a dozen burials, but I’m sure there are more. The burials are marked with field stones and are arranged in rows. Most of the graves appear to have a head and foot marker.
Unfortunately, we have no idea who is buried here or the history of this cemetery. Chris believes there was a Gray home place about a quarter of a mile up the road. Wondering if it could be connected to that family?
The other cemetery Chris took me to is a Cunningham Family Cemetery near Hickory Tavern. Chris had received permission from the property owner for us to access the cemetery.
The cemetery is surrounded by an old stone wall. There are two headstones, each with a footstone, along with two box tombs. The box tombs appear to have sunk over the last 200 years.
The two headstones mark the graves of Samuel Cunningham and his wife, Jane Cunningham. The box tomb next to them is for their son, John Cunningham. The box tomb in front of them is for their daughter, Dorcas Cunningham Gray, wife of Thomas I. Gray.
This cemetery is listed in a Laurens County cemetery book located at the archives.
It is always rewarding to be able to visit these small family cemeteries and document the people are are buried there. These cemeteries can easily be overlooked, but they are an important part of the history of our communities.
If any of you know of anyone who has a cemetery on their property and will allow us to log it please contact us.



I want to thank Milissa for contacting us about a cemetery located off Grove Reserve Road.Before going to the cemetery, ...
08/15/2026

I want to thank Milissa for contacting us about a cemetery located off Grove Reserve Road.
Before going to the cemetery, I had the privilege to meet her 93-year old father, MSgt, Earl J. Childers, who proudly served in the military for more than 20 years.
While speaking with Mr. Childers, he told us that he remembers seeing more signs of burials on the property, including a marble headstone. Unfortunately, we could not find any additional signs of graves during our visit. He said over the years that property has been disturbed by tractors and his family believes those burials may now be beneath mounds of dirt.
Milissa took me to the small cemetery that contains two large fieldstones. One of the stones has initials, a death dated and age etched into it:
E. R. G. - died June 2, 1829, age 43 years
We could not see any writing on the other large fieldstone.
The land the cemetery is located on is zoned as commercial. I looked at the plat map on Greenville GIS and it does not show a cemetery. Milissa has spoken with the planning commission letting them know the cemetery is there and sent them the pictures we had taken.
Hopefully that will be enough to safe it.
I sent Andrew Staton the pictures I had taken. Andrew did some research and found an obituary for Elizabeth G. Rice, who died July 2, 1829 at age 43. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Rice. We believe the fieldstone we saw is the grave marker for Elizabeth G. Rice.
Andrew did some additional research and discovered that John Rice had purchased 170 acres from John Seaborn in 1802, located near Golden Creek. In 1817 he purchased another 282 acres from Robert Alexander, also near Golden Grove Creek. These land records help support our theory that the fieldstone marks the grave of Elizabeth G. Rice.
I again want to thank Milissa and the entire Childers family for contacting us and taking us to see the cemetery. These are the cemeteries that are so important for us to locate and log.
Elizabeth G. Rice has been lying there for almost 200 years. We hope that she can remain here for many more generations to come. Every cemetery matters, no matter how small or how forgotten it may be.




While searching through the reinterment files at the South Carolina Archives in Columbia, we found paperwork from 1974 a...
08/12/2026

While searching through the reinterment files at the South Carolina Archives in Columbia, we found paperwork from 1974 and 1979 documenting the removal of burials from the Hudson Family Cemetery.
At first we thought they were from the same Hudson Family Cemetery but we realized they were two different cemeteries both located off Pelham Rd in Greenville.
In 1974 we found documentation of 4 removals to Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Greenville from the Hudson Family Cemetery. Reintered were:
Abraham Hudson age 77 years
Elizabeth Tyler Hudson age 80 years
Matthew Tyler Hudson age 72 years
Eirene C. Hudson b & d 10/26/1837
After searching Newspapers. Com I found an interesting article about the Hudson family in the Greenville News. The article states that Elizabeth Tyler Hudson was a cousin of President John Tyler. I also found an article about moving the Old Hudson family cemetery which had 7 verified graves. We only found paperwork documenting the removal of four burials. We may never know who the other 3 burials were and if they were actually removed. The Greenville News also had a Legal Notice concerning the removal of abandoned cemetery.
The other Hudson Family Cemetery removals were done in 1979. The cemetery is listed in the book The Presence of the Past: Epitaphs, which identifies the four children of E.P. and Cornelia Smith Hudson as being buried there. Those 4 burials were removed to Brushy Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Taylors. They are buried next to their parents. I stopped by there yesterday and took a picture of their markers.
It is amazing what can be uncovered by putting together old newspaper articles, cemetery books and the reinterment records at the SC Archives. These records help us piece together the history of cemeteries that have disappeared and most importantly, identify where the people buried in them were reinterred.




Saturday, I was able to visit the Berry Pool Family Cemetery off Patterson Plant Rd in the upper part of Laurens County....
08/11/2026

Saturday, I was able to visit the Berry Pool Family Cemetery off Patterson Plant Rd in the upper part of Laurens County. The property owner was kind enough to take me there.
Most of the headstones are leaning against the stone wall that surrounds much of the cemetery. There are several burials marked with field stones and one appears to be a child.
Known burials:
Berry Pool died 9/10/1847
Mary Pool died 11/17/1874. Daughter of William & Mary Bobo Blackstock.
William Pool died 10/15/1842. Son of Berry & Mary Blackstock Pool.
Ascenith Bobo died 10/29/1845. Daughter of Berry and Mary Blackstock Pool. (We could not find the top of her headstone)
James Pool died 9/15/1844. Son of Berry & Mary Blackstock Pool.
Marcus Lafayette Rose died 9/14/1847. Son of William & Elizabeth Pool Rose.
The Owner has a 7 page handout the Pool family had given him that they had put together in 2011. He was kind enough to give us a copy.
The paper work states that in 1848 the amount of $48 was paid for walling in the graveyard.
The headstones are extremely difficult to read. I am planning on going back in the next couple weeks and spray them with D2 which should help remove the lichen and biological growth and make the inscriptions easier to see.



The Machen - McKenzie Family Cemetery is located between two distribution centers off Bracken Rd in Piedmont. Tall tree...
08/08/2026

The Machen - McKenzie Family Cemetery is located between two distribution centers off Bracken Rd in Piedmont. Tall trees and under growth hide the cemetery from the road. I had to walk about 1/8th of a mile and up a steep hill to get there. When you get to the top of the hill you have to walk around the corner and then you’ll see the cemetery. A chain link fence now surrounds the cemetery with a small opening I could get thru to get to the headstones.
To my surprise there are 3 Revolutionary War Markers, John Machen, Henry Machen and Frances Ballenger Machen located in a stone wall.
Other surnames in the cemetery are Alexander, Cox and Lewis. There are also fieldstones scattered around. The entire cemetery floor has been covered in concrete.
I’m so glad I took the time to stop and check this cemetery out. You just never know what you might find when you take a few extra minutes to explore. Every cemetery has a story to tell, and I’m thankful I didn’t pass this one by.
I could only find 3 obituaries on newspapers.com.




The Fleming Cemetery is another Camp Croft cemetery. Mike Becknell and I were there a couple weeks ago. To reach the c...
08/05/2026

The Fleming Cemetery is another Camp Croft cemetery. Mike Becknell and I were there a couple weeks ago. To reach the cemetery, drive to the end of Gibson Rd. On the left you will find a locked gate that prevents vehicle access. From there it’s approximately a half-mile walk to the cemetery down a dirt road.
It is believed that the cemetery is located on property that was once owned by Revolutionary War Veteran, James Fleming. Following his death in 1830, the cemetery was established and became the final resting place for members of the Fleming family.
Besides headstones the cemetery has many fieldstones in rows. I noticed each fieldstone looked like it was set in concrete.
Elvira Fleming Quinn is buried there. Her obituary states she had just turned 110 and is buried within a half mile of where she was born.
I have added the older obituaries I could find on Genealogy Bank.





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