Durham County North Carolina Cemeteries Other NC County Cemeteries
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252    GEER CEMETERY [CITY CEMETERY]   -   Surname starts with A

Location - on Colonial Street between McGill Place and Camden Avenue.

Coordinates: 36d 00m 37.0s N; 78d 53m 04.0s W Click here for Online Maps

This cemetery was known by the names Geer Cemetery, City Cemetery, Old City Cemetery, East Durham and Mason Cemetery.

This is an abandoned, overgrown cemetery. There are approximately four acres of graves of African-American people. There are many stone markers present, some very unusual. Many of the markers have been damaged. The earliest known burial was in the 1870's and the last burial occurred in 1944. This is one of the earliest African-American cemeteries in Durham and many black prominent people are buried there.

The cemetery was started in 1876 with the burial of an 11 year old black farm hand of Jesse B. Geer, who was killed accidentally after being dragged by a horse on the Geer plantation. On March 28, 1877 a deed was written selling two acres of land for fifty dollars to three men, the land to be used as a burial ground. The three men were Willie Moore, John Daniel and Nelson Mitchell. The deed was signed by Jesse Geer and his wife Polly. The deed stated that the land was to be used for burials and that the heirs of Moore, Daniel and Mitchell were to be responsible for the property. The cemetery was closed in 1939 after the health department inspected the cemetery and found that the cemetery was overcrowded.

Canvassed by Denise Lawson and the Durham Service Corps in 1992, they listed about 100 markers. In 2003, Carrie McNair and several volunteers extracted burials from the death records located in the Vital Records office. Durham County began issuing death certificates in 1908 and North Carolina law has required death certificates only since 1913. Thus, there were over 35 or more years of additional burials that were unrecorded except for whatever tombstones have survived.

Pictures of gravestones by Allen Dew in 2003, 2004 and 2008. Additional pictures by Jessica T. Eustice in October 2008 and Sarah Cook in October 2012 and Wayne Lee in 2019 & 2020.



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1. Adams, Infant   (b. 6 Jun 1924 - d. 6 Jun 1924)
Stillborn.
2. Adams, Mary   (b. Abt 1843 - d. 28 Jan 1911)
Age 57 years
3. Albright, Infant   (b. Unknown - d. 7 Mar 1920)
Age not given.
4. Albright, Rebecca Strudwick   (b. Abt 1861 - d. 20 Mar 1925)
Age 63 years. Widowed. Daughter of Henry Strudwick.
5. Albright, Warren Joseph   (b. 9 May 1919 - d. 9 May 1919)
Stillborn.
6. Albritton, Lizzie   (b. Abt 1902 - d. 15 Oct 1928)
Daughter of Lizzie Outland. Age 26 years
7. Allen, Ada M.   (b. Abt 1925 - d. 18 Jun 1930)
Daughter of McIver Allen and Annis Hargrove. Age 5 years
8. Allen, Agnes   (b. 6 Mar 1915 - d. 9 Mar 1915)
Daughter of Lafayette Allen and Bertha Wilson Allen.
9. Allen, Annie   (b. 12 Jul 1909 - d. 24 May 1910)
Age 10 months
10. Allen, Candis   (b. 9 Mar 1846 - d. 24 Nov 1915)
Age 69 years. Mother.
11. Allen, Fannie   (b. Abt 1885 - d. 9 Mar 1919)
Age about 34 years
12. Allen, Fannie G.   (b. 10 Jun 1853 - d. 27 Feb 1898)
Wife of Richmond M. Allen. Amother view.
13. Allen, Herbert   (b. Abt 1883 - d. 25 Jan 1918)
Age 35 years
14. Allen, John H.   (b. Abt 1875 - d. 3 Jul 1923)
Age 48 years
15. Allen, Joseph   (b. 14 Apr 1911 - d. 28 Sep 1911)
Age 5 months
16. Allen, Joseph E.   (b. Oct 1912 - d. 12 May 1913)
Age 7 months
17. Allen, Lila May   (b. Abt 1905 - d. 31 Oct 1922)
Age 17 years
18. Allen, Mabel W.   (b. 16 May 1915 - d. 3 Nov 1915)
Gone so soon. Daughter of Marcellus Allen and Nola Belle Mitchell Allen. Another view.
19. Allen, Maggie   (b. Abt 1878 - d. 8 Feb 1912)
Age 34 years
20. Allen, Martha   (b. Abt 1838 - d. 3 Nov 1928)
Daughter of Major Fuller and Martha Daniel. Age 90 years
21. Allen, Mary   (b. Abt 1895 - d. 21 Mar 1921)
Age 26 years
22. Allen, Patrick   (b. Abt 1874 - d. 11 May 1912)
Age 38 years
23. Allen, Philip   (b. Abt 1852 - d. 3 Jun 1919)
Age about 67 years
24. Allen, Prince   (b. Abt 1847 - d. 30 Apr 1927)
Age 80 years
25. Allen, Richmond M.   (b. 13 Mar 1845 - d. 3 Mar 1925)
Husband of Fannie G. Allen. Another view.
26. Allen, Sallie   (b. Abt 1844 - d. 13 Apr 1924)
Age 80 years
27. Allen, Sarah   (b. Abt 1881 - d. 16 Sep 1911)
Age about 30 years
28. Allen, Virginia P.   (b. 25 Feb 1911 - d. 14 Jun 1912)
In Heaven. Daughter of Marcellus Allen and Nola Belle Mitchell Allen.
29. Alston, Joseph S.   (b. 20 May 1919 - d. 10 Mar 1920)
Age 9 months 10 days
30. Alston, Lena   (b. Abt 1857 - d. 27 Sep 1913)
Age 56 years
31. Alston, Mammie   (b. Abt 1895 - d. 2 Jun 1910)
Age 15 years
32. Alston, Mariah J.   (b. Abt 1875 - d. 18 Jan 1929)
Age about 54 years
33. Alston, Martha   (b. Abt 1914 - d. 6 Apr 1932)
Age 18 years
34. Alston, Mollie   (b. Abt 1879 - d. 13 Dec 1917)
Age about 39 years
35. Alston, Nora   (b. Abt 1907 - d. 1 Oct 1909)
Age 2 years
36. Alston, Oscar   (b. Abt 1856 - d. 14 Jul 1916)
Age 60 years. Husband of Maggie Alston.
37. Alston, Ruben   (b. Abt 1840 - d. 26 Jan 1919)
Age 79 years. Died from flu.
38. Alston, William L.   (b. Abt 1869 - d. 3 May 1922)
Age 53 years
39. Amey, Cornelius T.   (b. Abt 1854 - d. 4 Oct 1924)
Age 70 years
40. Amey, Ella   (b. Abt 1877 - d. 4 Jan 1919)
Age 42 years
41. Amey, Polly   (b. Abt 1860 - d. 21 Aug 1911)
Age 51 years
42. Amies, Wade Ruffin   (b. Abt 1923 - d. 12 Mar 1927)
Age 4 years
43. Andrews, Infant   (b. 2 Sep 1922 - d. 2 Sep 1922)
Age 1 day
44. Anthony, Elizabeth   (b. 30 Jul 1928 - d. 19 Aug 1928)
Daughter of Lawrence Anthony and Annie Eskridge. Age 20 days
45. Armstrong, Albert   (b. Abt 1856 - d. 2 Mar 1925)
Age 69 years
46. Armstrong, George   (b. Abt 1897 - d. 14 spe 1920)
Age 22 years 10 months
47. Armstrong, Horace   (b. Dec 1923 - d. 17 Feb 1924)
Age 2 months
48. Arnolds, Richard   (b. Abt 1872 - d. 10 Apr 1922)
Age about 50 years. In a family plot.
49. Arnolds, Shepard   (b. Unknown - d. 17 Sep 1924)
50. Artis, William   (b. Abt 1874 - d. 11 Feb 1919)
Age about 45 years
51. Atkin, Mary L.   (b. 21 Apr 1913 - d. 21 Apr 1913)
Stillborn.
52. Atwater, Annie M.   (b. 1919 - d. 12 Sep 1921)
Age 2 years
53. Atwater, Anthony   (b. Abt 1852 - d. 30 Mar 1927)
Age 75 years
54. Atwater, John   (b. Unknown - d. 4 Mar 1926)
Age not given.
55. Atwaters, Rufus   (b. Abt 1865 - d. 9 Feb 1913)
Age 47 years
56. Austin, Infant   (b. 15 Oct 1930 - d. 15 Oct 1930)
Son of Luke Webb and Martha Austin. Stillborn.
57. Avent, John   (b. Abt 1899 - d. 24 May 1923)
Age 24 years
58. Avery, Infant   (b. 11 Jun 1910 - d. 11 Jun 1910)
Child of John Avery. Stillborn.