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

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. Lanier, Mary   (b. Abt 1877 - d. 6 Apr 1917)
Age about 40 years
2. Lassiter, Gertrude   (b. Abt 1902 - d. 16 Oct 1925)
Age about 22 years
3. Lassiter, Lizzie   (b. 21 Jun 1923 - d. 26 Jul 1923)
Age 1 month 5 days
4. Lassiter, Macio C.   (b. 24 Dec 1904 - d. 7 Dec 1923)
Age about 19 years. 'At Rest' Another view.
5. Lassiter, Mary   (b. Abt 1862 - d. 26 Nov 1924)
Age 62 years
6. Lassiter, Walter   (b. 26 Sep 1896 - d. 26 Mar 1936)
Husband of Amanda Louise Umstead Lassiter. Son of Washington Lassiter and Mary Tucker Lassiter.
7. Latta, Fannie   (b. Abt 1817 - d. 25 Dec 1909)
Age 92 years
8. Latta, Fidelty   (b. Abt 1863 - d. 21 May 1912)
Age 49 years
9. Latta, Lucy   (b. Abt 1846 - d. 2 Jul 1910)
Age about 65 years
10. Latta, Mamie   (b. Abt 1893 - d. 24 May 1917)
Age about 24 years
11. Laws, Candis   (b. Abt 1840 - d. 8 Aug 1919)
Age 79 years
12. Lawson, Minnie   (b. Abt 1903 - d. 19 Dec 1925)
Age 22 years
13. Lawson, Pearl   (b. Abt 1880 - d. 29 Jan 1922)
Age 42 years
14. Leach, Sadie R.   (b. Abt 1917 - d. 18 Apr 1921)
Age 4 years
15. Leach, Viola   (b. Abt 1883 - d. 25 Jun 1918)
Age about 35 years
16. Leach, William   (b. Unknown - d. 20 Mar 1912)
Infant
17. Leak, Carl   (b. Abt 1904 - d. 19 Jun 1924)
Age 20 years
18. Leathers, Green   (b. Abt 1846 - d. 12 Jul 1919)
Age 73 years
19. Leathers, Jack   (b. Abt 1877 - d. 5 Apr 1930)
Son of Tucker and Mary Leathers. Age 53 years
20. Leathers, Lula B.   (b. Abt 1886 - d. 29 Nov 1919)
Age 33 years. Died from flu.
21. Leathers, Mary   (b. Abt 1845 - d. 4 Mar 1925)
Age 80 years
22. Leathers, Ola   (b. Abt 1900 - d. 25 May 1918)
Age about 18 years
23. Leathers, Tuck   (b. Abt 1849 - d. 14 Aug 1914)
Age about 65 years
24. Ledbetter, J. W.   (b. 24 Mar 1912 - d. 24 Mar 1913)
Infant
25. Lee, Creaner O.   (b. Abt 1888 - d. 11 Feb 1926)
Age 38 years
26. Lee, John   (b. Oct 1923 - d. 18 Feb 1924)
Age 4 months
27. Lee, Lillie   (b. 24 Dec 1858 - d. 6 Jun 1924)
Spouse - Haywood Lee. Age 57 years. Age 61 years on death certificate. (marker in 2020)
28. Lee, Robert   (b. Abt 1891 - d. 19 Oct 1925)
Age 29 years
29. Lee, Rosa Green   (b. Abt 1863 - d. 4 Dec 1927)
Age 64 years
30. Lee, Rosetta   (b. Abt 1900 - d. 30 Nov 1927)
Age 27 years
31. Lee, William   (b. 2 May 1921 - d. 4 May 1923)
Age 2 years 2 days
32. Levister, William H.   (b. Abt 1857 - d. 25 Jan 1910)
Age 53 years
33. Lewis, Dock   (b. Abt 1847 - d. 3 Nov 1912)
Age 65 years
34. Lewis, J.E.R.   (b. 22 Nov 1861 - d. 15 Feb 1912)
Age 50 years. Another photo from February 2008.. View of the Lewis plot with brick wall.
35. Lewis, Lola Allen   (b. 9 Jun 1872 - d. 20 Jul 1938)
Age 66 years. Another photo from February 2008.. View of the Lewis plot with brick wall.
36. Lilly, Elizabeth   (b. Abt 1885 - d. 30 Jan 1925)
Age 36 years
37. Lilly, Louise   (b. Dec 1911 - d. 10 Mar 1912)
Age 4 months
38. Lilly, Pinkey   (b. Abt 1918 - d. 12 Oct 1922)
Age 4 years
39. Link, Sally   (b. 6 Apr 1912 - d. 6 Apr 1912)
Stillborn.
40. Lipscomb, Minerva   (b. Unknown - d. 14 Dec 1891)
Age xx years.
41. Lipscomb, Phillip   (b. Abt 1860 - d. 22 Nov 1923)
Age 63 years
42. Little, Essie   (b. Jul 1920 - d. 29 Jan 1921)
Age 6 months 25 days
43. Little, Henry   (b. Abt 1885 - d. 11 Dec 1925)
Age 40 years
44. Little, Infant   (b. 17 Sep 1925 - d. 17 Sep 1925)
Stillborn.
45. Little, John, Jr.   (b. Jun 1918 - d. 29 Jun 1918)
46. Little, William   (b. Abt 1901 - d. 17 Apr 1918)
Age about 17 years
47. Locker, Annie   (b. Dec 1918 - d. 13 May 1919)
Age 6 months
48. Lockhart, Mary Jane   (b. Abt 1868 - d. 14 Apr 1929)
Daughter of Henry and Betsy Watkins. Age about 61 years
49. Lockhart, William N.   (b. Abt 1865 - d. 27 Nov 1917)
Age about 52 years
50. Long, George H.   (b. 25 Feb 1908 - d. 15 Jan 1911)
Age 3 years
51. Loy, James W.   (b. Abt 1846 - d. 29 Oct 1915)
Age about 69 years
52. Lumm, Martha   (b. Abt 1835 - d. 20 May 1922)
Age 87 years
53. Lune, Josie   (b. 25 Jun 1878 - d. 25 Jun 1913)
Age 35 years
54. Lunsford, John   (b. Abt 1872 - d. 11 Dec 1928)
Son of Nelson Lunsford. Age 56 years
55. Lyde, Clyde   (b. Abt 1888 - d. 13 Jul 1927)
Age 39 years
56. Lyds, Lidia   (b. 25 Sep 1886 - d. 16 Apr 1906)
Age 20 years. 'Death is eternal life; why should we weep?'. Another photo from February 2008.
57. Lyon, Eliza   (b. Abt 1855 - d. 24 Jul 1925)
Age 70 years
58. Lyon, Lillie Eunice   (b. Abt 1906 - d. 23 Apr 1923)
Age 17 years
59. Lyon, Mollie   (b. 14 Dec 1884 - d. 26 Sep 1922)
Age 38 years. 'At Rest'. Another photo from February 2008.
60. Lyon, Richard   (b. Abt 1877 - d. 5 Mar 1922)
Age 45 years
61. Lyon, Thomas E.   (b. 25 May 1885 - d. 30 Apr 1907)
Age 22 years. 'At Rest'. Another photo from February 2008.
62. Lyons, Elijah   (b. 2 Apr 1865 - d. 14 Oct 1916)
Masonic emblem on marker. 'Elijah Lyons and Family'
63. Lyons, Infant   (b. 17 Jan 1926 - d. 17 Jan 1926)
Premature.
64. Lyons, Infant   (b. 14 Sep 1927 - d. 14 Sep 1927)
Stillborn.
65. Lyons, Lillie M.   (b. 1920 - d. 2 Jul 1921)
Age 1 year
66. Lyons, Mary C.   (b. 1911 - d. 7 Oct 1918)
Age 7 years