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

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. Umphrey, Violet   (b. Abt 1874 - d. 7 Jan 1915)
Married. Born in Wake Forest, NC.
2. Underwood, Annie   (b. Abt 1885 - d. 19 Nov 1912)
Age 27 years
3. Unknown, Infant   (b. 3 Mar 1925 - d. 3 Mar 1925)
Stillborn.
4. Unknown, Infant   (b. Unknown - d. 18 Nov 1928)
Age under one year. Parents unknown. Infant found in woods.
5. Unknown, Infant   (b. 5 Apr 1918 - d. 5 Apr 1918)
Stillborn.
6. Unknown, Infant   (b. Abt 1916 - d. 6 Apr 1918)
Age 2 years
7. Unknown, Infant   (b. 6 Apr 1920 - d. 6 Apr 1920)
Stillborn.
8. Unknown, Infant   (b. 21 Jan 1922 - d. 21 Jan 1922)
Stillborn.
9. Unknown, Infant   (b. 14 Oct 1920 - d. 14 Oct 1920)
Stillborn.
10. Unknown, Infant   (b. 10 Aug 1920 - d. 10 Aug 1920)
Age 7 hours
11. Unknown, Marion   (b. 25 Jun 1907 - d. 10 Mar 1909)
12. Unknown, Wilson A.   (b. 22 Mar 1924 - d. 13 Oct 1926)
Age 2 years
13. Upchurch, Hubert   (b. Abt 1899 - d. 13 May 1928)
Son of Charles Upchurch and Sallie Lee. Age 29 years
14. Upchurch, Minnie   (b. Abt 1901 - d. 23 Feb 1928)
Daughter of Pomp Taylor and Sallie Lee. Age 27 years
15. Upchurch, Ruby   (b. 1911 - d. 17 Feb 1919)
Age 8 years