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

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. Yancey, Mamie   (b. Abt 1895 - d. 24 Dec 1915)
Single. Daughter of Rev. Paul Yancey and Mary Smith Yancey.
2. Yancey, Mary   (b. Abt 1869 - d. 26 Dec 1919)
Age about 50 years
3. Yancey, Nancy   (b. Abt 1869 - d. 26 Dec 1919)
Age about 50 years
4. Yancey, Sally   (b. Abt 1874 - d. 26 Apr 1918)
Age about 44 years
5. Yancy, Ella   (b. Abt 1902 - d. 20 Jan 1921)
Age 19 years
6. Yancy, Paul, Rev.   (b. Abt 1853 - d. 7 Dec 1913)
Age about 60 years
7. Yarboro, Mary Ellen   (b. 15 Dec 1849 - d. 13 Nov 1900)
Aged 50 yrs 11 mos 28 days.
8. Yarborough, Daniel   (b. Abt 1865 - d. 23 Jan 1934)
Widowed. Husband of Eliza Yarborough.
9. Yarborough, Eliza   (b. Abt 1851 - d. 5 Mar 1923)
Age 72 years
10. Yatch, Graham   (b. Abt 1890 - d. 5 Feb 1910)
Age 20 years
11. Yates, Ellen   (b. Abt 1853 - d. 1 Mar 1923)
Age 70 years
12. Yates, Infant   (b. 10 Dec 1922 - d. 11 Dec 1922)
Age 1 day
13. Yates, Isabella   (b. Abt 1863 - d. 1 Jun 1918)
Age about 55 years
14. Yates, Nellie   (b. Abt 1897 - d. 26 Nov 1918)
Age about 21 years
15. Yearby, John   (b. Abt 1913 - d. 16 May 1920)
Age 7 years
16. Yearby, Sarah   (b. 20 Oct 1906 - d. 25 Nov 1918)
Age 13 years. Daughter of Dee and Roxie Yearby. "Asleep in Jesus"
17. Young, Amos   (b. Abt 1879 - d. 11 Feb 1933)
Age 54. Husband of Josie Jones Young.
18. Young, Infant   (b. 5 Dec 1923 - d. 5 Dec 1923)
Stillborn.
19. Young, Leo Douglas   (b. 1916 - d. 14 Nov 1917)
Age 1 year
20. Young, Lucius   (b. Abt 1902 - d. 28 Aug 1927)
Son of Lee Young. Age 25 years
21. Young, Nancy Bethea   (b. 22 Jul 1910 - d. 23 Jun 1911)
Age 11 months 1 day
22. Young, Sidney   (b. Abt 1894 - d. 23 Dec 1919)
Age about 25 years
23. Younger, Andrew   (b. Abt 1862 - d. 3 Apr 1913)
Age 50 years
24. Younger, Louisa   (b. Abt 1860 - d. 14 May 1925)
Age about 65 years