Behavior Cemetery is a historic

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

Sapelo Island Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mile (11 ...

outside

Hog Hammock, Georgia Hog Hammock is an African-American community on Sapelo Island, a barrier island of the U.S. state of Georgia. The island is near the port of Darien, Georgia about south of Savannah. The entire community was listed on the National Register of ...

. The cemetery is located at the south end of Sapelo Island, 1.25 miles west of Hog Hammock, about off of Airport Road. with

History

The

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

cemetery is believed to date to before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

although the earliest marker is dated to the late 19th century. Originally the cemetery was associated with a former community named "Behavior" and of the people enslaved by

Thomas Spalding Thomas Spalding (March 25, 1774 – January 4, 1851) was a United States representative from Georgia. He was born in Frederica, Georgia, St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1795, but did not ...

. An example of African-American burial grounds, the cemetery's grave markers include short posts at either end of the graves with epitaphs on wooden boards nailed to the surrounding trees and personal items included with the deceased. More recent tombstones are cement, granite or metal. , the cemetery is still in use and the only cemetery associated with the African American community on Sapelo Island. The age of the cemetery is unknown, but there was damage recorded from the October 2, 1898 hurricane. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on August 22, 1996. In June 2010, professors and students from

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is part of the University of Tennessee System. History UTC was founde ...

conducted a survey of the cemetery. Their work and excavations showed evidence of over 180 unmarked graves and at least two structures, one likely a cabin for the enslaved people.

References

External links

* * {{usurped,
Behavior Cemetery
}, Vanishing Coastal Georgia
Burial List
List of burials found at Behavior Cemetery African-American history of Georgia (U.S. state) Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Geography of McIntosh County, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in McIntosh County, Georgia African-American cemeteries in Georgia (U.S. state) Sapelo Island

History

See also

References

External links