Hickory Hill Cemetery of Welaunee Plantation - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

After years of neglect, the Hickory Hill Cemetery has been cleaned up and restored under the direction of the Florida Trust for Public Land. Dedicated volunteers provided the necessary labor. The one acre burial ground contains the graves of African Americans who lived and worked at the Welaunee Plantation during the early 1900s. The Trust acquired the property in 1995 when it helped the state purchase land for the Miccosukee Greenway. In 2003, the land was deeded jointly to Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, and the Testerina and New Zion Primitive Baptist Churches. with the promise that the property would be cleared of undergrowth and maintained. Testerina P. B. Church took a leadership role in that initiative. Twenty-eight markers have been identified and there are signs of numerous unmarked graves. The churches have plans to fence the cemetery. [This has now been done.]

(From The East Leon County Heritage Trail guidebook prepared by the John G. Riley Center/Museum for African-American History & Culture)

The marker reads:

Hickory Hill Cemetery is the main burial ground for African-American families that lived and worked on Welaunee Plantation. Welaunee was established by Udo Fleischmann, a banker and sportsman and member of the Fleischmann baking goods manuafacturing family from New York, and his wife Jeanne Kerr Fleischmann, who donated land for the cemetery. The Fleischmanns began leasing and purchasing former antebellum cotton plantation land in Leon County during the first two decades of the 20th Century. Tenant farming was common in Leon County for more than half a century, but had collapsed by 1950 when many tenant farmers began to leave as land was sold or used for quail hunting. Hickory Hill Cemetery reflects the ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and settlement patterns of the black community of Welaunee Plantation, and includes grave markers dating from 1919 to 1947. For instance, Mason jars may sometimes be found at the graves of members of the Masonic order. Other folk practices include graves marked with pieces of iron, a wagon axle, or a simple glass container. Hand-fashioned markers can be found on the western side of the cemetery.

Marker Number: F-691 Date: 2010 County: Leon Marker Type: Plaque Sponsored or placed by: Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, New Zion Primitive Baptist Church, Testerina Primitive Baptist Church, The Trust for Public Land and the Florida Department of State Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/03/2014 Markerman62 visited it