TDTNewsAn association of some sort has cared for the site for much of its existence, Elbert Demerson, president of the current Far North Belton Cemetery Association, said. It was designated as an all-black cemetery by the city in 1889.
“My mother-in-law was really involved in cleaning and caring for the cemetery back in the early ’60s,” Demerson, 76, said. “She’d get other people involved, too.”
Now the city keeps the cemetery mowed and cleared of branches and other debris, but decades ago it was the responsibility of the association. Demerson said the group used to raise money for lawnmowers and other supplies to care for the site.
“Then the association gradually just folded,” Demerson said. “Until several years ago when TxDOT came and widened the road.”
The Texas Department of Transportation needed the right of way along the road, so the city worked with the association to create official documents. In the process, the preservation of the historic site was brought back to the attention of several community members.
Demerson’s wife, Connie, whose mother had cared for the cemetery when she was young, became president of the reformed association.
“Connie was really active in the city and school functions,” Demerson said, smiling. “She was a pretty busy woman in Belton. She’d get so excited about this project, caring for the cemetery.”
Connie died in 2012 and rests at the site she cared for so greatly.
The association consists of about six members, Demerson said.
“But one is in a nursing home right now and another is sick,” he said. “We would love to have more help. The city is good to us, but we want to do even more.”
The perimeter of the cemetery is lined with foliage. Demerson wants to keep the trees but remove the dead leaves, branches, overgrown vines and weeds.
“I would like to remove all that scrubby brush around the edges and make it tidier,” he said. “We need younger people to help, but can’t seem to get younger people as interested. I don’t know why.”
About two years ago United Way of Central Texas got a group together to clean up around the site, which Demerson said was helpful. He’s been encouraging locals with family members buried in the cemetery to take care of their plots.
“I’m pleased to see some of the plots have been cared for since the last time I visited,” he said. “You can see people have been doing a little cleaning around them.”
The Far North Belton Cemetery cares for any gravesites lacking family members in the area.
Demerson pointed at a section of concave earth. “There’s a grave,” he said. “I don’t know where the stone is. Maybe it never had a stone.”
Other unmarked plots are less apparent, so Demerson is unsure how many there are or how closely together they were placed. He said there are probably many, so he doesn’t want to allow burials in the upper portion of the cemetery.
Anyone who wants a burial at the Far North Belton Cemetery must go through the association.
Several of the oldest plots that do have headstones date back to the 1890s. Many are chipped and the wording is barely legible. One has to lean in close and peer through dirt and moss to wonder about the names and dates.
“A lot of people I knew as a kid are buried here now,” Demerson said, adding that his sister, who died young in a crash, was among them. “People that were important in the black community are here. Scoutmasters, church pianists, it’s a pretty important place — to me, anyway.”
Demerson said he used to ask his mother-in-law about a few of the names he didn’t recognize.
“She didn’t even know them,” he said. “A lot of black people, maybe construction workers or cotton pickers, came through and if they died in Belton, they were put here. That’s what we’re guessing, anyway, because we couldn’t trace them.”
Demerson and the rest of the association aren’t the only locals that have taken an interest in the historic cemetery, though.
City Attorney John Messer became involved with the site when TxDOT was widening that portion of Main Street. He worked with the association on the right of way documents and other legal necessities for selling the roadside land, but made a personal contribution as well.
Messer donated funds for the steel fencing and gateway and oversaw the process, which was completed at the end of last year. He also helped with a lot of initial cleanup when the association reformed, pulling out old fences, wire and brush on the site and adding rocks around the roots of large, shady trees to protect them from lawnmowers.
“I wanted to create something that would be there a long time and not require maintenance,” Messer said. “It turned out like I hoped it would. I’m proud of it and glad we did it.”
City Council Member Jerri Gauntt became involved with the cemetery’s preservation when she was on city staff.
“It’s important we maintain the cemetery,” Gauntt said. “Historic value is really difficult to ascertain, but you can find out so much information about your community through cemeteries.”
Gauntt is interested in bringing in a professional with ground penetrating radar to survey the upper, unmarked portion of the cemetery to see how many plots are there, as additional information and documentation would assist preservation efforts.
“I’ve reached out to people about it but haven’t had any confirmations,” she said. “The equipment is very expensive. There are other ways (to assess the site) but they are not as scientific.”
Gauntt said she just hasn’t found the right person, but believes there is someone out there with access to the equipment that would be interested in helping learn more about the cemetery, history and stories it holds.