Hancock County (Georgia) Cemeteries

St. Paul CME Church Cemetery

GPS coordinates: 33 13' 31.4" N 82 51' 06.1" W
or in degrees only form: 33.22539° N X 82.85169° W
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GMD: 113
Cemetery Status: Active
Predominant race: Black

St. Paul CME church had its origins in 1857 when a group of slaves on the Dickson Plantation, which is a short distance from the present location of St. Paul, expressed a desire to fulfill their Christian yearning and to worship God in an organized manner. Since they were the property of David Dickson and his mother, it was necessary for them to receive permission before worshipping. The Dicksons granted permission, and a group of slaves began worshipping under a brush arbor on the Dickson Plantation sometime in 1857. This event has been described as part of the oral history of the church and in the family Bible of John Edd Dickson (1843-1921), who is buried in the cemetery.

In the 1870's, the church founders purchased land to enable the congregation of former slaves to move their worship from the brush arbor to a more suitable location and to provide for the burial of their dead. The deeds named Julia Frances Lewis Dickson (Amanda America Dickson's mother), Gilbert Castleberry, John C. Lewis (Julia's brother), Boston Dickson, and Washington Warthen as trustees for the Cherry Hill Church and School of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

At about the same time, in 1870, the CME church was founded in Jackson, Tennessee as the Colored Methodist Episcopal church and led by Lucius Holsey, who had connections to the Sparta area. Unfortunately history does not tell us when the congregation took the name of St. Paul or when it affiliated with the CME church. The denomination was changed in 1955 from Colored Methodist Episcopal to its present day name of Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

St. Paul is filled with tradition. For example, for many years on Monday after the first Sunday in August, members would come to St. Paul and clean off the cemetery as a way of honoring and respecting their ancestors. Just as St. Paul started as a spiritual anchor for the slaves on the Dickson Plantation, it continues today as a spiritual anchor for the descendants of those slaves.

Sources:
This short history was almost entirely extracted from "History of St. Paul CME Church," by C. Harrell Lawson, who gleaned the information from various sources including past histories, a family bible, courthouse records and oral histories.

Also see Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson 1849-1893 by Kent Anderson Leslie, The University of Georgia Press, 1995, pp. 70-71.

NOTE: Graves numbered 500 and above have been added since the original survey and are based on obituaries. The graves are believed to be somewhere within the cemetery.

Indexer or Contributor: Harrell Lawson, Mildred Lawson, and Tonya Sims