It wasn’t until I rode around Franklin with one of the Crawford descendants, Emory, that I finally figured out where the Crawford homestead was located. As it turns out, it was right down the street from New Hope Cemetery. During my visit, Emory was kind enough to show me around the old Crawford property. While […]
Blog
Day and Night: A New Hope Cemetery Update
A couple of months back, I visited New Hope Cemetery, a historically Black cemetery in Franklin, North Carolina. An estimated 41 people are buried in the cemetery, perhaps even more. As I approached the cemetery, I was met with a field of ferns, whose leaves tickled my calves and whose branches were high enough to […]
Visiting New Hope Cemetery
On my latest trip to Franklin, I made my first visit to New Hope Cemetery. The cemetery was established in the 1800s and was in use by members of New Hope Methodist Church, a church that was established by the Black members of the Franklin United Methodist Church. For decades, the cemetery had largely remained […]
Remembering Thomas Walter “Little Willie” Scruggs
Sometimes, there are certain people who implore you to learn more about them. This was the case for Thomas Walter Scruggs. When I traveled down to Franklin recently, I made the usual trip to St. Cyprian’s Cemetery, where some of my ancestors and many of their neighbors and friends are buried. The cemetery is special […]