Tales from the New Garden Friends Graveyard

Compiled and edited by M. Gertrude Beal and Max L. Carter. New Garden Cemetery Association, 2019. 132 pages. $10/paperback plus $4 shipping fee.

It might surprise readers to hear what fun this book is to peruse! It starts with a map of the cemetery with numbers to identify the various graves. The facing page gives the corresponding names. One of the authors, Max Carter, gives graveyard tours twice a year. So if you are a history or graveyard buff, or if you have relatives or friends at rest in this graveyard and can get to Greensboro, N.C., you can contact him at mcarter@guilford.edu for more information.

Each chapter of this book simply bears the name or names of people along with a picture of them or their headstone(s). So if you are looking for someone, it’s easy to find out if they are there. For those of us who do not know any of these people, we can just enjoy the book. The very short stories that follow are interesting and informative, both about individuals’ lives and the social themes during their lifetimes.

The introduction is a wonderful mini lesson in North American Quaker history. It gives readers a sketch of how Friends first came to North Carolina (from Pennsylvania and later from Nantucket) and eventually established a monthly meeting in 1754. If you’re curious, you can order a copy by mailing a check made out to New Garden Cemetery Association to 801 New Garden Road, Greensboro, NC 27410.

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