THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 3, 1995 TAG: 9511030727
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS VILLAGE LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
By frying thousands of fish and baking mountains of beans, island natives hope to create the first community cemetery in this Outer Banks village.
Oden Cemetery is a 19th century burial ground near the Hatteras ferry docks. Set on the southeastern side of Fulcher Lane, it includes about 50 headstones dating to 1809 - and at least an acre of undeveloped land. Dozens of heirs of the original landowners now hold claims to the graveyard.
But at least 15 of those people want to preserve the place as a monument to their ancestors - and a future resting place for their families and friends.
``There's no public cemetery in Hatteras Village. If someone died in the old families, they'd just bury them in their backyards or wherever they could find a spot,'' said Yancey Foster, whose grandparents are buried in Oden Cemetery. ``Now, there's no place for our kids or their kids to be put when they die.
``If you're from out of town, we'd have to send your body back to where you came from because there's just no room,'' Foster said. ``All the plots are full. We have people begging for us to find them somewhere to go.''
In 1985, one heir who owned several shares of Oden Cemetery tried to sell his portion of the plots. The prospect of dividing or developing the graveyard appalled other heirs. So they opposed the sale and hired a lawyer. Legal battles, meetings and surveys ensued. And in 1991, the lawyer advised the heirs to form a nonprofit organization to establish a permanent community cemetery.
``We're trying to get more than 30 heirs to sign quit-claim deeds to the property and waive their ownership so we can start selling plots and hire a caretaker,'' said Elizabeth Midgett, whose father, mother and two brothers are buried in Oden Cemetery. ``So far, we've gotten about half of those people committed to the idea. And we raised enough money to buy one-seventh of the property from the original guy who wanted to develop it commercially. It's looking better all the time.''
Midgett and Foster - the two heirs who are leading the nonprofit corporation - estimate that the entire cemetery site includes four to five acres. Records at the Dare County Tax Office show that the cleared land at the current cemetery covers a little over 2 acres. About one-fourth of that property is filled with graves.
The rest is shaded by twisted live oaks and littered with tangled, thorny vines. Some of the markers are so old that they're made of wooden posts instead of stone. In hand-hewn carvings on lathed-together logs and intricate script lettering on smooth granite gravestones, most of the old Hatteras Island family names are inscribed on tombstones at Oden Cemetery. Ballances, Austins, Fulchers, Grays, Midgetts, Peeles and Farrows lie buried beneath a blanket of immature acorns. Silk roses, plastic posies and live tulips adorn many of the markers.
``We keep it up now, as best we can. We get our kids and go way back in there to clear away debris from all the old graves, too,'' Midgett said Wednesday from beside a green-gray grave marker stained with more than a century of salt spray. ``We're a resourceful village. And we need something like a community cemetery. So we're trying to get it going ourselves.''
By hosting a golf tournament, silent auction, small boat tournament and a series of fish fries and barbecue chicken cookouts, Midgett, Foster and other members of the Oden Cemetery Corporation have raised $22,654 in the past four years. They estimate that at least $500,000 is needed to clear and keep up the entire graveyard area. And they hope to hire an on-site caretaker to oversee the community cemetery.
That employee's pay - and other financial needs - would be financed from sales of cemetery plots.
Midgett and Foster said they didn't know exactly how many plots could be sold. They guess between 200 and 300 spaces might still be available. Sam Twiford of Twiford's Funeral Home said burial plots in perpetual care cemeteries on the Outer Banks traditionally sell for $300 to $400 each.
Because land is so low - and valuable - on the barrier islands, cemetery tracts are scarce.
Manteo and Southern Shores each operate community cemeteries for their residents. Hilltop Cemetery on Colington Island and Austin Cemetery in Kitty Hawk also are overseen by nonprofit organizations. The primary private plots available are in Roanoke Island Memorial Gardens.
``Most of the cemeteries on Hatteras Island are owned by individual families or churches,'' Twiford said Thursday from his Manteo office. ``The people moving into the area do not have a place to be buried unless they're tied to families already on the island. A community cemetery could be a real help to that area. I think it's a great idea - and will meet a real need down there.''
Hatteras Village native Dale Burrus agreed. His grandfather is buried in Oden Cemetery. And as part owner of the Red and White grocery store, Burrus has donated cabbage and other items for several of Midgett's summer fish fries.
``Cemetery room is one of those things nobody ever thinks about until it happens,'' said Burrus. ``It's really needed down here. We need to preserve our past and make plans now to protect our future. They've really been working hard on this project - and shown a lot of dedication and determination.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Yancey Foster is one of the leaders of the group trying to turn old
Oden Cemetery in Hatteras Village into a public cemetery.
Graphic
DONATIONS, FUND-RAISING EVENTS
DONATIONS: FUND-RAISING EVENTS
Members of the nonprofit Oden Cemetery Corporation are planning
several fund-raising events for their community graveyard project
throughout the year.
The group also is collecting donations from individuals and Outer
Banks businesses.
If you would like more information about the proposed cemetery - or
wish to donate money to the cause - write: Oden Cemetery
Corporation, P.O. Box 276, Frisco, N.C. 27936.
by CNB