Title

Creator

Subject

Subject

Description

Publisher

Contributor

Date

Type

Sound ; Text

Format

Identifier

Source

OH 90.1: South Asheville Colored Cemetery Oral History Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804

Language

English

Relation

Coverage

Acquisition

Donor number: 138 ;  Date of acquisition: 1990-05-02

Processed By

Interview Date

List of Names

Abstract:

DEE: Mrs. Burgan, I understand that you have lived in the South Asheville Community for a long time.  How about giving us a little background on yourself?

MRS. BURGAN: I came to Asheville in 1927. I'm from Macon, Georgia.  I remember Mrs. Leonard used to call me her escape mate, because we were both from Georgia. I met my husband, William Burgan, in Chicago and he paid for me to come down here. I was 32 years old. My husband built this house for me here in South Asheville right here on this hill in 1934. We were looking at a house on Livingston Street but I didn't like it, so he built me this house, 55 years ago. He passed away in 1970.

DEE: Mrs. Burgan what do you remember about the old South Asheville Colored Cemetery? Who do you know that's buried out there?

MRS. BURGAN: I only know about my husband's family that are buried out there. I didn't go out there much except with him. My husband's mother and father, Harriet and Gaston Burgan are both buried out there. She died in 1911 and he died in 1891, long before I ever came here. My husband's youngest son, Vernon (I was William's second wife), Vernon is buried out there. I don't remember Vernon's date of death, but it's in the Bible.   Just hand it to me over there, and we can look it up (pointing toward a stack of old books on a shelf).

DEE: You have a family Bible with dates of births and deaths recorded in it.   That's a nice big Bible and very old (as she finds the Bible in the stack of books).

MRS. BURGAN: Yes, its very old. That was my husband's mother, Harriet Burgan, her Bible.

DEE: Was Harriet Burgan from here, Asheville, and if so, did she live here in Kenilworth (South Asheville)?

MRS. BURGAN: Well, she came here from Cleveland County, but my husband, William Burgan, was born right down here on Biltmore Avenue, right across the street from where that little 7 Eleven store sits right now. He was born in 1888 on October 17th.

DEE: Now, all these people listed here in this family Bible, were they all born in Asheville and did they all die here in Asheville and how many, if any, are buried in the South Asheville Cemetery?

MRS. BURGAN: Now, Mrs. Harriet Burgan, William's mother was born in Cleveland County and his father Gaston Burgan, I'm not sure where he was born, but they are both buried in the South Asheville Colored Cemetery.

DEE: Let me read some of these names out of your Bible here Mrs. Burgan, and you tell me which ones you recognize as being buried in the South Asheville Cemetery.   Alright, here I see Gaston Burgan, January 30, 1891; Hariett Burgan, February 3, 1911; Jacller Burgan, December 19, 1905; Julia Burgan, October 6, 1965; another Julia Burgan, October 15, 1907; Maggie Burgan, March, 1925.

MRS. BURGAN: Yes, they are all buried in the South Asheville Colored Cemetery, all but Julia,  She was my husband's youngest sister. She left here and went to New Jersey. She died October 6, 1965, and was buried in New Jersey. All the others, my husband's brothers, his sons, he had two sons by his first wife, LeNair and Vernon, they are both buried out there. Maggie Burgan, my husband's first wife, she's buried out there. William had another sister, Minnie, yes, she's buried out there too. They were all before my time though.  Yes, they were all passed away before I ever came here to Asheville, all but Julia.

DEE: Did you ever visit their graves with your husband after you came here?

MRS. BURGAN: Yes, there was a family plot. There was a plot surrounded with stones like a little fence. My husband was a railroad man, and he was gone 3 or 4 days at a time, so he couldn't keep up the cemetery, but he always gave money to help pay for the cost of its upkeep.  But when he was home, sometimes he would take me out there and he would tell me about the graves.

DEE: Who took care of the cemetery, Mrs. Burgan?  Was there a special committee or person who took care of that, or was it a community effort?

MRS. BURGAN: It was a community effort.  Yes, I believe the cleaning was done twice a year, once in the Spring and once in the Fall. People would hear of it in the churches, and they would go out there and take their dinner and clean up.  Sometimes it would take a couple of days.  Yes, the whole community helped, you see, because for years this was the only Colored Community Cemetery in the city. Until somebody bought some land over there and opened up Sunset and then Violet Hill. There was Riverside, but Riverside was the city cemetery. Riverside and South Asheville were the only cemeteries where we (Blacks) could be buried for a long time.

DEE: Mrs. Burgan did the kids that went to the school right next door to the cemetery and church ever lend a helping hand to clean up the cemetery on clean-up days?

MRS. BERGAN: Well, I don't remember if the kids helped on clean-up days, but I remember the school. The white people closed up the road. There was a road that come right up to the back of the school. The school bus would come up Kenilworth Road and take that road right up to the back of the school. It wouldn't have to go all the way around and come up Dalton Street. Children came from as far away as Elk Mountain and Haw Creek by bus out here to that school.

DEE: Mrs. Burgan do you remember Mr. George Avery?

MRS. BURGAN: Sure I do!

DEE: What did Mr. Avery do over there at the South Asheville Colored Cemetery?

MRS. BURGAN: Well, I believe he used to take care of the cemetery, but you could get better information on him if you ask Irene or Sadie (his granddaughters).  They were both born over there in his house and grew up out there.

DEE: Okay, well, Mrs. Burgan, what can you tell me about undertakers for Blacks back in the 20's?  Can you remember who any of them were?

MRS. BURGAN: Yes, there was Mr. McCoy, he was related to Mr. Hart. McCoy did my husband's children. Then there was Mr. Noah Murrough. He was the first undertaker for Blacks, but he left here and went to California.

DEE: What about the way the undertakers dressed people to be buried then?  Did the undertaker provide the dress, or did the family go out and buy something?  How has that changed over the years?

MRS. BURGAN: Well, I'll tell you how it was.  As a rule then you didn't go to the store and buy anything. When I was a little girl, I had to give a speech in school and I came home to change clothes, but I couldn't find a clean slip, so I went in my Mothers bureau and go out this pretty shimmie.  I know you don't know what a shimmie is (laughs).  It's like a bra and slip made together, so I pined it up to fit me put on my clothes and went and gave my speech, so when my Mother got home she said "Child, where did you get that shimmie from?" and I said "Mama, I needed a clean slip and couldn't find one, so I got this one out of your bureau drawer."  And she said, "Child, I was saving that to be buried in."  So your see, people used to save something they considered special from among their own things to be buried in.   People don't do that any more.

DEE: What about grave markers and headstones?  Were there many out there in the South Asheville Cemetery when you came here?

MRS. BERGAN: Yes, they had some very nice tombstones out there.

DEE: Yes there are still a few nice tombstones out there. Tell me, was that a sign of how better endowed one family was than another, how much money the family had compared to how nice a tombstone the deceased was given?

MRS. BURGAN: Well, not really because some people care and some people don't, whether they are able or not, you know what I mean.  And then some people just can't afford a tombstone.  It used to be a time when everybody had burial insurance, and that's all they had to depend on.  Their burial insurance was very important to them, and a part of that was used to pay the preacher for preaching the funeral.

DEE: One last question, Mrs. Burgan, do you remember hearing anything about why the South Asheville Colored Cemetery was closed down?  Was there talk in the community about it or rumors?  Did you and your neighbors talk about its closing and did anyone know why this happened?

MRS. BURGAN: Yes, I remember when it was closed down. It was when those white people started building on Kenilworth Road.  They wanted that land. That road came right up to the cemetery, and they wanted to close the cemetery down so they could take that land over for what they wanted it for. The old settlers, the Gibson's and the Hardy's went to town to see about that and wouldn't let them build on it. When they wanted to build those condominiums, those same white folks didn't want that to be done.  Then long after they had the cemetery closed down then they solicited the help of the blacks up here to help petition against the building of condominiums up here. That's because they didn't want them up here.

DEE: Thank you Mrs. Burgan, I really appreciate the time you have given us today and for sharing such good information with us, thank you.