Preserving the Past

WINTER GARDEN — Andrew Jackson Dunaway (1818-1866) is on record as being the first person buried in Beulah Cemetery. His grave marker indicates he was a Christian, a father and a Confederate States Army soldier. 

This historic cemetery is just west of Lake Beulah, nestled among neighborhoods between West Orange High School and the Winter Garden Village at Fowler Groves. Near Dunaway, Rawlins L. Reeves (1857-1941) and wife, Emma L. (1859-1931), lie side by side in in-ground vaults, their joint headstone etched with grapes and leaves. Other members of the Reeves families are interred here, as well.

Arthur B. Newton (1864-1940), the first mayor, postmaster and merchant of Winter Garden, is laid to rest in Beulah Cemetery, too — his plot signified by a flat, marble marker.

These details are important to Kevin Gidusko, public archaeology coordinator for the Florida Public Archaeology Network, and they speak volumes about the culture during different periods of Florida’s history.

FPAN is sponsoring the Orange County Historic Cemetery Recording Project, a huge undertaking that has no end date but continues to produce data that can be beneficial to researchers and archaeologists.

Glenda Vaillant Cruz, a Valencia College student who is majoring in anthropology and has an interest in public archaeology and research work, is participating in an internship with FPAN. She is leading the project at Beulah Cemetery, coordinating volunteers and helping record data, and was on site on a recent Monday to continue the work.

Brenda Vasquez, another anthropology major at Valencia, was at Beulah last week assisting Cruz and Gidusko.

When recording the marker data, volunteers document the cemetery section, row and grave number; the type of marker, such as above-ground vault, cradle, obelisk or metal temporary; the inscription, exactly as presented; the material, such as marble, cast iron, granite or concrete; gravestone designs, such as a dove, Bible or cross; the condition of the marker; whether there is a footstone or fencing; and any grave goods left behind, such as flowers, stuffed animals, notes or food.

Gidusko has come across many strange items left for loved ones in his years of recording historic cemeteries. He has discovered a plate with an eggplant and a candle. He has heard of chicken sacrifices, complete with scattered corn.

All these offerings, materials and etchings tell a story about the people, he said.

“We will then take our data and put it into a searchable database for archaeologists to use for future research projects,” Cruz said.

DUNAWAY

The average cemetery visitor can see that Dunaway died May 21, 1866, and that he was a Confederate soldier. A Christian cross is etched into the marble headstone, and a quote reveals that he had at least one child.

To someone with Gidusko’s background, though, much more is revealed.

“Marble … is, of course, not something we find in Florida, meaning that it had to be shipped here,” he said. “(And) it wouldn’t have been cheap. Design-wise, however, it’s a fairly straightforward thing. We could, perhaps, interpret that the money was spent on the better material but not enough money was around to have too many flourishes, special designs, symbols, etc.

“Another thing that we can see is the combination of the death date and the association with the (Confederate States Army),” Gidusko said. “After the Civil War, there was an influx of people from Southern states into Florida who were looking to leave behind the ravages of war and who hoped to start anew, often in farming. … In the little work we’ve done, we have encountered a good number of Confederate veterans, not because there was a lot of action here in the state, but because many of them moved here after the war.”

IN WEST ORANGE

Although all historic cemeteries hold importance as cultural resources, Gidusko said the Beulah Cemetery is high on the list because it is still in use, is well-maintained by Beulah Baptist Church — which originally established the final resting place for its parishioners — and is still associated with the founding community in the area.

“In that sense, it’s a great snapshot of a community from its inception to the present time,” he said. “Many historic cemeteries are abandoned, overgrown or uncared for, so it’s nice to be working in one that is still, in a way, vibrant.”

One abandoned cemetery with a success story is the Oakland African-American Historic Cemetery, where people were buried from the 1800s to 1949.

No one knows the exact number of people buried in the historic black cemetery, located north of State Road 50 and east of the Florida’s Turnpike interchange. After the last people were buried there in the 1940s, visitors became scarce and vegetation took over, concealing many of the markers in their own mossy tomb.

The cemetery was rediscovered in 2004, when transportation authorities were onsite to discuss road-widening plans. The Oakland-Tildenville Cemetery Committee worked on the cleanup, which continues today. Volunteers found shells and pipes, discovered to be burial traditions brought over from Africa.

Most of the historic cemeteries that are threatened are black cemeteries, Gidusko said, and this location is a prime example of this.

Oakland has two other locations on the historic list: Oakland Cemetery and the newer Oakland-Tildenville Cemetery. The list of historic cemeteries in Orange County also includes Winter Garden Cemetery, Ocoee Cemetery and Woodlawn Memorial Park.

“The goal of FPAN is to engender a sense of stewardship in the community,” Gidusko said. “These are cultural resources; there’s never going to be enough money or people to watch all of these. ... So we have to inform people why these are important. ... We’re sort of the managers.”

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].

THE MISSION

The Florida Public Archaeology Network’s mission is to promote and facilitate the conservation, study and public understanding of Florida’s archaeological heritage through regional centers throughout the state. Anthropology seeks to solve social issues through the understanding of history. To learn more about the organization, go to FPAN.us. The website lists workshops and lectures that are open to the public.

Updates on the data-collecting project can be found on the Orange County Historic Cemetery Recording Project Facebook page.

HOW TO CONNECT

To share information about local burial plots or to talk to Kevin Gidusko about the Florida Public Archaeology Network, contact him at [email protected] or (904) 392-8065.