THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503260168
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
The dead deserve better.
That's what people like Ann Hughes and Tom Butchko think every time they pass the Episcopal Cemetery on Ehringhaus Street, a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places that has seen better days.
Rust is eating at wrought-iron fencing, and other, wooden barriers have vanished. Decades of exposure to the elements have taken a toll on intricately carved tombstones. Landscaping has languished.
But the decay, some hope, will soon be a thing of the past.
A restoration effort will be launched Monday evening when the Episcopal Cemetery Society meets. The 7:30 p.m. session is open to the public and will be held at the Christ Episcopal Church parish house at 200 McMorrine Street.
``I think the meeting on Monday is intended to revive the Episcopal Cemetery Society,'' said Butchko,an architectural historian who helped place the 19th-century cemetery on the National Register in early 1994.
The burial ground, believed to have opened around 1825, is one of northeastern North Carolina's prime examples of the artistic and funerary symbolism of that period.
Stones originating in Norfolk, Baltimore and New York tell who the area's main trading partners were during the height of the shipping era.
From reading verses on tombstones ``one gets a very good indication of the attitudes and the social mores of the period towards death, towards life, towards family, towards religion and one's civic responsibilities and duties in town,'' Butchko said.
Many of the names engraved in the marble and brick ledgers, table markers, tablets and obelisks should be familiar to Elizabeth City residents.
Among the 410 gravesites are once-prominent citizens who led Elizabeth City's commercial, political and cultural development for more than 100 years.
Names like Moore, Martin, McMorrine, Flora, Fearing and Grice grace many a tombstone. A Knox baby buried there is believed to be from the family and namesake of Knoxville, Tenn.
But the name most frequently recognized, and perhaps revered, is that of John C.B. Ehringhaus, who served as North Carolina's governor from 1933 to 1937.
His remains now rest with hundreds of others on a narrow strip of land, a block long, bordered by two brick buildings and Ehringhaus and Shepard streets. A large, padlocked iron fence marks the main entrance. A pedestrian gate, which is usually open, is just to its east.
The cemetery, Butchko said, ``represents or illustrates the burying traditions that were common in the mid- and late-19th century.
``In many places, cemeteries were not seen just as burying grounds, but also somewhat as a park or green space, even though they wouldn't have referred to it as `green space' back then.''
The cemetery society wants to resurrect the parklike atmosphere and create a place comparable to Riverview Cemetery in Richmond and Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, with park benches and abundant shade trees.
Revitalization of the site may encourage reflection and discourage recent activities that have led to visitors' discoveries of items such as beer bottles and used condoms.
The cemetery's decline began sometime after the 1920s, when descendants and local residents began to lose interest in its upkeep.
The city's Parks and Recreation Department has maintained the grounds of this cemetery and of at least six others during the past 30 years.
About nine years ago, the city had to fix tombstones that had been vandalized. Another costly project occurred in 1993 when a violent March storm knocked down large cedar trees that then had to be removed.
``I think a revived Episcopal Cemetery Society could pay closer attention to the specific needs of that cemetery and, in doing so, allow the city to spend more of its attention on the other cemeteries,'' Butchko said.
The Episcopal Cemetery, restored to its former glory, could also become a historical attraction, especially after the Museum of the Albemarle moves into the old Davenport Motors building next door.
Revamping the graveyard won't come cheap. Butchko estimates at least $40,000 is needed to restore the ironwork and repair, clean and preserve tombstones.
But people like Ann Hughes think it's worth it.
``It could be so beautiful. And if everybody pulls together it can happen,'' the former schoolteacher said. ``For me, I see our past as a link to our future. And I think if we don't preserve our legacy, then it'll affect our future.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
It may cost $40,000 to restore the fencing and to repair and
preserve the tombstones in Elizabeth City's Episcopal Cemetery.
by CNB