Dils Cemetery, Pike County, Ky- first integrated African-American Cemetery Taken from the Appalachian Quarterly - June 1998 issue, page 99 DILS CEMETERY Pikeville, Ky This cemetery is believed to be the first integrated cememtery in Eastern Kentucky. No tall marbles, leaming white, Here reflects the softened light; Yet beside the hillocks green Rude, uncarven stones are seen, Brought there from the mountain side By the mourners' love and pride stanza from "A mountain Graveyard" by Effie Waller Smith Frank Waller and his wife, Alvindia are both buried in Dils Cemetery. A black man who migrated to Pike County after the Civil War, Waller was an aide to Stonewall Jackson and actually served Jackson his last meal. Educated on the same Virginia plantation as Junte Kinte, Waller had three children, two girls and a boy. His daughter, Effie Waller Smith, penned the lines featured as part of this article-an exerpt from three volumes of poetry she published. A close friend of Polly Mullins Ratliff, who is also buried in Dils Cemetery, Effie actually adopted Polly's daughter, Ruth, who at this writing is a retired school teacher living in Wisconsin. Aggie Justice, a slave, was the mother of Jim Justice. Jim married Alice goff, whose father, Jim Goff of Blackberry was a Cherokee. Jim Justice was the first African-American to own property on Bypass Road, where he built his home around the turn of the century, the home where Aggy's great-grandson, Stafford Layne, now lives. Jim goff worked for the railroad, was injured late in life, and rented out houses and land to leave to his children. He established the black community on the Bypass, was friends with Perry Cline, and influenced Cline to donate land for the Perry Cline School. Manda "Mandy" Mullins came to Pikeville from Dickenson County, Virginia, where white people threw rocks at her and her husband, Sam, running them off the farm they owned. They sold the farm for $300, a pair of mules and a wagon, and came to Pike County, where Mandy had a half brother, Isaac Lee, who lived on Powell's Creek. Mandy's grave is the one just recently discovered. On Saturday, September 14, 1996, a group of volunteers assumbled to place markers on those Dils Cemetery grves which had been identified through research, but which had no headstones. Jeff Owens had repeatedly insisted that his maternal grandmother, Mandy Mullis, was buried int he cemetery, along with her brother Jeff, for who Mr. Owens is named. As the volunteers probed to place the markers, they hit solid rock. When they dug into the knoll, they uncovered two headstones that had been entirely covered with dirt, one for Mandy Mullins and one for Jeff Mullins. Colonel John Dil, Jr. bought the property which includes the Dils Cemetery in 1871. In addition to members of his own family and other white people, Dils allowed his free slaves and their descendants to be buried there. Dils Cemetery is believed to be the first intregrated cemetery in Eastern Kentucky. More than 500 graves rest on the two-acre site, located at the mouth of Chloe Creek on a hill overlooking Pikeville, the county seat of Pike County. The iste is currently leased from the John Dils heirs by the City of Pikeville. Research of the site is under the auspices of the Pikeville-Pike County Tourism Commission. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hatfield-McCoy Fued Historic District, Dils Cemetery is a fascinating, peaceful, lovely place. Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers share their final resting place with African-American who lived many years as slaves. Wealthy landowners and highly educated business people lie under the same trees as feud leaders Randal McCoy and his wife, Sarah. An inventory of the African-American graves began in 1996 under the supervision of Peggy Davis, professor anthropology and sociology at Pikeville College. The tourism commissionn provided improved access; the city undertook a landscaping and grounds maintenance program. Known names of the people of color interred at Dils Cemetery: Aggy Justice William Henry Layne Josephine Justice Layne Charles Evans Layne Vernon Alexander Layne John Goff Jim Goff Charley Colley Jeff Mullins Maila Mullins James Justice Manda Mullins Vivian Mulins Mary Justice Sophie Justice Mullins D. Justice Jane Layne Ver Justice Jimmie Layne C. H. Harmon Mabel Justice T. Justice Alice Goff Justice Frank Waller Virginia E. Botts Alvindia Waller George Wright T. J. Mullins Wright infant Mary Ann Gibson Alice Ratliff Wright H. Spiller Frank Wright Liffie Belle Combs Edwry Wright Martha Wright Sylvia E. Ratliff Fred and Teddy Mullins Clysta V. Ratliff Edward Thompson Tom "TJ" Mullins James Ratliff J.W. Ratliff Mary Ratliff Frank Hall Mary Jane Ratliff Polly Ratliff Henry Harrison NOTE: Research is just beginning into the background of the African- Americans who are buried at the Dils Cemetery. If you have additional information from family Bibles, genealogies, or other historical records (newspaper accounts, school yearbooks, for example) contact the Pikeville-Pike County Tourism commission or the Eastern Kentucky African-American Historical Advisory Committee at 606-432-5063 or 1-800-844-7453. Dils Cemetery reveals fascinating details of African-American heritage. Information taken from a brochure distributed by the Pikeville-Pike County tourism Commission. Used by permission. ----------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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