On the morning of February 27, John Upchurch arrived at his 58-acre plot at 3104 Carpenter Pond Rd. He inherited the land after his mother died in 2017. For more than 40 years, Upchurch had known about two graves on the property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
By 5 p.m., he would uncover 20 more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Large cedar trees loomed over the land, a tell-tale sign there was a cemetery nearby. The ground was soft for Steve Ward and his cemetery services team thanks to an unusually wet Durham winter. That morning, Ward\u2019s team reached the land before Upchurch, already probing the earth to begin disinterment. The gravedigger was nicely dressed in a collared button-up. He could\u2019ve been going out to dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n
For as long as the Upchurch family owned the property, they knew of two marked headstones, belonging to Otis Emory (1916-1925) and Coolidge Emory (1925-1926). Upchurch\u2019s research led him to believe there were three additional graves near the brothers: the graves of their parents, Bernice Franklin (B.F.) and Pearl Emory, and their paternal grandmother, Louella Emory. Although, he couldn\u2019t say for sure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The entire process began because of the two Coolidge boys. As Upchurch nears retirement, he plans to sell the land. The property is worth more than $1 million according to Durham County Property Tax Records. At least once a month, developers reach out to him looking to buy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of thought of them as orphaned,\u201d said Upchurch. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave it up to somebody else\u2026 you know, I\u2019d been living with them for 40 years and felt responsible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Upchurch tracked down the family\u2019s next of kin \u2014 B.F. and Pearl Emory\u2019s 13 living grandchildren \u2014 through certificates of death and genealogical research. (He\u2019s charted an impressive family tree on Ancestry.com.) Upchurch wanted their blessing to relocate the graves, understanding that he would be expected to pay all expenses related to disinterment and reinterment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Each family member who responded to Upchurch supported moving the graves to Woodlawn Memorial Park in Durham where their uncles and aunts are resting. So, in compliance with county regulations, Upchurch went to the Durham Board of County Commissioners who approved the request in December.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Then in February, the disinterment process began around 8 a.m. Ward had been in the business long enough to come prepared with extra boxes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n