Long's Community Cemetery
LOCATION
LONG'S COMMUNITY CEMETERY is located on a hilltop at 1097 Coffee Branch Road which forks off of Murray Road in the Center Pigeon section of Bethel Community in Haywood County. The picturesque setting, behind Long's United Methodist Church, is edged by woods on the back side and a mountain surround in the distance.
DIRECTIONS
Take Highway #276 South traveling eastward from Waynesville and continue on this road for 6.2 miles. Turn left onto Highway #110. Travel 1.1 miles and turn right (there is no street sign, but this is Murray Road. Travel for 1.5 miles on Murray Road and turn left onto Coffee Branch Road. The church and cemetery lie to the right just after turning onto Coffee Branch Road.
HISTORY
CEMETERY DESIGNATION
The Long's United Methodist Church and cemetery were established simultaneously in 1889-1890 on land purchased in 1886 from Morgan Mease, who charged the burgeoning church half price. Members cleared the land for the church and cemetery by 1889. The oldest portion of the burial ground is directly behind the back of the church, with the cemetery parallel to Coffee Branch Road. A row of markers extends into the left side back portion of the church yard itself. This cemetery is categorized as a churchyard cemetery.
Ethyl Mease Franklin, descendant of Morgan Mease, sold original burial plots in the older portion of the cemetery until the original burial area was filled.
EXPANSION
By 1954, the old cemetery lots filled available space, and the Women's Society of Christian Service, which was affiliated with Long's United Methodist Church, began holding benefit suppers for funding so that more land could be acquired. By the 1970s, Jeeter Martin purchased and donated adjacent land in what would become the newer portion of the cemetery. The addition to the cemetery is connected to, but lies behind, the original cemetery. It slopes downward to the wooded area behind the landscape.
GOVERNANCE
Hand-written deeds, many lost, dictate ownership of original burial sites in the older section of the cemetery.
When Jeeter Martin donated the newer portion of the cemetery in the early 1970s, a separate governing board that is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization assumed control: Long's Community Cemetery, Inc. While upkeep of the older section of the cemetery is conducted by the committee, the non-profit oversight is for the newer portion only.
Long's Community Cemetery, Inc. governing committee:
Charlie Evans, President/Treasurer
Alan Parham, Vice-President
Janet Denton, Secretary
Ron Lyons, Director
Terry Mashburn, Director
*Contact and Donation Information
Charlie Evans is the contact person for questions concerning the cemetery, including information about purchasing grave sites, 587, Evans Road,
Canton, NC 28716. 828-734-8921
FUNDING
Plot sales support upkeep for the newer sections of the cemetery, with funds placed into an interest-bearing account. The oldest portion of the cemetery, however, is filled, and no sales are available to provide funding for maintenance. The intention of the cemetery committee is to utilize plot sale resources to eventually allow for a fund designated for upkeep. All donations for upkeep are appreciated and can be mailed to Long's Community Cemetery, 587 Evans Road, Canton, NC 28716.
GRAVES AND GRAVE MARKERS
Gravestones include homemade stones (including unique substantial sized river rock masonry markers), hand-carved decorative markers made by stonecutters, obelisks, affluent monuments, ledgers, and modern granite stones. The stone marker designating the cemetery entrance is a commissioned, hand-carved sign.
In his Cemeteries & Family Graveyards in Haywood County, NC, George Augustus Miller, Sr. labels the burial field as a “relatively large” cemetery. He indicates that perhaps as many as twenty markers are broken or missing. He further states that approximately thirty stones are either unmarked or else markings have disappeared or are illegible. Miller, in his 1979 publication, included approximately 270 grave sites.
In the 1970s new section that is under the oversight of Long's Community Cemetery, Inc., gravestones are ledger design, allowing for ease of maintenance. A few dozen gravestones make up the newer portion of the cemetery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBSITE SEARCH LINKS
Find a Grave lists Long's Community Cemetery, Inc.:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2153845/longs-community-cemetery
Haywood County, NC, Cemetery Records lists Long's United Methodist Church Cemetery under the Big East Fork and Canton links as Long's Community Cemetery: https://ldsgenealogy.com/cgi-bin/open-nc.cgi?id=9355573
Long's Community Cemetery Map and Burial List: https://peoplelegacy.com/cemetery/longs_community_cemetery-5K6d01/
Long's Community Cemetery, Inc. Website/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LongsCommunityCemetery/
Long's United Methodist Church: Golden Memories: 1890-1990, “Dedication of the Church School Building of Long's Methodist Church,1952.
Long's United Methodist Church History (abbreviated from Golden Memories):
https://1drv.ms/w/s!As9LAVqfWgMjgaorcFxZV3lO1yaVrw
Miller, George Augustus, Sr. Cemeteries and Family Graveyards in Haywood County, North Carolina. Waynesville, NC, 1979.
*Charlie Evans, Long's United Methodist Church Cemetery President, provided data and commentary regarding governance, layout, and history.
*Carol Litchfield provided directions
Article written by Evelyn M. Coltman
Historic Preservation Committee Chair
Bethel Rural Community Organization
Bethel Cemeteries, Churchyards, and Graveyards
