Who is buried in Rosewood’s African American cemetery? To answer this question we must combine archaeological and documentary evidence. Visitors to the site can see several long depressions, which are clearly historic graves. Depending on ground cover and training, most can identify between 12 and 15 graves. An additional 30-40+ graves were identified through ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey in 2019. Explore the results of that work by viewing a 3D/VR version of the cemetery here.

Only three gravestones have been recovered at the site. The other graves either had ephemeral markers (e.g., wood) or their markers were removed during the past century. The graves of several infants are likely visible in the lower right-hand corner of the above map. Assigning names to the individual graves lacking markers is difficult, if not impossible, even if the graves were to be exhumed (which is inadvisable). That is not to say we cannot locate the names of persons who are buried at the site. The following table expands what we know about the cemetery from historical documents – State of Florida Certificates of Death, oral histories, and census records.

Name	Race	Age	Birthplace	Birth	Death	Data Source
Ervinel Barclay	Black	3	Rosewood	1919	1922	Cert. of Death
Halton Isiah Benbow	Black	1	Rosewood	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
Nancy Bradley	Black	65	South Carolina	1841	1906	Cert. of Death
Nancie (Grant) Bradley	Black	19	Levy County	1898	1917	Cert. of Death
Virginia (Carrier) Bradley	Black	42	Leon County	1879	1921	Cert. of Death
Frank Bunn	Black	66		1852	1918	Cert. of Death
Haywood/Hayward Carrier	Black			1867	???	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
Sylvestor Carrier	Black	31	Florida	1891	1923	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
James Carrier	Black	56	Florida	1866	1923	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
Sarah Carrier	Black	50	Gainesville	1873	1923	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
Sam Carter	Black	49	South Carolina	1874	1923	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
Edmond “Ed” Goins	Black	70	North Carolina	1850	1920	Cert. of Death
Harry Goins	Black	1	Rosewood	1915	1917	Cert. of Death
Martine Goins	Black	53	North Carolina	1852	1905	Cert. of Death, Gravestone
Orlando Gordon	Black	21	North Carolina	1896	1917	Cert. of Death
Lexie Gordon	Black	55	North Carolina	1867	1923	Census, Oral History, Newspapers
Infant Griffin	Black	0	Rosewood	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
Simon Griffin	Black	61	Florida	1859	1919	Cert. of Death
Charles Bacchus “CB” Hall	Black	73	South Carolina	1847	1919	Cert. of Death
Infant Hall	Black	0	Rosewood	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
Infant Holloman	Black	0	Sumner	1920	1920	Cert. of Death
Infant Ingram	White	0	Sumner	1918	1920	Cert. of Death
Lettie (Hall) Jones	Black	43	Florida	1875	1918	Cert. of Death
Jones Parker	Black	23	Florida	1895	1918	Cert. of Death
Agnora King	Black	66	Florida	1852	1918	Cert. of Death
Infant King	Black	1	Inverness, FL	1919	1920	Cert. of Death
Queenie Z. (Goins) King	Black	20	Florida	1879	1900	Gravestone
Agnes E. (Goins) Marshall	Black	34	North Carolina	1883	1917	Cert. of Death
Infant McQueen	Black	0	Sumner	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
Infant McQueen	Black	0	Sumner	1918	1918	Cert. of Death
Infant McQueen	Black	0	Florida	1920	1920	Cert. of Death
Cary Lee Monroe	Black	0	Florida	1917	1918	Cert. of Death
Clara Monroe	Black	14	Rosewood	1903	1917	Cert. of Death
Sophia Monroe	Black	34	North Carolina	1894	1917	Cert. of Death
Infant Nelson	Black	0	Florida	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
Ella Reed	Black	39	Rosewood	1883	1922	Cert. of Death
George Robinson	Black	38	Florida	1880	1918	Cert. of Death
Infant Robinson	Black	0	Florida	1920	1920	Cert. of Death
Janetta (Carter) Robinson	Black	41	South Carolina	1878	1918	Cert. of Death
Mrs. S. M. (Sallie) Sauls	White	62	Georgia	1857	1919	Cert. of Death
Infant Swayne	Black	0	Florida	1919	1919	Cert. of Death
E. P.  Walden	Black	63		1842	1905	Gravestone
Amos Williams	Black	20	Florida	1899	1918	Cert. of Death
Fannie Williams	Black	26	Florida	1874	1907	Cert. of Death

The above table includes all presently documented burials in Rosewood. This spreadsheet includes additional details. It is unlikely the above table includes all burials at the cemetery, although it is much closer to the 50-60+ graves revealed by mapping and GPR survey work. Charting out the number of burials by year provides additional information.

At first glance, a number of patterns would seem to present themselves, but may be misleading. The absence of burials before 1900 and the large number of infant deaths between 1917 and 1920 are two examples. It is likely that burials took place prior to 1900, but were not reported to the county or state. This is possible as the state of Florida did not standardize and require death certificates until 1917. The large number of infant deaths between 1917 and 1920 may be explained in a couple of different ways. First, the uptick in 1918 and 1919 may coincide with the 1918 influenza pandemic. Although, I suspect it is more likely that we simply have records given the 1917 state reporting requirements and the fact that infant mortality in the past was far more common than we tend to acknowledged today.

The fact that burials continue through 1922 is strong evidence that the victims of the 1923 race riot are also buried here. Oral history accounts describe, for instance, how James Carrier was caught by a White mob while burying his mother (Sarah) and brother (Sylvester). Newspapers from the first week of 1923 also describe this, an important correspondence between oral history and historical documents.

Several newspapers also ran an image, reportedly showing a group of Whites in Rosewood (or Sumner, the two were commonly mixed up in these reports) standing behind a line of graves reported to be African American burials. It is unlikely that local Whites would have buried Black victims of racial violence and/or taken the bodies 2-3 miles from Rosewood to bury at Shiloh Cemetery in neighboring Sumner. After all, rural historical cemeteries were mostly segregated along lines of race in rural Levy County, particularly between Black and White communities.

Although sometimes credited as being taken in Sumner, the above image was likely taken in Rosewood, and potentially following the burial of James Carrier after his murder at the hands of a White mob. Other aspects of the image caption are incorrect, which is not surprising given the fragmented nature of reporting on these events in the past. For instance, there is little evidence that the burned structure is the remains of “shanties” but rather one of the large houses inhabited by one of Rosewood’s Black families. Furthermore, there is little evidence that African Americans were heavily armed at the Carrier home, where several families likely took shelter during the first week of 1923.

Although the graves are mounded in the above photo, without constant re-mounding and other maintenance, such burials in Florida’s sandy soil tend to ‘sink’ and form depressions. This is partly due to decomposition of the burials, and partly due to the nature of soil weathering in Florida. While extracting exact measurements from the image above is difficult, the positioning and distances between these three graves appear to match a line of graves along the western edge of Rosewood’s cemetery. The spacing is similar and their placement next to a road suggests it may be the same place.

Researchers have to combine archaeology and the fragmentary documentary record to craft a more complete interpretation of Rosewood’s African American cemetery. This includes accurately locating – and possibly correcting – erroneous or otherwise unreliable data. In the case of Rosewood archaeology, census records, death certificates, historical newspapers, and oral histories all combine to remind us of the importance even a small patch of ground in Levy County might have regarding larger patterns of violence in American history. In relation to locating the historical newspaper image, it may be of another location or even be of burials associated with the White men who died in 1923. Until firm proof is forthcoming – perhaps original documentation from the photographer – there is room to theorize.