Trees & Landscaping - Rollersville Cemetery

Lanscaping Old Towne Augusta
Trees & Landscaping

Rollersville Cemetery

At one point in time Rollersville cemetery (located on the 1600 Blk. of Hicks Street.) was used as a private cemetery for the Huntington family. The first grave was that of orphan William S. Trainum. He died in a fire saving others lives and was buried on Feb. 4, 1827. He was the sole burial until the death of Elizabeth Frish Huntington who was buried on October 31, 1849. The City took over the cemetery some years later and the first city burial was for H. Gray, he was a 3 year old infant; buried 1-11-1883.

1 1/3 acres of the cemetery was laid out for whites, 3/4 of an acre was laid out for blacks. The black part of the cemetery was full in the mid to late 1890's. The last recorded burial for this cemetery was an infant boy of A.P. Ledbetter, buried 10-18-1910. The record book for Rollersville cemetery is kept in the vault at Magnolia cemetery.

In March 1936 there were quite a number of marked graves but of no importance according to Mr. Morton L. Reese. He recorded only two of the marked graves in the cemetery and they were in fair condition. At the time of Mr. Reese's visit he states that the cemetery was maintained by the city and there was a wire fence around the cemetery. Mr. Reese visited cemeteries in Richmond County in the 1920's and 1930's recording information on the stones.

Today there is not a clue that Rollersville cemetery was ever there except for a monument the City of Augusta placed in the center of the cemetery in 1981. The grave markers had long since disappeared, there is no hint of any of them to be found in the cemetery. The inscription on the monument placed in the center of the cemetery by the City of Augusta reads:

On North side of monument :

Rollersville
Cemetery
1827-1910

Dedicated by the City
of Augusta 1981 A.D.
Lewis A. Newman Mayor
Cemetery Committee
B.L. Dent - Chairman
W.H. Grant Sr. - Co-Chairman
Inez R Wylds J.C. Jones
S.H. Elliott Jr. M.L. Dewitt

On South side of monument :

Rollersville
Cemetery
1827-1910

The first grave in this cemetery was that of orphan William S. Trainum
who died in a fire while saving others on Feb. 4, 1827. He was buried
on the property of the Huntington family for whom he worked. His
remained a solitary grave until the burial of Elizabeth Frish Huntington
in 1849. Seven Huntington children were interred between 1851 and
1869 during the Civil War. This cemetery became the final resting place
for fallen Confederate Soldiers and later for Civil Veterans. The
Huntington and Bohler families jointly donated this cemetery to the
Rollersville Community in 1862. After incorporating Rollersville in
1863 the City of Augusta employed a Caretaker who kept the
burial records from 1883 until 1910 when the cemetery was closed
3,598 burials of integrated races were recorded during this period.

Note: This cemetery is A.K.A. Harrisburg Cemetery - Name on the record book kept in the vault at Magnolia cemetery.