Clemson University had discovered a mass grave in their own property. The bodies were buried more than 100 years ago and they were laid to rest on a steep hillside on unmarked graves. These resting spots were forgotten for years, until it was recently found.
Clemson University mass grave
Clemson University is now working to find who is buried in the unmarked graves. There are a total of 604 unknown bodies in the property, and thek graves belong to domestic workers, enslaved people, convict laborers and sharecroppers who lived, worked and died on the university's land in 1800s, according to The Denver Channel.
According to the lead researcher, the discovery of the mass grave had ignited a discussion about the lands that once served as plantations.
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Paul Anderson, the university historian, said that long before a university or a college campus community, the place was an African American community, according to Clemson site.
As they've completed surveying the land, Clemson is now working to discover who the people who were buried are, why they were in unmarked graves and how the university can honor all 604 of them.
Grave sites triple with radar search
The university used ground-penetrating radar and they initially found 200 graves on the western and southern slopes of the cemetery, which sits near Memorial Stadium, which is home to the university's No. 1 ranked college football team.
However, after surveying the whole property, researchers found 604 unmarked graves, and it was thought to date back more than 200 years ago, according to WTVY.
The grave sites can be seen on every hill face of the cemetery. It is equal in number to the known grave sites, most of the sites were dug after 1920 when Woodland became the official cemetery for the president, faculty and trustees in Clemson.
The massive volume of unmarked graves fits the time frame that it was used, according to Jim Bostic, a Clemson trustee who has been working with researchers since the inception of the project.
Bostic said that until 1924, the land was an African American Cemetery. Records reveal that at least 70 people died within a few months after whooping cough and measles hit the area in 1865. The discovery of graves at the top of the hill could mean that the saves were buried there as early as 1810.
At the top of the steep hill are the graves for members of the Calhoun family. They were the ones who founded Fort Hill Plantation under John C. Calhoun before the land was given to the state to build Clemson University.
Twelve graves sites that were unmarked were found in the Calhoun Family plot. It is located in a wrought iron fence at the top of Woodland, which is then built on a hill.
This led the researchers to think that enslaved people were buried in the area before any member of the Calhoun family, based on the historical facts of African American cemeteries. Anderson said that the burial ground is traditionally African American in a sense that it's on a high point, it's on a hill and it's in a wooded area.
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