Mt. Zion’s historic cemetery is quite large and situated on hilly terrain. There is a nice variety of memorials, including many modern commercial types, but mixed among them are quite a few vernacular types, including these local granite stones. The names of the decedents are long lost.
Jeff Mapp (1900-1973)
This is one of several markers by Eldren Bailey found in Mt. Zion. This one has been painted white and was purchased through the Houston Funeral Home.
Willis James
I believe this is a child’s grave, since it identifies the decedent as “Master”. This term is commonly used with children. Like many memorials by Eldren Bailey, this one has been “buried” a few inches into the ground.
Louise Hillman
This Elden Bailey-produced memorial was sold through Atlanta’s Haugabrooks Funeral Home.
Deacon Lueagon Elbert Moss (1873-1958) and Mariah Moss (1872-1959) + Arthur Moss
The memorial for Deacon & Mrs. Moss is typical of the stenciled concrete markers found in the older sections of the cemetery. Arthur Moss may have been one of their children. His memorial is hand made.
Caroline Barrow ((1850?-1901)
This one of several older commercial marble memorials in the cemetery.
Robert Lee Bennett (1950-1970)
This handmade memorial is bordered with small rocks or pebbles. I believe there was something attached where the hole is now.
Cyrus Howell (1878-1956) Findagrave lists 1874 as the birthdate, but I think that is an error.
Mr. Howell was the oldest deacon at Mt. Zion at the time of his death.
Addie Lawrence (Dates undetermined; Findagrave records it as 1874-1961)
This is another nice example of a vernacular memorial using stencils that adds an extra touch with the impression of a dove. Mrs. Lawrence was a well-loved member of the Mt. Zion community and worked as a midwife for many years. In 1930, with M. C. Lawrence, Mattie Lawrence, M. F. Hillman, A. F. Tucker, R. B. Glover, Cyrus Howell and Lucy Kendrick, she formed a benevolent institution known as the “Band of Faithful Workers”. According to their legal petition filed with the county, the purpose of their institution was “caring for the sick and burial of the dead”.
This little pyramidal building in the churchyard of historic Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church originally served as a schoolhouse but more recently was used as a voting precinct. The community is known as Mt. Zion for the nearby Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church and its long vanished academy. It is an early area of settlement in Hancock County.
Sign for older voters
The structure appears to be primarily used for the disposal of old cemetery flowers today, inside and outside. It’s a better idea than throwing them in the woods, which I see at a lot of churches.
I hope this amazing resource will survive. Though it looks to be very endangered, it’s been here for many years and would have already been razed had the congregation not appreciated its historical importance.
This false front store building was likely a general store. Tax records date it to 1930, which seems a bit early, but the cinderblock may have been a later addition.
I have preliminarily identified this as a shed, since I can’t quite determine its purpose. It has a front door, which would be more typical for a shed than a barn, but beyond that, I’m at a loss.
Brown Chapel AME was established by freedmen on 18 February 1875. I’m unsure as to the early history, but a G. Brown was listed among the trustees when the cornerstone was placed for this structure in 1927. There are just a few Browns in the cemetery, but there are also many unmarked graves. The oldest identifiable Brown was Roann Brown (1862-1916). I don’t know if they have a connection to the name or not.
The church is one of my favorites and definitely one of the most architecturally notable in Hancock County. I call this steeple style a “wedding cake” for lack of a better term. Black Rock AME in Wilkes County is another “wedding cake” church, but its “layers” are narrower and taller. The front porch of Brown Chapel was added in 1971, but otherwise the church is largely original.
Camilla and Zack Hubert, circa 1910-1925?, photographer unknown. Public domain photograph via Caroline Gilmore Maxwell/Findagrave.
A Georgia Historical Society marker at this site notes the location of the former home of Camilla and Zack Hubert. It reads: Zack Hubert, a former Warren County slave, moved here with his family in 1871. The Huberts were among the first African-American landowners in central Georgia and played influential roles in the area’s African-American community. They named their homesite Springfield. Zack Hubert married Camilla Hillman in 1873. Hubert donated land and helped with construction for Springfield Church and its school, an early provider of technical education to African Americans in Georgia. All twelve of the Huberts’ children were college educated, and two became college presidents. The site includes the Log Cabin Center, maintained by the Association for the Advancement of Negro Country Life. Camilla and Zack Hubert are buried beside Springfield Church.
The Camilla-Zack community, which was first known as Springfield, and later the Log Cabin community, for the structure documented in this post, was an historic Black community established by Zacharias (Zack) Hubert (1845-1926) in the 1870s.
Zack Hubert, circa 1910-1925?, photographer unknown. Public domain photograph via Caroline Gilmore Maxwell/Findagrave. I have taken editing liberties and cropped the image.
Hubert was born enslaved in Warren County on the plantation of the French Huguenot immigrant family of Benjamin B. Hubert (1720-1794). Zack’s father, Paul, also born on the Hubert plantation, served as its foreman and memorized passages from Bible without knowing how to read or write. Hiram Hubert encouraged him to preach, even though Georgia law prevented it, and he was “allowed” to marry Jincy, a house slave, in 1832. To their union were born eleven children, including Zack. Zack was the constant companion of Henry Clay Hubert (1842-1930) on the plantation, and despite Georgia laws, was encouraged by his enslaver to read and write.
Decorative porch eave, showing the detail of craftsmanship, and cedar posts.
After the Civil War, the newly freed Hubert slaves rented land near the Hubert plantation, but upon the death of their father in 1868, sought to move away to new land. In 1869, Zach rented a 20-acre farm near Powelton, in Hancock County, and soon found a lawyer in Sparta named Henry Burt who was willing to sell land to anyone, including freedmen. The land was characterized by stumps and rock, but soon Zach, and two of his brothers, David and Floyd, made an agreement with Burt and purchased 165 acres of land at $10/acre, to be paid in 3 years. The brothers vastly improved the land and the debt was paid in full, but Burt rescinded his offer of a full title after the agreed-upon three year contract. The Huberts were undaunted.
Decorative pool and benches, made of granite collected nearby
They continued to pay rent on land they had already paid for and soon found a White lawyer, Poulton Thomas of Crawfordville, who encouraged Henry Burt to honor his agreement with the Hubert brothers. After some legal wrangling, including threats of breach of contract, Burt capitulated and in 1876 the Hubert brothers became the first African-American landowners in Hancock County, and possibly in the entire region. During this time, in 1873, Zack met and married Camilla Hillman (1858-1925). They had twelve children, two of whom became college presidents. Zack was the de facto leader of this growing community, establishing a church and school.
Decorative planter
The Camilla-Zack Country Life Center, as it was originally known, was the focal point of the community, symbolically and literally. It was built by the Hubert sons.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Hubert, photographer and date unknown. Public domain photograph via Caroline Gilmore Maxwell/Findagrave.
Benjamin Franklin Hubert (1884-1958) established the Association for Advancement of Negro Country Life in 1929 and the Center was a culmination of his vision. He became president of the Georgia State Industrial College [now Savannah State] and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1945.
Water fountain
550 pine logs taken from the surrounding forest and 150 tons of local granite were used in the construction of the Center. Including the porches, the building contains over 2500 square feet of usable space.
Plaque of honoring Benjamin Hubert
The rooms are trimmed with pine and the ceilings feature exposed timbers. The large central community room is anchored by a large granite fireplace. There is also a library in the center, and a kitchen and dining room, as well as bedrooms and an indoor bath.
Front door of the Center
A cement swimming pool was built about 300 yards behind the Center adjacent to a clear spring. There was also a health center on the property, but it is no longer extant.
Sweethearts sentiment on an old log on the front porch
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this community a sort of Black Utopia, in that it thrived with little interaction with the wider world, an island unto itself during the dark years of the Jim Crow era.
Rear view of the Center, with local stone chimney
By promoting self-sufficiency and land ownership, in tandem with a strong embrace of education, the community met its goals. For several years, Black rural teachers even came for training on community involvement. And by 1940, Blacks owned 27,000 acres of land in Hancock County.
Side view
The Log Cabin community, as it came to be affectionately known, weathered the years of the Great Depression in good stead and survived into the 1950s.It was even held up by segregationist governor Herman Talmadge as an example for Southern rural blacks to emulate. By that time modern trends were taking people of all races away from the countryside with the promise of better lives in rapidly expanding urban centers.
Front elevation
Ben Hubert, who never married, died in 1958. The Center and surrounding property were left to his siblings, and Mabel Hubert Warner (1900-1973) purchased their shares in 1962. It is still in the family and has been recognized as a Georgia Centennial Farm.
Camilla-Zack Community Center District, National Register of Historic Places
A small cooperative store, built from local stone, was constructed in the Springfield-Log Cabin community in 1930. It was the first store in this area, other than a commissary on the Zack Hubert farm, and a popular gathering place. The covered pavilion out front encouraged outdoor visits .
A cafeteria used by students of the nearby school was located adjacent to the store. It was also built of local stone but has been gone for many years.
Camilla-Zack Community Center District, National Register of Historic Places
Springfield Baptist Church took its name from the community of freedmen that grew up around the Black-owned farms of the three Hubert brothers, Zack, David, and Floyd. When clearing land in the mid 1870s, one of the brothers discovered a large spring across the road from the present location, and services were first held in a brush arbor near the spring.
In the November 2002 issue of Reflections, the newsletter of the Georgia African-American Historic Preservation Network, Jeanne Cyriaque indicates that by 1877 Zach Hubert had already implemented a church building program for the burgeoning congregation. She also notes that the church was built the next year. I believe it was formally dedicated on 12 July 1879. If this is the original church building, it was obviously sided with brick later in its history. The congregation remains active today.
Camilla-Zack Community Center District, National Register of Historic Places
