There are more than 100 cemeteries scattered throughout
Transylvania County.  These range from
small family plots to abandoned cemeteries to church cemeteries to public cemeteries.

Gravestone for Alfred Erwin Gash located in the Orr Cemetery.   The inscription states that Gash was  “fatally wounded in the streets of Asheville, N.C.  while endeavoring to make peace between two combatants.”

Cemeteries can provide another view of our past.  The monuments, from simple to ornate, and
their inscriptions tell about individuals or families.

Cemeteries verify outbreaks of illnesses or
other tragedies that strike a local area.  The Glazener-Kitchen Cemetery contains the graves of six children
of J. & N. Glazener who died between 1842 and 1848.  Ben Fisher and three of his sons who drowned
on May 16, 1936 are buried in Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery.

Often graves include references to military
service, military markers or markers from fraternal organizations such as the
Masons, Eastern Star and Woodmen of the World.   

Tombstone of Hume family  beneath St. Philip’s Episcopal Chruch.

Transylvania County’s must unique cemetery is located beneath
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church.  The
original wooden church was built around 1890 but was destroyed by a Christmas
Day fire in 1925.  The new stone church
was built above the small cemetery behind the original church.  There are about a dozen graves dating from
1879-1907.

In the early 1980s a group undertook the task of identifying
all of the cemeteries and tombstones in the county.  Transylvania County North Carolina
Cemetery Survey is a compilation of cemetery locations, along with
inscriptions from readable grave markers. 
 As noted in the book’s preface
many graves are simply marked with fieldstones, others have not stood the test
of time and are illegible.  And there
were a few graves that were just missed, but overall this provides researchers
with valuable information.

More recently individuals and groups have compiled lists of
grave markers and supplemental information for specific cemeteries throughout
the county.  The Rosman Historical
Association has published four books covering Mt. Moriah Calvert Baptist Church
Cemetery, Old Toxaway Baptist Church Upper Cemetery, Middlefork Baptist Church
Cemetery & Galloway Memorial Park and the Glazener Family Cemetery.  The Cathey’s Creek Heritage Committee
recently published Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. 

In addition the Library has copies of unpublished books for
the Gillespie-Evergreen and Oak Grove cemeteries in Brevard, and Lakeside (Lake
Toxaway Baptist Church), Oak Grove Baptist Church, Whitmire (Flat Creek Valley
Rd.), E.D. Owen, James Reid, Miller, Union and Montvale/Whitewater cemeteries
in the upper part of the county.

To
access an index of Transylvania Times
obituaries (1983-2013) visit the Transylvania County Library website at
library.transylvaniacounty.org.  Click on
the Local History button and then Indexes. 
Digital copies of obituaries may be requested free of charge through the
Library’s website.

Photographs and information for this column are provided
by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library
hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional
photographs.  For more information,
comments or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected]
or 828-884-3151 X242.