McCoy Slave Cemetery

This cemetery serves as a resting place for a yet-undetermined number of enslaved individuals whose lives and contributions, though often obscured by time, remain a vital part of our shared history.

From the 1840s through the 1880s, this sacred ground bore witness to the interment of those who endured the brutalities of enslavement while forging lives of strength, resilience, and community. In 1948, the McCoy family transferred ownership of the cemetery to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. 

A marker erected in 1928 bears the name of three people buried in the plot. “Uncle Jim, his wife Lizzie, Uncle Charles and his family” are all memorialized. These brief inscriptions of individuals are likely buried in this cemetery. Historical records and the cemetery's size suggest that many more rest here. Slave registries associated with the McCoy estate provide a glimpse into these lives. Among them was Judy, purchased by Marshall McCoy in 1817 at the tender age of 17 for $480. Jim, likely the same person memorialized as “Uncle Jim,” was purchased in 1830. Estate records from 1854 list others: Jas, Amy, Charles, Ann and her child Ellen, Febe, Maiah, Calvin, and Jude. Even after emancipation, the census reveals that Lizzie (Elizabeth) and Jim continued to live near or within the McCoy household. In 1870, Lizzie was recorded at 47 years old, and Jim, at 87, remained a steadfast presence. By 1900, Lizzie appeared in census records, her life stretching beyond the confines of slavery and into the first years of the 20th century.

Both Jim and Lizzie were respected community members. Jim McCoy’s obituary appears in the October 26, 1877 edition of The Charlotte Democrat. It describes a man believed to be over 100 years-old, who requested to be buried “by the family.” His friends also “buried with him all of his walking-sticks, some ten or a dozen.” A “large concourse of friends of both colors” laid him to rest.

Lizzie, remembered as a creative and clever caretaker, nurtured the McCoy children and left a legacy that still resonates. Her rhymes and stories, passed down through generations of McCoy descendants, have been preserved and illustrated by members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Lizzie’s legacy is a poignant reminder that the lives of the enslaved were not defined solely by their bondage but also by their humanity, creativity and enduring influence.

This McCoy Slave cemetery, therefore, is not just a burial ground; it is a silent witness to the lives of dynamic and fully formed individuals. Each name recorded, whether etched in stone or faintly preserved in records, represents a person with a story, a legacy and a claim to remembrance.

Know Before You Go

Learn more about visiting at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church official website.