The only way future generations learn about the past is through diligent preservation and education.

After years of taking care of an old, all black cemetery in West Virginia, Peter Miller has stepped down and handed over the duty of caretaker to Rev. Ed Hall of Mount Zion United Methodist Church. 

Hall has been responsible for caretaking other cemeteries in the state such as Mount Hope Cemetery and Cedar Hill Cemetery, per The Journal News.

“Cedar Hill has a lot of history,” Hall, a native of Harpers Ferry, recalled. “Abraham Lincoln designated it as a Union burial ground. As a young kid, we would see headstones in the field, but we didn’t know what they were.”

Although Hall was the first person to step up to the challenge, he expressed reservations. Hall said that he was not sure he would have the time and money to maintain the cemetery. 

“I was drawn to this because there’s history here,” Hall said recently while touring the cemetery. “And when you talk about history, you’re talking about black history. These are our ancestors, and I want to pay respect to them.”

But he will try to recruit volunteers to pitch in with the massive workload. 

“We have to come together and work as a team,” Hall said. “One person cannot do this. We’re fooling ourselves to think one person can do this.”

This cemetery near the Green Hill Cemetery has about 100 graves but only 33 have been identified by Miller. He told The Journal News that he discovered the burial ground at the age of 14. Since then, he has cleaned up the place. He cleared the overgrown underbrush and removed a dump.

Out of all the graves, only four or five still have headstones. However, there is an elaborate headstone with the name  Lewis Washington engraved on it. This man appeared to be the servant of George Washington's great-grandnephew Col. Lewis William Washington, who was captured during the raid on Harper's Ferry.