Leon G. Russ, Hometown News Small group works to restore cemetery, keep area history alive
Pat Oxley’s quest to restore the Clifton Cemetery to its former luster could be called quixotic. Even her daughter Karen wondered why she would take on such a challenge.
Oxley doesn’t even have the old arched iron gate that used to span the entrance to the cemetery to mark her battle to restore the hallowed grounds of former Clifton 1, Clifton 2 and Converse millworkers.
Luckily for Pat, however, unlike the famous knight errant, she has more than one Sancho Panza aiding her quest.
Pat is joined in her efforts by Lou Ellen and Kenneth Wilson, Kay and Ernest Kessler, her daughter, Karen and Lou Ellen and Kenneth’s son, Barry. This group of seven makes up the Clifton Cemetery Association, a 501c3 non-profit.
The story of the cemetery begins long ago when Dexter Converse donated the land to be used as a burial site for millworkers and their families.
Since that time millworkers, both African-American and white, have been buried there. Veterans who served in the nation’s wars from the Civil War up through Desert Storm also rest in these graves.
For the rest of the story, see this week’s Spartanburg County News.jpg) .
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