The Mecklenburg chapter Color Guard participated in a mass grave marking sponsored by the Governor John Archdale Chapter, National Society, Colonial Dames XVII Century, at the historic Sardis Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

“This incredible event was spearheaded by Katherine Hohmann, president of the Governor John Archdale Chapter of the Colonial Dames, the Sardis Presbyterian Church Cemetery Committee and one of the church’ Life Scouts, Hoke Thompson, as his Eagle Scout project,” said Jay Joyce, president of the Mecklenburg chapter, North Carolina SAR. “More than 100 media and community members attended the ceremony as a sign of respect and curiosity to see how these community organizations pulled together to officially memorialize the cemetery.”

The slave and Native American cemetery was created more than 150 years ago and there were never any markers or gravestones erected to mark those buried. It was believed that approximately 65 people were buried in the cemetery but Eagle Scout Hoke and a professor from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Andy Bobyarchick, used electronic radar to scan the cemetery grounds and discovered what could be 80 different graves.