Friends Burial Ground
Miami Monthly Meeting purchased land to use as a graveyard in 1804. Burials were made without regard to status or family association, but rather by date of death. Some of the earliest graves are marked with plain rock obtained from a nearby creek, while later markers have typically been limestone headstones. A Revolutionary War soldier is buried in the Friends Burial Ground. When the Meetings separated in 1828, the burial ground was also separated. The sugar maple in the middle of the property separated Hicksite from Orthodox. Hicksites began burial in 1832. John Satterthwaite, building of many of Waynesville's early buildings, including the White Brick, is buried on the Hicksite side, and Abijah O'Neall, the first Quaker to arrive in Waynesville, is buried on the Orthodox side.
Miami Monthly Meeting currently maintains a List of All Burials in the Hicksite section for those wishing to locate ancestors who were interred in our burial ground. The first half of this document is sorted by Row and Location, the second half is sorted by Last Name and First Name. For many Quakers today, the practice of cremation is preferred for its simplicity and environmental friendliness. The ashes of several Friends who have died recently have been spread around the Meeting's historic burial ground.
Many descendants of the original families visit during the year to locate the graves of their ancestors and others visit the burial ground for purposes of historic research.
Research continues today for a list of those on the Orthodox side. Any one with knowledge of those buried in the Orthodox section is welcome to contact the Meeting with the information.
Miami Monthly Meeting held a brief memorial following Meeting for Worship on First Day (Sunday) June 12, 2022.
Miami Friends and Orthodox Friends attended the Meeting for Worship and the memorial. A carry-in (pot luck) lunch followed in the Red Brick Meeting House.
Feel free to read the Memorial Meeting Flier
Photos and a video of the Memorial are available on the Graveyard Memorial Meeting Page