92-year-old fights to preserve Hickory Hill Slave Cemetery in Ashland

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A 92-year-old Ashland woman is working to preserve the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery, which is rooted in the community's history.

Hanover County shared that 92-year-old Jean Folly, of Ashland, is on a mission to preserve the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery -- a place connected to her family's story and the community's.

The burial ground is located on private property east of Ashland, which used to be owned by W.F. Wickham and his wife, Anne Wickham. The cemetery was used from 1820 to 1950 and is the resting place for at least 149 people, but researchers believe there might be more.

Among the ones buried are Folly's great-great-grandparents, Hannah and William Tolliver, who were enslaved on the plantation. As well as her uncle, Walter Douglas Abrams, who died in the 1930s, according to the release.

For decades, access to the cemetery was blocked by the previous property owner, who stopped maintaining it. Vegetation overtook the cemetery, covering grave markers and burial depressions.

In the 1980s, a subdivision was proposed for the farmland, but local descendants came together to protect their family's burial ground. Folly said her cousin George Winston became an active member while trying to preserve the land.

In 2016, Folly visited the cemetery for the first time in decades, and seeing the disrepair of the land caused her to make a change. The then-property owners granted access to the land to the descendants.

“You can’t just retire and stay at home and not make plans to do something and be with other people,” Folly said. “I really want the cemetery to be preserved, not just so African Americans can understand their history, but so students can do research, too.”

From 2016 to 2020, research was conducted in order to assist with the nomination of the site to the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places.

Retired Randolph-Macon College professor, Reber Dunkel, was a vital member by examining historical records.

Archaeologists and historians from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) also visited the cemetery on multiple occasions, as well as other descendants of those buried there.

After the cemetery was added to the state and national historic registers, Folly organized volunteer groups to help clean up the site. Community members, church groups, Boy Scouts and others helped clear the overgrown vegetation from the graves.

Jean Folly and volunteers work to clean up the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery. (Photo: Hanover County)

Jean Folly and volunteers work to clean up the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery. (Photo: Hanover County)

Jean Folly and volunteers work to clean up the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery. (Photo: Hanover County)

Jean Folly and volunteers work to clean up the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery. (Photo: Hanover County)

Jean Folly and volunteers work to clean up the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery. (Photo: Hanover County)

“We’ve had an amazing group of volunteers and couldn’t have done this without them,” said Folly, who had worked alongside them. “You can walk through there now. One scout even made benches for the cemetery as his Eagle Scout project.”

In 2022, the Hickory Hill Slave and African American Cemetery became a nonprofit organization, which has allowed them to recieve tax-deductable donations and apply for grants, per the release.

Ongoing research on the burial ground has continued, and mapping technology has found 257 graves located within the fenced area.

Additionally, over the past year, archaeologists have used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and found 300 more graves that are located less than an acre from the cemetery.

Folly said that the work is about honoring the lives of those who are buried there.

“Those slaves deserve recognition,” she said. “When you’re buried back there and nobody knows about it, then you’re forgotten. I’d like it to always be remembered.”

For more information, visit Hanover County's website here.