Macedonia Cemetery descendants remember dead, look ahead

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Plastic flowers now adorn the graves at Macedonia Cemetery, a historical Black burial site off Medlock Bridge Road. Relatives of enslaved people buried on the grounds gathered there Feb. 18 to learn about its extensive history from members of the Johns Creek Historical Society and tour the ground.

Of those venerating the dead, one was as young as 4 to 5 years old, whose family member guided her hand to drive a bundle of flowers into the dirt as they knelt.

Sabrina Aquell, who organized the gathering, had been going to Macedonia Cemetery for years.

Aquell said the site holds around 80 percent of her family members, including her grandfather Sam Jones.

Because of the sadness that overcame Aquell whenever she would visit Macedonia, seeing the graves and their condition, she didn’t go often.

But lately, Aquell said visiting the cemetery has rejuvenated her spirit and decided to invite more than 40 of her family members to the cemetery to share the newfound feeling. Aquell hoped to re-introduce to her family the importance of getting involved with Macedonia Cemetery project efforts.

Ownership

Aquell met with Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry a few weeks ago.

“I said, ‘How can you own us in life and [in death] too? How could you do that?” Aquell said. “I think this cemetery should be left for our family, for our children, for us to decide what we want to put up here.”

Aquell referenced the Georgia Cemetery Law that would have required the city to prepare a plan by a genealogist for identifying and notifying the descendants of those buried or believed to be buried at Macedonia before developing the property.

Aquell said she saw “They Were Here,” the grant-funded project consisting of four documentaries produced by local high school students about Macedonia Cemetery.

“Yes, we’ve been here,” Aquell said. “We’ve been waiting.”

The first formal presentation of plans to descendants was a Jan. 9 meeting at City Hall where Johns Creek City Manager Ed Densmore heard grievances from Kirk Canaday, a member of the Johns Creek Historical Society who oversees the project. Aquell attended the meeting as well as Madyun Shahid, a descendant of April Waters. Shahid, who lives in Virginia, had also previously visited Macedonia Cemetery with his family.

The Johns Creek City Council approved the measure to acquire the historic property in November 2020 and officially acquired the land September 2021.

While the city had been in contact with Shahid prior to the change in ownership, Shahid said he had only been engaged in casual conversations, rather than conversations about intent.

However, Bradberry said City Attorney Ron Bennett informed the city it had done everything necessary to move forward with acquisition and improvements.

The city only owns the land, Bradberry said, but not the graves themselves — echoing the Georgia Cemetery Law that declares “human remains and burial objects are not property to be owned by the person or entity” as they are “part of the finite, irreplaceable and nonrenewable cultural heritage of the people of Georgia.”

A history lesson

On the chilly afternoon, Aquell’s family sat in rows, holding laminated images of the cemetery and attentively listened to Aquell as she stated her reasons for inviting them there.

She opened with her philosophy on God, the soul, the purpose of life and the way everyone should treat one another.

“It’s the soul that counts,” she said.

Carla Carter walked over to Aquell carrying a binder of records that held the lineage of Sam Jones, Aquell’s grandfather who is buried at the cemetery. Through stories passed down to her, Aquell said she has a strong connection to Jones.

Carter joined the Johns Creek Historical Society a year ago after reading about Macedonia Cemetery, realizing that the cemetery had been in poor condition, overrun with weeds.

“[The graves] deserve to be recognized and taken care of,” Carter said.

Joan Compton, president of the Johns Creek Historical Society, stepped in to describe the history of the Cherokee Nation, which once lived in the same area and owned the plantation where many were enslaved — including April Waters.

“Part of researching the people that are buried here is how did they do? How did they live when they got a chance? Did they ever learn to read and write? Did they ever accumulate any wealth? Did they ever buy land?” Compton said. “April’s one that did not, unfortunately.”

A young girl, with help from an older family member, plants flowers at Macedonia Cemetery grave Feb. 18. Descendants of those buried at Macedonia gathered Saturday and heard from Johns Creek Historical Society members about the cemetery’s history.

‘We is here’ Macedonia Cemetery had been the “one calling card” for the Black residents of Johns Creek, said Nicole Washington, founder of Impact Johns Creek. The organization, founded in 2020, is intended to bring together and engage Black residents.

“There are Black people in Johns Creek,” Washington said. “But we’re not organized, we’re not structured, we’re not together, we’re not a unified front.”

Washington said she didn’t want the event to be the first and last time Aquell’s family was present. Things have just begun to change, she said, with people like Canaday and Devon Dabney, who was filming the event for an upcoming documentary about Macedonia.

Dabney said the student-produced documentaries about Macedonia Cemetery had been criticized as “sanitized,” and so, her documentary seeks to paint a fuller portrayal.

Dabney, a member of Impact Johns Creek, is also the co-chair of the Johns Creek Arts, Culture and Entertainment Committee. The committee recently recommended the city host a Juneteenth celebration and have the federal holiday added to the city calendar.

With a raised voice, Washington asked, “Johns Creek will know who we are, and by ‘we,’ who are we talking about?”

“Us,” the crowd responded.

“Because we is here and we ain’t going nowhere,” Washington said. “Can I get an ‘Amen’?”

The crowd responded, “Amen.”