A few years ago I wrote up a travelogue about my visit to Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. The main reason I went there was because I had read an article about the slave graves and how they had distinctive markers that consisted of 1-3 metal chain links. The article stated that a grave with one link indicates a slave was born into slavery but was freed as an adult and died free. Two links indicated the slave was born into slavery, lived most of their life in slavery, but died free. And three links indicated they died in slavery as well. I found this an absolutely heartbreaking and fascinating piece of southern history.
However, Adam Selzer has written me to advise me that this story may not be accurate. His version of the meaning behind the three links:
The three links of chains are often said to signify being born, living, and dying in bondage around town, but it’s not quite accurate. There are certainly slave graves in Memory Hill, but the three links of chain are actually symbols denoting that the buried person was a member of the Odd Fellows, the secret club that workers joined while their bosses joined the Freemasons or Shriners.
Are there any other Georgian historians out there who can corroborate Adam’s disappointing story?
Here’s the Memory Hill Cemetery travelogue in all its sullen southern glory:
Trudging Up Memory Hill