Bufferin and St. Timothy Cemeteries

Have you ever visited the two African American cemeteries at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge?

They are known as Bufferin and St. Timothy. Bufferin was once called Richland Plantation Cemetery and dates back over a hundred years. I would imagine there are older burials out there than that. Richland was John Blanks Parker’s country plantation. The big house was moved to its current spot and serves as the visitor’s center for the Refuge.

St. Timothy is the church cemetery for St. Timothy Baptist Church. There are MANY unmarked burials out there but the area is maintained faithfully by the congregation. There are three headstones, but only one is intact. It is the grave of a soldier of WWI. I attended a dedication ceremony for the stone there many years ago. A U.S. Senator spoke at it. You can see photos of the new stone and the ceremony on his Findagrave entry.

All the known graves for both are documented on Findagrave here:

Bufferin – https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/67092/bufferin-cemetery

St. Timothy – https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1995073/saint-timothy-cemetery