Some of the most important names in Tyler history are buried in an abandoned cemetery. Trees and brush covered the property. There is no access road or signs on Highway 64. There are no records it even exists.

Until Saturday.

Tyler’s Larry Wade is leading an effort to find, restore and preserve abandoned Black cemeteries with a group that has hopes of creating a national movement.

For eight months, volunteers have cut down trees, burned brush and unearthed tombstones. As a result of the work, the Texas Historical Commission has certified the Universe Cemetery of Smith County as a “Recorded Historic Texas Cemetery.”

It turned out to be the resting place of William Anderson Peete, who Tyler ISD’s Peete Elementary School is named after. Among the 319 plots in the Universe Cemetery, there are also several World War I veterans and historic Tyler police officers. There are 63 plots known to have been born into slavery.

“This is a remarkable place and it started with a remarkable man, Benjamin Franklin Goss, who was born into slavery in May 1835 in North Carolina,” said Vicki Betts, a former UT Tyler librarian and member of the Smith County Historical Society and the National African American Historical Society. “Even while he was enslaved in 1862, (Goss) was leading a class at the Baskom Methodist Church just down the road from here. In 1870, this property went up for sale in a bankruptcy case. Goss bought it and owned 280 acres, less than five years after Juneteenth.”

She said the oldest grave is from 1871, which is near the Goss family plot. Betts said Goss donated the land for the cemetery and donated land for a school.

Wade is the founder of the National African American Historical Society and a retired Tyler ISD teacher who still substitutes, teaching history. The John Tyler graduate led a ceremony Saturday thanking Tyler Legacy students for volunteering and others, including Joshua Cofer who has been the leader of the Universe Cemetery Restoration and Clean-Up committee. Each veteran had an American flag put on their grave by Wade and Dr. Shirley McKellar, a Tyler District 3 council member.

Black cemeteries are scattered around the United States, being the sole resting place of ancestors and deceased relatives from the Black community. Amidst segregation, it wasn’t a rare practice for Black Americans to be buried separate from white Americans. Many are at risk of being lost and forgotten, if not already, and many don’t receive the same support as white cemeteries.

Since its founding in 2008, the National African American Historical Society organization’s goal has been to collect historic documents and items, preserve the past and to trace Black history.

Wade first heard of the Universe Cemetery through Betts, who found the cemetery through research. Wade said this is one of the reasons he started the society, so that Black history could be highlighted, and to let people know what they have done. Wade said even during slavery, great contributions were made by the African American population, such as building the Capitol.

“When you leave us out, you’re leaving out a very intricate part of American history that our children need to know about and that’s the sad part about it. We can’t go back, but we can start now, correcting the wrong,” he said.

Wade said the Universe Cemetery is privately owned by a white family, but said the family has been so nice to allow for the organization to go in, clean up, restore and preserve the cemetery. He said he is very grateful for them and grateful they do not allow race to block what is important to not only the Black community, but the entire community.

“If nobody’s doing what we’re doing to fight to save the cemeteries, many times they get bulldozed over and new developments come in and they’re built on top of them. If nobody protests, many times, they’ll never be discovered again. They’ll be forgotten and neglected,” Wade said. “I’m trying to bring attention to this problem. This is a national problem.”

Wade said not tending to these abandoned Black graves is a dangerous thing and trend.

“This is just one of probably thousands across this country that has been abandoned. The sad part about it, you don’t have a society to prevent stuff like this or to discover stuff like this,” Wade said.

Wade said the group used the Tyler Morning Telegraph archives to learn about the deceased and they hear from family members each week, which is a goal.

Wade said he is especially passionate about the movement because until the ninth grade, he lived through segregation in Tyler and remembers when Blacks had to pay to vote. A community activist, Wade went to an integrated school for the first time in his life when he attended John Tyler High School.

He said the volunteers have been a diverse group in age and race. Those interested in joining the society to help restore and preserve Black cemeteries can contact Wade at 903-452-3310.

To join the society, a $5 fee is required for 10 months, or $50 upfront to join, which funding is used toward materials to clean cemeteries, supplies needed, lunch for those helping every month and other group expenses.

Some of the equipment the society needs includes shovels, rakes, handsaws, power equipment, computers, printers and cameras. All tools will be used for the mission, which is to find, restore and preserve Black history.

There is an abandoned home blocking access and view to the cemetery. Wade said there are not funds available, but if the home was razed, someone could put an entrance and parking lot in for the cemetery.