Chatham County North Carolina Cemeteries Other NC County Cemeteries
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576    STEDMAN [K25.6] (ORIGINAL LOCATION)

Location - Town of Pittsboro, Center Township. Behind a commercial building at 20 or 22 Sanford Rd. Just east of small building behind Pittsboro United Methodist Church. Cemetery area was paved.

Coordinates: 35d 43m 10.9s N; 79d 10m 42.1s W Click here for Online Maps

Older Pittsboro residents were questioned but none remembered a cemetery in that location. When adjacent parcels were purchased by Greg Stafford for commercial development, CCHA corresponded with him about ways to protect the cemetery. CCHA volunteers and the NC State Cemetery Specialist agreed that removal and relocation of the graves would be the best option in this case, because the original location could not be protected from truck traffic in the alley serving the commercial development. Stafford spent months working to get approval, and finally, interested Stedman family members deeded the cemetery property to him, making him eligible to propose moving the graves. Stafford contracted with AECOM Technical Services of North Carolina, Inc. (AECOM), a professional cultural resources firm to expose, identify, and remove the graves. Seven burials were located and were reinterred in the adjacent Pittsboro Methodist Church cemetery (K25.4). The family held a memorial service in September 2022 at the reinterment site.

Photo of disinterment.
Photo of memorial service.
Photo of new marker in Pittsboro Methodist Church cemetery..

Status: Moved. Graves disinterred and reinterred in K25.4, Pittsboro Methodist Cemetery.
Owner: Gregory Stafford.
Legal Description: Parcel 89255 split off from Parcel 8175 in 2012 by tax office. Parcel 89255 consists of the 25 x 37' cemetery shown on earlier plats. Parcel 8175. Deed book 1307/574, John P. and Mary G. Justice, Trustees of Jack P. Justice Living Trust, to Justice Motor Co., 20 Dec 2006. "Part of lands conveyed to Jack P. Justice by his father Fred Justice." References 1231/1013. Cemetery mentioned in numerous deeds and shown on plat 1-44. The earliest mention of the 25' square later referred to as graveyard is in 1840.

Click on this link to see a document detailing the Cemetery Property Title Trail.

Plat showing original location of the cemetery.

Click on this link to see the technical report on the cemetery relocation and history of the family.

Topo Quadrant: Pittsboro, Code K.
Family owned: No. Graves have been removed.
Abandoned: Yes.
Size of cemetery: 25' x 40' on plat.
Number of graves: Seven located and removed. At least one, and possibly others may remain under paved area outside of the original cemetery parcel.
White: Yes.
Restricted access: Yes, private property.
Identifiable as a burial site: No. Mentioned in several deeds and shown on plat 1-44, but not identifiable as a burial site in anyone's memory.
Enclosed: No.
Markers present: No.
Date earliest known burial: Before 1840.
Markers damaged: No markers were present at the original site in 2010 or in earlier memory. The area had been leveled for a parking lot.
Hazards to cemetery: Seven burials from the original cemetery plot have been removed and reinterred in the Pittsboro Methodist Church cemetery (K25.4). There is evidence that at least one, and possibly other burials extend eastward, under pavement. It is recommended that if further work is done in that area, those burials be identified and removed.
Listed: Not listed in Gravesites of Chatham County NC. Listed on the Chatham County GIS and as NC archaeological site 31CH1088.

Historical significance: Nathan Stedman and Winship Stedman migrated to NC in 1784. According to the Pittsboro paper, The Communicator, Nathan died on 13 Nov 1847. The obituary mentions his Revolutionary War service. He represented Chatham Co. in the NC house of representatives in 1827 and in the senate in 1832-33 and was a judge in the county. Stedman was a member of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church but is not buried there, although his wife, Mary Ann, who died in 1886, is. Winship Stedman also owned property adjoining the cemetery lot, K25.6.

Miscellaneous information: Property mentioning the graveyard belongs in earlier years to H.H. Burk, William Foushee, Annie Chapin, Stephen Cotton, Thomas Womble, Daniel McLeod, Nathan A. Stedman, Winship Stedman, and Alexander Kinchen. This is lots 73 and 88 from the original Pittsboro town plat. Mary Phillips from the tax office called on 2 Jul 2010 to note that plat 1-44 shows cemetery. Jim and Bev Wiggins located and examined the site on 2 Jul 2010.
Last canvassed by: Jim & Bev Wiggins on 2 Jul 2010; Burials disinterred by AECOM in March 2022.

Descendants believe the following were buried in this location:
Nathan Alexander Stedman II 10 Feb 1743-20 Aug 1790 Husband of Prudence Hurlbut Stedman
Prudence Hurlbut Stedman 3 Sep 1734-(unknown date)1805 wife of Nathan Alexander Stedman II
Winship Stedman 29 Sep 1767-4 Mar 1828 Husband of Margaret Ferguson Stedman.
Thomas P. Stedman 26 Feb 1801-8 Aug 1836 Son of Nathan Alexander Stedman III and Anna Frances Clark Stedman.
Robert P. Stedman (unknown date) 1812-13 Aug 1836 Son of Winship Stedman and Margaret Ferguson Stedman.
Emily Euphania Stedman (unknown day) Jun 1836-1 Sep 1836 Daughter of Elisha Baccus Stedman and Juliana St. Clair Chipley Stedman. Granddaughter of Winship and Margaret Stedman.
Anna Frances Clark Stedman 24 Apr 1775-5 Dec 1846 Wife of Nathan Alexander Stedman III.
Nathan Alexander Stedman III 11 Jul 1762-13 Nov 1847 Revolutionary War service. Son of Nathan Alexander Stedman II and Prudence Hurlbut Stedman. Husband of Anna Frances Clark Stedman.
Margaret Ferguson Stedman (unknown date) 1765-(unknown date) 1851 Wife of Winship Stedman.
2 unknown children