Red Hill Cemetery, Keedysville, Maryland

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Keedysville, Washington, Maryland, United States

Contents 1 1879 Foundation 2 Known Burials 3 Three Civil War Soldiers 4 Restoration 5 Sources

1879 Foundation

"On Saturday next, Aug. 30th, the M.E. colored people of Red Hill, near Keedysville, and surrounding county, intend laying the corner stone of a new church that they purpose building on that grand hill. We have no knowledge of a more magnificent site for a church than this hill affords. It commands a view of the county for many miles around. " ^[1]

Known Burials

See Find-a-Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2582558/red-hill-cemetery

Three Civil War Soldiers

"Benjamin Malone, John R. Brown, and George W. Fisher all enlisted in September 1863 with the 2nd Regiment USCT, an infantry regiment based in Arlington, Virginia. The regiment was attached to the Department of the Gulf in Florida throughout its nearly three-year existence from November 1863 through January 1866. Benjamin Malone enlisted on September 9, 1863, in Baltimore at the age of twenty-one in Company F of the 2nd Regiment and was immediately appointed to the rank of Corporal, and later promoted to Sergeant. John R. Brown enlisted at the same time as Malone, also into Company F of the 2nd Regiment. He was enlisted as a Private but was promoted to Corporal one month into his service. George W. Fisher enlisted at the age of twenty-one in Baltimore on September 10, 1863, as a Private in Company I of the 2nd Regiment, USCT. Company I was among those who saw action during the February 1865 Battle of Fort Myers. George W. Fisher’s military record includes a notation that he was ‘free on or before April 19, 1861.’ A Keedysville-area farmer and slaveholder, Washington C. Snively, submitted claims for compensation for the loss of his two former slaves, George W. and John W. Fisher. Both claims failed. There is no record of John W. Fisher’s enlistment or service. Malone, Brown, and Fisher all mustered out of service in 1866 and returned to Red Hill." ^[2]

Restoration

RED HILL, Md. (WDVM) — What used to be a patch of overgrown trees and greenery on the side of the road has now been formally recognized as a historic African American cemetery. People gathered in Red Hill, Maryland outside of Keedysville to honor the people buried in Red Hill Cemetery. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Mail (Hagerstown, MD), Friday, August 29, 1879
2. ↑ https://aahawmd.org/event/help-clean-up-historical-red-hill-cemetery/
3. ↑ https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/maryland/local-historic-african-american-cemetery-formally-recognized-and-restored/