One by one, descendants of people who were enslaved on the Brattonsville plantation grabbed a wreath and placed it at the foot of the only headstone in the cemetery.

At least 481 bodies were buried, mostly in unmarked graves across the forested five-acre plot, making it one of the largest enslaved burial grounds in the region, according to the Culture and Heritage Museums, which manages Historic Brattonsville in York County, South Carolina. All but two of their names are lost to history.

Their descendants gathered for an intimate ceremony Saturday to pay homage to the nameless and reconsecrate their final resting place in the former McConnells plantation, which is located southwest of Rock Hill.

Descendants of their enslavers joined, too.

They sang together and cried together. They prayed. They remembered.

It was a display of unity three years in the making, and one that ancestors on both sides could never have predicted.

“This is my ancestors’ wildest dream. I am my ancestors’ wildest dream. You are my ancestors’ wildest dream,” said Lisa Bratton, whose great-great grandparents were enslaved. She also shares blood with the Bratton family, who enslaved them. “Because not for one moment in their lives could they have anticipated this.”

Remembering the enslaved people of Brattonsville

The Cultural and Heritage Museums received a grant to help document and preserve the cemetery in 2022. At the time, only a handful of worn and toppled stones hinted at the graves below.

Archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to determine that 481 people lie buried in the cemetery. Their descendants wanted to pay homage to each and every one, though nearly all of their identities remain a mystery.

“They had a story. We don’t know their story, but we know they lived, they endured. Because of their resilience, we are here now,” said descendant Angelia Green. “I stand on the shoulders of all of these people. … Their stories made us.”

Descendants named the cemetery the Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground and elected to place small markers at each grave. The markers are made of weathering steel, a material that gets stronger over time from exposure to the elements.

The museum also restored the original headstone of Watt and Polly, a formerly enslaved couple whose grave marker was removed in 2005 after it had been vandalized. Watt is remembered as a Revolutionary War hero who helped the Americans defeat the British by warning the Brattonsville plantation owner during the 1780 Battle of Huck’s Defeat. Theirs is the only named marker in the cemetery.

Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground keeps history alive

Slavery is an uncomfortable truth that many Americans continue to struggle with, according to the descendants.

Margaret Crawford Parson-Willins, an 81-year-old descendant of enslaved people, grew up in a segregated country. She spent “a lot of time behind bars” during her college years for engaging in peaceful demonstrations. It paid off in the end, she said.

But the steady march of progress lately feels like it’s moving in reverse, she said. People would rather forget the struggles of her and her ancestors than face the past for what it was.

Even some descendants of enslaved people are trying to separate themselves from the past, she said.

“If we separate ourselves, and if we don’t educate our younger people, our history’s going to be lost,” Parson-Willins said. “This is a way to keep it alive.”

Christine Sparks only recently learned she was descended from enslavers. The news was hard to process, she said, and she was “really on the fence about accepting that reality and all that went with it.”

The Brattonsville descendant community breathed new meaning into her family’s past.

“They showed me that I don’t have to live in that shame, and that we can come together and change things for future generations,” Sparks said. “We can rewrite our story and leave a different legacy.”

The Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground will open to the public this spring after the Culture and Heritage Museums finalizes security measures.

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