In Jacksonville, USA, a unique piece of history lies hidden in plain sight. The gravesite of Thompson Williams, a man who died protecting a woman’s honour in 1908, is located in the middle of a sidewalk, next to Emmett Reed Park and tennis court. Reportedly, the man was shot dead while defending a woman from an attacker and was originally laid to rest in Mount Herman Cemetery, which was dedicated to the city’s black residents. By 1953, the cemetery was converted into a park, but Williams’ corpse still remains under the concrete. Historian Ennis Davis shared that this unusual spot connects to Jacksonville’s history and those who shaped it.
Speaking to News4Jax, Davis explained, “This park is unique because it is Jacksonville’s largest 19th-century African American cemetery. This alone should let you know that the development of this street and its infrastructure was built over a cemetery, and they moved the grave in the middle of the sidewalk just to do it. You dig up older maps and I came across a 1800s map of Jacksonville that had a zoomed-in map of ownership in the LaVilla area, and this was identified as the Mount Herman Cemetery.”
The inscription on the stone reads, “This tablet marks the grave of Thompson Williams, a Negro who died on October 28, 1908 from wounds received while endeavouring to protect the honour and life of a white woman.”
According to Ennis Davis, the original cemetery was donated to the city by a member of the Francis L’Engle family in the 1940s, who was the first mayor of LaVilla. The bodies were relocated and the Emmett Reed Center was constructed. However, a Jacksonville resident claimed that the cemetery existed since he was a child. He believes not much can be done to resolve the issue and fears they may never locate the family members. The person said, “What they should do is put up a big sign up and let people know that it was a cemetery.”
According to the Florida Times Union, after Mount Herman Cemetery was left neglected, it turned into an overgrown field where weeds grew so tall that they nearly concealed Thompson Williams’ grave. As the city developed over the decades, several graves vanished, either removed, stolen or deteriorated. However, Williams’ gravestone remains intact, sheltered under the branches of an oak tree.
Other than Williams, the Fagin family has also rested in the same place since their deaths in the early 1900s. One member of the family was a United States military veteran.
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