Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAn 1785 burial ground with graves for whites, free Blacks, and Native Americans — and a buried-alive legend
Stewartsville Cemetery Road, Laurinburg, NC 28352
Research updated June 2026
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Rural cemetery on unpaved road; uneven ground among grave markers
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Est. 1785 · Established 1785 · Multi-community burial ground (white, free Black, Native American) · Colin Lindsay family grave site · Buried-alive legend
Stewartsville Cemetery was established in 1785 according to the historical marker at the site, documented by the Historical Marker Database. The burial ground predates Scotland County's formal organization and reflects the layered settlement history of the Cape Fear River basin region, where Scots-Irish, free Black, and Lumbee-connected communities lived in close proximity in the colonial and antebellum periods.
What distinguishes Stewartsville from most antebellum North Carolina cemeteries is its documented multi-community character: historical accounts confirm interments for white, free Black, and Native American individuals in the same ground, a practice unusual for its era. The cemetery is located on Stewartsville Cemetery Road adjacent to the stretch of Old Maxton Road known locally as Gravity Hill, creating a concentrated site of local dark history.
The grave of Rev. Colin Lindsay is among the documented markers. A regional tradition, carried in local press coverage, holds that his mother was buried alive around 1740 — a premature burial that went undiscovered until grave robbers disturbed her coffin attempting to remove a ring from her finger. Whether she was revived by the disturbance or this is a retrospective legend attached to a real grave is not established by primary sources, but the story appears in multiple local accounts.
Sources
The buried-alive legend associated with Stewartsville Cemetery belongs to a recognized tradition: a woman interred prematurely, discovered by accident when someone disturbs the grave for another purpose. In the Stewartsville version, the trigger is a ring — robbers attempting theft discover the supposed corpse was not dead. The account was documented by the Laurinburg Exchange in its coverage of Scotland County ghost stories.
The cemetery's physical setting reinforces its reputation. It stands directly along the Gravity Hill stretch of Old Maxton Road, and local tradition treats the two sites as connected: a mother's ghost on the road, an ancestor revived in the ground just yards away. The HMDB historical marker at the site documents the 1785 founding and the Lindsay family connection, giving the cemetery an independent historical anchor beyond its paranormal reputation.
Notable Entities
Walk the grounds of one of Scotland County's oldest burial sites, established 1785. Markers include members of the early Lindsay family and span multiple racial and ethnic communities. The adjacent Gravity Hill stretch of Old Maxton Road draws visitors who combine both stops.
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