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Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery
Just east of Priceville a plot of ground on the north-east corner of Grey Road 14 and the Old Durham Road was a cemetery for this settlement. Over time the demographics of the town changed and many of the original Black settlers moved to Owen Sound, Collingwood, or elsewhere. Thus the cemetery was no longer active.
In the 1930s, farmer Bill Reid buried the tombstones of the Black cemetery under a pile of broken rocks to make way for a potato patch. Still other stones were removed and used in basements, to line barn floors or as home base on a baseball diamond.

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2 km. sign on Grey Road #14, pointing the way to Old Pioneer Cemetery
Cemetery: circa 1830 - 1880s
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
South Grey Museum, Flesherton, ON

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North American location map
2011
Priceville, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
The Detroit News

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The Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery is at the corner of County Road 14 and Durham Road B. Fifty or sixty early Black settlers may be buried here, but only four headstones have been recovered.

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Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery
1 March 2012
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
South Grey Museum, Flesherton, ON

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Lt. Governor Lincoln Alexander dedication Old Pioneer Cemetery
13 October 1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
South Grey Museum, Flesherton, ON

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News clipping of Dedication cemetery
1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
South Grey Museum, Flesherton, ON

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Dedication Document
1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
Program for Old Pioneer Cemetery dedication

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Reverse side of Dedication Document
1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
Old Pioneer Cemetery dedication ceremony program

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The following is an excerpt from a speech given by Reverend Wilfred Sheffield (descendant of the Old Durham Road settlement) at the cemetery's dedication service: "What shall we say concerning those we commemorate today? Do they not now rejoice with us at what is happening today? Was it merely an accident of history responsible for the disappearance of the Black community of Artemesia? Were the gravestones destroyed and obliterated solely because of greed and bias -- or was there some higher purpose? ...For Whites from this community and Blacks who are descendants of those who lived here have reached out and touched each other. Kindred spirits have met and embraced, permanent and meaningful friendships have been forged. All this because we now can rise above the wrong doings and injustices of the past - but also because we see the meaning of the past. We see today the fulfillment of Martin Luther King's dream -- 'When a man will be judged not because of the colour of his skin'.
October 13, 1990

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Memorial stone at the Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery
1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
South Grey Museum, Flesherton, ON

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The Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery is the burial ground of the area's original black settlers dating back to the 1830s time frame and was in use until the 1880s. The cemetery which lay hidden for decades under a farmer's potato field was eventually dedicated on October 13 1990 . A plaque at the site is inscribed: "The plot was dedicated October 13, 1990, in recognition of the pioneers of African descent and Loyalist stock who were early settlers in this area."

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Memorial Stone, Old Pioneer Cemetery - Summer
13 October 1990
Old Durham Pioneer Cemetery

Credits:
Grey Roots Museum, Flesherton, ON

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"What shall we say concerning those we commemorate today? Do they not now rejoice with us at what is happening today? Was it merely an accident of history responsible for the disappearance of the Black community of Artemesia? Were the gravestones destroyed and obliterated solely because of greed and bias? Or was their some higher purpose?
"The Whites from the community and Blacks who are descendants of those who lived here have reached and touched each other."

Reverend Wilfred Sheffield
from speech given Priceville, ON October 13 1990