Geer Cemetery-Asbury Shaw

"Today we remember Asbury Shaw, born July 19, 1888, to Romulus Shaw and Agnes Smith Shaw, the middle of three children.

Few records exist for him - only one census (1900, when he was attending school) and a 1903 newspaper article which cryptically refers to him as “a boy that no one seemed to know.”

His short obituary from September 30, 1907 tells us he died at home, leaving a family and a great many friends among both black and white citizens.

Despite this scant information, records tell of a family with roots in many places and connections throughout Durham that would have framed Asbury’s upbringing.

Father Romulus was born in Chapel Hill around the time of emancipation, a half-brother to John O’Daniel who would become one of the earliest landowners and prominent citizens in Durham’s Hayti District.

Mother Agnes was also born around the time of emancipation in Caswell Co., coming to Durham in the 1870’s where she lived in Hayti with her older sister Sarah and her husband George Gattis.

Romulus and Agnes were wed in 1886. City Directories show Romulus found work as a porter and janitor at the First National Bank, owned by Julian Carr, while Agnes worked as a washwoman.

Unfortunately Agnes died when Asbury was a young boy, his father remarrying Mary Crittenden in 1894. Asbury’s tombstone inscription lists him as the son of Romulus and Mary, indicating the important role his step-mother must have played in his upbringing.

In 1896 Romulus bought property at the north end of Hayti (Fayetteville and Pettigrew Streets), in a neighborhood known as Sugar Hill.

The family were neighbors with such Durham luminaries as John Merrick and Dr. Aaron Mcduffie-Moore.

This is where Asbury lived until his death at the age of only 19. His funeral took place at St. Joseph’s A.M.E. church only a few blocks to the south of his home.

Asbury’s grandmother Winnie Rebecca Shaw would follow him in death and interment in Geer cemetery in 1914 (at the amazing age of 96!), as would step-mother Mary in 1917, and sister Pensie Shaw Mills in 1922.

Father Romulus passed away in 1942, interred not in Geer but in Violet Park Cemetery.

Source of images and narrative:
Friends of Geer Cemetery - Durham, NC FB page