THE POPE CEMETERY This cemetery is located on west side of Broad River in extreme west end of No. 1 Township, [Cleveland County, NC], and within a few feet of the Rutherford County Line, and some 200 yards from the river. The land was owned by John Pope and wife, Panilope Pope, prior to 1862; and wince by the McCraw family. But none of the McCraw family knew anything of the persons buried there. The property is now owned by the Duke Power Company which was purchased recently for the purpose of erecting a Steam Power Plant. The graveyard contained some five or six graves. Owner of Cemetery: The Duke Power Company Approximate number of marked graves: None Unmarked graves: 6 Before 1914: None After 1914: None Condition: The cemetery was situated out in a field and grown up in weeds, but has been removed to Prospect Baptist Church by Duke Power Company. Date of survey: April 12, 1939 ------- "On February 6, 1939, the Duke Power Company filed a petition with the Commissioners of Cleveland County asking for permission to remove said graves, which permission was granted. A notice of removal of said graves was published in the Shelby Daily Star Feb. 6, 1939, in accordance with Section 5035(al) of the N.C. Code of 1935. Said graves removed under direction of the Health Officer of Cleveland county on March 9, 1939 and re-interred in cemetery of Prospect Baptist Church about 1 2/2 miles away in same township. There is no definite information as to identity of names of these six persons, other than tradition of the community. "Federal Census of 1850 for Cleveland County list the following names of Pope family, and only this one, to-wit: "Name Age Val. Real Estate Place of Birth Mary Pope 47 500 ? S.C. Michael Pope 82 S.C. Lucinda Pritchett 18 S.C. These three persons are listed in one and the same family. "The first survey of Cleveland County of 1841 did not include this portion of No. 1 Township, but it was included in the survey of 1840-1845. And the tax list for 1845, payable in 1846, list names of Penelope Pope with 200 acres on Broad river at a value of $400.00, and four Negro Slaves; also, one John Y. Pope is listed for Pole Tax. "Data by P. Cleveland Gardner." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This cemetery is among the many Cleveland cemeteries included on the Cleveland Count WPA Cemeteries CD, copyrighted 2008, by Ann K. Propst and Derick S. Hartshorn. All listings and cemeteries listings were made prior to 1940 and represent the contions of that time. All information has been donated to the NCGenWeb Project but retains copyright protection by the authors. It may be referenced and briefly exerpted under the universal fair use doctrine. For a copy of the complete Cleveland County WPA Cemetery Survey, see http://www.hartshorn.us/CWPA.htm