Petersville/Broadfield Cemetery
African-American

From exit 42 off of Interstate 95, travel 1 mile south east [towards Hwy. 17] and turn right onto Petersville Road.  The cemetery will be directly on your left.

This is a very old cemetery intended for the burial of the Hofwyl-Broadfield enslaved and their descendants.  I have not transcribed the whole cemetery yet because it is in bad shape.  This is just what I have termed the "New Section".  I use this term loosely, this part of the cemetery is the only part that has been well taken care of and is accessible by foot without drowning in overgrowth.

However, sometime in 2006, the cemetery was cleaned very violently, much damage was done, and many graves are still under debris and grass. I took photographs of this "clean up", but, unfortunately lost them when my computers were struck by lightning.

Local death records have created a problem, however, with determining where some folks are buried by using the burial place of "Broadfield, Glynn County, Georgia" and "Broadfield Cemetery". I have found many people with this burial place buried in one of three cemeteries: Petersville, Freedman's Rest, and Elizafield Burial Ground.

For example, Elizabeth (Polite) Chambliss' obituary says she was buried in Broadfield Cemetery and her tombstone is in Petersville Cemetery. Maggie Harris' death certificate says she was buried in Broadfield Cemetery, but, her tombstone is at Elizafield Burial Ground. Therefore, I have created a cemetery listing for Broadfield Cemetery for those persons whose tombstone or exact cemetery location has not yet been determined.

The majority of those recorded as being buried in Broadfield (whether the town or cemetery) are interred here in Petersville Cemetery.

Transcribed by Amy Hedrick 2 March 2004.