Tucked away on the backroads of America you can find bits and pieces of America’s history. Some are visually striking; others you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for them. Crumbling in open sight or being gradually assimilated by the surrounding forests, they share one thing in common—forgotten in time, they are slowly being lost to a fast-paced world that has long passed them by.

On a small hill overlooking the intersection of one-lane gravel roads near the western edge of Granville County (NC), the Jesse Dean family cemetery holds nine marked graves, the most recent dated 1940.

Jesse Dean Family Cemetery—Street View

Along the back row are Jesse and his wife Margaret, their son Sam (not visible here)…

Jesse Dean Family Cemetery—Front corner

…and a daughter, Bertha, who died in infancy.

Jesse Dean Family Cemetery—Bertha’s stone “Gone to be an angel” just shy of 3 months old.

At the foot of Bertha’s grave is the broken headstone of Lillian Vaughan, age 6, with another poignant inscription.

Jesse Dean Family Cemetery—Lillian Vaughan, age 6, “Twas hard to give thee up But Thy will O God be done.”

Lillian was the Deans’ granddaughter, born to their daughter Mollie and her husband Leonard Vaughan—both interred here beneath the large stone in the center of the cemetery.

Historical note: Jesse Dean enlisted in Company G of the 30th Infantry (NC) in 1862, and fought in some of the Civil War’s most vicious battles: Cold Harbor, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. His unit was present when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.