History of the Mt. Carmel Church/ Ehren African American 

Cemetery and Community

Section 31 - Township 25 - Range 19

Headstone of (?) Hendry at the Ehren Afro-American Cemetery (Photo 2005 by Jeff Cannon)

 

A wooden marker and grave surrounded by fencing (Photo 2005 by Jeff Cannon

This historic cemetery is known by two names, the first name the Mt. Carmel Cemetery was named after the Mt. Carmel Church, which also sat on the site. The second name the Ehren African American Cemetery was named for the Town of Ehren and its sawmill that once served the small community. Thid was also because the sawmill and town used the small cemetery to bury its African American residents.  Ehren was established as a town in the late 1890's and used a sawmill as its staple industry.  According to the 1900 federal census Frederick Ernest Mueller was born in November of 1863 in Germany, in 1882 he came to the United States and became a citizen.  Soon after moving to the United States Frederick found himself in Florida.  It was ca. 1890 that Frederick settled in Pasco County and opened the Ehren Pine Company.  According to "Citrus, Sawmills, Critters, & Crackers" by Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and Susan MacManus, Mueller named the community of Ehren after his hometown in Germany.  According to the 1900 census it was in 1894 that Frederick married to Emma L. who was born in Florida in October 1876, this census record also indicates that the Mueller's had 3 children but only 2 were living at the time of the enumeration; these children were listed in the Mueller household.  One child, Carl A., was born January of 1897 the other was a male child born May of 1900 and has "no name" listed in the census. The Mueller's obviously lived a lavish lifestyle with the profits from the Ehren Pine Company, according to the 1910 federal census in the Mueller home is listed a servant by the name of Howard Clare, a 29 year old black male born in Florida.  On January 17, 1890 the Ehren Post Office was opened, it is believed that Frederick Mueller served as the first post master.  However, according to the 1900 federal census Octavio Maxwell, born September 1874 in Florida, was listed as the post master, his mail carrier was 60 year old Alaxander Geary who was born March 1860 in Virginia.  Frederick is interred at the nearby Ehren white cemetery along with many of the white mill workers.

Most of the sawmill workers were African American which was not unusual in that time, this was a popular industry for many living in Pasco County.  These African American workers also occupied and lived in company housing that were owned by Frederick Mueller and the sawmill.  Frederick owned large amounts of acreage in this area where company housing was built, owned, and managed by his company the Ehren Pine Company. The company paid everything involved with the housing finances including the taxes, according to the 1900 federal census the majority of the families living in Ehren were renting their homes. The African American living quarters were south of the railroad track and sat closest to the sawmill itself. Ehren had well-traveled tram roads and a stagecoach road, with relay station, that ran through town proceeding south into Hillsborough County. The relay station was known as station 26 Mile House and it has been reported that there may actually be another cemetery some where along its path. However much of the remains of this trail and relay station lie on private property and is near impossible to access. Ehren even had its own commissary where dry goods and other living necessities could be purchased.  This commissary was one of the many in the mill towns of Pasco that used its own type of money. This money was small metal pieces that were stamped with money amounts. These metal pieces would be used to buy merchandise at the town commissary and couldn't be spent in other communities or commissaries.

It was also on this property that Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church started a church cemetery by the same name.  It is believed by some that there was a cemetery in existence prior to the establishment of the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church, according to historical documentation some of the headstones that were in this cemetery, during its livelihood, dated from the mid 1800's indicating its existence long before the sawmill. It's possible these early graves belonged to African American settlers who worked on the many farms or turpentine stills in the area prior to the arrival of the Ehren Sawmill in the 1890's. There are few headstones remaining in the cemetery today and there are many unmarked grave.  It's documented that many of the tombstones were made of wood, which have long since decayed away. There is still a grave in this cemetery that is marked with a large wooden post and many others that have garden fencing surrounding an area that has no markers.

During an August 26, 2007 interview with Ola Dawkins McClendon it was learned that in ca. 1910 her parents Byrl Edward and Mary Dawkins moved their, then, two children to the Town of Ehren.  According to the 1920 federal census Edward Dawkins was a thirty-seven year old black male born in Florida, who was married to Mary a twenty-seven year old mixed female also born in Florida. There were six children listed in the Dawkins household in the following order: thirteen year old John, nine year old Drucilla, seven year old Byrl, five year old Ell-illegible, three year old Edward, and one year old Evangelinie; all born in Florida.  According to Ola, her father was actually born in South Carolina and not Florida as listed in the census, her mother was born in Alachua County in 1891.  Byrl and Mary Dawkins went on to have 13 children, all of which were born in Ehren except for two.  During these early days Byrl worked at the Ehren Sawmill earning a dollar a day.  Eventually Byrl and Mary saved enough money to acquire their own property, which they bought for $150.00, here they built a home for their family.  Like most their home was simple and had no electricity or running water, a nearby hand pump was used to gather water for the necessities of cooking or washing.

The Dawkins Family joined the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church congregation and became early members of the church.  According to the 1920 census the Dawkins Family were neighbors to Chris Columbus Marshall, pastor of the Mt. Carmel Church.  It was at the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church where Byrl Dawkins received his call to preach and serve our area as an A.M.E. minister.  According to Ola, Byrl served as an itinerant minster and preached at many of the local A.M.E. Churches throughout the County, including a church that was established at Keystone.  In later years Reverend Byrl Dawkins was assigned as pastor to the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church.  During these years Byrl not only served as the pastor of the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church but he also tended to his garden and crops, which allowed him a way to make extra income for his family.  Byrl sold his vegetables from house to house in Ehren and other local communities such as Drexel.  Many locals enjoyed these fresh vegetables that were delivered personally by Byrl, which made him popular among the locals.  After the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church closed, sometime before 1941, Byrl Dawkins lived the remainder of his life in Ehren, he passed away on June 18, 1953 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Indian Pond Cemetery near Dade City.  Mary Dawkins celebrated here 100th birthday in 1991 and passed away the following year on May 12, 1992, Mary was laid to rest in the Dade City Cemetery.  Both Byrl and Mary lived most of their lives in Ehren, Mary was living at the family home in Ehren in 1992 when she passed away.  Today the Dawkins/ McLendon Family still live on the family property in Ehren where Byrl and Mary's great grand children are being raised.

Pictured is Reverend Byrl Dawkins who served the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church in Ehren.  This picture was taken ca. 1940 in Drexel.  According to "Citrus, Sawmills, Critters, & Crackers" by Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and Susan MacManus, where this picture appears, "Dawkins was fondly known as Drexel's 'vegetable man."

This sketch of Mary Dawkins was drawn by her family before she passed away and was done at the family home in Ehren.  (Sketch courtesy of the McClendon Family)

   

The home of Byrl and Mary Dawkins still stands in Ehren, located on property still owned by their descendants the McClendon Family.  It was in this home where Byrl and Mary raised their 13 children.  (Photo 2007 by Jeff Cannon)

The other African American church of Ehren was known as the Oak Grove Baptist Church.  The Oak Grove Baptist Church was located just down the railroad tracks from the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church, along the old Stage Coach Route now known as Cemetery Road.  It is believed that Oak Grove Baptist Church was established sometime ca. 1900, however this has not yet been confirmed.  According to Pasco County School Board records on January 7, 1901 "A petition was filed by the colored people of Ehren, stating that there were in that district twenty-one children with the school age and asking the Board to grant a special colored school at Ehren. On motion the School was granted. On motion B. H. McMorris was appointed to teach in Colored School No. 3 and Geo. Members was appointed the supervisor."  Typically after a school was granted or approved by the school board it would be followed by the deeding of property for which the school was to be built on.  In this case the school board granted a "special school" and since there was no property deeded for the building of the school, in 1901, classes were likely held in one of the churches.  It is believed that this early school was located in the Oak Grove Baptist Church.  This "special school" was used to educate the African American children of the mill workers who were working hard days at the Ehren Sawmill.  According to the 1910 federal census George Members, who was appointed supervisor of the Ehren Colored School in 1901, also worked at the sawmill.  The census list George Members as being a forty year old black male living in Ehren, whose occupation is laborer-saw milling.  George had no wife in 1910 but has four sons living with him, they are seventeen year old Noah, fifteen year old George Jr., twelve year old Robert, and eight year old Arion.  Its possible George's wife passed away and was one of the burials made in the Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

By 1907 the school had increased to a point that the community requested the school board provide an assistant teacher.  According to School board minutes, on March 21, 1907, The patrons of colored school at Ehren petitioned board for an assistant teacher. As the school had 61 children the board granted the request and assigned J. D. Moore assistant teacher for the unexpired (?) term, provided the attendance holds up well.  It was not until 1927 that the Ehren African American Community was able to provided the school its own property where they built their first school house.  According to Pasco County land records on, September 24th 1927, Frank Phillips and L.G. Bowen acting trustees of the Ehren Colored School, deeded a half acre lot to the Pasco County School Board for the purpose of a building a school.  It was actually half of the Oak Grove Baptist Church property that was deeded to the school board.  According to school deed, the school was located in the S1/2 of the Oak Grove church lot in S29, T25, R19; this was the Oak Grove Baptist Church lot.  The deed also indicates that this lot was to be used for school and hall purposes.  (click here to see 1927 school deed)  According to Ola McClendon, among the early students to attend the Ehren School were the Dawkins, Marshall, Phillips and Bowen children.

According to Ola, in the later years Joe Bowen became the pastor of the Oak Grove Baptist Church.  Frank Phillips, trustee of the school, built his family a home right next to the Oak Grove Baptist Church.  If the Phillips home was still standing today it would be situated on the corner of Cemetery Road and Ehren Cutoff, which is where the old railroad tracks ran.  The Bowen Family built their home right across the street from the Phillips, both families lived in simple home.

According to an April 2, 1920 Dade City Banner article, "The plant of the Ehren Pine Company at Ehren was entirely destroyed by fire last Sunday, entailing a loss estimated at $125,000. The fire was started by a high wind carrying brands from a burning trash pile to the mill which was ablaze in several places in a few minutes. A large boarding house and two residences were burned with the mills. The mill of the Ehren Pine Company has been destroyed by fire once or twice before. The president of the company and principal owner, is F. E. Mueller, and the secretary is A. E. Medard. With the sawmill gone there is little left of Ehren, and its future will depend largely upon whether Mr. Muller and his associates rebuild or not."  This would be the final fire to destroy the Ehren Sawmill most of the buildings in the town were then disassembled and used elsewhere. Many of the African American families continued to live in Ehren and worked at other local turpentine and sawmills.  Most of the early settlers, who lived in Ehren, lost their property in the area during the depression selling it to many of the present day farm owners and their families.

While the Mt. Carmel Church closed likely following the fire that destroyed the sawmill and the depression, the Oak Grove Baptist Church and Ehren African American School continued to serve the families who continued to live in Ehren.  After the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church closed the old church cemetery became an active community cemetery.  The nearby Oak Grove Baptist Church began to use the Mt. Carmel Cemetery to bury community and church members.  The Oak Grove Baptist Church continued its service into the 1940's and was listed among a survey conducted by the W.P.A. in 1940-41.  This list showed active churches throughout Pasco County during the time.  The exact date the Oak Grove Baptist Church was discontinued is unknown.

As both the Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Church and the Oak Grove Baptist Church closed and the sawmill was no longer providing work to the Ehren Community, many families moved to areas such as Drexel and Odessa.  The community cemetery was used less often and began to fall in disrepair.  By the 1980's the sacred Mt. Carmel Cemetery had virtually been forgotten.  After the church ceased operation on the property several years of back taxes began to accrue as Pasco County obviously knew very little of the cemetery's existence even though clearly stated through deed.  According to Pasco County land records, on June 1, 1981 the Mt. Carmel Cemetery property was sold to local resident Brady O. Sloop.  (click here to see 1981 tax deed)  Brady Sloop unknowingly had purchased the deed to the cemetery and must have realized this fact upon examination of the property.  Only months after Brady Sloop acquired the cemetery property, he deeded it to Pasco County.  According to Pasco County land records, on July 12, 1985 Brady O. Sloop and wife deed the cemetery property to the Board of County Commissioners.  (click here to see 1985 quit claim deed to Pasco County) 

Until recently this cemetery was one of the most unfortunate cases I have seen and dealt with since I started this cemetery preservation/ history project. This cemetery was an example of the numerous problems plaguing the cemeteries of Pasco County. Almost every Florida Statute involving cemeteries was being broken at this site. As its written under chapter 872.02 of FL statutes: anyone who knowingly or willfully destroy, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes any tomb, monument, etc. containing human skeletal remains commits a felony. The cow pastures surrounding this cemetery, which was owned by Connor Ranch, was letting their cows roam freely through the cemetery destroying most of its remaining headstones. Under chapter 704.08 of FL statutes: the relatives and descendants of any person buried in a cemetery shall have an easement for ingress and egress for the purpose of visiting the cemetery at reasonable times. Upon trying to survey this county owned cemetery, at 6:30pm, not only did I have to cross a barbed wire fence surrounding the cemetery but I was also met by a man who stated he was with Connor Ranch and that I was trespassing on their property. It was explained that the property contained a cemetery and that it was county owned, which was properly researched prior to the site visit through land records. Connor Ranch was certainly the owner of the property surrounding the cemetery but the cemetery itself was deeded to Pasco County in 1985 as cited above. It was also explained that I was accessing the cemetery for the purpose of conducting historical research of the cemetery's contents. He told me that he didn't care and that I was trespassing on his land. I left the site dismayed that I could not finish my site work. It's also states under chapter 704.08 of FL statutes that if the owner of the land fails to maintain the cemetery that the relatives have that right to provide maintenance, however there is no maintenance being conducted at this cemetery and due to the lack of easement relatives and community members could not access the cemetery for maintenance purposes. This cemetery hasn't been maintained in the twenty-five plus years that Pasco County has been the owners with the fences between it and the cow pasture no longer standing.  The few graves that have been marked have been extremely damaged from the cows in the nearby pastures. The cows made several trails through the cemetery and didn't walk around the headstones but instead they walk on them causing major and unrepairable damage. There were several trees on the property that were blown over in the hurricanes of the years past. These trees had fallen over many of the graves that were marked with garden fencing also causing damage. The overgrowth and out of control vegetation had also become a problem.  [see UPDATE below]  With the most recent burial in the cemetery being from 1954 this makes the Mt. Carmel Cemetery not only historic but also active.

The following information was taken from the remaining headstones located in the Mt. Carmel Cemetery.  These compiled names are the only records of the known burials in the Mt. Carmel African American Cemetery.  

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Minnie Blocker headstone, which has been damaged by vandals. Click here for a close-up view. (Photo 2005 by Jeff Cannon)

#2 Minnie Blocker
Born 1876
Died 1954
**This was the last known burial made in the Ehren Afro-American Cemetery**

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Home made headstone of W.G. Gibbs. Click here for close-up view. (Photo 2005 by Jeff Cannon)

#3 W.G. Gibbs
December 27, 1935
(only date)

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Infant Horton headstone.  Click here for close-up view. (Photo 2005 by Jeff Cannon)

#4 Infant of
T.M. Horton
Born December 23, 1903

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This previously unknown burials was recently identified during a clean-up in February of 2009.  During the clean-up volunteers uncovered more broken pieces of the headstone and as a result it has been determined that this is the final resting place of Lonnie G. Bowen (Photos 2009 by Jeff Cannon)

#5 L.G. Bowen
No other information legible

Lonnie G. Bowen was born in North Carolina in 1875.  Eventually Lonnie came to Florida and settled in Santa Rosa County in the panhandle.  In 1902 he married to his wife Georgie and they eventually moved to Pasco County settling in Ehren where Lonnie engaged in farming to support his family.  As mentioned above, in 1927 Lonnie G. Bowen was serving as a trustee of the Ehren African American school.  IN this position Lonnie and the other trustees were instrumental in getting the school its own lot, which was situated next to the Oak Grove Baptist Church on Cemetery Road.  The exact date of death for Lonnie G. Bowen is unknown.

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Human bones can be found laying on top of the cemetery ground.  This human vertebrate was located on the cemetery property and was not the only one found, with-in two feet was located another vertebrate. (Photo 2006 by Jeff Cannon)

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Mt. Carmel Cemetery 

Preservaion

Part of the inmate work crew that cleaned and cleared the underbrush from the Ehren Afro-American Cemetery (Photo August 2006 by Jeff Cannon)

   

(Left) A Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. S.I.R. 2000 G.P.R. recorder system utilized during the survey of the Mt. Carmel Cemetery.  (Right) Dr. Schneider dragging the suit-case sized transmitter, which sent data back to the recorder system, left,  for later analysis.

 

Volunteers come together to help in the preservation and resotration of the historic Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Ehren.  There were Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and students from the local high school Inter-active Clubs.  (Photo courtesy of Glen and Carole Devine)

 

Robert Moore, S.R.P. Vice President with the local U.S.E.P. Union read a poem during the dedication of a new sign over the recently placed gates into the cemetery, this sign was built and donated by local students.  (Photo courtesy of Glen and Carole Devine)

After several organized clean-ups at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery and after the cemetery was put back to a more presentable condition, in June 2009 the historic cemetery was designated and declared a Pasco County Historic site.  With this designation was the placement of a historic marker, which tells of the cemetery's history and the community that formed around it.  These historic markers are sponsored by the Pasco County Board of County Commissioner and are placed by the Pasco County Historic Preservation Committee.  It has been long awated to see the historic Mt. Carmel Cemetery designated as a historic site.  Once again the cemetery is apart of the community as it was intended.

   

After the designation of the Mt. Carmel Cemetery as a Pasco County Historic site this historic marker was placed at the cemetery and on June 20, 2009 services were held dedicating the new marker.  The marker gives the history of the Mt. Carmel Cemetery and the community that thrived around it.  (Click HERE for larger image)

   

There was a rather large crowd that gathered for the historic marker dedication services held on June 20, 2009.  Many of these folks had previously participated in the many cemetery clean-ups while others were simply there to partake in the designation of the cemetery as a historic site.  For some this designation was long awaited as it has taken several years to accomplish the goals of making the cemetery of preserving and restoring the cemetery as a final resiting place.  (Photos courtesy of Jeff Miller)

This page was last revised on August 26, 2009.
(Research by Jeff Cannon- Copyright © 2009)