The earliest marked grave at Springfield
Many of the early graves in our cemetery are unmarked. Quakers of that period often felt that grave stones were an unnecessary vanity.
The earliest marked stone reads, “John Braselton, March 1, 1781.”
Tradition tells us that he was an American soldier hunted by the Tories during the violence and confusion at the time of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. As the Tories closed in on him and hope of escape seemed dim, he hid beneath some hay in a barn near the church. The soldiers in hot pursuit rushed into the barn and in their eager search for their victim, stuck their bayonets into the hay.
One of these bayonets pierced the body of John Braselton, and after the soldiers had passed on, Friends picked up his lifeless body and buried it at Springfield.
