About how many people does it take to clean a three-acre cemetery in six hours?

Nearly 30 came by to help the Sharpsburg Sharpshooters, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1729 to do the job.

Turin Mayor W. Allen Smith had asked the Camp to clean up the African-American section of the Tranquil Cemetery. The Camp put out flyers at the local African-American churches as well as a press release in local papers asking for assistance.

More than 15 church members came as well as a white church in the area, and more than a dozen camp members brought saws, trimmers and plenty of gasoline to give everyone something to do.

There are only 20 black grave sites that are marked and more than 200 sites that are unmarked. The camp has taken on the project of erecting a cross at each of these unmarked sites.

“We really appreciated everyone pitching in and helping out,” said camp Commander Edward J. Lanham. “The three-acre site was completely cleaned of small trees and underbrush and those involved worked very hard to accomplish the task.”

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