In 1922 a man named Joel Bean bought the
property where the town and graveyard are
located, and from 1923 on the cemetery was called
El Jobean Cemetery. There were some citizens
buried there with wooden crosses and monuments,
but none of those markers exist
today.
One very interesting fact about
the cemetery is that it is believed
to be located along an old
wagon trail that ran from U.S. 41 to
Southland, but there is little written
history to support the theory.
From 1923 until 1966, El Jobean
Cemetery hosted burials of
citizens, marked only with wooden
monuments that, as we said
earlier, have not survived years.
In 1966 the last interment
occurred at Southland Cemetery.
In 1994 Charlotte County was given the land that
the cemetery stands on as a gift, by Atlantic Gulf
Communities Corporation. There is no budget to
maintain the graveyard, so it became overgrown
and was abandoned for many years. In 2009 a group
of Boy Scouts
cleaned up the
site, and signs
were erected to
indicate what this
sacred ground
contained.
Benches and a
memorial
garden were also installed, as well as one lone “Rest
in Peace” marker stone. The benches have since
been removed, and only poles and chains remain in
place where they once stood. All that remains of the
memorial garden is a birdbath.
Now, rows of slight depressions in the ground and
tombstones with no names are the only things left
that hint of any graves. There are walkways through
the cemetery defi ned by ropes, but those who
erected them are only guessing as to where the
graves are located, in many cases.
It is eerie in the fact that only a greater power knows
who is buried under the ground there, but we can
assume a majority of them have a fate that centered
on misery, starvation and an abundance of pain.
Moss-covered, unnamed tombstones dot the
landscape of the small cemetery. The sign posted
by Charlotte County serves as a reminder that this
is still hallowed ground. Below and at right, a
birdbath and a RIP marker is all that remains of a
Boy Scout project to renovate the cemetery that
took place in 2009. Top right, chains and poles are
all that still stand after the benches were
inexplicably removed.
40 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • September/October • 2020