O'Neal AME Church, Hampton, Georgia

Dated, on-site genealogist account (2026-07-25), with photos. Source for the earliest marked grave date, verbatim: “The oldest marked grave dates to 1871; the last to the 1950s.” Also source for the church’s Reconstruction-era freedmen founding and construction materials (stucco over quartz/fieldstone, brick lintels). URL corrected 2026-07-28 (receipt-gate) from the tag-archive page to this specific dated permalink; tier upgraded B from C accordingly.

Additional detail confirmed 2026-07-28 (approval-brief correction pass): the church was founded “during the early Reconstruction years by freedmen,” but the author hedges on the standing building itself: “this building — or its shell, anyway — may date somewhat later.” The interior shows “no internal structures remaining,” evidence of “a devastating fire” (“charred bits of wood found in a rear addition”), and the front entrance is “sealed with modern cinderblock” — not, as an earlier draft claimed, a missing roof. This source also names and dates several individuals with legible epitaphs: Ceasar Fortson (“Mar. 29, 1830 · June 30, 1900 · Gone, But Not Forgotten”), Prof. Thomas A. Fortson, A.M., Ph.D. (a Walden University teacher, “Born Jan. 1, 1854 And Died May 13, 1901. He Was Charitable”), William G. Alexander (1902–1909, “A little time on earth he spent”), and a child named Ollie (born Oct. 3, 1900). This source does NOT support any caste/status claim about the founding congregation — no such claim appears anywhere in it, and none should be inferred or stated from it. It gives Ceasar Fortson’s headstone dates (1830–1900) and notes he appears in the 1900 census of Woolsey district, Spalding County — it does NOT state his birthplace; do not write “born in Georgia” for him (that detail belongs to Thomas A. Fortson, described separately as a “Georgia native”). Also documents that orange safety fencing already wraps the cemetery “on three sides,” separating it from the active data center construction site — Georgia Power’s offer (per WSB-TV) is to upgrade this existing fencing, not to install a fence where none exists.