NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) \u2014 As the investigation into bone fragments and casket remains found along an off-beaten trail in Tom Brown Park continues, the granddaughter of those buried in the cemetery is sharing more about their lives and pushing for preservation of the site.<\/p>\n
Lena Kilpatrick-Harris says three out of the four headstones in the area belong to her grandfather, Walter Kilpatrick, and great-grandparents, J.W. and Mariah Kilpatrick. The investigation of the remains found recently is under the control of the local medical examiner’s office, but the Florida Department of State will provide guidance as requested by the City of Tallahassee or the medical examiner. Watch the video below to learn more about the lives of those buried in the cemetery. <\/p>\n
Descendants seek to preserve Tom Brown Park cemetery after bone fragments found<\/p>\n
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:<\/p>\n
Remains were recently discovered near this cemetery in Tom Brown Park.<\/p>\n
Now, the question is: Where does the community go from here?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m Brieanna Smith, your Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood reporter, where I\u2019m asking historians, community leaders, and even family that question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dozens walk through Tom Brown Park daily.<\/p>\n
But most people don\u2019t know about this small cemetery, along an off-beaten path of the Lafayette Heritage Trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday, bone fragments and casket remains were found in the area, prompting an investigation from the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, I met Lena Kilpatrick-Harris, one of the few living links to this small cemetery.<\/p>\n
Three of the four graves belong to members of the Kilpatrick family who lived from the mid-to-late 1800s to the early 1900s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Records posted to FindAGrave.com<\/a> show headstones for J.W. Kilpatrick and Mariah Kilpatrick, a husband and wife, and their son, Walter Kilpatrick, Lena\u2019s grandfather.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere was not too much of anything that was told to me other than being a minister\u00a0and how he cared a lot for his family, and my father, who is his grandson, had inherited some of his property,\u201d Kilpatrick-Harris said.<\/p>\n Historian Delaitre Hollinger says he discovered J.W. ministered for 40 years in Tallahassee and Jefferson County, founding the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe obviously was a very\u00a0prominent citizen here in Leon County. It’s worth noting\u00a0that the site where the remains were found is actually a distance away from those marked graves, which tells me that the boundaries of the cemetery are expansive,\u201d Hollinger said.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s still a mystery how the Kilpatrick\u2019s ended up buried in the area.<\/p>\n The City of Tallahassee says that the land was federally owned.<\/p>\n In 1977, it was dedicated as Tom Brown Park, managed and maintained by the City of Tallahassee Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Affairs Department.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I know is that it was mentioned that they were somewhere in this area, and no one could find the graves,\u201d Kilpatrick-Harris said.<\/p>\n I reached out to the Florida Department of State<\/a> who says the local medical examiner is leading the investigation since the remains weren’t found on state-owned land. <\/p>\n But the department will be present to provide guidance if requested from the examiner or the City of Tallahassee. <\/p>\n Read the full statement below: <\/p>\n \u201cThe local medical examiner has jurisdiction over the remains found in Tom Brown Park. The state does not have jurisdiction over historic cemetery interments that are not located on state lands. However, our office works closely with medical examiner offices to assess historic and archaeological remains. Our role for this case has been to provide guidance as requested by the medical examiner and the City of Tallahassee. Our Historic Cemeteries Program can offer continued assistance through archival research.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida Department of State<\/p>\n Lena is hoping to find the answers for her family, ultimately wanting the site to be preserved as a historical site along with Hollinger.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of the family and part of the history that we had been searching for, looking for, for a long time, and this will kind of like, I guess, close that desire to know where their remains area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It’s unclear how long the investigation will take until they come to a conclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Hollinger says he\u2019s working to bring in attention from the City of Tallahassee and Leon County to discuss preservation.<\/p>\n In Northeast Tallahassee, Brieanna Smith, ABC 27.<\/p>\n Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website. <\/a><\/p>\n Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n Like us on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us on Instagram <\/a>and X.<\/a><\/p>\n