Although African Cemetery No. 2 is known to have over 5,000 graves, only about 1,200 are marked. Through abuse and neglect over the years many headstones are now damaged and unreadable. The location of the markers has also been called into question. With no known original records of the cemetery, the governing Board of the cemetery has been hampered in its efforts to preserve, improve, and protect the cemetery. Through a fortuitous circumstance, the Board was able to obtain the services of perhaps the finest human remains search dog in the world.

On April 4, 2002 a dedicated team of eleven volunteers from Canine Solutions International, led by Sandra Anderson and her internationally known human remains search dog, Eagle, arrived for two and one half days of intensive search work at African Cemetery No. 2. The team along with local volunteers searched, mapped, and studied the cemetery with the goal of increasing the available information about the physical grounds and those who lie at rest there.

Eagle and his sensitive nose are well known around the world for his ability to find the tiniest fragments of human remains even when thousands of years old and buried as deep as twenty to thirty feet in the earth. Taking part in as many as 200 homicide investigations a year for various law enforcement agencies, Sande and Eagle also find time to help in cemetery preservation work.

It was not practical to attempt to locate all the graves in the cemetery. To make the most of Eagle's time, the search effort centered around several smaller goals:

• Exploring the cemetery fence boundaries
• Spot checking various markers and unmarked areas
• Examining the front Seventh Street and back fence along the railroad tracks
• Surveying the remaining markers

Results

• The fence which encloses two sides and the back of the cemetery was explored by Eagle. Eagle would stop every few feet and indicate the presence of human remains. A small red flag would be placed in the ground exactly where Eagle indicated. By carefully studying his body language and barking Sande was able to judge whether Eagle was pointing out a grave, a scattered human remains fragment, and if a grave roughly how deep the grave was. Over 475 flags were in the ground after Eagle concluded his search of these areas. Most flags are no more than one or two feet from the fence. Some flags are actually in the fence and a few fall outside the fence. This is true especially at the rear of the junkyard that borders the cemetery to the west. The back acre of the junkyard was once an extension of the cemetery. Eagle indicated the presence of human remains in just across the fence in this area. It was not possible to enter the property to do a more thorough search.
• A small area containing what is possibly a mass grave was discovered along the back fence. This may possibly be the area used for reinterring graves from the old Presbyterian Cemetery in 1889. This cemetery was located between Sixth and Seventh Streets and Limestone and Upper Streets.
• Eagle spot checked a number of small areas in the cemetery and indications are that the rows of markers are mostly in the correct positions. A number of areas which have no markers were shown to contain graves and those graves either lie in existing rows or serve to join what appear to be separate rows.
• The front edge of the cemetery, along Seventh Street was examined, briefly due to exhaust fumes disturbing Eagle. Two indications of human reamins were found under the street, approximately one to two feet into the street, and one indcation was found within six inches of the curb. It may be hard to believe that a dog could sniff out human remains under pavement, but this is not the first time Eagle has done this. According to two forensic anthropologists who were part of the Canine Solutions International team, the dog has never been wrong. Everytime he has been doubted, an excavation has proven Eagle correct.
• The back boundary along the railroad tracks yeilded even more interesting results. There is a row of 50 graves outside the property line of the cemetery actually under the railroad bed.
• Four human remains fragments were located. Two small pieces of rib bone, a piece of heel bone, and a tooth. These were found at several sites a few inches below the surface, exactly where Eagle said they were. These remains will be reinterred this summer in a ceremony during the Juneteenth celebration.
• Names and inscriptions were collected from legible stones and merged with a previously compiled list.
• Two "negative areas" were located. These are areas where no one is buried. One area is along the back fence and railroad tracks and extends into the cemetery for quite a ways. This may possibly be a former entrance into the cemetery before the railroad tracks where laid on what used to be Strodes Road. The other area is at the front, near the current east entrance to the cemetery, and is in the same location as an old caretaker building that can be seen in the 1937 aerial photo.
• Both driveways into the cemetery from Seventh Street have human reamins under them.
• The current flag count, indicating human remains, stands around 800. These flags are currently being cataloged for inclusion into a survey plat of the cemetery.

None of this would have been possible without the efforts of the Board, local volunteers, and most especially the Canine Solutions International team. It is heartening to know that there are people willing to travel hundreds of miles to help in the preservation of a cemetery they have never seen before and have no personal connection to.

Much work remains in producing a final report on the two and one half days activities. Several questions were answered and many more raised. Many new avenues of research have been opened as a result of CSI's visit. We will expand this report with more detailed information as soon as time permits. In the meantime feel free to visit the cemetery or donate some time on Saturday mornings helping to mow grass and general groundskeeping. If that's not your thing perhaps you have some little piece of history tucked away in a memory or shoe box someplace. We would love to hear from you about it. Nothing is too insignificant to pass on to us. Every piece of informaton collected helps us bring the historical significance of the cemetery into sharper focus. Thus preserving the memory of those buried in African Cemetery No. 2 and highlighting the contributions they have made to Lexington's past and to its future.