This cemetery was begun in 1809 when Matthew Dickinson died and was laid to rest on land that Alexander Falconer acquired from his father, William, in 1780. This land was a land grant to William Falconer from the Lord of Granville and was called "The Glebe." Matthew Dickinson died, unmarried, at the young age of 29 and Alexander buried his friend on his own property. The next two burials may have been Alexander's wife, Mary, in 1817 and Alexander, himself, in 1818, although this has not been proved. These three burials were probably in the yard and near the main house and are where the present Edwards Family Cemetery is located. Alexander willed this tract of land, including the cemetery, to his son, John Edward Falconer, who later sold the land on June 22, 1829 to Peter Foster. Peter Foster, in turn, sold the land to Rial Pinnell on December 12, 1836. On January 22, 1842, Rial Pinnell sold this same tract of land to Zedikiah Edwards, his son-in-law. The Edwards Family continued to use this cemetery for their own family burials, including Zedikiah, who died November 3, 1873. Upon Zedikiah's death, the land transferred to his widow, Armarilla P. Edwards. She died July 15, 1919 and the land on which the cemetery was located was given over to Omega Z. Edwards in October 1919, as he had acquired all the shares that had gone to his siblings, including the tract with the cemetery. Seven months later on May 15, 1920, Omega Z. Edwards and his wife sold the land to E. H. Malone. On December 18, 1922, this tract of land was foreclosed and deeded over to B. F. Reavis, J.Z. Terrell and J. S. Weldon. In 1973, Roger Edwards and Raymond Foster purchased this same land, which still included the cemetery now called the Edwards Family Cemetery, since most of the burials are Edwards family members. In 2010, the cemetery was re-discovered in the middle of a cultivated field and was quite overgrown; some clearing was done at that time by Stephen Ertman. However, major maintenance was done in 2012 and 2013 by the Edwards family, who are partnering with Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina and with Dickinson family descendants. After the cemetery was cleared, seeded and looking good, Louisburg College was expected to keep it that way, but that never happened. Instead, the cost of upkeep is being funded by family members.
[Thanks to Edwards Family members: Diane Taylor Torrent, for her research of this land in the Franklin County offices, Stephen Ertman for his efforts and toil to preserve the cemetery and Laurie Donaldson for making sure there is a good landscaper taking care of the cemetery.]