Located in the Springs parking lot.

Hidden in plain sight in the middle of the parking lot of a suburban strip mall at the corner of Breckenridge Lane and Dutchmans Parkway is the Burks Family Burial Ground. The site is thoughtfully and skillfully maintained by the developer of the center. A small square surrounded on all sides by bushes, most people going to Red Lobster or Books-A-Million would never guess that this family resting place is in their midst. Entering through a break in the bushes, this graveyard, about the size of a half-block, reveals that the grass is cut, the stone wall is intact, the gate is operable, and the graves are in remarkably good shape. This cemetery was in use from 1841 to 1855, with only the writing on the oldest stone too faded to read. There are four large graves here, each with an obelisk and each with a ledger slab, which is a slab of stone that covers the entire burial plot. The Burks family was apparently prosperous, hence their own private burial ground on what was once a large horse farm. The obelisks and ledger slabs are indicative of the family's wealth. A ledger slab was more expensive than just a headstone; it was also used to prevent grave-robbing. James Burks, the patriarch, died in 1841, but his wife, Matilda, lived until 1853, dying at age 56. Matilda outlived both her husband and her oldest son, Samuel, who died in 1851 at age 20. Matilda's love for Samuel was reflected by his ornate gravestone, upon which was carved a relief of a young man's faithful hunting dog, "My son" etched on the back. A small stool was built into the base, perhaps upon which a mother would sit and mourn the loss of her son. The youngest son, Charles, died just two years after his mother, at only 21 years of age (1834-1855). There is a baby's grave in the cemetery, distinguished by a cherub at the top, but there is no name on this stone, no way to know when this 8-month-old child was born or died. There is about six feet between the graves of James and Matilda, but Samuel was surrounded by his mother and brother, each only about two feet from his grave. Matilda died just two years after Samuel, which made me wonder if she mourned him so greatly that she could not go on. The inscription that Charles placed on her gravestone seems to bear this out: "Rest, Dear Mother, Rest. Thy sufferings are o'er. Thy soul to Heaven has flown, its glories to explore." (Ellen White; May 2014).