In the 1850s, one-third of Weston’s population was African-American, and a section of Laurel Hill Cemetery was set aside for African-American individuals, free or enslaved. Known as the “colored section,” it has about seventy visible gravestones, though more than 400 burials are documented there. Many buried in this area came from Weston or had once lived there, while others were brought from small towns in the county that would not allow African-Americans to be buried in their cemeteries. Many African-American children are buried in this section; some were born into slavery and others after slavery was abolished. Eight members of a family named Weston are also buried there, and it is believed they took their last name from the town itself, reflecting a practice by which enslaved people often chose surnames from owners, towns, states, or famous people. Those buried without markers include Malissa Wood; William Seals, enslaved by Silas May; Westley Thornton, who drowned at age 12; Henry, age 22, who belonged to Mrs. Leachman; Allen Belt; Doll Barber; Matilda Burgess, a washerwoman; Jim Hudson, a laborer; Mary Scott; Weston Ware, a porter at the St. George; Isaac Brown, a farmer; Lett Parker, housekeeper for a doctor’s wife; James Wilson, son of Moses and a musician; Jeanette George, caretaker of the sick; and Sawney Vaughn, a barber and political activist among his people. Those identified by stones include Lester Anderson, a descendant of slaves known for telling tall tales; Hall Cheatham, enslaved and held as the property of Dr. Roberson; Rev. Lora J. Haynes, a minister; Grant Kelley, a brick masoner; Lloyd Kelly, a skilled labourer; Minnie May George, who died at age 23; Joseph Earl Williams, a veteran of W.W.I; Dee Dydell, a laborer; Raymond E. Dydell, a firefighter and businessman who died fighting a fire in Weston in 1971; and Omega Anderson, a night watchman and veteran of W.W.II.