The Pleasant Hill Cemetery began as the burial ground for members of the Drake families, who lived nearby.
Today the cemetery is a community cemetery. Families who lived in the Valley Hill, Crab Creek, Big Willow and the old Pleasant Hill community buried their loved ones in the historical cemetery.
Graves from the Greer Family Cemetery were moved to the Pleasant Hill Cemetery sometime in the 20^th century.
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church has never owned or maintained the cemetery. Some members of this church, including many Drake descendants, are buried in the cemetery.
This remains an active cemetery, with recent burials.  According to the Henderson County GIS system the cemetery contains 2.86 acres. The county has Pleasant Hill Baptist Church as the owner, but this is incorrect.
Descendants of the Drake family oversaw the cemetery for many years. At one point Bush Laughter oversaw the cemetery. Someone borrowed the cemetery records from Laughter and never returned them. As a result, the cemetery records were lost.
“It just breaks your heart to know that people don’t care anymore,” Sindy Drake Hamilton said.
Hamilton oversaw the cemetery for many years.
Families with ancestors and family members buried in the cemetery are invited each year to a memorial service held at the cemetery.
A collection is also taken to help maintain the cemetery.
“Less than 10 people came last year,” Hamilton said. “People have just quit coming. We’re having a problem right now with maintenance. I hope and pray something can be done.”
Some descendants are attempting to form a committee and a perpetual care fund, but so far no action has been taken.
“Once in a while there will be somebody to send a check,” Hamilton said. “It’s a shame that people who have loved ones there don’t help.”
Family tradition states that the first person buried in the cemetery was Sarah Elizabeth Barton Drake, wife of Hezekiah Drake who is buried at Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery.
She made her home with her son, Thomas, and his wife, Elizabeth Capps Drake. She died during the Civil War. Family tradition states that she was buried on the top of a hill near their home.
There is a memorial stone for Sarah Elizabeth Barton Drake, born 1785 and died about 1865, at the cemetery.
The oldest marked graves in the cemetery are those of James Drake, 1810-1871, and his wife, Keziah, 1816-1887.
When graves at the Greer Family Cemetery were moved to Pleasant Hill, the graves included those of Charles Greer, 1791-1878, and his wife, Sarah, 1811-1870.
Charles Greer served on the first Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions in Henderson County. This is similar to today’s Board of Commissioners.
George Greer was an early settler in Henderson County. In 1799, he entered a land deed for land on Little Mud Creek.
The grave of Charles Manning Hefner is located at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
Hefner, one of Henderson County’s World War II heroes, died of wounds July 31, 1944, received in action at St. Lo, France. He served as a private with the Army’s 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, and received a Bronze Star. He was born in 1925 in Henderson County, a son of Eskridge Hefner and Lillie Mae Reid Hefner, and grew up in the Valley Hill community.
The grave site of Jackson Cleophus Drake, a Henderson County Sheriff, is at Pleasant Hill Cemetery. He served as sheriff from 1912 to 1916. He was born in 1867 in Madison County, a son of John Bryson Drake and Catherine Brigman Drake. He married Mary Finlay. His family moved to the Big Willow community of Henderson County before 1880. He was a farmer and served as county surveyor for several years, beginning in 1892. He died in 1948.
There are four Confederate veterans with grave sites at the cemetery.
Alexander Barber enlisted in the 56th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. G, Henderson Blues, on 4-12-1862. He was wounded 6-2-1864 at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia and surrendered 4-9-1864 at Appomattox Court House. He died in 1915.
James Harper Johnson enlisted in the 56th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. G, Henderson Blues, on 4-12-1862. He transferred to Co. A on 7-15-1862. He was wounded in the thigh between 4-18-1864 and 4-20-1864 at the Battle of Plymouth in Washington County, N.C., captured 3-25-1865 at the Battle of Fort Stedman during the Appomattox Campaign, a prisoner at Hart’s Island, New York harbor, and Point Lookout, Md., and released 6-28-1865. He died in 1917.
King David McCarson enlisted in the 16th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. I, Henderson Guards, on 3-10-1862. He was wounded in the left arm and thigh 12-13-1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, captured 4-2-1865 at Hatcher’s Run (southwest of Petersburg) during the Appomattox Campaign, a prisoner at Hart’s Island, New York Harbor, and released 6-17-1865. He died in 1915. According to his death certificate, his gravesite is at Pleasant Hill Cemetery. The grave is not marked.
John S. Summey enlisted in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. A, Edney’s Greys, on 5-15-1861. He was wounded in the left hand 6-1-1864 at Petersburg, Va. He was captured 4-2-1865 near Petersburg during the Appomattox Campaign, a prisoner at Point Lookout, Md., and released 6-19-1865. He died in 1920.
There are also four men who served with the Union during the Civil War with grave sites at Pleasant Hill.
Hezekiah D. Drake enlisted in the 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry on 10-1-1863. He was a Confederate deserter from the 65th Regiment N.C. Troops (6th Regiment N.C. Cavalry), Co. C, deserting after August 1863. He died in 1920.
John Bryson Drake enlisted in the 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry on 10-1-1863. He was a Confederate soldier from the 65th Regiment N.C. Troops (6th Regiment N.C. Cavalry), Co. C, and captured in 1863 at Wattsburg, Tenn., with no Union prison listed. He was probably exchanged with other men captured at this time and place. He died in 1917.
Nathan M. Drake enlisted in the 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry, Co. B and F, on 10-1-1863. He was listed as a deserter on 8-31-1864. He was pardoned by act of Congress in 1869. The reason is unclear. Since Kirk’s Raid occurred in June of 1864, he could not have been on the raid. A Confederate military record could not be found. He died sometime after 1900.
Richard T. Drake enlisted in the 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry on 10-1-1863, was captured at Chucky Knob, Tenn., and escaped from Asheville, N.C., on 2-15-1865. He was a Confederate deserter from the 62^nd N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. E, deserting on 11-12-1862. He died in 1930.