Wordless Wednesday - David Pate's Grave Stone in Broom Cemetery

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Tombstone Tuesday - Isaac Newton Nelson

This well-preserved grave stone that marks the grave of Isaac Newton Nelson is located in Broom Cemetery, near Coffeeville, in Yalobusha County, Mississippi. The marker bears the Masonic emblem that denotes Mr. Broom's membership in the Masonic Order. According to the inscription on his grave stone, Isaac Newton Broom was born on Valentine's Day in 1834, and he died when he was 69 years old.

Tombstone Tuesday - J. H. Marshall, Woodman of the World

J. H. Marshall's grave monument stands tall and seemingly unblemished by time in Broom Cemetery, near Coffeeville in Yalobusha County, Mississippi. According to the inscription, Marshall was born on Februry 25, 1865 and died on May 11, 1913. Palm leaves adorn the center section of the stone marker where Marshall's name and dates of birth and death appear. Like all Woodmen of the World grave monuments, symbolic logs bearing the Woodmen of the World emblem appear in a prominent place. This design is one of many others that appear on monuments provided for deceased members of the Woodmen of the World society and erected in Mississippi cemeteries during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Broom Cemetery, Yalobusha County, MS

The Broom Cemetery, located near Coffeeville in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, contains the graves of the Broom family, including the patriarch and matriarch of the family in Mississippi, Elizabeth and Ezekial Broom. Elizabeth was born in Georgia on December 2, 1798, and Ezekial F. Broom was born on November 25, 1799. The couple died two years apart; Ezekial's death occurred on September 1, 1959, and Elizabeth died on October 30, 1861. It appears that some gravemarkers for older Broom family graves may be replacement stones, since they are newer and are similar in design.

Among other families buried in the Broom Cemetery, some related to descendants of Elizabeth and Ezekial, and some not, are those with the surnames of Basinger, Dorris, Holland, Langham, Pate, Speir, and Walters.