Tombstone Tuesday - William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard

William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard, my maternal great-grandparents, are buried in Coxburg Cemetery, in the old community of Coxburg, Mississippi, near Lexington, the county seat of Holmes County. William Bailey Neatherland and Martha Elizabeth Garrard Neatherland were parents of nine children, including my maternal grandfather, Ralph Ernest Netherland. William was born on May 22, 1845 in Scotland and died in Holmes County, Mississippi on May 24, 1937. Martha Elizabeth Garrard was born on September 8, 1853 in Kentucky, and she died on January 17 1939, just a few months after her 85th birthday. Coxburg Cemetery is the burial place of many other Neatherland/Netherland family members as well as members of several allied families, including the Bass, Harthcock, Killebrew, Pettus, Thomas, Trigleth, and Ziegler families.

Source: Digital Photograph Collection, Privately held by Janice Tracy

Brister Cemetery - Holmes County, MS

Although there are almost a dozen members of the Brister family buried in this old cemetery in the Hoffman community of Holmes County, Hockaday Brister, the patriarch of this pioneer family, is the oldest buried there. According to his zinc gravestone, Hockaday Brister was born on December 12, 1781, and he died on September 8, 1858, when he was 76 years, 8 months, and 25 days old.

According to the U. S. Census taken in 1850, "Hockety" Brister, age 70, headed up a household that included his wife, Nancy, age 66, and sons, Drury, age 26, and Zachariah, age 18. Although he was born in South Carolina, his wife and sons had been born in Mississippi. Mr. Brister's occupation was noted on the census as "farmer," and the real estate he owned was valued at $2,600.



Not to be confused with another, much smaller, Brister family cemetery near Bowling Green, also in Holmes County, Brister Cemetery at Hoffman contains over 200 graves. Among those buried here are members of the Allen, Harthcock, and McLellan families. Another Brister Cemetery is located at Rocky Point in Attala County, and additional members of this prolific early Mississippi family are also buried in other cemeteries in neighboring counties.

Odd Fellows Cemetery - Holmes County, MS

The Odd Fellows Cemetery in Holmes County, seen here, is one of the oldest in this county where "the Hills meet the Delta." Most of us have seen cemeteries identified as "Odd Fellows" cemeteries, and many who saw the name or its abbreviation "I.O.O.F." may have wondered what it actually meant. The abbreviation stands for "International Order of Odd Fellows." The symbol or logo for this organization that was founded on the importance of living an ethical lifestyle, appears as three unbroken, chained links. These unbroken links symbolize the elements of membership in the organization, "Friendship, Love, and Truth." Membership in this worldwide organization is based in the U.S. and headed by the U.S.-based Sovereign Grandlodge.

The command given to members of this group, whose activities are centered around providing kindness and assistance to others, is to visit the sick, to relieve the distressed, to bury the dead, and to educate the orphan.

Odd Fellows cemeteries are the organization's charge to "bury the dead."

The Odd Fellows Cemetery in Holmes County is located in Lexington, the County Seat of Holmes County. Families represented in this large, old cemetery are the following:
Ables, Autry, Applebaum, Baker, Barbour, Beall, Christmas, Cooper, Cox, DeLoach, Doty, Durden, Farmer, Freeman, Frost, Fryer, Fuller, Gwin, Hammett, Harthcock, Herbert, Hooker, Kearn, Meade, Melton, Noel, Pahlen, Ray, Rosenthal, Sheehy, Shephard, Sontheimer, Stigler, Sutton, Taggart, Ussery, Walton, and Zimmerman.