Commemorative Plaque Laid in Memory of Dr. William Lovett Balfour and His Wife, Elizabeth Gartley Balfour, Mound Bluff Cemetery, Madison County, MS

Photo by Bill Hays

Mound Bluff Cemetery
Near Flora (Madison County) Mississippi

Photo by Bill Hays

Flat Plaque Grave Marker
Dr. William Lovett Balfour and His Wife, Elizabeth Gartley Balfour
Mound Bluff Cemetery
Madison County, Mississippi

Follow posts on Mississippi Memories to read more about the Balfour, Davis, and Gartley Families.

Tombstone Tuesday - Barwick Family Gravestones

Recently, one of my readers, Aubrey Wren, wrote to tell me about an abandoned cemetery on Cauthen Road about five miles off Highway 43 in Madison County.  Wren is unsure if the Madison County Board of Supervisors know about the cemetery, but he has been voluntarily maintaining the area around the old grave stones there.  The cemetery is small, measuring about 40 by 60 feet, and is located about 200 yards off the county road on old church property.  According to Wren, a trench about 12 to 18 inches deep surrounds the area and may indicate the previous existence of a fence that once surrounded the graves. Wren was kind enough to send photos of the gravestones to me for posting here today. According to his transcriptions of inscriptions on the gravestones, at least four members of the Barwick family are buried in this old cemetery. Watch for information about the Barwick family planned for future posts on Mississippi Memories.

Photo by Aubrey Wren

Mary Barwick

Born May 22, 1783

Died Feb. 27, 1853

Aged 69 yrs 9m 5d

Dear mother thy pilgramige is united (?)

Photo by Aubrey Wren

Jane M. Barwick, Wife of H. K. Barwick

Died Sept. 16, 1853

Not lost but gone before

On the left lies her infant daughter

Margaret Eleanor

Aged 12 days

Photo by Aubrey Wren

W.B. Barwick

Born  June 12, 1840

Died  Dec. 17, 1868

Aged  28 years 5 months 19 days

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall ___ "

Tombstone Tuesday - Nancy J. Porter Tucker, Quiet Ridge Cemetery, Durant, MS

Nancy J., Wife of J. S. Tucker, Sr.
Born July 22, 1823
Died Jan 28, 1902
She Trusted in The Lord

Nancy J. Porter Tucker, daughter of Samuel Porter, and a sister to my paternal great-great-grandfather, James M. Porter, was born on July 22, 1828, in Port Gibson, Mississippi. When Nancy was about nineteen years old, she married John Smith Tucker, a wealthy planter who was twice her age.  Mr. Tucker was also a widower, with the oldest of the children by his deceased wife being just four years younger than her new step-mother. Nancy and John had several more children and raised their large family near Canton, Mississippi, in Madison County.  When Nancy died on January 28, 1902, she was buried near other Tucker family members in Quiet Ridge Cemetery near Durant, Mississippi.


Source:  
Ancestry.com, U.S. Census Record, 1850
Personal Family History (Oral) - Porter Family of Madison and Attala Counties in Mississippi

Wordless Wednesday - Dr. Joseph B. Smith

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Dr. Joseph B. Smith

b. May 1792, Rhode Island

d. Nov. 1862 in Mississippi

Buried in Camden Cemetery, Madison County, MS

Wordless Wednesday - Grover C. Barrett

Source:  Digital Photo Collection (2008) - Privately held by Janice Tracy

A Woodmen of the World monument in Good Hope Cemetery in Madison County, Mississippi shows Grover C. Barrett was born on Aug. 20, 1887 and died Mar 5, 1912.  The inscription on the marker gives his age at death as 25 yrs 6mos and 15 days .

Wordless Wednesday - Maggie Neel Unger, Sharon Methodist Church, Sharon, Mississippi

Wife of Dr. J. W. Unger

Died Apr 23, 1896

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Amanda and Samuel Chastain - Canton Cemetery, Canton, Mississippi

Amanda Chastain

b. Nov. 4, 1853

d. July 27, 1914

Samuel Chastain

b. Jan. 5, 1845

d. Dec. 14, 1917

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Gravediggers at Chapel of the Cross Cemetery

Recently I ran across some information about gravediggers. These gravediggers are, in fact, parishioners at Chapel of the Cross, an Episcopal church and cemetery located in Madison County. A picture of the cemetery located beside and behind the historic chapel, appears as the banner photo on this blog today. Volunteer members of this unique parish ministry dig graves, by hand, in which deceased parish members will be buried.

To read more about this unique ministry, visit the parish's website.

E. L. and Harriett Mabry, Shiloh Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi

Pictured here is the double grave stone that marks the final resting place of E. L. Mabry and his wife, Harriet Mabry, in Shiloh Cemetery in Madison County, Mississippi. As the engraving on the marker shows, E. L. Mabry was born on February 2, 1843, slightly over a year before Harriett was born on March 11, 1844. Harriett died on May 20, 1923, just weeks after her husband died on April 3, 1923.

Photograph by Natalie Maynor

Wordless Wednesday - Shrock Plot at Shiloh Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Tombstone Tuesday - Henry Shrock, Camden Cemetery, Madison, Mississippi

Photo by Natalie Maynor

Grave stone of Henry Shrock

Camden Cemetery, Madison County, MS

b. October 9, 1780

d. April 11, 1858

Jessamine Cemetery - Ridgeland, Mississippi

Photo: Digital Collection (2009), privately held by Janice Tracy

The entrance to Jessamine Cemetery in Ridgeland, Madison County, Mississippi is seen above. With its historic area and another one that contains more recent burials, the cemetery is owned and maintained by The City of Ridgleland. Partially surrounded by a newer housing development with well-kept, tree-shaded yards, and a portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway, the cemetery is in a serene and peaceful setting in one of Madison County's most beautiful areas.

Already buried in Jessamine Cemetery are some of Madison County's early settlers, including James B. Yellowly, known as the "Father of Ridgeland." Among others buried in the cemetery are members of families with the surnames of Adcock, Battley, Baker, Carr, DeVelling, McNair, Moody, Schluetter, Tucker, Tweedy, and Woodbridge.