An Inventory of Antebellum Tombstone Inscriptions
Carroll County, Tennessee
Compiled by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2002

(Page 42)

SHILOR CEMETERY (Cumberland Presbyterian)

Located beside Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church near McKenzie, Tenn. To reach this burial ground turn off State Highway 22 east of McKenzie onto State Highway 423 and drive 1.8 miles to the church and cemetery.

The Rev. JQHN C. SMITH died Feb. 7th 1830 aged 35 years
Friends, physicians could not save my worldly body from the grave nor can the grave confine me here. When God doth call I must appear
footstone J. C. S.

In memory of
JANE, reliect of JAMES HAMILTON
Died Sept. 8th 1843 aged 81 years 6 mo and 21 days

In memory of
JAMES HAMILTON
Died April 27, 1831 aged 73 years, 9 mo and 26 days

In memory of
ELIZABETH WATERS
Died May 8th 1844 aged 35 years 6 mo and 24 days

JOANA wife of THOMAS OLIVER
Born 1774    Died Oct. 15, 1844

THOMAS OLIVER
Born Dec. 2, 1774    Died Mar. 24, 1854

MARY wife of ADNAH DONNELL
Born Dec. 2, 1794    Died Aug. 1, 1853

ISABELLA R. wife of J. H. DONNELL
Born Dec. 9th 1835    Died Aug. 29, 1856
[a broken stone]

W. S. NEW
Born Oct. 25, 1794    Died Aug. 11, 1846

 

(Page 43)

EDY, consort of W. S. NEW
Born Feb. 9, 1807    Died June 12, 1836

CATHARINE wife of W. S. NEW
[a broken, fallen stone with portion with dates missing]

SARAH daughter of E. A. & J. H. NEW
Born Sep. 8, 1853    Died Mar. 27,1854
Early blessed

O. R. SPARKS
Born June 17th 1806    Died Feb. 6th 1842

MARTHA wife of W. F. COOPER
Born May 20, 1822    Died Jan. 24, 1860

One tombstone:
THOMPSON E. son of E. & R. E. THOMAS
Born Sept. 13, 1860    Died Nov. 29, 1861
HENRY E. son of E. & R. E. THOMAS
Born Nov. 15, 1857    Died Nov. 17, 1861

AMMARILLA F. wife of WM. TRAVIS
Born Feb. 13, 1820    Died Oct. 8, 1840

ELIZABETH wife of C. H. CODY
Born Feb. 19, 1790    Died June 17, 1840
[a fallen stone]

WM. DIXON
Born in North Carolina Mar. 15, 1795    Died Sept. 25, 1838
The just man walketh in his integrity. His children are blessed

TITUS C. son of W. T. & NANCY MELEAR
Born Sept. 30, 1851    Died June 27, 1857
[a fallen, broken stone]

JOHN EVERETT
Born May 13, 1790    Died July 19, 1855
At rest

PHEBE EVERETT
Born Mar. 6, 1792    Died Aug. 15, 1837
At rest

MARTHA ATKINSON
Born May 4, 1760 Died [missing] 1848
[a fallen stone]

EDWARD FLETCHER
Born Dec. 12, 1790    Died Apr. 5, 1857
In life beloved, in death lamented

MARY A. wife of JAS. D. ROBERTSON
Born Apr. 24, 182[chipped]    Died Mar. 24, 1850
O, death where is thy sting. O, grave where is thy victory
[a broken stone]

JANE wife of GREEN BROACH
Born Jan. 20, 1829    Departed this life June 13, 1856

 

(Page 44)

WILLIAM BELL (Masonic emblem)
Born in Lawrence [Laurens] Dst., S.C., Oct. 21, 1812
Died near this place June 28, 1853
He lived the life of a Christian and died in the triumphs of faith. Though his mortal remains are now consigned to the earth yet his immortal soul lives with Christ and will bloom forever in eternal garden

JOHN BELL
Born in Carroll Co., Tenn., Oct. 3, 1837    Died June 13, 1864
M. [MARY] J. H. dau. of DAVID & M. [MARY] A. S. BELL
Born Aug. 30, 1854    Died Sept. 8, 1865

JOHN DAVID son of DAVID & M. A. S. BELL
Born July 2, 1861    Died Dec. 10, 1862

ISABELLA, consort of GEO. BROACH
Died Feb. 26, 1847 aged 28 yrs 11 ms 12 ds

MARY E. wife of JOHN R. MOORE
Died Aug. 29, 1858 aged 29 yrs 4 ms & 2 das
A lovely consort, a mother kind, doth moudering beneath this clod, though asleep
friends are left behind, her spirit hath winged its way to God

BURROW ADNY son of J. R. & MARY E. MOORE
Born Oct. 9, 1851    Died June 29, 1852

ELIZABETH wife of THOMAS HAMILTON
Died Apr. 16, 1858 aged 66 ys 1 mo 21 ds
Rest Mother rest in quiet sleep while friends in sorrow o'er thee weep

One tombstone:
ELIZABETH HAMILTON
Died Apr. 16, 1858 aged 66 yrs 1 mo & 21 ds
THOMAS HAMILTON
Died June 18, 1879 aged 90 yrs 2 mos & 8 ds
Amiable and beloved parents farewell, your worth is not recorded on this perishing stone but in the Book of Life and in the tears of your afflicted friends

One tombstone:
Rev. ROBERT BAKER, Pastor of Shiloh & Bethel Congregations the last 15 years of his life
Born Dec. 28, 1795    Died March 6, 1845
and his wife, SARAH C. BAKER, daughter of THOMAS & ELIZABETH HAMILTON
Born March 1, 1815    Died March 8, 1845
Peace to their memory
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from henceforth, yea, saith the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them
footstones R. B. and S. C. B.

In memory of
SARAH C., relict of Rev. R. BAKER
Died March 8th 1845 aged 30 years and 8 days
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth, yea saith the spirit and they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them.

RUFUS N. son of WM. A. & M. B. CRAWFORD
Died July 1863 aged 15 ys 2 ms & 7 ds

 

(Page 45)

ALBERT E. son of W. A. & M. B. CRAWFORD
Born June 8, 1844    Died Feb. 24, 1864 from a wound received in battle

GEO. ELIOT son of WM. A. & M. B. CRAWFORD
Age 4 yrs 2 ms [no dates given]

LUCIE A. daughter of Wm. M. & SARAH SPARKS
Born Oct. 7, 1860    Died Apr. 20, 1863
Thou fadest our sweetest comfort, our dearest friends they disappear when the loud call from God is given; they sleep in death to wake in heaven
[a fallen stone]

ELIZABETH M. wife of A. G. ETHERIDGE
Born Dec. 16, 1844    Died Nov. 6, 1861
[a fallen stone]

JOHN A. son of J. C. & REBECCA SURBER
Born May 5, 1858    Died Nov. 16, 1859

ELDRIDGE son of JOSEPH & REBECCA SURBER
Aged 5 mos & 13 ds [no dates given]
[a fallen stone]

ELIZABETH wife of FRANKLIN FIELDS
Born Feb. 23, 1829    Died Dec. 29, 1865
Though short my days now I rest and praise my God among the blest
[a fallen stone]

WILLIAM M. son of JAMES R. & JANE L. KNOX
Born Nov. 3, 1842    Died Oct. 10, 1864
Dearest Willie thou has left us here, thy loss we deeply feel but tis God that hath bereft us; he can all our sorrows heal

Also now buried in Shiloh Cemetery from the Hanna family graveyard formerly located near the McKenzie Industrial Park on State Highway 22 (moved in mid-August 1987):

WILLIAM H. son of JOHN and JANE HANNA
Born Jan. 11th 1840    Died Feb. 12, 1864 aged 24 years 20 days

According to Cynthia Billingsley Kemp, a several-degrees-over niece of William Hanna, the older members of her family told her that he was on furlough from the Confederate Army visiting with his family near Hico when in December of 1863 he and a fellow soldier, William Waddell, learned that a Federal officer was harassing an older couple in the neighborhood and they went to investigate. Hanna was in the process of pushing the Federal out the front door when young Waddell fired his pistol at the latter, killing him but the bullet also struck Hanna, inflicting a serious wound. He was hidden out in the Enon bottoms where family came to nurse and feed him but he died after a prolonged bout with infection. The Federals burned the Hanna residence and they had to live in a secondary building on the farm for quite a while.

The official compiled military service record for William H. Hanna reveals that he enlisted in Co. B, 20th Tenn. (Russell's) Cavalry, July 1, 1863. A note in his record, written by his captain, W. H. Hawkins, from Verona, Miss., September 14, 1864 read, "Inventory of affects of Wm. H. Hanna, Co. B., 20 Tenn. Cavl. who was killed in Carroll County, Tenn. Feb. 14, 1864. He was absent from his command at the time of his death and his affects taken charge of by his father. He has pay and commutation for clothing and service for horse due him from the date of his enlistment to the day of his death."

 

(Page 46)

SMITH CEMETERY

This burial ground is located within the Milan Training Center of the Tennessee National Guard near Lavinia, Tenn.

SARAH J. daut. of J. C. & HARRIETT R. SMITH Died Feb. 25, 1846 aged 8 yrs 4 mos [broken, fallen stone]

J. C. SMITH Died March 5, 1846 aged 41 yrs

 

STANFORD CEMETERY

To reach this burial ground drive from State Highway 22 onto Dollar Hill and Stanford Cemetery roads about three and a half miles west to where Stanford Cemetery Lane turns off the latter road; drive about .2 mile to the cemetery sited on the west side of the road. There are many graves here marked with large sandstones.

THOS. A. STANFORD Died Apr. 8, 1859 aged about 69 yrs Blessed are the pure in heart

NEWTON son of LEM'L. & CANDIS LASSITER Born Dec. 25, 1833    Died June 12, 1856

 

TAYLOR CEMETERY

To reach this burial ground turn off State Highway 114 in eastern Carroll County onto Spanish Grove Road and drive about .5 mile to Taylor Cemetery Road; drive about .5 mile to a point on the east side of this road to the cemetery.

THOMAS TAYLOR
Born Dec. 6, 1806    Died Aug. 1, 1865
And is he gone whom we so dearly loved, whose tender kindness we so oft proved,
Yes, he is gone, his happy soul fled and now he's numbered with the silent dead

WILLIAM TAYLOR
Died May 1860
[no day given]

 

THOMAS CEMETERIES

I. LUKE THOMAS GRAVEYARD

To reach this burial ground turn from State Highway 22, near McKenzie, Tenn., onto Hico Road and drive about 1.8 miles southwest; from this point walk west about .2 mile to a tiny rise in a field behind some farm structures whereon the cemetery is sited. Of the several tombstones once here none are here now. The Luke Thomas tombstone was broken into three pieces, the top depicting a willow tree and sleeping lamb; the middle portion, the name and dates and the third bearing the verse, "A father is dead, beloved and dear, and nature weeps the tender tear." In 19748 the second portion was moved to Shiloh Cemetery in order to preserve it for future generations:

LUKE THOMAS
Born Feb. 25, 1790    Died Dec. 20, 1860

For some reason the death year is inscribed incorrectly. Thomas died Dec. 20, 1862. He executed his last will in June 1861 and it was probated January 10, 1863. (Carroll County Will Book A, pages 405-408; County Court Minute Book 1859-1866, page 338) His great-great granddaughter, Marilynn Holland Putnam, McKenzie, owns the original of a letter written by Matthew Thomas, a Confederate soldier, from Columbus, Kentucky, Feb. 2, 1862, to his father, addressed as Luke Thomas, Sr., Hico, Tennessee.

 

II. EZEKIEL THOMAS GRAVEYARD

This burial ground was located somewhat south of the other Thomas cemetery, south of Thompson Road, sited on a bluff according to Thomas descendants, Cynthia Billingsley Kemp and Marilynn Holland Futnam. The two known tombstones there were "bulldozedtt in the early 1970s. Pictures of these two tombstones, reproduced in THE THOMAS TREE by Jane Thomas Chandler, c 1982, page 59:

 

(Page 47)

EZEKIEL THOMAS
Departed this life Jan. 3, 1850    AE 58 ys

ABSLEY P. THOMAS [his wife]
Departed this life Apr. 25, 1852    AE 51 ys 14 ms

Both stones bore verses too dim to be read on the photographs.

Luke and Ezekiel Thomas were brothers, sons of Ezekiel and Sarah (Holland) Thomas of Bertie County, North Carolina; these two men migrated to Trigg County, Kentucky about 1812 and from there to Hico in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1822. Both men and their wives have a legion of descendants. THE THOMAS TREE, pages 44-59.

 

THREDGILL CEMETERY

Located in a woods area about .2 mile southeast of the terminus of Byrd Lane at a point about 1.5 miles from this lane's juncture with Spring Creek Road near Lavinia, Tennessee.

WM. A. THREDGILL
Died May 3, 1862    aged 21 ys 10 ms 1 day

H. I. wife of W. A. THREDGILL
Died June 6, 1867    aged 26 ys 1 day

 

WALKER CEMETERY

To reach this burial ground drive north on U.S. Highway 79 from the juncture of this highway with State Highway 105 in Trezevant, Tenn., about one mile to Oak Grove Road; turn west thereon and drive about 1.9 miles to a point on the west side of this road. Park and walk about .2 mile further northwest through a large field to a hardwood copse wherein this cemetery is sited. All the tombstones have fallen, portions of some of them evidently carried off in the past.

___________[missing] WALKER
Born Oct. 14, 1836    Departed this life May 17, 18149 aged 12 yrs 6 mos & 28 das
... the young ... the beautiful ... beneath the sod
[a fallen, broken stone]

In memory of
BEVERLY B. BOMAR
Born March 12, 1811    Died [1852]
[a broken, fallen stone]

Also here:
the lower portion of a tombstone inscription: He drills no more in tented fields, has laid his musket down and changed his weary camp tent to an immortal crown

S. E. [SARAH ELIZABETH] wife of C. BOMAR
Born Jan. 19, 1827    Died Jan. 31, 1885
Rest Mother in quiet sleep while friends in sorroe o'er thee weep and their heartfelt offerings sharing, and near thy grave their requiem sing

WILLIAM WALKER
Born Mar. 27, 1828    Died Oct. 29, 1867

C. C. BOMAR
Born May 5, 1822    Died Nov. 5, 1869

 

(Page 48)

a tombstone, the upper portion missing; the death date being [    ] 5, 1868
weep not for me

This was the family graveyard of Baylor Walker, born about 1793, a Virginian, and his wife, Sarah, born about 1801. In Carroll Co., Tenn. Deed Book 6, pages 329-330, the children of Sarah E. Bomar sold in January 1886 a 57 acre tract, "and excluding .8 of an acre for the graveyard part of a tract [that] once belonged to Balor Walker."

Carroll Co. Court Minute Book 1850-1856, page 192. James M. Hurt was appointed administrator of Beverly B. Bomar's estate, August 2, 1852. His inventory was submitted Nov. 1852. IBID., page 214. His only child was William S. Bomar. IBID., pages 220-222. Sarah E. Bomar married Calvin Bomar, October 17, 1853, she having first been married to Beverly B. Bomar, a young bride and one of the daughters of Baylor and Sarah Walker.

 

WILDER CEMETERY

To reach this burial ground turn from State Highway 77, east of McLemoresville, onto State Highway 436 and drive a distance of about 1.4 miles; turn west on Big Buck Road and drive about .5 mile to Pace Road; turn north on this road and drive about 1.8 miles to Wilder Cemetery Lane; drive on this lane about .3 of a mile to the cemetery sited on the south side.

ISABELLA J. dau. of E. M. & N. E. ELSBERRY Born July 2, 1851    Died Apr. 16, 1857	WILLIAM J. son of N. J. & D. J. KEATING Died Oct. 1, 1853 aged 3 yrs 14 ms 27 ds
ROBERT W. son of J. R. & SARAH A. KEATING Born Jan. 30, 1855    Died Sept. 30, 1855 aged 8 mos	JAMES KEATING Born Oct. 22, 1788    Died Jan. 10, 1849 aged 61 yrs
J. B. SAYLE Born May 2, 1810    Died Jan. 17, 1865	SUSAN C. SCOTT Born Nov. 15, 1853    Died Apr. 7, 1859
MARY P. dau. of JOHN & CAROLINE GIBSON Born Mar. 23, 1856    Died Aug. 16, 1857 This world is not my home

 

WINGO CEMETERY

To reach this burial ground drive north on U.S. Highway 79 from the juncture of this highway with State Highway 105 in Trezevant, Tenn., to a point about 1.7 miles therefrom, to Cutlip Lane on the east side of U.S. Highway 79 and drive about .8 mile to this cemetery located within a wire fence.

Sacred to the memory of WM. D. WINGO Born March 8, 1829    Died June 2, 1857 He was lovely and amiable in life and died in the full triumphs of the Christian faith. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord	JOSEPH EDWARDS son of JOHN J. & MARY A. WINGO Born July 15, 1865    Died Sept. 20, 1865
	JOSEPH A. son of DABNEY & RHODA RUDD WINGO Born in Virginia 1830 Died in Tennessee 1860

 

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