Hodges Cemetery, West of Holden, Livingston Parish, Louisiana Also known as the Simp Hutchinson Cemetery File prepared by Sherry Sanford ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Location of cemetery: T. 6S R. 5E SW 1/4 of Fractional Section No. 23 1980, Published by Edward Livingston Historical Association, Inc., P.O. Box 67, Livingston, La. 70754-0067. Source: Information on umarked graves obtained by Clark Forest, Jr., Holden, La. 70744, from Mrs. Eva Hodges (born 1893), daughter of John S. And Luvina Hutchinson and mother of "Birdie" Richardson and Eunice Roberts, on November 26, 1972. 1. John Simpson Hutchinson "Simp" Jan. 13, 1869 - Aug. 16, 1937 2. Luvina Kinchen Hutchinson Aug. 26, 1871 - Apr. 20, 1955 3. Unmarked grave of Phillip Richardson Infant son of Albirdie "Birdie" and Phillip Richardson 4. Unmarked grave of Carl Richardson Infant son of Albirdie "Birdie" and Phillip Richardson 5. Unmarked grave of Gladys Irene Infant daughter of Albirdie "Birdie" and Phillip Richardson 6. Unmarked grave of unnamed infant son of Eunice and Marion Roberts The Simp Hutchinson Cemetery is a small family cemetery which is situated on the west bank of the scenic Tickfaw River just west of Holden and north of U.S. Highway 190. It is located on land now owned by Carl Hodges, who is a grandson of Simpson Hutchinson, the cemetery's namesake. Although a few individuals, like Mr. Hodges, want to be buried in their family cemtery, the use of such cemeteries has declined. Mr. Hodges, however, has recorded the one acre of land on which the cemetery is located as a family cemetery in the parish Clerk of Court's office. Mrs. Eva Hutchinson Hodges (born 1893), the mother of Carl Hodges, related that, as late as 1937, an informal method was still being used by Anglo-Saxons to select burial sites n Livingston Parish. Mrs. Hodges gave the following description of how her father, Simpson "Simp" Hutchinson (1869-1937), selected his grave site. She said that every September her father would cut the Yankee weeds in the pasture. While resting one day under a chinquapin tree, he stated that he wanted to be buried there. The site was on a ridge near the west bank of the Tickfaw River. This cemetery now also contains the graves of his wife, Luvina Kinchen (1871-1955), and four of his great-grandchildren who died as infants. Mrs. Hodges recalled that since her father had no burial insurance when he died, the family had to prepare his body for burial. They did not build the coffin but purchased it and other funeral items from the Poole Funeral Home located at Hammond. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Hodges purchased a family burial insurance policy which provided free ambulance service for 100 miles. The above information was taken from the writer's Master's Thesis at LSU entitled "Changing Funeral Customs in Livingston Parish, Louisiana: A Socialogical Perspective, " 1976, pp. 110, 138 and 177. Information on the original claimants to land in Section 23 is contained in State Tract Book No. 23. It indicates that those purchasing land in Section 23 included John F. And W.W. Ware who purchased Lot 3 of Section 23 on November 2, 1858, and William Bankston who purchased Lot 2 of Section 23 which consisted of 47.97 acres for $35.98 on October 22, 1861. At present, it is not known in which lot the cemetery is situated.