Belford Carver, Cemetery Ramblings, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Belford Carver, Nov. 2001 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ CEMETERY RAMBLINGS Dr. Belford E. Carver November 25, 2001 Getting Started Several years ago, around 1993, when I was an active member of the Tangipahoa Parish Genealogical Society, we decided to develop a cemetery directory of the various burial grounds up and down the parish. Some much earlier work had been done, mostly of the northern section of the parish. Because of the increased interest in family history, we believed that such a work would be helpful to those seeking for their deceased ancestors who are buried in Tangipahoa Parish. Work started on recording. Ronald Evans (1921-1998), and his wife along with one or two others, began their work in earnest. I did a few and submitted to our committee chairperson. For some reason, the motivation waned along with membership in the society. Mr. Evans had submitted a number of cemetery recordings, but died before completing his work. After his death, I was able to secure copies from a relative of his, Mrs. Doris Hoover Johnston. These were in my files for some period of time. In the meantime, Don Johnson and Sandra McLellan began putting cemetery information on the USGenWeb project site. When I learned of this, I began to think about the work that Mr. Evans did, which I was afraid would be just collecting dust in a file cabinet. I really felt moved to build on what he had done, and even expand on it. After making contact with Don and Sandra, I began to submit data for online publication. In addition, I updated some of Evans' work and began to do unrecorded graveyards myself. My intention was just to do the south end of the parish and also publish a hard copy of the information. I even purchased some expensive software so I could index it when completed. Instead, I have been putting the hard copy into binders, one for each of the political wards. I doubt that I will put them into a book. As things developed, however, I began to record across the parish. Some of this was due to people contacting me about relatives and where they may have been buried. I said, "Well, since I'm here, I might as well record all of them." It is always a pleasure to have someone send me a "thank you" when they discovered information that would help them in their family history search. At first, I didn't realize that little had been done to record the black cemeteries. So, I began to include them in my work. I discovered, too, that work had been done on the white section of some of them, but not the black. For example, Cooper and Durbin, had two sections. I felt an obligation to include these sections as well, as interest in finding family roots was also increasing in the black community. At one time, the Noah Cemetery in Ward 4 had a fence dividing the two sections. Today it is considered a community cemetery for all and no particular section is allotted according to racial lines. I have even discovered that some of the white cemeteries contain one or more blacks. For example, Peter Hammond, for whom Hammond, LA, is named, has his favorite slave boy buried in his plot along with other family members. As one may expect, the condition of some of our cemeteries are very well maintained, graves aligned in very good order and marked with all the necessary identification. Others, however, are in very poor condition! Graves seem to be placed just any where in a disorganized fashion. Some of them have caved in from years of neglect. Headstones have been toppled over; some worn with age and weather. Some are made of wood with very little left to indicate someone's grave. Some, of course, contain very elaborate monuments and tombs. Since the water table is rather high, especially in the southern half, many of the graves are above the ground. Some appear to have frequent visitors; others have not been visited in many, many years. Some graveyards have been abandoned years ago, and have been overtaken by briars, scrubs, and trees. Surprises Here and There It has been an interesting experience to visit and record the variety of headstones. The Bezue Cemetery is located on the grounds of a private hunting club with only an old tractor trail leading to it. Upon one visit, two young deer sprang up from the high grass, jumped the fence and quickly disappeared in the nearby woods. At another cemetery I frightened a fawn that disappeared in a flash. While driving up to another in the northeastern section of the parish, a large wild turkey flew across my truck. I have seen many rabbits scampering around as well as many varieties of birds. I use a tape recorder and as I transfer the data into my computer, I hear in the background the sounds of jays and especially crows. Wasps and yellow jackets have buzzed about me as I disturbed a bouquet of flowers here and there attempting to read the headstone. Insect spray has been a big help in keeping them off me! I have to be constantly on the alert for ants-they are everywhere. As I was walking slowly from grave to grave recording information, suddenly my instinct told me to STOP! I froze and began to search for the cause of my fright--soon observing a rather large reptile observing me. I didn't realize that this city boy had a sixth sense, but it came into play just before encountering a snake. This happened on at least three occasions. Needless to say, I allowed them to move on before I proceeded with my work. Unfortunately, I don't know what kind of snakes they were; however, I do know they didn't rattle at me! Once when I was in an isolated country graveyard, I observed in the far corner a grave that was apparently caving in. The ground was rather soft, so I decided not to attempt to get any closer to record the information on that funeral marker! One abandoned cemetery required me to hike about a mile or so because of the water and mud in a couple of low areas in the road. I was too afraid of getting my truck stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere! I'm not sure a tow truck could have found me in that isolated location. It appeared that only a few hunters had used the old red dirt road, and, of course, those seeking a place to dump their trash. I had to be guided to some grave sites. On one of these occasions, I inquired of a neighbor about the location of a grave. He immediately volunteered to take me to it. Well, we had to drive a little way into a nearby pasture and then to wander through some very thick brush and briars before finding it. The thorns did scratch! He apologized and said that it had been a long time since he had been to it. Another property owner guided me to another single grave behind his old barn, whose loft was once used for church services. This lone grave was overgrown with scrubs and vines. I copied the information as well as taking some photos of it. Dr. Varnado was a former dentist and Civil War veteran who wanted to be buried on his own land. I understand that he was killed in a duel. It was very obvious that it had been a very long time since anyone had visited this site. Veterans of several different wars are to be found buried in the parish. The oldest I recall was in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. (See end of story.) There are a number of stones indicating the Spanish-American War, Union soldiers as well as those in the Confederate States of America, World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam. Doris Hoover Johnston and I, along with some others, traveled by boat down Pass Manchac to record an old Barbier cemetery near Lake Pontchartrain. Perhaps there are others on Jones Island that some day someone will let us know who is buried out there. Upon visiting one church cemetery, the pastor came charging out of the church like a bull elephant demanding, "What are you doing in my cemetery!" I briefly explained my project, which didn't seem to impress him at all. Finally, I told him that I had an aunt and uncle buried there-and when I pointed to the spot, he seemed to relax a bit. Fortunately, it was a small cemetery and I was finished quickly. (The relatives were actually my wife's, but I didn't tell him that.) At a private family cemetery, the owner would not allow me to visit it. He didn't know it had been recorded several years back. He assured me that no new bodies had been laid to rest there and I wasn't going to get a chance to look. I left rather quickly so he wouldn't get more upset with me. Another time I was recording in an abandon cemetery in a residential area, when suddenly I heard someone yell, "What are you doing in my backyard?" I explained, "I'm recording the information off the headstones." "Well," he replied gruffly, "you'd better not come here in the night. I've gotta gun and I'll shoot ya!" Now, really, do you think this sixty plus year old would go into a cemetery in the dead of night and copy info that is often very difficult to copy in broad daylight? Besides, I'd be tripping over tree roots and falling into sink holes and running into spider webs!!! I don't think sooooo!!!! Fortunately, most people I have had to contact about visiting cemeteries have been most helpful and cooperative. Many have offered little bits of information about family members, how they died, who was related to whom, who donated the property for the cemetery, and perhaps who was the first to be buried in there. Also, some have told me about folk buried in it whose graves are unidentified. Sometimes there are two people buried in the same grave. Several mothers and their babies have been buried in the same grave. Sometimes a pet or two have also been interred in the same plot. . A few stones have indicated that the body was donated to science, or lost in a war and unrecovered. Many stones have symbols indicating their memberships and their occupations or hobbies. One even had a Skoal package engraved on it. On another occasion, I made two or three trips to an abandoned cemetery. The owner of the property assured me that there were headstones there. Both of the Conerly cemeteries are shown on my map; one is black, and the abandoned one white. I sawed and hacked my way into the very thick underbrush near the pine trees near the old dairy barn where she had indicated from her porch across the highway. In spite of my efforts, I didn't see anything to indicate any graves. Perhaps they have been moved to another place. I contacted some folk by the same last name on a road that had the same name to see if they could be of help, but they weren't. One beautiful sunny day, my wife and I decided to drive up to the northeast section to see if we could find three cemeteries on my list. The first one, Roberts, was easy enough to find and record. The second one, McElveen, we passed by without seeing it on the first try; it is about a mile off the highway in the middle of a field. We made our way toward the third one. Using my map, I turned down a gravel road which was suppose to end at the Butler Cemetery. Well, we got to the dead end-and no graveyard. The two old residences appeared to be deserted. I began to back up my truck to turn around and-- presto!--my back wheels fell into the ditch. We tried all the tricks we knew, but to no avail; it was just too deep. I walked to some nearby residences, but apparently everyone who could help was in town. I tried my cell phone to call a tow truck, but I was out of range of a supporting tower. Back I walked and finally found someone to call into the village of Kentwood for a tow truck. Fortunately, one was available and within a half- hour or so I was out of the ditch. There was plenty of room to turn around, but my poor judgment cost me $65! All Types Most graves are positioned east/west. However, I did record a small closed cemetery that had all the graves positioned north/south. I have yet to find out if there is any special reason for this since it isn't the traditional method. Most of the graves are unidentified, but I did find a family member of one of the deceased, now living in the New Orleans area who maintains it. We have cemeteries with only one or two graves to those containing hundreds. Several now have mausoleums as ground space is scarce or is no longer available. We have private family, church related, fraternal, privately owned (however, plots may be purchased by the general public), and city-owned cemeteries. I have found several abandoned cemeteries which have been overgrown with vines, weeds, scrubs, and trees. Some of the headstones are standing, others are broken. Some funeral markers still are visible and readable, others totally unreadable. Some graves are marked only with a metal stob or a few old bricks. Some are on hill tops, others hidden deep in the woods. Our parish has such a variety of landscape to enjoy-from swamp land in the south to wooded hills in the north. Several grave sites are along creeks or rivers. Over 250 cemeteries are online. I have submitted data for at least 110 or more of these. I guess now it is time to do some updating of those online. No doubt there will be some new cemeteries and graves to be discovered that were missed. This area of the state of Louisiana began attracting white settlers in the early 1800s. Markers with dates began around early 1800. So far, the oldest that I have found is in the William Dyson Cemetery which was, according to the sign on the gate, founded circa 1823. John Bankston, Pvt. Georgia Troops-Rev. War, Pvt La. Militia - War of 1812, 1754 - 1827, is the oldest grave in it. This cemetery was in Washington Parish until Tangipahoa was formed in 1869 when it was carved out of four others. Of course, there are also Indian mounds that predate these cemeteries. It is my sincere hope that many family history researchers will benefit from the time and effort taken to do this project. It is the work of many different people working together to create this valuable source of family history for Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. You, too, can get involved with this project! Sandy would love to hear from YOU. She can be contacted at priestner@verizon.net. Even helping with one cemetery can make a big difference. ******** END -BEC-