Wetmore Cemetery, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Apr. 2006 Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ WETMORE CEMETERY BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian Wetmore Cemetery, one of the older cemeteries in the Ponchatoula area, is located in Section 58, Township Seven South, Range Seven East, just south of present day Highway 22, and only a few hundred yards east of the Ponchatoula River. Being near the river this property was settled at an early date by area pioneers Samuel and Rachel Hamilton Richardson. Samuel and Rachel's children divided their deceased parent's property in the spring of 1844, with their daughter Rebecca Richardson, who had married William Durbin, receiving the lands east of the Ponchatoula River in Section 58. William Durbin died in the 1850's and Rebecca married James Morrison. Rebecca sold 560 acres of "the Richardson Tract" to Samuel M. Wiggins in December 1865, for $3,000, and Wiggins in turn sold the same 560 acres in May 1873 to Nathaniel D. Wetmore for $3,500. Nathaniel Downing Wetmore was born 5 February 1838 in Dover, New Hampshire, and was the son of Nathaniel Downing Wetmore (b. 4 Dec. 1810 in CN) and Lydia Ann Hanson McIntosh. Nathaniel grew up in Strafford County, NH, and appears to have moved west with his family, who was living in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in 1860. Nathaniel appears to have moved to Louisiana after the War Between the States, and in 1870 was working as an officer in the "C. H". (Court House, or Custom House?) and living near New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish. He had married Margaret Murphy (b. ca. 1842 in New York of Irish parentage) prior to the time the census was conducted in the summer of 1870. Nathaniel was a resident of Plaquemines Parish at the time he purchased the Richardson Tract from Samuel Wiggins in 1873, but he and Margaret probably moved to Ponchatoula soon after the purchase. Nathaniel made out his will 16 May 1873 and stated he was a resident of Plaquemines Parish, although the will was written and later filed in Tangipahoa Parish. In his will Nathaniel stated that he had no children and that he desired to leave all his property to Margaret. The 1880 census shows Nathaniel and Margaret farming their property near Ponchatoula. Nathaniel died in February 1881, and Margaret presented his will in Amite for probate on 3 March 1881. When Nathaniel's property was inventoried on the eighth of March by Andrew J. Pusey and Herman C. Collins, the inventory indicated that Nathaniel owned a 135 acre tract south of the public road and east of Ponchatoula Creek, and that property was his last residence. He also owned a four acre tract called "the sugar mill property" next to his main holdings. Margaret received Nathaniel's property through his succession and continued to farm the land with the assistance of a hired farm manager. Margaret died early in 1903, probably in late February or early March. At her death she owned considerable real and personal property including a 147 acre tract in the southwest portion of the 560 acre section of land her husband had purchased in 1873, and a well furnished main house and an annex building containing ten rooms and more than a dozen beds. Margaret was buried in the cemetery near her home with a simple marker with only her name and the inscription "Donator of the Wetmore Cemetery." Although Margaret Wetmore is listed as the donator and namesake of the cemetery, a cemetery seems to have existed at this site for many years prior to the arrival of Nathaniel and Margaret Wetmore to the Ponchatoula area. Although a number of the earlier burial sites were marked with cypress headboards with carved and/or painted inscriptions, almost all of which have been lost over the years, there are about a half dozen stone grave markers which indicate burials prior to 1873 when Nathaniel Wetmore purchased the land. Markers from the 1860-1864 period reveal the names of early settlers around the Ponchatoula River such as Wells, Grenes, Loveland, and Taylor. Additional markers from the 1870's reflect the growth of additional settlers in the area mixed with the pioneers families. 1870's markers include surnames such as Murray, Mix, Arnold, Walz, and Settoon. The name given to the cemetery prior to the Wetmore ownership of the land is not known to this writer, but might well have been called the Durbin or Morrison Cemetery after the earlier land owners. As the years passed and more persons were buried in the cemetery there was a need for the families with relatives at rest in Wetmore to organize to maintain and improve the cemetery. The Ponchatoula-Wetmore Cemetery Association, Limited, was chartered 8 June 1907. The association was chartered with the stated purpose of owning, establishing, and embellishing "a burying place or cemetery for members of the family who have some members already buried in the cemetery known as the "Wetmore Grave Yard" and for no other." The association began with $100 in stock which was issued at $1 per share. The trustees listed in the 1907 charter were: M. F. Tucker, George J. Hollister, L. A. Steidtmann, Ed Hills, Charles D. Abels, E. T. Gipson, and Hugh Murray. The Wetmore Cemetery Association sought funds in the fall of 1932 to improve the newly enlarged cemetery. William R. Haight, the secretary of the cemetery association at that time as well as being the mayor of Ponchatoula, circulated a letter to those persons who had family members buried in the cemetery asking for contributions. The timber in the cemetery addition was cleared, stumps removed, and avenues were laid out to give access to the new section. The trustees of the association in the fall of 1932 were: William R. Haight, secretary; Hugh Murray, treasurer, and Mrs. Nellie E. Rehorst, Peter Kraft, Sr., John Muller, and George Wild as trustees. The cemetery which was secluded among the pines for generations now has new neighbors as a large subdivision has been constructed around the grounds and the trees immediately to the east of the cemetery have been removed making the cemetery visible from Kraft Road. Historic Wetmore Cemetery, the resting place of many of Ponchatoula's pioneer families, continues to serve the needs of the Ponchatoula community as it has done for almost 150 years. Anyone with questions, comments or suggestions for future articles, may contact Jim Perrin at 386-4476.