Published: July 22, 2006 11:20 pm            

Historic cemetery needs care

It is listed as Meridian’s oldest cemetery, and appears on the National Register of Historic Places.

Considered the earliest evidence of the city’s settlement, circa 1831, it serves as the final resting place for Meridian’s founder, Richard McLemore.

Victims of some of the city’s darkest chapters in history, including the 1871 Riot and 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic, also lay within its grounds.

But in 2006, the McLemore Cemetery, which sits on a gently rolling hill at the corner of 16th Avenue and Sixth Street, is an endangered burial ground in serious disrepair.

Many of the cemetery’s approximately 100 accounted-for gravesites contain headstones that have detached from their foundations, fallen over, and in some cases, broken into two or more pieces.

The headstone of Joseph J. Barnett, with an emblem proudly denoting his membership in a Masons lodge, offers one such example.

Depicting his birth on Sept. 13, 1832, and death on Nov. 8, 1881 in Marion, Miss., the once-upright slab of Barnett’s headstone now lays embedded in the ground horizontally, its jagged foundation unearthed, and its face disrespectfully cracked into two pieces. Plants and weeds push upwards through the crack line of the stone.

Not far away, the headstone for “Chls” Turberville (1845-1871) — also bearing his Masons insignia — has toppled off its foundation. The tombstone for G. Middleton, a child who died in 1878 at only two years old, leans tentatively against the foundation from which it was once attached.

Yet these are among the headstones in better condition at McLemore. Many others are so defaced by moss and grey-black residue, that the names of the buried and inscriptions from loved ones are no longer distinguishable. Others are choked by overgrown tree limbs and vines, or have moved away from their corresponding burial subjects.



Ancestors and descendants



“I’ve had several patrons come in concerned about the state of that cemetery,” said Carol James, head of genealogy research at the Meridian Public Library. “Some were appalled that some of the tombstones had been damaged or broken.”

The Lauderdale County tax assessor confirms the cemetery to be owned by the city of Meridian, which is therefore charged with its oversight and upkeep. However, the question as to exactly what upkeep should mean is unclear.

“The city, through the Parks and Recreation Department, cuts the grass. We don’t provide perpetual care,” said Wallace Heggie, Meridian’s purchasing agent.

This past week the grass had been freshly cut. The manicured lawn, however, provides a backdrop in stark contrast with the decaying tombstones that populate the cemetery.

Mark Naylor, head of Meridian’s Department of Parks and Recreation, said his department first became responsible for mowing the lawn at McLemore three or four years ago.

“It looked awful,” Naylor said, recalling that it was hard to see many of the graves because of plant and tree overgrowth during his initial inspection.

Naylor says that in addition to cutting the grass, the city or its mowing contractor has removed some overgrown bushes and vines, and straightened the iron fence on the cemetery’s south corner. A tombstone Naylor himself noticed to be cracked in half had its pieces laid back together.

Naylor estimates the city spends $250 a month to pay its contractor to mow the lawn at the cemetery, with no further funding allocated.

To date, however, the city has absolutely no protocol in place to repair headstones in myriad states of damage, or to otherwise reverse McLemore’s continued deterioration.

“If I thought that was my great-grandfather out there, maybe I should go and clean it, have it sandblasted, whatever people do,” Naylor said. Either (the descendants) don’t know, or they’ve even died off.”

Among those headstones upon which dates of death are still visible, 1942 — as denoted on the gravesite of the late Thaddeus Holden — appears to be the most recent year of burial at the cemetery.

Given the time that has transpired, Naylor acknowledges that relatives can no longer be relied upon to provide any maintenance.

“I’ve never seen a soul putting flowers out there,” Naylor said.



Cemetery census



Since there’s no on-site caretaker for descendants to speak with about the possibility of finding a loved one’s grave, the scant few inquiries from prospective family members usually find their way to James’ genealogy reference unit at the Meridian Public Library.

James recalls no more than two or three such inquiries over the past three years, including one from a woman in the Mobile, Ala. area who was able to locate her ancestor’s grave on the McLemore grounds.

A census of as many persons buried at McLemore, as could be accounted for at the time, was taken in 1971 according to James, and appears in “The Cemetery Records of Lauderdale County Mississippi, Vol. 1.” Authored by Meridian-area historians Cecelia Nabors Hobgood and Ann Jones Clayton, the publication lists the names of 96 individuals buried at McLemore.

James advises anyone who believes they may have ancestors laid to rest at McLemore to consult this comprehensive reference work at the library.

Although compiled some 35 years ago, James notes the publication voices concern about the cemetery’s lack of upkeep even then — reporting that a problem with vandalism, for example, prompted at least one family to remove a headstone from the grounds for safekeeping.



Grassroots efforts



The question of who should take responsibility for preserving a cemetery such as McLemore when the supply of known, active descendants is exhausted remains unanswered. The issue of whether the city of Meridian — as owner and custodian — should take a pro-active role in preserving its oldest known burial ground, is similarly unresolved.

“The city ought to be keeping it up,” said Otto Storr, who owns property next to the cemetery. “It’s a really great piece of history and art. This is what Meridian was.”

Others believe that a grassroots public effort to save McLemore Cemetery is more appropriate.

“There should be more interest in (McLemore), but it’s not publicized,” said Bill McBride, a co-founder of the former Friends of Rose Hill organization that was formed in 1997 specifically to save the privately-owned Rose Hill Cemetery.

“Rose Hill was deplorable (10 years ago). Now we can go up there and enjoy the scenery and beauty and reminisce,” McBride said, noting that thousands of daffodil bulbs were planted there over the past year as part of its ongoing refurbishment and preservation.

Unfortunately for McLemore, however, the two cemeteries are not created equal. With more than 10 acres of sprawling grounds, Rose Hill dwarfs tiny McLemore in size. In addition, Rose Hill offers certain attractions unavailable at McLemore — such as the famous mound tribute heralding the remains of more than 250 Confederate soldiers, the graves of the King and Queen of the Gypsies, and two gardens. Rose Hill, in fact, is now considered a major Meridian tourism destination.

While McLemore may never have the popular appeal of Rose Hill, McBride is hopeful that the public will come to its rescue.

“It goes back to the community as a whole. Do we want to take advantage (of the chance to preserve) the cemetery named for the founder of Lauderdale County?”

        

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