The above was written by the DAR in the early 1940's.
I worked in this cemetery July of 1994. What I found was a totally different picture than what the DAR reported in the 1940's. The cemetery is now fenced in. To the west is a stockyard full of cattle. At least now they can't destroy any more of this lovely little cemetery. It sits on a hill surrounded by a field on the north, and what is left of a swamp on the east. The Frances Slocum Trail runs beside it on the south. I can only guess at what has happened here. It appears that after the DAR read the cemetery someone or a group of people fenced it in, reset the stones, and cleaned it up. Many of the stones are set in cement, the kind that is very rocky, and falls apart easily.
On the second trip to the cemetery, it was apparent that many stones that the DAR listed, were now gone. Just as we were about to leave, my husband was checking out a brush pile along the fence. Under this brush pile were about 30 stones, headstones and footstones. All the headstones were broken, and just thrown in a pile in the back. Brush was piled on top of them, so as to hardly know they were there. We cleared as much brush as possible and dug out the stones that were there. All of these pieces are now resting against or beside a tree that was probably there when these people were being buried here. This cleared up a lot of the missing stones, but not all of them.
This cemetery was a total read. The DAR recorded 77 people. I found 90 people, 92 if you count 2 footstones that I didn't find headstones for.
I also added 2 Prickett graves, taken from an older reading and combined family records of this cemetery. I did not locate these 2 graves, they are marked with an asterisk.
This cemetery is located in the north west corner of Section 23 of Pleasant Township 25 N R. 7 E., on the original part of the Frances Slocum Trail. This trail used to be, many years ago, the only way from Marion to Peru.
This poem was found on a piece of stone under the brush pile. No other information was on it.
Baird, Jane 1806 - 1855 S/S with William Lucinda w/of Thomas F. Baird died Oct. 5, 1870 aged 22y.7m.27d. "Husband I must leave you Leave you, leave you all alone. But my blessed Savior calls me Calls me to a heavenly home." William 1802 - 1892 S/S with Jane Bodkin, Charity dau of T.A. & P. Bodkin died Jan. 25, 1866 aged 1y.2m.16d. (I couldn't check the age on this one, it was buried in cement.) * Hulda A. (Bodkin) Prickett Dec. 14, 1841 - 1890 w/husband George Washington Prickett At one time their graves were enclosed with a cement curbing. This has disappeared. (This was taken from a family record and an older reading of this cemetery. I did not locate either one of them.) Thomas A. died Mar. 19, 1864 aged 44y.1m.20d. (From a family record I found is listed that Thomas was born Apr. 30, 1819, and it is also believed his wife Phebe (Conner) Bodkin is buried here also, although I did not find her.) Conner, John son of D. & M. Conner died Jan. 15, 1840 aged 16 years. (This stone is buried in the ground and the top with the name of John is missing.) Creviston, Henry died Apr. 13, 1876 aged 53y.1m.2d. (The Holy Bible is at the top of this stone. This is one of the stones that was found under the brush pile and is now leaning against the tree.) Elder, Samuel J. son of J.N. & H. Elder died Apr. 7, 1858 aged 5 days. (This stone is broken at the bottom, but all the information is still on it, also found under the brush pile and is now leaning against the tree.) Eltzroth, Gilbert A. son of G.W. & R.J. Eltzroth died Sept. 1, 1878 aged 1y.10m.15d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials G.A.E.) Malisssa C. dau of N. & L. Eltzroth died Sept. 20, 1854 aged 1y.7m.1d. Sleeping child lies on top of this marker. Fisher, Elizabeth C. wife of E.J. Fisher died Aug. 24, 1847 in her 31st. year. George W. son of Jacob & Amelia Fisher died May 31, 1863 aged 20y.3m.9d. (The DAR listed him as George Washington Fisher.) Jacob R. died Feb. 5, 1857 aged 56y.8m.26d. William R. son of J.R. & A. Fisher died Feb. 22, 1847 aged 9y.11m. Foster, Edgar C. 1888 - 1889 Fred G. 1891 - 1899 NOTE: Found a footstone under the brush pile with the initials E.F. (Fisher or Foster???) Gilbreath, Catherine M. wife of J. Gilbreath died Mar. 28, 1869 aged 39y.3m.13d. (From a family record Catherine appears to be Joseph's 1st wife.) Joseph 1820 - 1877 Grim, Hannah born Dec. 29, 1811 died June 10, 1862 aged 50y.5m.12d. (Footstone found under the brushpile with the initials H.G.) Hamilton, Barbara wife of Isaac died Sept. 30, 1876 aged 61y.9m.24d. "Dear mother thou art gone to rest Thy toils and cares are o'er And sorrow, pain and suffering now, Shall ne'er distress thee more." Jackson, Viola dau of C. & N. Jackson died Sept. 27, 1854 aged 1y.23d. Lawson, Phebe died May 5, 1885 aged 68y.8m.6d. "Mother" S/S with Shederick Shederick died Mar. 18, 1890 aged 80y.10m.11d. "Father" S/S with Phebe "Their memory is blessed." (From a family record it shows there was an infant buried with Phebe and Shederick Lawson, no dates were given.) Lowry, James died July 30, 1856 aged 77y.9m.6d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials J.L.) McClure, Phebe Ann wife of David R. McClure died Feb. 23, 1854 aged 22y.4m.27d. Morehead, Calven died Sept. 1, 1872 aged 67y.3m.25d. Leanah F. wife of S.G. Morehead died June 26, 1878 aged 39y.10m.9d. Phebe E. dau of A.& S. Morehead died Apr. 26, 1863 aged 4m.1d. Sarah J. (Sutton) Morehead dau of Platt & Sarah Sutton died Mar. 23, 1906 aged 74y.11m. (I believe this stone has been replaced a long time ago. There is an old base still there with no stone. The DAR had Sarah Jane. They also thought her parents were Morehead's.) * Susannah wife of Alexander Morehead died Dec. 11, 1863 aged 26y.4m.26d. Prickett, Asenath wife of R. Prickett died Mar. 7, 1864 aged 22y.1m.1d. Blewford died Mar. 1, 1864 aged 46y.10m.21d. Catherine wife of William Prickett died Nov. 23, 1847 aged 46 years. Charles S. son of R. & A.E. Prickett died Oct. 8, 1864 aged 9m.18d. Charlotte wife of A.J. Prickett died July 7, 1869 aged 26y.3m.24d. Daniel F. son of L. & C.(or G.) Prickett died Feb. 24, 1866 aged 11y.3m.29d. Eliza E. 1854 - 1887 "Mother" beside of Leander Elizabeth dau of B. & R. Prickett died Nov. 7, 1846 aged 2y.7d. Elizabeth wife of Jackson Prickett died Mar. 29, 1857 aged 23y.10m.23d. Ethan C.(or G.) son of J. & E. Prickett died Aug. 6, 1862 aged 6y.5m.3d. "Jesus loved, and so said he Suffer such to come to me." (Found the bottom half of this stone with the top missing, later located the top half under the brush pile and is now leaning against the tree.) George Burr son of L. & E.E. Prickett died Mar. 29, 1882 aged 2y.5m.4d. "Gone but not forgotten" * George Washington Prickett Nov. 14, 1838 - Aug. 20, 1919 w/ wife Hulda A. (Bodkin) Prickett Infant son of J. & E. Prickett died Mar. 25, 1857 aged 2 days. * Hulda A. (Bodkin) Prickett Dec. 14, 1841 - 1890 w/husband George Washington Prickett At one time their graves were enclosed with a cement curbing. This has disappeared. (This was taken from a family record and an older reading of this cemetery. I did not locate either one of them.) James died Apr. 7, 1871 aged 50y.4m.9d. (Found the top of this stone under the brush pile, now leaning against the tree, the age part is missing.) John died Dec. 24, 1855 aged 23y.1m.29d. John son of W. & C. Prickett died July 2, 1863 aged 34y.7m.15d. Leander 1852 - 1910 "Father" beside of Eliza E. Lucinda dau of B. & R. Prickett died Apr. 29, 1852 aged 8y.15d. Lucinda wife of J. Prickett died Sept. 18, 1867 aged 72y.2d. Mary L. dau of J. & B. Prickett died Apr. 13, 1852 aged 11m. Naoma R. dau of J. & E. Prickett died Sept. 22, 1854 aged 1y.8m.17d. Nathan died Sept. 14, 1874 aged 55y.5m.29d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials N.P.) Presley son of W. & C. Prickett died Sept. 4, 1846 aged 21y.9m.4d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials P.P.) Thomas H. son of L. & E.E. Prickett Feb. 3, 1877 - March 16, 1877 "He died in beauty" (The remainder of this poem was illegible.) William died Feb. 28, 1864 aged 71y.4m.29d. William J. son of B. & R. Prickett died Sept. 1, 1863 aged 21y.3m.20d. William T. son of W. & C. Prickett died Apr. 30, 1847 aged ???? (Age was set in cement.) Zadok died Mar. 27, 1870 aged 75y.7m.11d. NOTE: Two footstones were found with the initials E.P. and J.P. Renbarger, Alvina Allice dau of J.S. & A.A. Renbarger died Oct. 13, 1867 aged 2y.10m.8d. (This stone was found under the brush pile. Very illegible. The only thing that was very clear was the date of death. This stone now leaning against the tree.) Charles F. son of J.S. & A.A. Renbarger died May 22, 1875 aged 8y.1m.11d. Edward born Aug. 29, 1816 died Feb. 8, 1889 aged 72y.5m.9d. Elizabeth J. dau of E.& M. Renbarger died Jan. 6, 1853 aged 3y.11m.22d. Geo. W. died Feb. 21, 1861 aged 46years. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials G.W.R.) James M. son of J.S. & A.A. Renbarger aged 10m.26d. Lewis C. son of G.W. & J. Renbarger died Sept. 19, 1855 aged 6y.4m.10d. Renbarger, Mary wife of Edward Renbarger died Nov. 26, 1855 aged 36y.9m.22d. Mary J. dau of J.S. & A.A. Renbarger died Sept. 12, 1859 aged 6m.26d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials M.J.R.) * Phebe H.F. dau of E.& M. Renbarger died Jan. 10, 1853 (no age stated) Rennaker, David son of Andrew & Catherine died Sept. 13, 1860 aged 5y.7m.16d. Elisa J. dau of Andrew & Catherine Rennaker died Sept. 23, 1860 aged 3y.11m. Mary A. dau of Andrew & Catherine Rennaker died Sept. 13, 1861 aged 3m.19d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials M.A.R.) Mary E. dau of J. & L. Rennaker died Dec. 25, 1861 aged 3m.19d. Michael died Nov. 11, 1885 aged 84y.7m.11d. * Michael C. son of Wm. & E. Rennaker died Feb. 4, 1864 aged 7m.13d. * Rebecca wife of Michael Rennaker died Jan. 4, 1855 aged 80y.7m.28d. Samuel died June 11, 1857 aged 29y.1m.24d. (Footstone found under the brush pile S.R.) Shellhamer, Jemima wife of S. Shellhamer born Aug. 1, 1814 died Sept. 14, 1884 aged 70y.1m.13d. "Here I lay my burden down, 1st side Change the cross into the crown" "Dear Mother, in earth's thorny paths 2nd side How long thy feet have trod, To find at last this peaceful rest Safe in the arms of God" "In aftertime 3rd side We'll meet her" (This was a very decorative marker made of bronze.) Sherman, Joseph born July 17, 1807 died Apr. __, 1864 aged 56y.8m.29d. (The top of this stone is one of the pieces found under the brush pile, now leaning against the tree.) Leona E. dau of S.M. & L.E. Sherman died May 25, 1860 aged 1y.7m. Phebe A. dau of S.M. & L.E. Sherman died Sept. 23, 1865 aged 8m.13d. (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials P.A.S.) Sherman, William M. son of S.M. & L. Sherman died Aug. 25, 1879 aged 17y.4m.22d. "A faithful friend and a brother dear A loving son we buried here In love he lived in peace he died His life was asked, but God denied." (Footstone found under the brush pile with the initials W.M.S.) Shilling, * Christina wife of Jacob Shilling died Feb. 19, 1877 aged 78y.8m.23d. * Jacob died Oct. 4, 1874 aged 81y.3m.2d. Slover, Deborah wife of Abraham Slover died Nov. 2, 1855 aged 52y.6m.14d. (This stone was broken and the part with Deborah's name is one of the pieces found under the brush pile, now leaning against the tree.) Smith, Reuben H. died Sept. 16, 1873 aged 22y.3m.9d. "A faithful friend and companion dear A loving husband is buried here In love he lived in peace he died His life was asked, but God denied." Sutton, Jessie P. son of P. & S. Sutton died Apr. 6, 1848 aged 5y.5m.26d. Platt died Apr. 22, 1864 aged 69 years Sarah J. (Sutton) Morehead dau of Platt & Sarah Sutton died Mar. 23, 1906 aged 74y.11m. (I believe this stone has been replaced a long time ago. There is an old base still there with no stone. The DAR had Sarah Jane. They also thought her parents were Morehead's.) Thomas son of P. & S. Sutton died Dec. 5, 1869 aged 33y.9m.1d. Tamage, Brady son of T. & M.J. Tamage died Mar. 6, 1855 aged 10m. "of such is the kingdom of heaven." (The DAR had this name listed as Talmage.) Wharton, Nancy wife of W.W. Wharton died Dec. 21, 1873 aged 38y.1m.29d. Wright, Andrew son of A. & S. Wright died Apr. 9, 1863 aged 11m.28d. (This stone was found under the brush pile broken in half. It is now leaning against the tree.) NOTE: I found two footstone's that didn't match anyone in this cemetery. The initials were W.J.R. and J.C.H. PRICKETT CEMETERY
...Original page by Sheila D. Watson
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