Dying to Get In to Avoid Being Left Behind - Cemetery Tales

I saw a joke on Facebook a few days ago: Why do they put fences around cemeteries?  Because people are dying to get in.  OK, I know it is a kid's joke and not too funny, but its probably better than some play on the Left Behind theme to go along with this photo of a Williams family cemetery my granddaddy, Richard Hobart Williams, and I visited as part of an April 13, 1985, tour of Newport and Cocke County, TN, where he spent his boyhood.  He had tape recorder in hand and was enjoying telling me about the cemetery and other things he was reminded of about life a hundred years ago.  Here is what he said, shortened somewhat:

Now this is the Williams cemetery, my grandfather's private cemetery.  When he sold the farm, he reserved an acre here for a family cemetery.  Course now then they won't be any more Williams' buried here.  They're letting the neighbors bury here and they keep it up.

I think uncle Dave made a big mistake. His was one of the families that stayed here in the community till he died. Looked after things. He put this or advocated putting this metal fence around it which I think was a big mistake because it looks terrible if you don't keep it painted all the time and nobody's going to do that.

Uncle John Williams (J. D. 1848-1915) was the only brother was buried here. They wouldn't help on the fencing so they didn't put it around him. Fenced him out. So they said they's going to move him anyway which they never did and never will. But he died in 15.

I was over there in the fall of 14 just before he died. He was on his death bed. Uncle Cas had bought a new Dodge car, first Dodge that was ever sold in Blount County. Eugene took it and Mabel and I believe Merle and I went over and he lived on Clinch River on other side of Knoxville. He was sick and in bed at that time and died in a little while; well he died there in December. We were there in the fall of 15. They buried him here.

M. W. I don't know what that’s put there for. Don't know if that’s for his wife or not. They didn't bury her here. There's your grandpa's (W. M. Williams) right there. Born 1844 and died May 28th 1908. We came back here we got a telegram he was bad sick. I got on my little ole pony went up 3 or 4 miles west of town there in Kansas where we's. He came on in. We caught a train came back and he was living here then at that time. But he bought that farm, Liddie farm over here went along the river which was a beautiful river bottom farm we bought the one up where uncle Dave lived. Kindy interesting they moved here in 1876 and it was, you can see it’s a rough farm more or less but it was a level farm beside of what they owned down there in Sevier county and said he came home and told the family you could drive a wagon and team all over it. Well they didn't think it could be that level you know. Well Uncle Dave, Uncle Dee the oldest one lived in one of those houses right back over the hill yonder. He was over there one day he's out there looking around and he said to Uncle Dee, "Dee, I’d hate to live here where you live. Why father? Said I'd hate to live here and look over yonder where I can see all that good land and have to make a living on this ole poor hill farm here.

Course he got on the good land over there but it didn't do him any good. He'd bought this here but he lay in here sick and moved over there in the fall of seven and died over there. He died on the river over there...on the river bank. It’s a long ways from where he started out when he got back from the army. He was in the cavalry and they give those men their horses they said. So he was discharged in Knoxville and I reckon he rode it all the way from Knoxville up here. He married my grandmother and they had what they had to go to housekeeping with and got on back of a horse on back of him and they went out and went to housekeeping. That'es the way he started out. And when he died why he owned these two farms and he was pretty well heeled for that day.

November 98. Now grandmother, his mother, died about the same time she did 98. It was about a year and a half forward. I was born in March of 97. I believe she died in December I believe it was. But she was still living at that time though she was quite old.

Now this was Grandpa's here. That's Uncle Dee's there. Died in 43. Pop was born in 67. He's just about 11 months younger older'n Uncle Dee. Less'n a years difference.

Now that's Uncle Dave's boy Roy, Estalene's and Ada's brother. He just lived to be a couple of years old. I remember him. (Your father is buried there in Maryville, isn't he?) Yeah, he and mom and my brother Claude's buried there. My wife's buried there and Aunt Ethel's buried there. I'm going to be buried there by her.

Now, this is Ollie there. Ain't that Ollie? That's Aunt Ollie. She married a Benton. I don't think she had any children. I just remember seeing her onetime somewhere. I don't know where it was. Looked up the road and someone says, "There comes Cas and Ollie." That was in a one horse buggy and that was the only time I ever remember seeing her.

Now here's Uncle Cas's twins here. Said they had two twins. Buried them in a cigar box. I’ve thought about it just here lately. She aborted, I imagine.

Son of Cas and Jenny Williams. Born in February, '98. Died in March, '98.

These are grandpa's I think. This one over here I believe is Uncle Willard's. He died after we went from Newport down to Lenoir City.

They're burying on the outside of the fence now. As far as I'm concerned they can take this fence down. See, they don't need fencing like they used to. Used to, livestock would run out all the time here. Open range and all up until the '30's I guess. I know we went to Kansas in'34. Pete and Irene and my wife and Evelyn (??). Since they’ve got the closed law on stock you don't need these fences around cemeteries like you used to. When we lived here, an old cow’d just run out anywhere.

If you are not a family member, that might have been pretty dull reading, but it does contain some interesting insights into how life in the USA has changed in just a hundred years.  Funeral practices, transportation, and farming are all highlighted in this short talk.  I guess in that part of the country, "aborted" meant miscarried.

If you are an interested Williams, below is the simple line from Jordan and Nancy, who moved to Jones Cove, TN about 1839 from North Carolina, to me.  Maybe someday I will get on Ancestry.com and try to figure out where Jordan came from and what Nancy Ann's last name was, but according to my calculations I have 128 grandparents at that level so am not sure why tracking them would be any more important than tracking the others.

In the list below, William Monroe Williams founded the cemetery.  His dad, Dillard L Williams, was murdered during the Civil War, and I wrote about that here.  Next time I visit that cemetery I will take Granddaddy's script along and try to get pictures of each specific grave he mentioned.  When I do that, I will add them to this post, just for the family record.

Jordan Williams (? - 1839?) – Moved to Jones Cove, TN, from North Carolina
Nancy Ann ? (1770? – 1866?)
     Dillard L. Williams (6/9/1821-8/21/1864)
     Julia Ann Bryant (8/17/1818 – 12/29/1898)
          William Monroe Williams (10/10/1844 – 5/29/1908)
          Lydia Allen (7/18/1847 – 11/9/1898
               George E. Williams (9/19/1867 – 11/16/1951)
               Rosa Belle Driskill (4/23/1871 – 11/13/1931)
                    Richard Hobart Williams (3/26/1897 – 5/4/1987)
                    Bessie Evelyn Bailey (12/15/1898 – 8/8/1977)
                         Clyde Edward Williams (2/29/1920 – 3/21 /2003)
                         Wilma Irene Shelley (1/9/1921 - )
                               Darryl Keith Williams (9/13/1942 - )

Oh, and by the way, it is strictly coincidence that this posting is going up just before Halloween and the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls.