THOMAS MITCHELL

Home Page | Arts | Area Nat'l Guard | Business | Community | Demographics | Education | Government

Health | History | Latino/Hispanic | Media | Recreation/Tourism | Reference | Sports | Volunteering





CHAPTER THREE

THE MITCHELL FAMILY BURIAL GROUND:
A CASE STUDY IN A BOONSLICK FAMILY BURIAL GROUND

The first white settlers into this Boonslick area were mainly from Madison County, Kentucky, and had leap-frogged from Virginia to Kentucky to Missouri as the family migrated west.1 In many instances, the people who actually arrived in the Boonslick were natives of the Old Dominion while in other cases the people were children of Virginia natives.2 Either way, they brought with them the cultural baggage of Virginia. Although no longer members of the established Church of England, they maintained a cultural identity with the East and its tradition of an established church.3 As shown by Ruth Little in Sticks and Stones: A Profile of North Carolina Gravemarkers Through Three Centuries, the first plantation owners differed from the norms of the established church by burying their family members on the plantation.4 This pattern is also true for the first generation of settlers in the Boonslick. By the second generation of settlement, churches with adjacent graveyards began to supplant individual family burial grounds as permanency became a hallmark of the area. As was true in other Upland Southern areas, a graveyard or burial ground often preceded a church and was distinctly separate from it, unlike the Anglican tradition. Still, many family and private burial grounds continued in use for several generations and some are still used in the 1980's.5 No one private burial ground, however, contains graves from the earliest time of settlement through the twentieth century.

The reason for this is plain. Unfortunately, these burial grounds are the most likely to have suffered the effects of time through either neglect or intentional abuse. The mechanization of farming means that two or three gravestones in the middle of a field, a typical configuration, become a nuisance and are usually knocked down and broken. In fact, it soon became evident as the survey progressed for this dissertation, that it was basically useless to attempt to find the family burial grounds in the middle of large sections of agricultural land. Luckily, there is a wonderful exception to the rule, the Mitchell family burial ground in Cooper County which illustrates a long spectrum of burial culture, excluding the African American subgroup which may or may not have been interred in this cemetery.

I. THE MITCHELL FAMILY BURIAL GROUND

The Mitchell family burial ground in Cooper County (C13) was started in 1820 and was used for burials at least through the 1880's. Like the other small, private burial grounds of the Boonslick, it was totally demolished by time and neglect after the deaths of the family members who cared for the burial ground. Livestock had been allowed to overrun the grave area. By 1980, all the gravestones had been either broken off or knocked over, and to the casual observer no burial ground was in existence.6 When the Cooper County Cemetery Association made a genealogical record of all the gravestones and cemeteries in the county, the Mitchell burial ground was not included because its existence was not known.7 Happily, a descendant who was also retired and lived in the state of Washington returned to the Boonslick around 1980 to search for his ancestral beginnings and undertook the restoration of this burial ground. Four months of cutting back brush, excavating stones, and conservation work including the re-erection of the extant markers, capped by the installation of a new iron fence with appropriate gate brought this burial ground back as part of the Cooper County landscape. Using a family diary which will be explained later in this chapter, the burial ground was meticulously returned to its original state.8 The end result is a family burial ground very close to its original appearance.9 The 31 burials in this ground can be used as a model of what private, family or community burial grounds were like all over the Boonslick. Examination in detail, therefore, of the Mitchell burial ground provides an excellent overview.

Firstly, a look at the Mitchell family shows they were truly typical of the white settlers who flocked to the Boonslick between 1810 and 1830. Thomas H. and Elizabeth Moran Mitchell were natives of Virginia. Thomas was the son of immigrants who arrived in Virginia about 1760 while the ancestors of Elizabeth have escaped genealogical detection. The couple married in Nelson County, Virginia on December 12, 1789 and by 1791 were living in Tennessee. Although one reference lists them as parents of ten offspring, only six children (four sons and two daughters) emigrated to Missouri and it may be assumed that the other four died young before the family migrated west of the Mississippi. The family lived on French Broad River, a tributary of the Tennessee River so they were accustomed to being near a large body of water.10 Thomas H. Mitchell was appointed a commissioner by the Tennessee General Assembly for the Town of Newport in 1812. He was Sheriff, Collector and Assistant Treasurer from 1811 to 1815. Allegedly he was a millwright by trade.11 On February 23, 1816, Thomas H. and Elizabeth Moran Mitchell loaded up their four sons, two daughters, one son-in-law and three grandchildren and headed for Missouri. Thomas H. wrote a report of their trip which was handed down in the family and published in 1933. This shows he had at least some education. He states:

"On June 22, 1816, we crossed the Petite-Saline Creek in the Boonslick Country, Missouri Territory, after stopping a few months in Ste. Genevieve County."

He then goes into a more detailed explanation:

"In June 1816 we again took up the line of travel on the south side of the Missouri, for Cole's Fort: To the Osage River--there was a trace of route that had been traveled a little. The ferry was simply a platform on two canoes. The wagon was unloaded and it and the household goods were safely crossed. The family and the hounds were then brought over. The team of fine horses had to swim.

"Charles B., who had the year before been down to the Battle of New Orleans to help settle the dispute with England, was the driver of the team. The following morning the wagon was run down south bank of the creek by hand, the tongue running in the bottom of the creek. My four sons soon fixed that. Crossed, the team hitched to the wagon and pulled up the north bank of the Petite-Saline Creek, reaching the fort that evening. Twenty families were there in Cole's Fort."12

Hannah Cole's Fort was the original Boonslick settlement on the south bluff of the Missouri River made in 1810 by the widow, Hannah Cole, and her family and was still used as a refuge in 1816 because there was no other town on the south bank of the Missouri.13 The fort sat on the property of the recently closed River Heights Retirement Center directly opposite the Boonville Correctional Center in the eastern part of Boonville.

This is important because it places this family and this burial ground in the first decade of settlement of the Boonslick. Indeed, the Mitchell family was the first to reach Hannah Cole's Fort traveling by land on the south side of the Missouri River, rather than coming by boat. The Cole family came by boat and river travel was the usual method of transportation either due to fear of the Osage Indians who were just then vacating this section of Missouri or the ease of travel or both.14 The trip by the Mitchell family took them four months although the report states they rested in Ste. Genevieve County before traveling to the Boonslick.

Upon their arrival, they homesteaded prime agricultural land, approximately four miles to the southeast of Hannah Cole's Fort.15 A tributary runs down the middle of the original farm, providing direct access to the Missouri River which is about one mile north. This type of land configuration roughly conforms to the homesite in Tennessee. The homesite sat on a gently rolling hill with the Rocheport Road running north of the homestead to the next river town, Rocheport, to the east. Family oral tradition states that the Mitchells made more than one trek to Hannah Cole's Fort the first year for safety reasons. The family was of the planter status as defined by Rhys Isaacs in his book, The Transformation of Virginia, meaning they had less than ten slaves.16 The fact that Thomas H. Mitchell, late in life, wrote a report about his trip to the Boonslick shows that he was at least literate and had some education, the extent of which is not known. This puts the Mitchell family in the tide of Southern families who sought to establish "civilized life" as quickly as possible on the edge of the frontier.

The first tragedy to strike the family in their new home was the death of Elizabeth Moran Mitchell on October 27, 1820. At 51 years of age, she would have been considered an old woman. In surveying the area for the burial of Elizabeth, the family had at least two options open to them at this time. By 1820, the town of Boonville had been platted to the west of the farm. In the southern end of this town, a cemetery had already been established under the control of the local Methodist Church, although it appears to have functioned as a community cemetery. So, if this Presbyterian family chose to travel four miles, they could bury Elizabeth in Boonville in a cemetery with religious association, even though they were members of a different Protestant sect. Generally, however, the Protestant sects of this period preferred burial in unsanctified ground so burial in a cemetery with religious associations was not viewed as necessary. The other option was to establish a burial ground on the Mitchell farm and this the family chose to do--a conscious or subconscious choice based upon their cultural heritage. Looking from the homesite to the east, the next rolling knoll across the creek provided both a visual tie to the deceased and a fulfillment of religious goals of unsanctified ground. Most burial sites in the East, the area of the Mitchell's origin, were on the highest plot of ground available to a family. Coming out of the Virginia tradition and living for several years in Tennessee which grew out of North Carolina, the Mitchell family had naturally absorbed many of the Upland South folk ways for burials as defined by D. Gregory Jeanne. These characteristics are:

1) Hilltop location

2) Mounded graves

3) Scraped ground

4) East and west grave orientation

5) Creative decorations that emphasize "making do"

6) Cults of piety including work days which emphasized upkeep of the burial ground grounds as a memorial to the deceased.17

With these six characteristics a likely part of their cultural baggage, the Mitchell family decided to bury Elizabeth Moran Mitchell in the very center of the knoll to the east of the homesite rather than in nearby Boonville. Family tradition states they could look out every morning as the sun rose in the east and remember her. This lovely notion may be a later nineteenth century answer to the reason for the burial ground placement rather than the rationale at the actual time of this first death.

Of the six characteristics, the Mitchell burial ground still contains elements of four: a hilltop location, an east and west grave orientation, a cult of piety and upkeep of the burial ground, and stones that emphasize "making do."

There is no evidence as to whether the graves were scraped or mounded originally, but a later diary entry confirms that the Mitchell family for several generations assumed the obligation of keeping the burial ground in repair and providing the financial backing to accomplish this task.18 Indeed, they obviously had some sort of Decoration Day or Work Day intention. This event is different in intent from the better known and now nationally celebrated Memorial Day which began in 1868. A Work Day is truly a time spent physically caring for the burial ground. This type of relationship is discussed in depth in Texas Graveyards by Terry Jordan as a characteristic of Upland South society. (Since the original English settlers of Texas basically came from Missouri and many displaced Confederate Missourians moved to Texas following the War Between the States, the tie is clear.) It mattered enough to Thomas Mitchell that he go to the family burial ground to care for it, that he paid for three helpers to insure the plot would have good care and all the needs would be covered.

The burial ground could also very easily have contained the other two characteristics originally as will be seen in the following discussion of the actual grounds. The grave of Elizabeth Moran Mitchell (grave 25) was marked with a thick limestone slab from the nearby Missouri River bluff which would have originally given the appearance of a mound. This same brown slab would keep grass off the grave and thus served the same function as scraping.

The final characteristic of "making do" can be seen in the individual gravestones which will be discussed in depth below. Suffice it to say at this point, that of the 31 burials eventually authenticated in this burial ground, the following list briefly shows the types of memorial markers:

1 limestone slab six feet in length

16 marble headstones all oriented with inscriptions to the west, including one double tombstone

12 marble footstones with initials to the west

11 locally made headstones from the Missouri River bluff

11 locally made footstones--without initials and do not necessarily conform in placement to the locally made headstones

1 burial with no headstone or footstone

Of the 16 marble headstones, ten are small and plain with little or no decoration as detailed below. The six decorated stones (graves 8, 9, 12, 17, 28, 29, and 30) include the double memorial marker (grave 8) and are found toward the end of the time of burial in this ground. However, the very last burial, Flora Mitchell, used locally made stones rather than marble and is later than the more elaborate stones.

This anomaly of marble stones followed by locally made stones perhaps can be explained by the fact that in Boonville, Elias J. Bedwell was the local monument salesman. Trained in sculpture, he made most of the memorials in the Boonville area for at least two decades. He died in 1882 and in the 1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties Missouri, Flora Mitchell is listed as living.19 Hers was the last burial in the burial ground so perhaps the use of a locally made stone on her grave was due to the demise of Bedwell and the lack of another sculptor in the adjacent area. Bedwell was replaced by the firm of Duncan and Elliott who ordered their stones from eastern cities and did nothing but the final carving and the erection of the monument.20 These stones were not as personal, plus they were in materials other than marble and usually higher in price. Perhaps the Mitchell family rebelled and determined to return to the earlier family practice of placing locally made stones as markers on the graves in the rationale that "it was good enough for grandpa" and it ought to be good enough for them. Since Flora's brother was buried about two decades earlier with a locally made headstone perhaps the reasoning was that for a child a locally produced gravestone sufficed since they left no offspring. However, other children in the burial ground had individual, hand carved headstones.

Whatever the rationale, burials continued in this private, family burial ground until about 1888. By then, some family members were already being buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery four miles west in Boonville. This magnificent burial ground is discussed under a separate chapter. The family members who were buried in the Mitchell family burial ground in the last stages of use were either spouses of a person already interred or children of the family members.

Like his grandfather Thomas H. Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell kept a diary and lived east of Boonville. He kept the family burial ground and recorded each burial in his diary. The 1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties Missouri has a biographical section which places this family member in the mainstream of Boonslick citizens in the 1880's:

"For nearly three-quarters of a century, the Mitchell family has been identified with the material development and agricultural interests of Cooper County. Its representatives for three generations have ranked among the substantial and well-to-do farmers of the county, and of these Thomas Mitchell, the subject of this sketch, and grandson of the old pioneer of the family to the county, Thomas Mitchell, is by no means the least worthy. He was born in Cooper County, near Boonville, Missouri, April 12, 1822.

"Starting out in life for himself at a comparatively early age, and relying almost exclusively on his own exertions to make his way in the world, he devoted himself to farming and went to work with a degree of energy and resolution that would not fail to produce substantial and satisfactory results. Accordingly, he soon became possessed of an excellent farm of his own, and for years he has held a position among the most progressive farmers of the county. He has made a speciality of wheat growing, and it was he who first introduced into this country the celebrated Fultz variety of wheat, which has resulted in so much advantage and profit to farmers, and in fact, to all classes in the county. He raises annually about a hundred acres of this variety of wheat, and, as evidence of his success in wheat growing, the fact should be stated that for six years in succession he has raised as much as twenty-five bushels to the acre on the same ground. Mr. Mitchell was married on the 15th of February, 1848 to Miss Elizabeth Pulliam, of Boone County. They have been blessed with three children, but two of whom however, are now living: James P. and Flora. The second child, William P., died in infancy in 1855, aged 20 months. James P. is married and resides with his father. Mr. Mitchell was the eldest of a family of eight children of William N. and Margaret Mitchell. William, the father, was born in East Tennessee January 10, 1799 and when seventeen years of age came with his parents to Cooper County--who immigrated here in 1816."21

This biographical section has been quoted in its entirety because it shows several important points relative to the Mitchell burial ground.

1. Flora Mitchell was still alive in 1883. In the diary written by her father in 1888, he discusses her grave in the Mitchell burial ground. Since her gravestone has no inscription, this confirms the date of her death.

2. Thomas Mitchell was a progressive farmer interested in modern agricultural techniques and practices and was able to acquire good land, placing him in the mainstream of the citizenry of the Boonslick. Raising 25 bushels per acre wheat for six years on the same land without modern fertilizer was absolutely amazing. Even though he had sufficient money to purchase cemetery plots in town and to show his "status" as others of his own family were doing at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Boonville during this same decade, he chose to bury his children in the family burial ground.

3. It was not lost on the Mitchell family that they were descendants of pioneers from a "golden age". The 1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties was published after the 1876 Centennial of Independence which raised consciousness of family history and roots. Patriotic societies such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy were formed as families sought for a tie with the first white settlers of an area. This Thomas Mitchell could easily do. Elizabeth Pulliam Mitchell was the descendant of one of the earliest families of adjacent Boone County, but her family tree is not mentioned.22 Part of the reason could be that it was a different county, but part must be that paternalism mattered more than maternalism.

The diary kept by Thomas Mitchell, grandson of the pioneer, was lost in a house fire in the 1970's, but fortunately the passages relative to the Mitchell burial ground were copied by another family member and thus preserved. Thomas Mitchell wrote about an 1888 trip to repair the family burial ground, for which he took along Jimmy and two hired hands. Jimmy was an African American who worked for the family. The hired hands appear to have been temporary, white help who came and went on the farm, thus not worthy of mentioning by name . Jimmy was an institution with the family. Whether Jimmy was a former slave or offspring of one is not mentioned. On May 29, 1888 after spending a work day at the Mitchell burial ground, Thomas Mitchell wrote: (all spelling and punctuation is his)

"Jimmy, myself, and two other hands went to Mr. Vuertel's, my early home, and refenced with mulberry posts, one plank and three wires, the graves of my People. We trimed up the trees and improved the general appearance of things very much. The ground fenced is twelve steps east and west by twenty four north and south. My grandmother Mitchell rests here since Oct. 27, 1820. Her grave is near the centre of the lot and was perhaps the first one buried here. It is covered with a large limestone slab--and my grandfather Mitchell who died Aug. 13, 1839 in the 73rd year of his age rests by her side on the south. My great grandparents on my mother's side, John and Mary Miller, he at age 88 and she at 86 years, rest here also at the end of their pilgrimage. They were Presbyterians of the straightest sect.

"My father and my mother also rest here in the land of their labors and hopes. He in the 67th year of his age and she in her 60th year. Three of their children who died young are buried here, and our first and second born, Flora Mitchell in her twentieth year--and Willie, a beautiful and much loved child, in his second year, rest immediately west of their grandparents, Wm N and Margaret Mitchell.

"Charles B. Mitchell, my uncle, his first wife, two sons and two daughters rest here, while two other sons, noble boys, the eldest sleeps the long sleep of death in the Gulf of Mexico, the other in Arizona. Three daughters, two married and one, the first born, single, rest in New Salem Church yard. While still another beloved daughter and the second wife, a mother in Israel, rest in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Boonville.

"John Miller, a grandson of the Miller first named, the eldest brother of my mother, the father of Robert Miller, and his wife who married after his death, Jesse Shirley. Their daughter, Elizabeth Miller, who married Mr. Smith and afterwards Oscar Burge and yet another Miller named Crawford, also brother of my mother, who was Margaret Miller, all rest here. My brother, John C. Mitchell rests in Clinton Cemetery. And sister Nancy Allison at Mt. Pleasant Church Yard, Cooper Co.Mo.

'And soon or late, to all that sow,
The time of harvest shall be given,
The flower shall bloom, the fruit shall grow,
If not on earth, at last in heaven.'
Whittier"23

Before doing a complete review of the actual Mitchell burial ground, it is worth noting the passage above where Thomas Mitchell writes, "Charles B. Mitchell, my uncle...Three daughters, two married and one, the first born, single, rest in New Salem Church Yard."24 Coincidentally, during the course of this cemetery survey, New Salem Graveyard in Cooper County (C26) was surveyed and the graves of the three Mitchell daughters, Mary E. Mitchell, Margaret H. Mitchell Smith, and Chellie Mitchell McFarland plus the stone to Chellie's husband, E. N. McFarland, were photographed and recorded.25 Only later was it learned that these three women were relatives to the Mitchells; their stones were originally picked as typical for middle class citizens of the 1850's (Illustrations 12), (Illustration 13), (Illustration14), and (Illustration 15).

The physical description of the Mitchell burial ground shows that it lies in Township 49N, Range 16W, on a gently rolling knoll of ground in the Southeast Quarter of the Southeast Quarter of Section 32. The soil composition is menfro, which is typical for upland hill soil and is common throughout the entire Missouri River valley.26 This well drained soil which was not "heavy" or tinted with much clay, appealed to early settlers because it could be tilled easily, before the invention of the prairie sod buster plows, and it also proved convenient when it was necessary to dig a grave by hand.27 Today the burial ground measures 62 feet north and south by 40 feet east and west. Thomas Mitchell in the 1888 diary entry records the measurements as "twelve steps east and west by twenty four north and south."28 A "step" is commonly referred to as the same length as a "pace" in Midwest vernacular or approximately 3 feet.29 That would bring the measurements to 36 by 72 feet. The modern measurements which are based upon the iron fence erected around the burial ground in the early 1980's are fairly close although this new fence does crowd the actual plot on the north and south lines and the outermost graves are closer to this fence than the original fence Thomas repaired in 1888. However, all the burials are enclosed by this new fence which will prevent livestock trampling on them again. Although modern in construction and appearance, the simplicity of the fence is in keeping with the simplicity of the burial grounds and the two blend harmoniously (Illustration 20). Just inside the double gate in the middle of the western side is a large granite marker erected at the time of restoration, inscribed with the names of the people buried within the enclosure. The marker lists the deceased by order of family rank (ie. birth), rather than chronological order of death. The following table places them in order of burial within the burial ground, shows the type of marker used, and gives the map number for ease in following the discussion (Illustration 16):

TABLE 1
ORDER OF DEATH

1. Elizabeth Moran Mitchell--Oct. 27, 1820--limestone slab--grave 25

2. Mary Miller--June 15, 1830--marble headstone and footstone--grave 15

3. Nancy Miller Mitchell--Nov. 9, 1838--marble headstone--grave 17

4. Thomas H Mitchell--Aug. 13, 1839--locally made headstone and footstone--grave 26

5. John M. Mitchell--Sept. 27, 1839--marble headstone and footstone--grave 27

6. John Miller--Jan. 31, 1843--marble headstone and footstone--grave 16

7. Thomas Jennings--March 14, 1843--marble headstone and footstone--grave 5

8. Jacob Jennings--March 18, 1847--marble headstone and footstone-grave 4

9. Elisha Jennings--April 6, 1847--marble headstone--grave 3

10. Mary Jennings--April 8, 1847--marble headstone and footstone--grave 2

11. Robert F. Smith--April 15, 1853--marble headstone and footstone--grave 10

12. Elizabeth Miller Shirley--Nov. 7, 1853--marble headstone and footstone--grave 12

13. Willie Mitchell--1855--locally made headstone and footstone--grave 18

14. Mollie Tucker--Sept. 20, 1856--marble headstone and footstone--grave 1

15. Charles Mitchell--Feb. 28, 1858--marble headstone and footstone--grave 28

16. William R. Mitchell--January 6, 1859--marble headstone and native footstone--grave 7

17. Margaret Miller Mitchell--Nov. 21, 1862--marble headstone and footstone (double monument)--grave 8

18. William N. Mitchell--May 7, 1865--marble headstone and footstone (double monument)--grave 8

19. Elizabeth Burge--Feb. 4, 1872--marble headstone and footstone--grave 9

20. Flora Mitchell--between 1883 & 1888--locally made headstone and footstone--grave 19

These are all the burials for which definite dates can be given. However, the Mitchell diary and locally made markers in the burial ground reveal that eleven others are buried within this ground. The placement of these burials and some sense of chronology can be obtained. These table below names the people and shows the most probable location for their grave:

TABLE 2
LOCALLY MADE GRAVESTONES

1. Eliza Jane Mitchell--after 1839--marble footstone with her initials and the diary inscription and locally made headstone which is not original--grave 6

2. Young child of William and Margaret Mitchell-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 24

3. Young child of William and Margaret Mitchell-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 23

4. Young child of William and Margaret Mitchell-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 22

5. Daughter of Charles B. Mitchell-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 20

6. John Miller-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 14

7. Robert Miller-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 13

8. Crawford Miller-date unknown-locally made headstone and footstone--grave 21

9. Jesse Shirley-date unknown-no stone--grave 11

10. Oscar Burge-date unknown-locally made footstone--grave 1

11. Unknown person who has broken marble headstone to south of Mollie Tucker--grave 30

As seen by the above list, not just the Mitchell family was buried in this plot. Other neighbors were also included, a custom carried to the Boonslick from the Upland South burial grounds in the East.30 Thus, the following interpretation of the development of the Mitchell family burial ground can be pieced together.

Elizabeth Moran Mitchell was the first to be buried in the burial ground. Her grave is in the center of the north and south axis in what was to be considered the second row of the burial ground (grave 25). The next definite burial is Mary Miller (grave 15) who died in 1830 and was the grandmother of Margaret Miller Mitchell. This Margaret Miller had married William Mitchell in 1821 and their son, Thomas, who wrote the diary and cared for the burial ground, was born in 1822. Thomas has to be the couple's eldest child, but there are eight years between 1822 and 1830 which are sufficient for the birth and death of at least two more children and possibly three if there were twins or an immediate pregnancy following delivery of the last child. This is relevant in this burial ground discussion because Thomas Mitchell wrote in his 1888 diary that his parents, William and Margaret Mitchell, buried three children in this burial ground, giving no names and no dates. Immediately to the north of Elizabeth Moran Mitchell is a row of five graves of locally made headstones and footstones. Thus, it is logical that three of these five locally made gravestones marked the graves of these three children (graves 22, 23, and 24). Another reason for this supposition is that when Mary Miller died in 1830 (grave 15), she was buried immediately east of Elizabeth Moran Mitchell (grave 25), creating a new or third row in the burial ground. This must mean that one side of Elizabeth's grave had been filled by that time and that one side of her grave was being saved for the eventual burial of Thomas H. Mitchell, her husband. If Mary Miller was the next burial she likely would have been placed next to Elizabeth Moran Mitchell.

The next definite burial was that of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), the first wife of Charles B. Mitchell. She was buried two graves south of Mary Miller (grave 15) with a space left for Mary's husband, John Miller (grave 16), who was still alive in 1838. On January 12, 1824, Charles B. and Nancy C. Miller Mitchell received a deed of conveyance from John and Mary Miller for 160 acres of land, plus a 15 year old female slave, three horses, all the cattle, two colts, all the hogs, and all the household and farming equipment for the sum of $50.00. This John and Mary Miller must be the John and Mary Miller buried in this Mitchell burial ground. Their ages in 1824, John at age 69 and Mary at age 80, shows they were of retirement age. (The considerable age difference has been double checked and appears to be correct.) In either case, they were too elderly to be the parents of 17-year-old Nancy C. Miller Mitchell so they must be her grandparents. This probably means also that Nancy C. Miller Mitchell was a younger sister of Margaret Miller Mitchell. Two brothers marrying two sisters was a common happening in Boonslick society, where social contact was limited, and this would be double reason for burying John and Mary Miller in the burial ground. Because John and Mary Miller sold everything they owned to Charles B. and Nancy C. Miller Mitchell, they must have retired and lived in the same house with the newlyweds since they no longer had any furniture or any equipment for earning a living.

In less than a year following the death of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell, her father-in-law and the patriarch of the clan, Thomas H. Mitchell, died and was buried immediately south (grave 26) of his wife, Elizabeth Moran Mitchell. Locally made stones were used for both the head and footstones and no evidence exists that a limestone slab was ever placed over his grave as over the grave of his wife. There had been nineteen years since her death and during this time, the use of limestone tablets that totally covered the burial spot had been replaced by box crypts which served the same basic function, but were elaborate boxes about thirty inches high. For whatever reason, Thomas' burial spot was not thus marked.

Less than a month later, a grandson of Thomas H., John M. Mitchell, died and was buried immediately south of his recently deceased grandfather (grave 27). John was the son of Charles B. and Nancy C. Miller Mitchell so his burial in the next row to the west next to his grandfather rather than in the row immediately to the south of his mother is interesting. Probably space was being saved once again for Nancy's husband, Charles B. Mitchell. In January 1843, the elderly John Miller finally died at age 88 and was buried north of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell and immediately adjacent on the south to his wife, Mary Miller, in the space reserved for him several years before (grave 16). As can be seen by the map of the burial ground (Illustration 16), the central core of the Mitchell burial ground was quickly filling up with six burials in the second row and at least three burials in the third row.

In his 1888 diary, Thomas Mitchell writes that Crawford and John M. Miller, brothers of his mother and grandchildren of John and Mary Miller, were also buried in the burial ground. No date of death is given for them. However, an informal guess places Crawford Miller in the fourth grave (grave 21) to the north of Elizabeth Moran Mitchell in the second row, and John M. Miller in the first grave to the north of Mary Miller on the third row (grave 14). The reason for this inference is that locally made gravestones are used for both, so they must be early burials. and could easily be from the early 1830's. Crawford is not mentioned as having a spouse, so placing his grave on the front row leaves room for the final unidentified child of Charles B. Mitchell to be buried there (grave 20). This final daughter of Charles B. Mitchell must be a child by his second wife, Nancy Hughes Mitchell, whom he married following the death of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell. That means this grave cannot be earlier than 1840 and probably is later. This would fill up the second row with the proper number of burials. Plus, this daughter of Charles B. must be descended from the second wife which meant she would probably not be buried with the first wife, Nancy C. Miller Mitchell, and so the second row rather than the third row would be most appropriate.

However, John M. Miller is given in the diary as having been married since he is the father of Robert Miller whose widow, Elizabeth, married Jesse Shirley with the result that all four were buried eventually in the burial ground. As the map plainly shows, there is both a marble headstone and footstone for Elizabeth Miller Shirley, who was buried two graves to the north of Mary Miller in the third row (grave 12). As noted by the configuration of the map (Illustration 16) and by custom, the wife was customarily placed to the left of the husband as viewed by the observer from the entrance which is at the west side of this particular burial ground, similar to the practice of women sitting on the left side during church and men on the right, also as observed from the entrance. The religious roots go back to Matthew 25: 31-35 in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is stated that God would divide the lambs and the goats on the day of Judgment and the lambs would sit on the right and the goats on the left. Since men were viewed as more desirable and not as deprived since they were not female like Eve, they naturally were consigned to the right.31 Other sources give this orientation, right for husband, left for wife, as coming from the British Christian folk-belief that Eve was created from the left side of Adam. Because Eve ate the forbidden apple, females were associated with the left or sinister side since the very word sinister means left in Latin. In the South the woman stood on the left when taking the wedding vows as well.32 Because of this custom, the two spaces thus would contain the graves of Elizabeth's first husband, Robert Miller (grave 13), and Robert's father, John M. Miller (grave 14), who was also a grandson of Mary Miller (grave 15) and buried immediately north of her. Both graves are marked with locally made slabs and since Elizabeth herself re-married and then died in 1853, it is logical that the first husband would be marked with a locally made slab like the other graves of the late 1830's.

Chronologically these Miller burials were preceded by four marked, marble headstones and footstones from the 1840's, which were not for family members. According to the 1840 census, the Jennings family lived near the Mitchells. The first of these marble headstones records a burial dates from 1843. There does not appear to be any family tie, through either the Mitchell or Miller clan, although as noted above, in their limited society it was always a possibility. For whatever reason, Thomas Jennings, age one, was buried directly behind Mary Miller, forming a fourth row which is the easternmost row of the burial ground (grave 5). Four years after this first Jennings interment (March and April 1847), this infant was joined by three other members of the Jennings family within a month of each other, two children named Elisha (grave 3) and Mary (grave 2), and the father of the three, Jacob (grave 4). Evidently some epidemic swept through the area. All four members of the Jennings family have marble, plain headstones, while Thomas, Jacob and Mary also have initialed marble footstones. Since Elisha died in 1847 with his father and sister and since the others have a marble footstone while his is a locally made marker, it is apparent that his footstone is a later replacement of an earlier initialed footstone like those of the rest of the family. The placement of the graves of Thomas, Elisha, Mary and Jacob Jennings in a new row (graves 2, 3, 4, and 5) shows that there were probably already some interments north of Mary Miller (grave 15) in the third row to the west of these. The Jennings family obviously buried their dead from south to north as the markers record the chronological progression of death.

Thus, by 1850 or 30 years after the first burial, the burial ground probably contained 17 graves, or over half of the eventual number, in a core unit in the center of the present burial ground. This core was soon expanded with the April 1853, burial of Robert Smith (grave 10), son-in-law of Robert Miller (grave 13) and Elizabeth Miller Shirley (grave 12). It is not known what killed this 32 year old man, but obvious planning went into the placement of his grave. His mother-in-law, Elizabeth Miller Shirley (grave 12), was still alive and so room was needed for her to be buried next to her first husband, Robert Miller (grave 13). Additionally, her second husband, Jesse Shirley (grave 11), was also alive and desired to be buried with his wife so two spaces needed to be reserved. (An interesting side note is that the second husband was placed to the left of the wife, contrary to the customary placement for men. Other burials in the Boonslick confirm that the second wife was usually placed to the right of the husband, making him the centerpiece. In this case, though, there were two husbands.) The end result was that Robert Smith (grave 10) was buried three graves to the north of the northernmost locally made marker in the third row (grave 13), another reason for thinking the latter contains the remains of Robert Miller, his deceased father-in-law. In seven months, Elizabeth Miller Shirley followed her son-in-law to the grave and was buried in her intended spot in the second row with a marble headstone and footstone erected to her memory (grave 12). We know Jesse Shirley was still alive at this time because the stone to Elizabeth says she was the "wife of", not the "widow" or "formerly consort," as stones of the period so often stated. When her second husband, Jesse Shirley (grave 11), died is not known, but it was before 1888, when Thomas Mitchell mentions him being buried in the family plot. No stone now marks his grave.

The death of Robert Smith "squared up" the north and western part of the burial ground, so that all three rows were now even, with the exception of the south end of the easternmost or fourth row. This row contains a marble, initialed footstone that says "E.J.M." (grave 6). Review of the Mitchell family tree reveals that Charles B. and Nancy C. Miller Mitchell had a daughter named Eliza Jane Mitchell. Thomas Mitchell wrote in his 1888 diary that two daughters of Charles B. Mitchell were buried in the burial ground. Surely this grave must be Eliza Jane Mitchell (grave 6). It fits to the south of the grave of Thomas Jennings (grave 5) and is directly to the northeast of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), the mother of Eliza Jane Mitchell. Now a locally made marker serves as headstone, but obviously a marble headstone matching the footstone was in place in the beginning and has been destroyed. The use of marble places the marker in the 1850's or late 1840's, assuming it was placed soon after the person's death.

In 1855, twenty month old Willie Mitchell, son of Thomas Mitchell who wrote the 1888 diary, died (grave 18). When choosing the burial spot for this child, it was decided to go two places to the south of Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), thus leaving room for her husband, Charles B. Mitchell, when he died. This was done and the toddler was buried with a locally made headstone for a marker. At this point in the chronology, this grave not only was the southernmost in the burial ground, but also threw the plot off of square once again. Obviously burial placement adjacent to family members was more important than configuration of the burials.

This fact was re-affirmed a year later when one year old Mollie Tucker was buried in the burial ground. Like the Jennings family, no relationship to the Mitchell family has been established for Mollie. Whatever the reasoning behind her burial here, she was buried immediately west (grave 29) of John M. Mitchell (grave 27), as shown on the burial ground plat (Illustration 16), forming a short, first row on the western side of the burial ground. A marble headstone and footstone mark her grave, while immediately adjacent to the south are the broken sections of a marble headstone which contains intact the top portion of a willow tree. The middle section of this stone has been destroyed, probably when the burial ground lay in ruins for so many decades, so that it has been impossible to determine from the stone just who was buried here (grave 30). The only clue is the size of the marble top and base which suggests that the person was an adult rather than a child. Because of the placement next to Mollie, it is probably a member of her immediate family. Some sort of relationship might be established between Mollie and the rest of the clan if only it was known who this burial was. Neither this person nor Mollie Tucker nor the Jennings are mentioned in the Mitchell diary, giving credibility to the explanation that they were neighbors rather than family members.

On February 28, 1858, Charles B. Mitchell died and was also buried in the burial ground. He was not placed next to his first wife, Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), even though a space had obviously been left for him there. Instead he was buried in the second row which is the next row to the west on the south end (grave 28) immediately south of his son, John M. Mitchell (grave 27). A probable explanation for this is that the second wife, Nancy Hughes Mitchell, desired room to be buried by her husband and there was not enough space in the next row with the burial of the toddler, Willie Mitchell (grave 18), already in place. Ironically, Nancy Hughes Mitchell was eventually buried in Boonville and not in the Mitchell burial ground after all.

Eleven months following the death of Charles B. Mitchell (grave 28), his son by his first wife, Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), died. Aged 26 and named William Riley Mitchell, this young man was buried immediately to the east of his mother's grave (grave 7) in the fourth row and immediately south of the grave of his sister, Eliza Jane Mitchell (grave 6). Given the family penchant for using every available space and placing the graves in a chronological row if possible, this must mean that Eliza Jane was already deceased.

When the next family member, Margaret Miller Mitchell, died in 1862, she was buried in the southeast corner of the burial ground (grave 8 which has two burials) immediately east of her toddler grandson, Willie Mitchell (grave 18), and adjacent on the south to William Riley Mitchell (grave 7), thus continuing on down the row in chronological order. Margaret was interred in the family burial ground only to be followed by her husband three years later. Following the convention shown earlier in the other rows, William N. Mitchell (grave 8 which has two burials) was buried on the right side of Margaret Miller Mitchell filling out the southern edge of the burial ground into a rectangle once again. A double tombstone was erected for the couple with individual, initialed marble footstones.

Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Robert Miller (grave 13) and Elizabeth Miller Shirley (grave 12), and then widow of Robert Smith (grave 10), married Oscar Burge and finally died in 1872. She was buried to the north of her first husband in the conventional manner which makes her grave the furthermost north (grave 9). A marble headstone and matching initialed footstone were soon in place for her, but the grave of poor Oscar Burge only contains a locally made footstone now, although it must have had more at one time (grave 1). Oscar is buried, date unknown, immediately east of the first husband, Robert Smith (grave 10), and in the fourth row which is the easternmost row. Hie grave is two spaces north of the last Jennings burial as shown on the plat. Again, the blank burial space must have been saved for a specific person who never used it.

The final burial was that of Flora Mitchell between 1883 and 1888 (grave 19). The daughter of Thomas Mitchell who wrote the 1888 diary, she was buried immediately south of her deceased toddler brother, Willie Mitchell (grave 18), and thus west of her grandparents, William and Margaret Mitchell (grave 8 which has two burials). Once again, the rectangular configuration of the burial ground was upset by the placement of this grave which extends out the southern end in a manner identical to that of the grave of Elizabeth Miller Smith Burge (grave 9) on the northern end. The preference appears to be for keeping the family unit together in the actual burial arrangement as nearly as possible. This was occurring throughout the country in all sorts of different population centers, rural as well as urban. Certainly the fence which defines the unit was in place by the time Flora was buried as in 1888 Thomas had to repair it and trim the trees which are now totally gone. Given the dimensions of the north and south axis by the 1888 writing, Flora must have been almost squeezed into position. This was not necessary when other open spaces were available unless the placement was of critical importance to the family.

Of interest in discussing the Mitchell burial ground is the absence of slave burials within the confines of the burial ground. Certainly, the family was a slaveholding family before the War Between the States. Most of the family fought for the Confederacy and several members were killed during that bloody conflict, although none were returned to this specific burial ground for burial. Still, the outlook was definitely Southern and given the fact that slaves were owned by the Mitchell family, it is highly likely that there is a slave burial ground on the farm, probably close to the family plot. This assumption is based on the placement of other known slave burials in the Boonslick. In the Simmons family plot in Howard County (H8), the white section of the plot was also fenced as was true of the Mitchell plot. Oral tradition in the Simmons family said that there was an unidentified slave burial ground immediately adjacent to and east of the fenced area. In the early 1980's, the new owner of the Simmons family farm took a bulldozer south of the burial ground in an attempt to clear out some of the brush and make the burial ground more accessible. The weight of the bulldozer uncovered several graves immediately adjacent on the south, rather than east of the fenced area, showing the basic premise of an adjacent slave burial ground was correct. It is possible that graves are on both sides.33 In the Angell family burial ground in Boone County (B9), fieldstone rocks were used as headstones for the slaves who were buried to the east or at the feet of their masters and mistresses. By 1988, these rocks had been removed and the burial ground totally destroyed. The fence that had enclosed the plot dated from the 1940's and was obviously not the original, so it is impossible to know if originally all the graves were enclosed within it.34 The use of markers to differentiate between master and slave makes it likely that the entire plot was enclosed. Only four family members were buried here. The small number might also help account for all being enclosed by a fence. Thus, it seems logical that there was a slave burial ground near the Mitchell burial ground, but all traces have been totally obliterated.

Eleven of the headstones and footstones in the Mitchell burial ground are made of locally made from the adjacent creek, which runs approximately 500 feet west of the burial ground at the western base of the gentle knoll. This shallow creek still contains rocks of the size and width of those in the burial ground showing that this type of stone could merely have been carried up the hill and placed upon the grave without any need for further shaping.

Of the sixteen marble headstones still in existence several motifs emerge. Seven of the headstones feature decoration, and are the markers for: Charles B. Mitchell (grave 28), Nancy C. Miller Mitchell (grave 17), the double marker to William N. and Margaret Miller Mitchell (grave 8), Mollie Tucker (grave 29), the unidentified person next to Mollie (grave 30), Elizabeth Miller Shirley (grave 12), and Elizabeth Miller Smith Burge (grave 9). The other nine markers are plain (graves 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 15, 16, and 27), with the name written at the top of the stone and the date of death and age of the individual following underneath. Although the motif is the same in these nine stones (Illustrations 17 and (Illustration 18), the size of the stone varies depending upon whether it commemorates a child or an adult. None of the memorial markers in this burial ground are signed, leading to the assumption that they were items "in stock," which were merely finished by the local monument man and then taken to the burial ground. As these stones were standard and not custom designed, it would be the usual practice not to sign them since they were not advertisements for more business or monuments which a sculptor spent a great deal of time sculpting.

Of the seven decorated headstones, six are to adult members of the Mitchell/Miller clan and the unidentified adult next to Mollie Tucker. This unidentified adult has a marker with a weeping willow tree as does Charles B. Mitchell and his first wife, Nancy C. Miller Mitchell. However, none of these three weeping willow trees are identical in design, suggesting they were carved and erected at different times, although the family may have tried to match the weeping willow motif for the couple (Illustration 19) (llustration_20). The weeping willow style came out of early nineteenth century mourning pictures, where even the trees are crying for the deceased. The roots for this motif go back to the tree of life motif found on East coast stones from the early eighteenth century. An entire discourse could be written on the transformation of this motif, taken originally from the writings of John Calvin, who wrote, "They are plainly told that all whom the heavenly Father hath not been pleased to plant as sacred trees in his garden, are doomed and devoted to destruction."35 From this theme of salvation with the sacred tree (often called the tree of life) as its symbol, a metamorphosis occurs. By the time of the burials in the Mitchell burial ground, the tree of life has become merely a willow which weeps and provides a romantic link to the deceased. The weeping is also done by the surviving family members and friends and thus reflects action done for the deceased rather than action done by the deceased as personified by the tree of life. This is a radical change in concept, although it is extremely doubtful that the Mitchell family delved into philosophy to this extent. More likely, they followed the conventions of the mid nineteenth century and chose the weeping willow motif because they thought it was "appropriate" to be used. Indeed, in the 1830's and 40's in England, weeping willows were commonly planted in burial grounds and there was a popular ballad of English origin which survived in the American South. It was especially popular in Kentucky, the place of origin for many Boonslick settlers, and included these words: "Bury me beneath the willow, Beneath the weeping willow tree, So he may know where I am sleeping, Perhaps some day he will weep for me."36

The only gravestone that is a memorial to two people, a married couple, dates from the mid 1860's (grave 8). Also a standard piece, the fact that it was purchased so near to the close of the War Between the States shows that this Confederate family at least had not been made totally destitute by the war. The marble shows an open Bible with a diagonal cross leaning at a 45 degree angle to the right across the Bible. (Illustration 21) Suspended over the top of this tilted cross is a crown carved to look like a an elaborate metal one. Reaching down from the top of the arch above the cross is a miniature hand holding a closed Bible with a small cloud behind the wrist of this appendage. The meaning of this will be discussed below. Hiberno-Saxon knots form a rounded arch above the carving. The cross and crown theme was a common theme in early New England burial grounds. As early as 1760, this symbol appears and was based upon the Resurrection of Christ as proclaimed in 2 Timothy 4:8 which says: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day."37 Mentioned on the gravestone are the places of birth for the couple and the date they arrived in the Boonslick, showing that this was an important concern to the family even before the 1876 Centennial celebration.

The remaining three decorated marble headstones have various uses of hands. Mollie Tucker's stone (grave 29) shows a clothed arm with a right, female hand closed to make a fist holding a plucked rose, all set in a gently rolling, circular frame (illustration_22). Probably Mollie's parents did not realize that the plucked rose in the hand was a nineteenth century adoption of the pagan symbol of the ancient Mediterranean Magna Mater or Great Mother Goddess. According to Terry Jordan in Texas Graveyards, the popularity of this motif reflected the common practice of planting rose bushes in the burial grounds of the period.38 No such rose bush survives in the present burial ground although this type of rose is still in existence in the Boonslick (illustration_23).39 Usually markers to deceased mothers contained roses with emphasis upon the Great Mother theme while markers to children emphasized the plucking of a life too soon as exemplified by the plucked flower.

The marker to Elizabeth Miller Shirley (grave 12) has a feminine clothed arm and right hand with the first digit finger pointing upward while the other digits and thumb are closed. This motif obviously translated into pointing upward to Heaven and Eternity. Farther down this row of graves, the grave of Elizabeth's daughter, Elizabeth Miller Smith Burge (grave 9), shows the clasped hand motif. Here the right hand and clothed arm of a male reaches out to grasp (NOT shake) the limp, right hand and clothed arm of a female. The intent may be a farewell, loving grasp of a living (male) person to a dead (female) person. Another explanation offered by Terry Jordan is that the male hand represents God welcoming the deceased to Heaven.40 This would explain the male hand always being on the right side since it represents God and goes back to the passage in Matthew once again. This stone is plain, but many stones with this particular motif have the word "Farewell" carved above the clasped hands.

This motif also comes from the idea of the Hand of God reaching out into the lives of individuals. Clouds often visually described the idea of Divine intervention as can be seen in the marker to the Mitchell couple from the 1860's. In this stone, the arm and hand descend from a cloud. Certainly the most common motif found in the three county Boonslick area is the "Hand of God," usually found in either the clasped hand or the hand pointing upward as described in the above paragraphs. Other examples of this style can be found and will be discussed in Chapter 7.

The Mitchell burial ground is an excellent example of the early, private family and community burial ground that pre-dated churches and which featured unsanctified ground as a preference. Conforming in every way to the Upland South burial grounds found farther east and south, these burial grounds are in many ways the most tangible remaining link to the early Southern settlers who first came to this region.

ENDNOTES

1 Lutz, Paul, and Utermoehlen, Ralph, Mid-Missouri Regional Profile (Columbia: Extension Division of the University of Missouri, 1973), p. 6.

2 Ibid, p. 6.

3 Smith, T. Berry, and Gehrig, Pearl Sims, History of Chariton and Howard Counties, Missouri (Topeka, Kansas: Historical Publishing Company, 1923), p. 161.

4 Little, Margaret Ruth, Dissertation titled Sticks and Stones: A Profile of North Carolina Gravemarkers Through Three Centuries (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1984), p. 1.

5 Interview with Charles Leonard of "Ravenswood," in Cooper County, Missouri, on September 25, 1988.

6 Interview with Ted Litton, owner of original homestead building site, on August 20, 1988.

7 Records of the Cooper County Cemetery Association on file in the Cooper County Courthouse in Boonville, Missouri.

8 Diary written by Thomas Mitchell, abstracts of which are in the possession of Mrs. Jack Mitchell and are quoted with permission.

9 Ibid.

10 Mitchell, Mrs. Jack, Ancestors, Families, and Descendants of Charles Porter Mitchell and Mattie Ellen Bryam Mitchell and William (Willie) Nathaniel Mitchell and Kate L. Wood Mitchell (typewritten script in possession of Maryellen McVicker), p. 27.

11 Ibid, p. 28.

12 Mitchell, Thomas H., Unpublished memoirs in family archives, ultimately given to his granddaughter, Mary B. Lockhart. (typewritten script given to Maryellen McVicker)

13 Dyer, Robert L., Boonville, An Illustrated History (Boonville, Missouri: Pekitanoui Publications, 1987), p. 14.

14 Meyer, Duane, The Heritage of Missouri--A History (St. Louis: State Publishing, Co., 1973), p. 77.

15 Mitchell, Mrs. Jack, p. 32.

16 Isaacs, Rhys, The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1982), p. 16.

17 Meyer, Richard, editor, Cemeteries and Gravemarkers, Voices of American Culture, (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1989), p. 108.

18 Diary written by Thomas Mitchell, entry from May 29, 1888, quoted with permission.

19 1883 History of Howard and Cooper Counties, Missouri, (St. Louis: National Historical Company, 1883), p. 1154.

20 Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Bob Geiger, retired superintendent of Walnut Grove Burial ground and spouse in Boonville, Missouri, on February 13, 1989.

21 Op cit., p. 1154.

22 Ibid, p. 1154.

23 Diary written by Thomas Mitchell, entry from May 29, 1888, quoted with permission.

24 Ibid.

25 McVicker, Maryellen H., Individual cemetery memorial marker survey forms in possession of author.

26 Interview with John Baker of the Cooper County Agricultural Soil and Conservation Service on March 7, 1989.

27 Ibid.

28 Diary written by Thomas Mitchell, entry from May 29, 1888, quoted with permission.

29 Interview with Raymond Wilbur McVicker, retired farmer and carpenter, on March 27, 1989.

30 Meyer, Richard, p. 113.

31 Sermon given by Reverend John Pfister of Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church in Boonville, Missouri at celebration service explaining the cultural role of 200 years of Methodism in the United States, May 1984.

32 Jordan, Terry G., Texas Graveyards, A Cultural Legacy (Austin: University of Texas, 1982), p. 30.

33 Interview with R. H. Kotterman, owner of the farm, on September 30, 1988.

34 Interview with John Fountain, great-grandson of the original settlers, in the Summer of 1970.

35 Ludwig, Allan I., Graven Images, New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815 (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1966), p. 121.

36 Interview and music supplied by Dave and Cathy Barton Para, folk lore teachers who present folk music nationally, on March 23, 1989.

37 Op. cit., p. 128.

38 Jordan, p. 53.

39 Rose bush in side yard of Harriet Pauline Mossholder Harshbarger planted originally in 1857 by her great-grandmother in thanksgiving for the birth of a live son.

40 Jordan, p. 53.



Author

Back to Beginning of Article