Bounds-Estes Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Bounds-Estes Cemetery in Shelby County. Now, there are cemeteries you stumble across by accident, and then there are cemeteries that seem like they were placed by someone who knew exactly what they were doin. The Bounds-Estes Cemetery sits almost exactly between the towns of Shelbyville and Center, right there on County Road 1006, and I do mean almost exactly.

Split the difference between two towns, find the high ground, and there you have it. It rests on a promontory bluff, overlooking a small creek that feeds into Mill Creek, and the whole thing is wrapped in a densely wooded area that keeps the outside world at a respectful distance. This is not a cemetery that advertises itself.

It holds its stories close. The land received its first family in 1845, when Francis Bird Bounds, Jr. moved here from Tennessee, bringing his family and his sisters along with him. Ten years passed before the cemetery received its first soul.

That was William Echols, laid to rest in 1855, the first person to be buried on that bluff above the creek. From that year forward, the Bounds family found their permanent home here, alongside the Estes grandchildren and neighbors who became part of that same story over the generations. The last burial the cemetery would ever receive was that of Mary L.

Carroll Bounds, in 1900. After that, the gates, so to speak, closed. Then the years did what years do to quiet places in the woods.

Fences weathered. Gravestones wore down. The trees kept growing, and the creek kept running, and the bluff held its ground.

But in 2010, something stirred. The Bounds-Estes Cemetery Association was formed, with the purpose of maintaining the grounds, restoring the fences, and bringing the gravestones back to something the people buried there might recognize. That bluff between two towns had waited a good long while for that kind of attention, and by the sound of it, it was worth the wait.

What the marker says

BOUNDS-ESTES CEMETERY LOCATED ALMOST EXACTLY BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF SHELBYVILLE AND CENTER ON COUNTY ROAD 1006, THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY IS THE RESTING PLACE FOR THE BOUNDS FAMILY AND THE ESTES GRANDCHILDREN AND NEIGHBORS. FRANCIS BIRD BOUNDS, JR. MOVED HERE FROM TENNESSEE WITH HIS FAMILY AND SISTERS IN 1845. WILLIAM ECHOLS WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO BE LAID TO REST HERE IN 1855 AND THE CEMETERY'S LAST BURIAL WAS THAT OF MARY L. CARROLL BOUNDS IN 1900. THE CEMETERY IS LOCATED IN A DENSELY WOODED AREA AND SITS ON A PROMONTORY BLUFF OVERLOOKING A SMALL CREEK WHICH FEEDS INTO MILL CREEK. IN 2010, THE BOUNDS-ESTES CEMETERY ASSOCIATION WAS FORMED TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE AND RESTORE FENCES AND GRAVESTONES.