Enon Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Way out in Jackson County, there's a patch of ground that's been holding memory since before the Civil War, and it goes by the name Enon Cemetery. The story starts in 1856, when a man named the Reverend Joseph I.

Loudermilk came to Jackson County. Born in 1816, he arrived with a purpose, and he wasted no time carrying it out. He organized the Enon Baptist Church, the first church of that faith in the entire county.

Let that sit for a second. First one. In the whole county.

And the Reverend didn't just get it started and move on down the road. He stayed. He was pastor from that time until his death, and when he died in 1880, they buried him right there on the grounds he had tended.

Some men plant seeds and leave. Loudermilk planted a church and stayed in the soil. Now, a church needs land, and land doesn't always come easy.

But on October 23, 1858, a couple named John and Clarissa Andrews gave five acres, a five-acre site, for the church and the cemetery both. That gift of ground became something lasting. The first interment came in 1862, a man named Isaac J.

Sheppard, laid to rest in a place that was still finding its footing in a country that was, at that very moment, tearing itself apart. The years kept coming. People kept coming.

By the time that marker was put down, 65 graves had been counted, and the cemetery was still open, still receiving, still doing what it was always meant to do. The old church site itself sits partially enclosed now by the cemetery fence, the living ground wrapping around the memory of what stood there. Sixty-five graves, one faithful pastor, two generous neighbors, and a first church that started something in Jackson County that never did stop.

What the marker says

In 1856 the Rev. Joseph I. Loudermilk (1816-1880) came to Jackson County and organized Enon Baptist Church-- the first church of that faith in the county. He was pastor from that time until his death and was buried here. A five-acre site was given by John and Clarissa Andrews on Oct. 23, 1858, for the church and cemetery. The first interment (1862) was Isaac J. Sheppard. There are now 65 graves and cemetery is still open for burials. Site of the church is partially enclosed by cemetery fence.