First United Methodist Church Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church Cemetery in Shelby County. Now settle in, because some of the quietest places hold the loudest stories. This cemetery, one of the oldest in all of Shelby County, sits on land from the Nancy Smith survey, land that Judge M.W.

Wheeler and Sam Samford deeded over to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. So the ground itself came with a pedigree before a single soul was laid to rest in it. And the first soul laid to rest?

A small child, in 1861. Think on that for a moment. The whole country was cracking apart that year, and somewhere in Shelby County, a family said goodbye to the smallest among them, and that child became the beginning of this place.

The last recorded burial came in 1939, and most of what lies between those two dates, most of the burials in that cemetery, happened before the turn of the twentieth century. That is a whole lot of Shelby County history pressed into the earth. Thirteen Masonic members are buried there.

Five Civil War veterans. A minister. A doctor.

Numerous businessmen. And among those businessmen, one name stands apart on that marker: R.L. Parker, called the father of Center.

Buried right there alongside the Masons and the veterans and the faithful. The cemetery today has been beautified with blooming plants and a flagstone walkway, and several family plots are still marked with antique iron fencing, old iron standing guard the way it always has, patient and unbending. From a small child in 1861 to the last recorded burial in 1939, this ground has been keepin' its own kind of record, long before any marker came along to say so.

What the marker says

The First United Methodist Church Cemetery, one of the oldest in Shelby County, is located in the Nancy Smith survey of land deeded by Judge M.W. Wheeler and Sam Samford to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The first burial was that of a small child in 1861. The last recorded burial was in 1939. Most of the burials in the cemetery are before 1900. Thirteen Masonic members, five Civil War veterans, a minister, doctor, and numerous businessmen, including R.L. Parker, the father of Center, are buried here. The cemetery has been beautified with blooming plants and a flagstone walkway. Several family plots are marked with antique iron fencing.