Rounsavall Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Rounsavall Cemetery, out here in Henderson County. Now settle in, because this one reaches back a long way. Back to the years just after the Civil War, when the Flat Creek community was still finding its footing, there was already a piece of ground being set aside.

A place to remember. A place to keep. The Rounsavall family had come to Henderson County around 1857, and they put down roots deep enough to name a cemetery after.

That's the kind of staying power that earns you a place in the story. Arba Monroe Rounsavall, born in 1843, was a businessman in the truest sense of the word. He owned and operated a gristmill, and later a cotton gin, and he owned the very property where this burial ground stands.

His wife, Fannie Emeline, born around 1835 and passing in 1887, is buried there alongside him. The land, and everything it carried, eventually passed to their son James Monroe Rounsavall, born in 1871, a farmer and a school board trustee, a man who tended both the earth and the community growing up out of it. James is buried there too, beside his wife Clyde, also written as Clide, Oma Rounsavall, also born in 1871, who passed in 1939.

James himself lived until 1952. Now, the earliest marked burial belongs to a child named Annie E. Carroll, born in 1869 and gone by 1875.

That small stone carries a weight all its own. But the marker tells us there may be someone resting even earlier, in an unmarked grave. James Walling, born in 1797, believed to have died around 1866, may well be the oldest soul in that ground.

The Carrolls and the Carters are among the other pioneering families represented here, and you'll notice the Carters show up twice if you're paying attention. Fannie Emeline was a Carter before she was a Rounsavall. Those families were woven together the way old communities tend to be.

Walk through the cemetery today and you'll find vertical stones, an entry arch, and benches. Those interred include farmers, community leaders, and veterans of conflicts dating all the way back to the Civil War. The property was deeded to Henderson County in 1946, then deeded back to the Rounsavall Cemetery Association, which organized in 1959 and has been keeping the place ever since.

Additional property was added in 1991, and again in 1996. The marker calls this cemetery a chronicle of some of eastern Henderson County's earliest pioneers, people who came through both joys and difficulties to build the Flat Creek community from the ground up. That word, chronicle, feels right.

Because out here, the stones do the talking, and they've got a lot to say.

What the marker says

This burial ground has served residents of the Flat Creek community since the years shortly after the Civil War. It is named for the Rounsavall family, which settled in Henderson County around 1857. Arba Monroe Rounsavall (1843 - 1926), a businessman who owned and operated a gristmill and later a cotton gin, owned this property. He and his wife, Fannie Emeline (Carter) Rounsavall (c. 1835 - 1887), are among those buried here. Ownership of this land later passed onto their son, farmer and school board trustee James Monroe Rounsavall (1871 - 1952), who is also interred here with his wife, Clyde (also Clide) Oma (Knowles) Rounsavall (1871 - 1939). Other pioneering families represented here include the Carrolls and the Carters. The earliest marked burial in the cemetery is of Annie E. Carroll (1869 - 1875). However, it is believed that James Walling (1797 - c. 1866) is buried in an earlier, unmarked grave. Cemetery features include vertical stones, an entry arch, and benches. Those interred included farmers, community leaders, and veterans of conflicts dating to the Civil War. The cemetery property was deeded to Henderson County in 1946 and subsequently deeded back to the Rounsavall Cemetery Association, which organized in 1959 and continues to maintain the burial ground. Additional property was added in 1991 and 1996. Today, Rounsavall Cemetery serves as a chronicle of some of eastern Henderson county's earliest pioneers, who through both joys and difficulties established the Flat Creek community.