Wolf Valley Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Wolf Valley Cemetery, Brown County. Pull over if you want.

This one's worth a moment. The Wolf Valley community got its start around 1875, and the cemetery followed not long after, the way cemeteries tend to follow wherever people plant roots deep enough to stay. The earliest grave belongs to S.

T. Tollette, buried here May 11, 1882. That same month, James Lyon and R.

P. Ramsey were laid to rest beside him. Three graves, one month.

That's how a community cemetery begins. Quietly, and all at once. For a while the land itself was informal, the way frontier things often are.

Then in 1902, the community made it official. Trustees A. E.

Bailey, A. W. Hardy, and J.

W. Spence bought the original tract from the D. M.

Davidson family, formally setting the cemetery aside. The site would grow from there, enlarged through later additions of land. Now, a cemetery needs more than ground.

It needs a gathering place. So in 1887, a church building went up right here on these grounds, and it didn't belong to just one flock. Baptist, Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations all shared it, and so did the local schools.

When summer came and the walls felt too close, folks built brush arbors for revivals out in the open air. This place was the spiritual and educational hub of the whole community. Then the building burned.

And here's where Wolf Valley shows you what it's made of. The community rebuilt it, funded through donated funds and labor. Not a single outside hand required.

Donated funds and labor. Remember that. The graves here tell the story of what this valley was and who walked it.

Pioneer settlers. Early community leaders. Military veterans.

And two state legislators, H. P. Taylor and W.

R. Chambers. Over three hundred marked graves, and two unmarked gravesites that hold their secrets still.

Every May, people come back. An annual homecoming and a Memorial Day service, conducted right here, keeping faith with the ones who came before. Maintenance of this historic burial ground is funded through donations, same as the rebuild, same as always.

Wolf Valley takes care of its own. It always has.

What the marker says

This cemetery originally served pioneer settlers of the Wolf Valley community, which began about 1875. The earliest grave is that of S. T. Tollette, who was buried here May 11, 1882. Also buried that same month were James Lyon and R. P. Ramsey. The cemetery was formally set aside in 1902 when trustees A. E. Bailey, A. W. Hardy and J. W. Spence bought the original tract from the D. M. Davidson family. The site was enlarged through later additions of land. A church building was constructed here in 1887 for use by Baptist, Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations as well as the local schools. Brush arbors were used for summer revivals. The building and grounds were the spiritual and educational hub of the community. The structure burned, but was rebuilt through donated funds and labor. Graves here include those of pioneer settlers, early community leaders, military veterans and two state legislators, H. P. Taylor and W. R. Chambers. The site contains over three hundred marked graves and two unmarked gravesites. An annual homecoming and Memorial Day service is conducted here each May. Maintenance of the historic burial ground is funded through various donations. (1983)