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The Stories They Tell

© Dorothy Hill

I don't like new cemetaries--or memorial gardens as many are called now. They are lacking in the mystique and character of the older ones, and they definitely don't tell stories.

Old cemetaries, on the other hand, are interesting and provide a great place for an afternoon stroll. The old tombstones put one in touch with the past, for they mark the final resting places of the people who actually lived the history we study. The epitahs provide real insights into the beliefs and values of these individuals and their families in a way that textbooks can't. Some even cause the visitor to wonder and to speculate about the person and the period of time in which he or she lived. And the stories they tell.....

A recent visit to the cemetary in Holly Springs provided the following pictures and stories.

This man graduated from the US Naval Academy and served in the navy. The message on the side of that same monument tells that he came from a long line of military men going back to his great-grandfather who served in the American Revolution. His grandfather served in the infantry in 1814 and 1815 and his father was a general in the Civil War. Military service was important to this family.

This tombstone in the shape of a cross marks the grave of a colonel in the Civil War who died in battle in December of 1862. On the side of that tombstone is a memorial to his father who also died fighting for what he believed in--at the Alamo.

These four ornate tombstones mark the final resting place of a family of plantation owners. The small tombstone in front marks the grave of another member of their family--their former slave that raised them and that they called Mammy.

In 1878 a yellow fever epidemic hit Holly Springs. Many of the residents left the town in hopes of avoiding the sickness and the death. A group of nuns who were teachers refused to leave and served as nurses to the sick and dying. All six died of yellow fever.

Buried in the cemetary at Holly Springs are two United States Senators. The first tombstone is that of Hiram Rhodes Revels who gained distinction as the first African-American senator. The second tombstone is that of Edward Carey Walthall who served as a general during the Civil War. Both men, very different in their outlooks, served at different times in the same position. Revels grave is just down the hill and in sight of Walthall's.