GARRETT CEMETERY
Garrett Cemetery, October 1999
Sallie T. Maxwell Marker, Garrett Cemetery, October 1999
(shot through telephoto lens)
One should never cut the trees from an abandoned cemetery. The Garrett Cemetery in 1999 is an impenetrable thicket. A nearby resident says that a few years ago the trees in the cemetery were harvested. Mature trees shade out undergrowth. In the nineteenth century cedars were planted around many cemeteries. The dense, year round shade of ceders shades out almost all native undergrowth and left the cemetery accessible before the invention of lawnmowers. A cemetery which has fully reverted to woods is also easily accessible. If Garrett Cemetery is left alone for about 30 years, the new trees will grow big enough to shade out most of the other growth and the cemetery can be visited again.
There are three earlier records of this cemetery. The first was made for the Works Progress Administration by Dovie E. Little and is dated April 19, 1938. It appears in Tennessee Records of Henderson County, Bible Records and Tombstone Inscriptions (Nashville, Historical Records Survey, July 27, 1939, pp. 59-61). Dottie Wiggin recorded Garrett Cemetery in 1976 which she noted to be "in the woods." Her record appears in Henderson County, Tennessee Cemetery Inscriptions (R. H. Harris, Memphis, 1976), Vol. II, pp. 383-384. Lewis Jones also recorded the cemetery. It appears in his Cemeteries in Chester County (1982, p. 26).
The cemetery was must have been easily accessible to both Wiggin and Lewis because there was a single marker difference in the number of markers each found and recorded. The marker information below is generally based on the record by Dovie Little. Information in Little is used with one exception. Wiggin is the source for items not listed by Little.
Arnold, Infant, no dates, "Infant of W. N. & Margarett Arnold"
Arnold, Infant, d. Dec. 10, 1882, "Infant son of J. M. & L. F. Arnold"
Arnold, Margaret A., May 1824-Oct. 28, 1864, "Wife of W. N. Arnold"; marker by D. H. Winans, Cairo, Ill.
Arnold, Miles Nicholas, Aug. 27, 1857-Nov. 10, 1857, "Son of W. N. & Margarett Arnold"
Arnold, Nancy Ellen, Feb. 7, 1855-Nov. 1, 1857, "Dau. of W. N. & Margarett Arnold"
Arnold, W. F., Dec. 27, 1859-Oct. 20, 1880, "Son of W. N. & Margarett Arnold"
Arnold, William Clay, Nov. 5, 1846-June 17, 1849, "Son of W. N. & Margaret Arnold"
Arnold, Willis N., Jan. 10, 1822-Sept. 27, 1894 [Wiggin]
Garrett, Nicholas, Dec. 23, 1799-Oct. 17, 1867
Hart, A. A., Mar. 5, 1863-July 18, 1891, "Amy, we took thee an orphan, Loved thee in life and cherished thee in death. G. B. & S. M. Wallace"
Hart, Flora, Sept. 27, 1874-Mar. 10, 1895, "Wife of James T. Hart"
Maxwell, Geneva, Oct. 19, 1878-Oct. 9, 1905 [Wiggin]
Maxwell, Jimmie, 1901-1908 [Wiggin]
Maxwell, Sallie T., 1863-1921 [Wiggin; as reported by Little: Mrs. Sam Maxwell, d. Oct. 10, 1821, Aged ____"]
Smith, Bertha E., Sept. 21, 1887-Sept. 26, 1888, "Dau. of Z. T. & A. M. Smith"
Smith, J. F., Jan. 4, 1842-Jan. 24, 1893
Smith, John F., Nov. 28, 1895-Aug. 31, 1899 [Wiggin]
Smith, Josie, Sept. 18, 1873-Jan. 17, 1904, "Wife of A. S. (Bob)" [Wiggin]
Smith, Lily May, Aug. 15, 1893-Aug. 15, 1896 [Wiggin]
Smith, M. E., Apr. 20, 1851-Mar. 16, 1886, "Wife of J. F. Smith"
Smith, Wilmer, June 16, 1897-Dec. 16, 1915 [Wiggin]
Wadley, Infant, Sept. 25, 1904-Sept. 25, 1904, "Infant of Dyke & Jessie" [Wiggin]
Wallace, G. B., Feb. 2, 1843-June 27, 1919 [Masonic symbol]
Wallace, G. B., Jr., Mar. 21, 1868-Mar. 19, 1893
Wallace, J. M., Dec. 12, 1847-July 5, 1914
Wallace, John B., Feb. 10, 1816-Mar. 11, 1879
Wallace, Mildred, July 5, 1843-July 8, 1905, "Wife of G. B. Wallace" "Mother"
Wallace, N. S., Feb. 1, 1874-Jan. 24, 1892
Wallace, Salley, Jan. 22, 1831-Mar. 24, 1890, "Second Wife of J. B. Wallace"
Wallace, Sarah Matilda, Dec. 1, 1856-Mar. 3, 1911, "Wife" "Mother"
Wallace, Susan Rowark, Jan. 26, 1814-Sept. 10, 1854, "Wife of John B. Wallace"
West, Luther, Jan. 16, 1891-July 30, 1892, "Son of T. J. & M. E. West"
Wilkinson, J. C., July 19, 1831-Nov. 18, 1852, "Son of B. C. & M. C." [Wiggin; "Wilkerson" in Little; "Wilkinson" in Wiggin and Jones]