This is an old abandoned family cemetery on the Marshall/Tate County line, near Tyro, Mississippi. Descendants found the burial site, cleaned the overgrowth and fenced the area. Land description is NW 1/2 S 31, T5S R4W Marshall Co., MS/

Graveyard Story by Wanda Ridge
Levington Allen Freeman, husband of Tabitha Watkins, died in 1846 in Marshall Co., MS. He left six small children, the oldest of which was my great grandfather, John Henderson Freeman. A journal reference in 1869 by John Henderson recorded an expense of $10 for the purchase of a grave marker for his father.

After Tabitha Watkins Freeman died, the family property was sold with "the exception of 1/4 acre containing burying ground for family graveyard."

With this information and a land description, my family and I began the search in 1985 for the old family graveyard in Marshall Co., MS.

With the knowledge of the section, township and range of property Tabitha bought in 1848, Bill Ridge, a Watkins and Freeman descendant, located the property. Bill ‘walked' the pine-forested area several times and could find no indication of burials. Other descendants, Robert and Joyce Waldrip, walked the same area with no success.

On a subsequent trip to find the cemetery, Robert and Joyce noticed a dirt lane bordering the property and determined to find the cemetery and not wanting to give up, decided to drive down the lane to see what they could find. The lane led to a pig farm owned by an elderly black man by the name of Mike Cox. When asked if he knew where a family cemetery might be on the property the Waldrips indicated, Mr. Cox quickly replied that his grandfather, Sam Freeman, had farmed the Freeman place and that he knew the exact location of the family graveyard. Mr. Cox, with Robert and Joyce in tow, walked directly to a spot in the 160 acre tract, and said, "This is where the graveyard was located." With the first probe, Robert discovered Levington Allen Freeman's grave marker buried under six to eight inches of leaves and debris. Subsequent probes found the tombstones of Tabitha Watkins Freeman and Mary "Polly" Hollingsworth, Levington Allen's mother. Additional searches over the years have uncovered footstones and indications of other burials, but no additional grave markers.

However, that is not the end of the story. When John Watkins died in Wake County, North Carolina in 1836, he left a slave by the name of Sam to his daughter, Tabitha (Freeman). In 1873 Tabitha, twice widowed in Marshall Co., MS and with no children left at home, signed a contract with "Sam Freeman, a free man of color" to farm her acreage. Descendants have the original contract made between Sam Freeman and Tabitha Watkins Freeman. Both signed with an "X."

Soon after the discovery of the graveyard, approximately twenty family members, including Mike Cox, gathered at the site. Undergrowth was cleared and tombstones were set in place. Mike Cox was presented with a copy of the contract made between his grandfather, Sam Freeman, and Tabitha Freeman, our ancestor. Mr. Cox and the Freeman descendants gathered for photos. We were all ‘family.'

It is very likely that Sam Freeman is also buried in this family cemetery.

Some may call it coincidence. We call it "divine providence." Had Mike Cox not been living near the tract of land 140 years later, had we not had a copy of the contract between Tabitha and Sam Freeman, and had Robert and Joyce not asked for help from Mike Cox, we would probably never have found this wonderful part of our heritage. We most assuredly would not have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cox and being able to share family stories with him.

A footnote to this story: a timber company in Grenada, MS currently owns the Freeman property in Mississippi. Timber company officials gave permission for the erection of a 10' by 45' chain link fence around the cemetery. Another descendant, Larry Freeman of Newalla, Oklahoma, made a wonderful cemetery sign for the roadside, and one for the fence surrounding the cemetery. Family members keep the undergrowth cut from the area.



From the intersection of Wyatte-Tyro Rd. & MS-4, east of Wyatte, travel south on Wyatte-Tyro Rd. for 2.6 mi.; turning northeast (sharp left) onto Harris Chapel Rd., going 0.8 mi.; continuing northeast onto Tyro Rd., going about 150 yards; turning southeast (right) going about 200' into a wooded are towards a clump of more mature that contain this small fenced cemetery.