Thank you from Todd Palmer: CSA MARKER MEMORIAL LANN CEMETERY

Posted by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Todd Palmer, Festus, Missouri, has requested the following "thank you" notice be placed at HILL COUNTRY. He was unable to personally thank everyone who assisted with the David Z. Palmer, CSA Marker Memorial Service, held recently at Lann Cemetery at Splunge, Monroe County, Mississippi.

Says Todd

"Please post a thank you from me to the following individuals and groups. I didn't have a chance to thank everyone while there who helped to make the ceremony for David Z. Palmer a wonderful event. Special thanks are extended to

The Sons Of The Confederates Camp 873 of Monroe County

C & M Monument Company of Amory

William Arinder (Banjo player)

Jolly Faulkner (Lann Cemetery care taker)

Jean Orcutt (The Bag Piper )

Rev. Don Mcaine

Pickles Funeral Home (The Tent)

Splunge Fire Deptment

Jimmy and Janette Weed

Claude and Patricia Palmer (My parents)

Stephen Palmer

All the local residents who turned out to honor David Z.Palmer

Thanks to everyone who helped out."

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According to an article and photograph in the June 16, 2010, MONROE JOURNAL, by Staff Writer Alice Ortiz, Todd Palmer was the one responsible for obtaining a replacement marker for his relative's grave and for organizing the event. Says Splunge native Ortiz, "Local descendants of David Z. Palmer, along with descendants from Missouri, Arizona, and Montana, attended the monument dedication."

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And I think that all who attended this moving and colorful service will remember it with kindness and with thanks for the opportunity to learn more about the heritage of those who once lived and served in the hills around Splunge. And speaking for the non-descendants of the Palmer line in attendance, the thanks should go to the Palmer Family and to Todd Palmer in particular for organizing and conducting this service.

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For additional information about the memorial service, click to see the previous posts (some with video):

David Z. Palmer: Monument Dedication Ceremony (includes photo and three video/audio tapes)

Amazing Grace by Piper Jean E. Orcutt (includes photo and a video/audio tape)

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And I'm still enjoying listening to Piper Orcutt playing Sweet of Hour at my grave marker after the Palmer service had concluded.

Bagpipe Piping at the Grave Marker of Terry Thornton (includes video/audio tape)

AMAZING GRACE by Piper Jean E. Orcutt

Posted by Terry Thornton
Email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com


Recorded Sunday, June 6, 2010, at Lann Cemetery, Splunge, Mississippi, at the Monument Dedication Ceremony for David Z. Palmer, CSA, Amazing Grace performed by Bagpiper Jean E. Orcutt.

Click the start button at lower left to view the video, AMAZING GRACE.

I apologize in advance for the poor recording quality of both the audio and video --- maybe next time I can "get it right."

Thanks to Jean Orcutt of Lauderdale, Mississippi, for being a part of this ceremony and for permitting me to video her performance and for granting permission to post it online.

DAVID Z. PALMER: Monument Dedication Ceremony

DAVID Z. PALMER
January 3 1817 - June 21 1887Private
Company B
Third Battalion, Mississippi Infantry
Confederate States of America

Lann Cemetery, Splunge, Monroe County, Mississippi, was the setting for the June 6, 2010, monument dedication ceremony and memorial service for David Z. Palmer. Numerous family members and guests attended this moving and colorful ceremony.

Some of the family and guests at the Palmer Memorial Service at Lann Cemetery.
Click image for larger view.

Palmer, an early resident of the Hill Country of Eastern Monroe County, was born in 1817 in Marion County, Alabama, son of David and Hannah Palmer. He was married to Sarah Lann on April 29, 1841. David and Sarah Palmer were the parents of Thomas Benton Palmer, Sarah Emerline Palmer, William Christopher Palmer, James Elyous Palmer, Mary Palmer, Henry Joseph Palmer, John Z. Palmer, and Rossana Palmer.

David Z. Palmer enlisted in Company B, 3rd Battalion, Mississippi Infantry on April 11, 1861. Discharged May 4, 1865, he returned to Hill Country to farm. He died June 21, 1887.

The memorial service featured a new military marker for Mr. Palmer, prelude music by Jean Orcutt, Piper, and a Welcome from the Commander of Camp 873, SCV. After prayer and a Salute to the Flags, Claude Palmer present a concise history of the CSA and of Private Palmer's service in the military.

William Arinder sang "Dixie" accompanying himself on the banjo. The Reverend Mr. Don Mcaine was the speaker.

Following a three-volley musket salute, Taps was played on the bagpipe.After the benediction, Piper Orcutt left the field playing "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes.

The services were made most more enjoyable by the care Jolly Faulkner, Third generation caretaker of Lann Cemetery, had taken. Thanks also to the Splunge Volunteer Fire Department for assistance. The tents for protection from the sun and the chairs meant that most of those attending the service could sit in the shade.

The Mississippi Sons of the Confederates, Camp 873, of Monroe County, did a splendid job in preparing and in implementing the activities of the service.

Following the memorial, family and guests were invited to a Southern Tea at the home of Jim and Janette Weed.

Following are three audio/video tapes of portions of the memorial service.

Click the start button at lower left to see the flags and color guard.

Click the start button at lower left view and hear Musket Salutes 1 and 2.


Click the start button at lower left to view/hear Musket Salute 3 and Taps on the Bagpipe.

NOTE: Although not in the same unit, another Hill Country resident wrote letters home from the war which survive. A.F. Burdine's letters to his wife have been transcribed and are available at a link in the article at http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/burdine-civil-war-letters.html. Burdine was a member of the influential Burdine Family of early Monroe and Itawamba Counties. For a better understanding of the war years and of the war's impact on Hill Country, read the Burdine Civil War letters.

As in many older Hill Country burying grounds, it is not unusual to find Southern Confederates and Southern Unionists interred within the same soil. Such is the case with Lann Cemetery. My great-grandfather, James Monroe Thornton, Private, First Alabama Cavalry USA, is buried just a few markers to the west of David Palmer.

Posted by Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi.
Email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Photographs and video by Terry Thornton, June 6, 2010.