The grave marker of Lucy A. Nethery (1820s - 1880s)

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Recently I photographed and inventoried the restored Nethery Cemetery in eastern Monroe County, Mississippi. The cemetery is lovely and is carefully maintained. In the online article I posted about Nethery Cemetery (click to read) I noted that one grave from the 1938 inventory of the cemetery done by Evans, Baker, and Crawford was not to be found. That grave was for Lucy A. Nethery (spelled Neatherly in the Evans inventory).

A couple of days ago my brother Sherman Thornton of Amory telephoned from the cemetery saying his wife Patricia Johnson Thornton had spotted a grave marker several feet from the cemetery but easily visible from the cemetery access road. At my prodding Sherman got out of his vehicle (he is afraid of snakes) and walked into the woods to determine the name on the marker. When he told me it was a restored marker for someone named Lucy (he couldn't read the rest of the marker in the late afternoon/early evening light), I knew I had to get back to the cemetery for another look.

Today I drove to Nethery Cemetery and located the grave marker of Lucy A. Nethery some 175 feet eastsoutheast of the cemetery right where Patricia and Sherman told me it would be. But the marker is not in the cemetery where Evans inventoried it more than seventy years ago.

The following photographs show the marker and its relationship to the main cemetery.

Lucy Nethery's grave marker is about 175 feet southeast of Nethery Cemetery. The marker, however, was inventoried in 1938 as being within Nethery Cemetery.

The back of Lucy Nethery's grave marker can be seen just a few feet off the right side of the cemetery access road.

Near the restored grave marker for Lucy Nethery is a broken base to a marker. The base is presumed to be the original one for Lucy Nethery's marker.

The five fragments of Lucy Nethery's marker have been reassembled within a metal cage which supports and protects the marker.

I've added an update the Nethery Cemetery inventory online to include Lucy A. Nethery --- but I've no clue as to how her restored marked ended up so far removed from the cemetery.

Thanks Patricia Johnson Thornton for spotting the grave marker and thanks Sherman for telling me exactly where to look. The marker is easily visble from the cemetery access road on the right side as you start up the hill to Nethery Cemetery.

Photographs of the grave marker for Lucy A. Nethery April 13, 2010 copyright © 2010. William T. "Terry" Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. All Rights Reserved.

NETHERY CEMETERY, MONROE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

UPDATED: The inventory below has been updated to include the marker of Lucy A. Nethery which is located approximately 175 feet southeast of the cemetery. Click here to read the account of the discovery of Lucy Nethery's grave marker.

Recently Monroe County resident Ray Blaylock of Sipsey Fork sent word about Nethery Cemetery and offered to guide me to it. On April 7, 2010, Mr. Blaylock showed the way to Nethery Cemetery, an old family-style burying ground in the extreme eastern part of Monroe County. Located less than one-half mile from the Alabama/Mississippi State line, the cemetery has nineteen marked graves.

Nethery Cemetery is well-maintained. It is obvious that in recent years a great deal of effort has been made to clear the cemetery and to install markers. The earliest inventory available for this cemetery is the one done in May 1938 by Evans, Baker and Crawford. At that time they found nine marked graves in Nethery Cemetery (listed as Netherly in their index).

The cemetery is located on a woods-roads just a short distance off Gar Irvin Road. The following map gives a general location of the cemetery and directions to it. Click map for a larger image.

The following alphabetized inventory was taken from photographs of the grave markers found in Nethery Cemetery on April 7, 2010. The inventory lists surname, given names or initials, birth year, death year, name of cemetery, and an image number to the grave marker photograph. Where no dates were found, the symbol nd is used; nod means "no other date"; abt means "about". Click the image number to view the grave marker to determine exact spelling of the names, more complete dates, and additional information about family relationships.

NETHERY CEMETERY, MONROE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

LOWERY, infant, nd, Nethery, img 7129

LOWERY, Molly Nethery, nd, Nethery, img 7130

NETHERY, Daniel G., 1872, 1926, Nethery, img 7138

NETHERY, Elmer, nd, Nethery, img 7140

NETHERY, Harry, 1906, 1919, Nethery, img 7136

NETHERY, infant, nd, Nethery, img 7143

NETHERY, infant, nd, Nethery, img 7144

NETHERY, John, 1807, 1889, Nethery, img 7142

NETHERY, Kara, 1898, 1898, Nethery, img 7132

NETHERY, Kora, 1898, 1898, Nethery, img 7133

NETHERY, Lucy A., 182_, 188_, Nethery, img 7426

NETHERY, Marthar, 1857, 1896, Nethery, img 7134

NETHERY, Roland, nd, Nethery, img 7141

NETHERY, Sally Munn, died abt 1902, nod, Nethery, img 7139

NETHERY, Thomas G., 1858, 1923, Nethery, img 7135

NETHERY, Thomas Halan, 1887, 1901, Nethery, img 7131

NETHERY, Troy, 1913, 1931, Nethery, img 7137

NICHOLS, Arthor L., 1897, 1899, Nethery, img 7128

NICHOLS, Luther G., 1868, 1900, Nethery, img 7125

NICHOLS, Pauline, 1868, 1923, Nethery, img 7126

The Evans, Baker and Crawford inventory of Nethery Cemetery lists the following marker no longer found in the cemetery: NETHERY, Lucy A., 1829, 1881. Lucy A. Nethery's restored marker has been located in the woods approximately 175 fee southeast of the cemetery and is included in this inventory. Click here to read article about the grave marker of Lucy A. Nethery.

Thanks to Ray Blaylock of Sipsey Fork and to Sherman Thornton of Amory for assistance in locating, photographing and inventorying Nethery Cemetery.

If additional markers are discovered beneath the layer of leaves, please send notification. If links to specific marker photographs are broken or improper, please send an email or post a comment below.

SOURCES:

Evans, W.A., Monroe County Mississippi Cemetery Records, as reprinted by Lowndes County [Mississippi] Department of Archives and History, 1980, page 136.

Images of Nethery Cemetery, April 7, 2010, Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi.

Map to Nethery Cemetery modified from official Monroe County Mississippi Highway Map available at goMDOT.com

Nethery Cemetery inventory and photographs of grave markers copyright © 2010. William T. "Terry" Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. All Right Reserved.