Taylor Family Cemetery AKA: Hamilton Cemetery

Submitted by Terry CarpenterAdditional Research by Bob Franks

Location: Sec 28, Twp 7 S, Range 6 E. The nearest major crossroads is MS Hwy 348 and US Hwy 45.

Emma Hamilton marker   Closeup of Emma Hamilton marker

 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I found a tombstone on land belonging to my wife's family near Guntown. The tombstone is in a pasture near a tree that has fallen, where there are reportedly 3 or more graves. Only one tombstone was visible. It reads: "Emma A., wife of G. M. Hamilton, Born Mar. 25, 1830, Died Aug. 4?, 1852, Aged 22 yrs 4 mos. and 9? ds". It is marble, with a rose decoration, and a 4-line inscription below the dates. There may be other tombstones under the tree, which has fallen, or under the grass of the pasture. There was a house near the tree which burned in the 1970s. [Carpenter]

This cemetery is listed on pages 345-346 of the Lee County cemetery book as the Taylor Family Cemetery. This listing suggests that tradition states there were several stones in this burial ground at one time. The transcribers believed Emma's maiden name to be Taylor. The Guntown area was in Itawamba County prior to Lee County's formation. The Taylor family did not purchase the land until 1858 (Itawamba Co., MS Deed Book 16, page 40). This makes the likelihood of Emma's belonging to that family less realistic. At the time of the burial, the property belonged to William L. Thomas, a member of a prominent Guntown family. Thomas sold the property to Dr. John Fletcher Booth who kept it three years before selling it to the aforementioned Taylor family. The Taylors probably did bury some of their deceased there, especially since a burial had already taken place on the property. [Franks]

I may have identified G. M. Hamilton -- he appears to be son Gabriel of Russell Hamilton in the 1850 census of Itawamba. If so, he and Emma A. married after the census was taken. I have not found a marriage record for him, but he has a daughter born about 1851. He went to Williamson Co., TX from Itawamba, but the censuses are very inconclusive about his whereabouts before Texas, so I am still unsure he is the right husband. [Carpenter]