OCHGS Director Jane Bell Polk, with the able assistance of husband Sam Polk, has been directing the project to re-survey Starkville's previously surveyed cemeteries and to survey new cemeteries. Jane has mobilized volunteers to take advantage of the good weather we have enjoyed during the last two months. Jane has been looking forward to this project for quite some time and is having a great time. Although cemetery surveying is hard work, it is also interesting and rewarding.

Several people have wondered why we are re-surveying cemeteries where burials no longer take place. This was something the Cemetery Survey Committee was accepting as necessary from the experience of other historical societies. Now that the survey information is coming in, we are even more sure of the decision. As you can imagine, with any project as large as the 1968 cemetery survey, some human error is bound to occur. We are correcting any errors we find. There are also some differences in the way information was recorded in the 1968 survey. Our goal is to collect complete information and to standardize the way information is entered in the database. Moreover, some tombstones will have disappeared and we believe it is important to report that fact. We have already been told of graves that have been moved recently, so we know that a few others have also probably been moved.

Following is a list of cemeteries that have either been completed or have been assigned to someone for survey. Cemeteries with asterisks (*) have not previously appeared io a published Oktibbeha County Cemetery Survey. Those cemeteries surveyed in 1994 will have to be quickly re-surveyed. However, we do want to give credit to everyone who has contributed to the tremendous amount of work that has been accomplished so far. If you have any time to assist with this project, contact Jane Bell Polk, 601-323-1977. Thank you, Jane and Sam for the tremendous job you are doing!

(C) 1998, Oktibbeha County Historical and Genealogical Society newsletter.