Volume 1, Number 4 - Summer 1962
Short Cemetery
Mary Scott Hair
This is the first history of a cemetery we have published, and we wish to express our appreciation of the outstanding research done by the author, and of her excellent presentation of the material.If you are interested in old cemeteries, you have a cordial invitation to visit Short Cemetery, one mile due south of Hurley in northern Stone County, Missouri. It is located on the east side of farm to market road CC. And the Cemetery - both the old and "new" sections, - is so well kept, thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Roy Lee, that a note of pride can be detected when area residents speak of it.
Short Cemetery is not the oldest one in our part of the country, nor is it the largest. But it has been a graveyard, as the old-timers say, for well over 100 years. On May 28, 1961, Dewey Short, grandson of John Short, for whom it was named, conducted the Centennial service at the Cemetery, climaxing day-long events reminiscent of an era when things were less hurried. It was a day that will long be remembered.
The Cemetery land did not belong to John Short when the first persons were buried there. Nor was there a town of Hurley, Missouri, then. The Cemetery was meadowland, on the farm of James Barnard. And the sparsely settled area was known as Spring Creek Valley, the Spring Creek settlement or sometimes just Spring Creek.
Barnard, with his wife and children - two sons and two daughters - came to Spring Creek Valley from Illinois. On May 15, 1857, a Patent Deed on 80 acres of land was issued to him, James Buchanan, President. It was recorded at Galena, Missouri, in Book W, page 11. The Cemetery land is a part of that 80 acres.
Why James Barnard and his family were sympathetic toward the Confederate cause when the Civil War divided families and split up neighborhoods, no one knew. But they were. And so, also, was his nearest neighbor, John Sanders, who, with his family, lived a short distance beyond Spring Creek on what older residents call the Uncle Buck Spears farm. Present owners are Mr. and Mrs. Guy Peters. However, In the case of the Sanders family, their leaning toward the South could be explained by the fact that the eldest member of the family, "Granny" Mary Bunden, had come to Missouri from North Carolina, and brought many memories with her.
These two families took no active part in the war. But James Barnard had the name of giving aid - food and shelter - to Confederate men who had escaped and were trying to get back to their outfits. There were other families west of the Barnards some distance with similar sympathies and all "kept in touch."
Hardly had the Barnards got settled in their double log house, when newcomers arrived from southern Arkansas. Some political unrest or conflict had disrupted living conditions to such an extent that these folks were forced to leave in the night, taking with them the clothing on their backs, and what could be done up in a bundle. They traveled by night and went into hiding during the day. When they finally reached Spring Creek Valley, the "refugees" put up at the Barnards.
Any kind of housing, then, had to be provided. And since there were several small children in the family, it was out of the question for them to stay very long with their crowded benefactors. A cave, known for years as the Hays cave, was suggested as temporary shelter. It was large and roomy, cool and dry in summer, and would afford a certain amount of protection in winter, if the family were forced to remain there that long.
So, the newcomers from Arkansas set up housekeeping in the cave. And in a very short time, two of the children came down with a fever. Both of them died, a few days apart. During their illness, young people from the Barnard household and the Sanders family walked back and forth to the cave home and helped take care of the sick children. The distance by a path through the woods and over the hills was between three and four miles.
When the first child died, and the young couple wondered where it could be buried, James Barnard offered a corner of one of his fields for the burial place. There, the young victim, whose name has long since been forgotten, was laid to rest. In a few days, the other child was buried beside it. At the time, field stories were placed at the head, and at the foot of the graves. But there never were any dated markers. Fred Steele, who is our local as well as our family historian, believes these first burials were made either in the late summer of 1857, or in 1858.
The next grave was that of a little girl from the John Short family, a twin named Mary. Her sister was named Sarah. She had been given a pioneer rattler, a gourd, to play with and as she chewed on the neck of the gourd,
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a piece lodged In her throat and she choked to death. The stone from the little grave has been gone for a good many years but this is what was on it:Mary E. Daughter of
John and Lydia Short
Born April 26, 1857
Died March 26, 1859
In 1863, another Short child, a brother, was buried beside little Mary, and his gravestone still stands. He was eleven year old John W. Short, and he died March 17, 1863.
Little Bradford T. Sanders, whose grave stone is now the oldest one in the Cemetery, was laid to rest not far from where the Barnard children were buried in the southeast corner of the old section. He died on August 24, 1861.
Settlers in Spring Creek Valley, as elsewhere, hated having their plans disrupted when they were so busy providing for their families. Nevertheless, war clouds rolled up black as midnight. Households were divided with brother fighting against brother, father against son, why, no one could tell. Most of the men in the Valley were doing something for the cause they believed to be right.
It was in the summer of 1863, as James Barnard and John Sanders sat on a log talking, on the Sanders farm, that some person or persons killed them both, almost at the same time. It was never known who fired the shots. Both were buried in the corner of the field so recently given by James Barnard for a burial place for the refugee children. His grave was never marked, but the grave of John Sanders bears the date: July 28, 1863. Barnard was said to have been buried in front of Sanders, presumably alongside the two children from Arkansas.
The death of a son not long after Mr. Barnard's passing was a factor in the leavetaking of Mrs. Barnard and the other children, probably before the war was over. On May 10, 1869, the estate of James Barnard was sold to John Short, recorded at Galena, Missouri, in Book C, Page 188 (Administrator's Deed.) There is a great deal of unmarked space in the old section of the Cemetery but it is full of graves which, at one time, either had field stone markers or markers that crumbled. Several of them were buried prior to 1875, for once it became known that a burial site had been set aside on the "Uncle Johnny" Short farm, the dead were taken there from a wide area.
In Short Cemetery, as in others, family name patterns are well established. It is then that a strange name has real significance and we sense a story. The simple grave marker reads:
Catherine,
Wife of R. B. Rhodes
Died July 29, 1877, aged 62 years
And this is the story: In the years following the Louisiana Purchase, the White River Valley received much favorable publicity. If a person needed a change in climate for the health, all advice was: "Get on the White River, and into the Valley."
In North Carolina there was a man of considerable wealth named IGO. We are not sure about the correct spelling but it was pronounced like: I go. He, in spite of his cotton mills, was in poor health and decided to follow the advice. He came by way of White River to nearby Crane Creek Valley and took up residence. With him were his three daughters. He had left the two sons at home to look after the cotton mills.
After a time his health improved greatly. And he decided he would return to North Carolina, close out the business and urge his sons to come to this new and promising part of the country. The girls remained here, for they had married and made homes of their own.
It was five years before the daughters learned that their father did not live long after returning to North Carolina. And the fortune that should have been shared by the IGO heirs had been squandered by the two sons. When Catherine IGO Rhodes died, she was brought to Short Cemetery for burial.
The oldest person buried in the cemetery was Oscar ("Grandpa" to the community) Sanders, who was 102 years old. On Grandpa's 100th birthday, the whole town "set" him a birthday dinner. He was not related to the John Sanders family.
There is one grave everyone notices in that unmarked portion of the cemetery. It is the one with the flat, coffin-shaped rock on the top. For as long as I can remember, that grave has been a curiosity, and at the same time a menace. One year at a "working", the top was lifted and a huge snake, coiled up under the rock, struck at the intruders.
The grave is that of a young woman named Mandy Kerr, who died of "lung trouble." She was a sister of Ben Kerr, a well- known, elderly citizen who is buried nearby. The coffin-shaped rock was on the hillside near the Kerr home where Mandy played as a child. And she often expressed the desire to have it for her grave stone when she died.
When she passed away, a neighbor named John Reynolds dressed the stone and did the carving on it. The inscription and dates have been almost obliterated by time and the elements, but after much effort trying to figure it out we believe it reads like this:
In Memory of Rebecca Amanda Kerr
Born July 1850
Daughter of Preston Kerr
Departed this life March 1870.
The Cemetery has not always been as well kept as it is today, therefore in keeping with a trend in such burial places, the portion in the center of the graveyard now, was fenced in, making a private burial area for the Short family. The north fence now helps divide the old from the new. Not all of the Short graves
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have present markers though they did have at one time. There are 17 graves inside the fence, all bearing the Short name but two: Elizabeth (Shaw) Coleman, mother-in-law of John Short. And Elizabeth Ann Eaton, great- great granddaughter of John and Lydia Short whose brief life span lasted nine hours. She was born and died on July 9, 1941.
The most unusual grave in Short Cemetery is that of Mandy Kerr, a young woman who died of "lung trouble". The flat rock covering her grave was on the hillside near her home and she had often expressed the desire to have it for her gravestone. The inscription, carved by a neighbor, John Reynolds, is now very dim.
John Short is buried beside these three women: his first wife, Lydia Coleman Short; his second wife, Isabelle Farmer Short; and his mother-in-law, Ellizabeth Shaw Coleman whose grave for many years was marked by the black dye kettle she brought with her in the dug boat from the old home in Tennessee.
On Decoration Day, and on the Fourth of July, small American flags are placed at the graves of our war dead. Flag keepers are Margaret Ann Redwing and her brother Johnny Redwing. At the present time there are nine, as follows:
- B. A. Kerr. Co. M. 8th Reg. Vol. Cavalry of Missouri (Civil War);
- James P. Farmer, 24th Arkansas Infantry (Civil War);
- Tom Howard, 8th Missouri Cavalry (Civil War);
- John Short, Missouri Home Guards (Civil War);
- Henry David Albert, Co. H. 10th Inf. Missouri Vol. (Philippine Insurrection);
- Sgt. Dale Dean, Co. C. 506th Parachute Inf. 101st Airborne Division (World War Two);
- PFC Paul Thomas, 782nd Technical School Squadron, Lincoln, (Nebraska) AFB (WW Two);
- PFC Herbert Thomas Co. M 1st Platoon, 309th Infantry (World War Two);
- PFC Herman A. Thomas, Co. A. 27th Infantry AEF (World War One).
Sgt. Dale Dean lost his life at the Normandy Beachhead, and his body was returned for burial. Herbert Thomas was a member of an outfit known as the Diehard Regiment. The name "Diehard" must have been descriptive, for hardly had Herbert, a lad of 18, hit the front lines in Germany when his life was snuffed out. His body was returned home some time later.
Paul Thomas was drowned near Lincoln AFB where he was en- route to the east coast, and over seas duty. Herbert and Paul were sons of Herman A. Thomas.
When little Kevin Ray Langley was stillborn, August 13, 1955, his parents, Airman Second Class and Mrs. Max Langley were stationed at Smokey Hill AFB, later renamed Schilling AFB. The sad news was received here and relatives asked, "You aren't going to bury him "way out there, are you?" The young father said he guessed they would have to, for he wouldn't leave his wife, even if he could get leave.
In a matter of hours, A/2C Max Langley's uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Wilson, of Hurley, were on their way to bring home the little body for burial, beside other relatives in Short Cemetery. The next year, twin babies also stillborn, were buried in the adjoining plot, but the Langleys were home on leave at that time.
Provision has been made for enlargement of the present Cemetery area to the north, thus assuring plenty of burial space for several years to come. In all the Cemetery embraces about three acres of land.
Short Cemetery is a quiet, peaceful spot, a bit of hallowed ground one mile south of Hurley.
IDENTIFICATION of GRAVES in SHORT CEMETERY
The graves in the south portion are identified by number while graves in the north section are identified by cemetery plot (or lot) number. Inscriptions have been copied directly from the stone or markers as follows:
1. Come Ye Blessed. W. M. Har grove. Born July 2, 1833. Died May 4, 1903.
2. Gone But Not Forgotten. Inf. Dau. of J. C. and Hattie Hayes. Born and Died February 7, 1907.
3. Infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Will Hale. Died February 19, 1919 (day of birth).
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4. Infant of C. C. and M. A. Wright. Born and Died July 8, 1905. Sleep on Sweet Babe/And take thy rest / God called thee home / He thought it best.
5. Infant of John and M. Parker. Died November 2, 1891, Aged 1 month. Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
6. Hiram Bland. Born Febru ary 10, 1829. Died December 23, 1895. Gone but not forgotten.
7. Infant of J. S. and E. Carr. March 1 (no year).
8. Ina Dau. of J. S. and E. Carr. November 24, 1909. February 14, 1911. CARR
9. Joe S. 1886-1946-Edith E. 1887-1944.
10. Hulda C. May 5, 1873; Edward R., February 22, 1870-August 29, 1953.
11. Oscar Sanders, 1825-1927.
12. James P. Farmer. Born May 26, 1845. Died October 6, 1903. FARMER across base of stone.
IDENTIFICATION
13. Infant Son of W. J. and S. E. Kerr. December 20, 1896.
14. Preston A. Son of W. J. and S. E. Kerr. September 8, 1887. July 12, 1889.
15. HOWARD (Tall Shaft) South Side: Mary J. Wife of Thos. Howard. Born December 24, 1845. Died October 26, 1892. North Side: Thos. Howard. Born July 4, 1825. Died May 21, 1893.
16. James R. Son of Thos. and Mary J. Howard. Born April 3, 1880 in Stone County, Missouri. Died February 21, 1908. Aged 27 years, 7 mos. and 19 days.
17. CATHERINE. Wife of R. B. Rhodes. Died July 27, 1877. Aged 62 years.
18. Henry Reynolds. May 26, 1805. September 25, 1892.
19. 'SARAH ANN. Wife of B. A. Kerr. May 1, 1836. Died Jan uary 26, 1892. Gone to rest.
20. B. A. 'Kerr. Born September
22, 1838. Co. M. 8 Reg. Vol. Cay. of Missouri. Died May 31, 1909. Safe 'in the Arms of Jesus. KERR across bottom of stone.
21. Martha S. Bland. October
28, 1858. March 25, 1871. Gone but not forgotten.
22. H. G. Albert. 'Born August
20, 1857. Died April 26, 1890. The pure in heart shall see 'God.
23. Henry J. Son of W. J. and S. E. Kerr. September 8, 1882. November 16, 1884.
IDENTIFICATION
24. Sarah E. Gaultney. Daughter of J. H. and M. E. Saunders. Born December 10, 1881. Died February 11, 1898 Gone but not forgotten.
25. H. H. Gwaltney. September
2, 1870. November 11, 1919. GWALTNEY on base of stone.
26. Infant of P. E. and N. M. Sanders. (No dates.)
27. Fay, Daughter of A. J. and D. E. Eaton. December 12, 1915. February 2, 1919.
28. Mary Bunden. Born November 2, 1801. Died March 16, 1892.
29. SANDERS Nellie M. 1882-(1939?) P. E. 1884-1934.
30. Thomas Eaton. October
12, 1861. June 22, 1906. EATON on base of stone.
31. John H. Sanders. Died March 10, '1888. Aged 38 years, 3 mos. 3 days.
32. Henry N. Sanders. Born ·May 30, 1852. Died April 24, '1900. Called higher.
33. Arrena Sanders. Born Au gust 15, 1819 Died August 21, 1900. Farewell.
34. Base of stone remains, no identification.
35. JOHN SANDERS. Borr December 12, 1812 Died July 28 1863.
36 Bradford T. son of John Sanders. Born January 28, 1860, Died August 24, 1861.
37. In Memory of Rebecca Amanda Kerr. Born July 1850. Departed this life March 1870.
38. Henry David. Son of H. G. and S. C. Albert. May 22, 1883. December 22, 1915. Co. H. 10th Inf. Missouri Vol. 1902-1915.
39. William Luther. Son of H. G and 'S. C. Albert. June 6, 1888. March 24, 1910. Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep / From which none ever wakes to weep.
40 Infant Daughter of J. W. and Lou Carr. 1923.
41. Mary E. Henley. 1867-1945
42. Charles D. Davis. 1896-1939.
43. (First grave inside Short lot.) GEORGE W. Son of C. W. and M. Short. Born May 16, 1885. Died November 26, 1896.
44. J. A. Garfield. Son of G. W. and M. C. Short. Died June 19, 1882. Aged 1 year, 7 mos. 2 days.
45. LUTHER. Son of G. W. and M. C. Short. Born February 9, 1879. Died January 31, 1880.
46. John W. Son of C. W. and M. C. Short. January 12, 1874. September 6, 1876.
47. Elizabeth (Shaw) Coleman. 1803-1873.
48. Lydia E. Wife of John Short. Born September 13, 1832. Died July 4, 1876. We shall meet again, Sweet Mother / In a brighter clime than this / Where the anguish of this world of ours / Is lost in deathless bliss.
49. JOHN SHORT. Born May 2, 1826 Died January 2, 1906. He followed as his truest guide / Lived as a Christian -As a Christian died.
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50. Isabel Short. August 30, 1843. April 1, 1929. Gone but not forgotten.
51. Infant Son of John and Isabel Short. Born August 26, 1882. Died October 4, 1882.
52. John W. Son of J. and L. E. Short. Died March 17, 1S63. Aged 11 yrs, 1 mo. 1 day.
53. Thomas Bates. Son of J. and L. E. Short. Died June 24, 1868. Aged 16 years, 7 mos. 4 days.
54. Willis F. (Franklin). Son of J. and L. E. Short. Died October 3, 1869. Aged 2 mos. 27 days.
55. Elizabeth Ann Eaton. July 9, 1941.
IDENTIFICATION By Plot Number
No. 7. Edward Cutbirth. Died 2-17-1961.
No. 10. Eula Martha Lane. D:ed July 13, 1957. Age 51 years, 6 mos. 28 days.
No. 11. Mid Mount (no dates).
No. 12. Elisha Lane (no dates).
No. 14. Herman Thomas. Died February 1, 1962. Aged 74 years, 5 days.
No. 22. Tilda Cline (no dates).
No. 23. Tish Lane (no dates).
No. 24. PFC Herbert Ray Thomas. 1926-1945.
No. 25. PFC Paul Andrew Thomas. 1920-1943.
No. 26. Harris Wesley Thomas. 1922-1936.
No. 27. James Reynolds. December 17, 1847. June 24, 1927. Gone but not forgotten
No. 28. Jane Hilton (no dates).
No. 29. Jim Springer's Baby (no dates).
Nos. 30 and 31. SPRINGER. Lillian 1875-1957. L. Allen 1871-1943.
No. 33. Ted DeSpain. 1905-1951.
No. 35. Estelle Eaton's Baby (no dates.)
No. 36 and 37 reserved.
YOUNG. Ellen 1888 - Arthur 1881-1949.
No. 39. OUR BABY. Martha Ellen Potter. January 1, 1951. June 12, 1959. And the angels will watch over her.
No. 45. Penny Lyn Wilson. June 8, 1961.
No. 46 (Reserved) and No. 47 ANDERSON Ella E. 1891- James A. 1889-1950.
No. 48. Arch Savage's Baby.
No. 49. Arch Savage's Baby.
No. 52 and No. 53 EATON. Ava M. 1892 - 1947. Ollie C. 1887 - 1961.
No. 54. Rowena Eaton. August 5, 1931. April 10, 1932.
No. 55 and No. 56 EATON. Nan 1859-1942 D. Boone 1860- 1948.
No. 57. Homer Eaton. 1892- 1950.
No. 60 and No. 61 HOUSER. Mother, Laura, 1869-1948. Father, John 1867-1955.
No. 62 Larry Eugene Mitchell 1954.
No. 73. GlennaDee Robinson 2 months old. Died November 30, 1961.
No. 74 and No. 75. SLAUGHTER. Sarah Ann May 6, 1884. Nathan N Nov. 18, 1867 Sept. 15, 1939
No. 78. DALE DEAN. Sgt. Co. C 506 Parachute Inf. 101st A/B Div.-U.S. Army. January 12, 1920. June 6, 1944. He died for his Country / In action at Normandy, France.
No.79 and No. 80. DEAN. Cora Ann, August 26, 1876-February 14, 1942. Loner M, May 7, 1872-June 29, 1954.
No. 86 and No. 87. CONRAD Marie 1882-1943. Brent 1877- 1958.
No, 89. Anne Burgin. 1916- 1956.
No. 99. Duane Jackson. July 27, 1940. February 27, 1955.
No. 100 and No. 101. HONEYCUTT. Gladys 1912- Garland 1917-1940.
No. 103 and No. 104. JACKSON. Martha February 8, 1885. E. L. January 1, 1865-February 15, 1951.
No. 105 and No. 106. COKER. Myrtle 1892-. Claud R. 1880- 1946. No. 107. Robby Cobb's Baby (no dates.)
No. 108. Margaret May Eutsler 1954.
No. 111. Pauline McFarland. May 17, 1900. September 30, 1960.
No. 112 and No. 113. MITCHELL. Lela Mae January 15, 1912-October 17, 1959. Leonard T. July 20, 1908-July 7, 1947.
No. 114. Eddie Brown's Baby (no dates.)
No. 115. Mary Hood (no dates).
No. 121. Maynard Floyd Thom as, July 17, 1959.
No. 124. Langley Twins. Gene and Dean. June 21, 1956.
No. 125. Kevin Ray Langley. August 13, 1955.
No. 126. Hallie Atwood Bowyer, 1894-1946.
No. 131. Carl Brown's Baby, (no dates.)
No. 132. Infant Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Gwaltney. January 7, 1940. January 8, 1940.
No. 133. Tommy Logan. May 24, 1946. May 15, 1947.
No. 136 and No. 137. LEE. Rosa 1882-1959. Jim 1881-1951.
No. 139. Dixie Lee Spears. July 24, 1949. July 26, 1949.
No. 140 and No. 141. EUTSLER Lula L. 1887- Randolph 1883- 1955.
No. 152. Efton Eutsler's Baby (no dates).
No. 155 and No. 156. CARR Lou Rena September 12, 1886. July 29, 1953. James W. October 23, 1878.
Note: I should like to express my thanks to every person who assisted me, and especially do I thank these persons: Fred Steele; Thomas Hadley; Roy Lee; Ernest Eaton; Ernest Hair; Bess AIlman and Nadine Burke of Galena.
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