Back in October 2018, I wrote about the 1991 Road Trip my mom and I took, https://regnirpsstories.blogspot.com/2018/10/frightening-old-poplar-springs-cemetery.html. That portion of the trip was mostly in Mississippi where my mom's dad's mother's family (Pitts) was from and where I visited a very creepy cemetery!
Our next stop in the area was Friendship Cemetery. This cemetery is located southwest of Selmer and north of Ramer.
Today, I will share some about that trip that occurred in Tennessee. To set the stage, my mother's mother's family (the Spurlock and Millers) lived in Cannon County, Tennessee at one time. My dad's dad's side of the family (the Springers, Busbys, Carrells, Striblings, Blairs, Kellys and Bumpasses) lived in Lawrence County, Tennessee for a while, and my dad's mom's family (the Ramers, Fergusons, Dunaways and Gooches) lived in McNairy County, Tennessee for a while. So, when my mom and I went to Tennessee, we had a lot of ground to cover, since those three counties are in the middle and western parts of the state!
This post will focus on the first portion of the trip and save the others for another post. So, here are the first two pages of mother's log.
As she stated, we drove from our homes in Fort Worth, Texas, through Texarkana, Little Rock, Arkansas, past Memphis to Selmer, the county seat of McNairy County, Tennessee.
We stayed at the Southwind Motel and used it as home base for the nearby daily treks.
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| Pool up the hill at the Southwind Motel, Selmer, Tennessee |
In the early part of the Tuesday, July 16th, we spent some time getting information from the Chamber of Commerce where we met Tommy Prather and he was very helpful. We also went to the County Court House. In front of the County Court House stands a beautiful monument which tells about the settling of McNairy County and, around the base, lists the names of the Early Settlers.
Some of the names included are ancestors of mine and many more are families that married into my family. Included are: Hamm, Houston, Jeanes, McAlpin, Prather, Roten, Springer (one branch of cousins) and John Ramer. One specific name is Joshua Ferguson.
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| My fourth great grandfather |
Before heading out of town, we spent several hours in the Library, where we met Doug Prather. And Doug was a great help in pointing us to the local cemeteries and giving us lots of information about our ancestral families in McNairy County.
We drove to the town of Ramer and stopped at Summers Grocery store for directions where we met the manager of the store, a man named Springer.
The Springer family in McNairy County is a branch of my Springer family who all moved from Union County, South Carolina in the early 1800's. But, at the time we were there, I did not know it was the same Springer family! Mr. Springer suggested that we go across the street to Emmett Hamm's house and talk to him. He was a goldmine of information and we really enjoyed our visit with him. Nearby, in downtown Ramer, we saw the A B Hamm store that he had told us about.
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| A B Hamm store, Ramer, Tennessee |
Using his directions, we found the Ramer Cemetery just off the main road and up on a hill.
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| Ramer Cemetery looking down on the road |
This town used to be called Ramer Station, because of a train stop in the town. The name of the town Ramer is from the donor of the land for that train stop - John Ramer (listed above on the First Settlers monument). Unfortunately, a train on that track was the cause of John's death in August of 1874. This same John Ramer (my third great grandfather), was the father of James Samuel "Sam" Ramer, who married Lydia Ann Reeder (my second great grandparents). In the Ramer cemetery, we found Sam and Lydia's gravestone and it had been broken.
We contacted someone in the area to repair it and here is what it looked like in 1972 or 1973, when my parents took my grandparents and Aunt Bernice on another road trip!
There are many Ramer burials in the Ramer Cemetery, most of which are probably relatives of mine. Here are a few:
Our next stop in the area was Friendship Cemetery. This cemetery is located southwest of Selmer and north of Ramer.
Buried in this cemetery is Wesley M C Ramer and his second wife, LeeAnn McAlpin Ramer, and Wesley's brother Lean D (Leander) Ramer.
Wesley and Lean were grandsons of John Ramer. And, Wesley's first wife was Nancy J Ferguson, who is my third great aunt on the Ferguson side! These families married into each other multiple times!
Next we traveled about 5 miles to the Mount Vernon Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. This church is where my great grandmother, Jennie (Ferguson) Ramer and her family were members for many years before moving to Texas! Thus, there are several family members buried here, too!
To my knowledge, there are no direct ancestors buried here (at least in marked graves), but there are LOTS of cousins! We found Prathers, Ramers and Reeders, and Youngs, all related in some way or another!
Next, we continued east on TN highway 10 toward Eastview, a town at the intersection of TN 10 and US 45, not too far north of the Mississippi line. Pleasant Grove Cemetery is north of town.
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| Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Eastview, McNairy Co., TN |
We walked through this medium sized cemetery, looking for the Reeder we had been told about, and finally found them!
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| Jacob Wesley Reeder |
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| Rosa Jones Reeder |
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| John H Reeder |
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| Daniel J Reeder |
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| Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Eastview, McNairy Co., TN Reeder Graves |
The distance photo shows their location in relation to the cemetery and the woods. The trick was that the names were on the same side as the trees! So, we had to climb into the forest and get these photos! But, it was well worth it! Jacob Wesley Reeder is my fourth great grandfather, his son, John H Reeder (Sr) and his wife, Rosa Jones Reeder, are my third great grandparents and Daniel J Reeder is the brother of my second great grandmother, Lydia Ann (Reeder) Ramer, who is mentioned above! So, we hit the jackpot!
It was getting late in the day, so we headed back to Selmer and returned to the Library to do more research, before heading to the motel for a good night's rest before driving into Mississippi!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
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