Date: 23 July
2001
Cemetery: Sanders Cemetery
Established: early 1800's
Street: closest intersection is McPleasant Rd. and Hwy. 547
Type: Road-public
City: Pattison
Township:
County: Claiborne County
State: Mississippi
Nation: U. S. A.
Zip:
Nearby: McPleasant Rd. at Highway 547
Location: Rural-woods
Land: Hillside
Watersource: Yes
Features: Trees
Sign: No
Land Type: Private
Access: Permission-required
Enclosure: Fence-Broken
Gate: None
Status: Abandoned
Size: Medium
Gravestones: ?
Oldest: circa 1820
Newest: 1957
Unmarked: Yes
Broken: Yes
Toppled: Yes
Buried: Yes
Removed: Yes
Weather problems: Yes
Pollution problems: No
Association: No
Records: No
Inventory: No
Records location:
Condition: Cemetery in danger of destruction
Vandalized: No
Overgrowth: Graves-Disturbing
Overgrowth: Gravestones-Disturbing
Overgrowth: Gravestones-Damaging
Vegetation: Trees
Vegetation: Vines
Drainage:
Problem: Access denied
Problem: Apathy
Problem: Disintegrating Headstones
Restoration: The current status of this cemetery is:
Owner: Private
Use:
Bordering: Woods
Change: Smaller
Reason: Agriculture
Visited: Unknown
Archeology: No
Contacted: The Claiborne Co., MS, Board of Supervisors, i.e.,
Charles Shorts - Supervisor of the district where Sanders Cemetery is
located. In 1994, I made contact with family members only to be
told to "stay out from down there" it was private property.
Other Information
This cemetery was started in the early 1800's,
with burials of both the whites and slaves. The slaves were buried to
the back side. In the 1940's somebody erected a wire fence just around
the white graves. The last time I visited this cemetery with family
members from TX, we hiked in the couple of miles from McPleasant Rd. [a
paved road off Hwy. 547 Claiborne Co., MS]. We found only four (4)
gravestones dating from ca. 1891 to 1957: Sina (Sanders) CHANDLER [d.
1915]; Robert B. SANDERS [d.1891]; Mary (Irby) OWENS [d. 1927]; Clarence
A. SANDERS [d. 1953]. We also found two funeral home markers: Mary
Nettie (Westrope) SANDERS [d. 1957]and Thomas SANDERS [d. 1938]. We know
the location of Robert Lee SANDERS [d. 1920's], but there is no stone
nor funeral home marker. Known graves from 1841 of William A. GOZA [son
of Hiram and Ann Caroline (Gibson) GOZA. Graves are sunken, and there
are broken stones. This is a wooded area and the property owners have
logged around through there destroying the old dirt road that was at one
time impassable except when it rained. Close by is the old log house
[SANDERS homestead], minus the mud chimney, mud chinking between logs,
and the separate kitchen. The separate kitchen burned years ago. After
WWII somebody added a tin roof which is still there, but time and
weather has taken its toll. The Claiborne Co., MS, supervisor was
contacted, but I was told there is nothing that the Board of Supervisors
can do to help unless it is a historical cemetery. The Sanders Cemetery
is situated about midway between Owens Branch [creek] and Sanders
Branch. Both branches connect to Shannon Branch.
Support
Charles Shorts; Supervisor Claiborne County; 410
Main St.; Port Gibson, MS, 39150; and/or Ona Patrick: gdunn@datasync.com
Submitted by:
name: Ona Patrick
Email: gdunn@datasync.com
