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CHAPTER NINE

CARVERS OF GRAVESTONES:  A GENERATION APART
 

            One hundred twenty-seven signed gravestones were uncovered in the course of this survey of 177 cemeteries in the three Boonslick countries.  Based  upon these signatures, it seems probable that 16 or 17 individuals (the Warren from both Fayette and Columbia is probably the same person) in the Boonslick made at least part of their living by either carving the gravestones themselves or having someone else sculpt them under their trade name.  Approximately thirteen men made gravestones in counties adjacent to the Boonslick region.  Ten firms surfaced from either St. Louis or other towns to the east along the Missouri and Mississippi water system.  Three names were found on gravestones too weathered to decipher the town.  Table 4 gives the names, the towns, and the inclusive dates for the Boonslick sculptors.  Table 5 gives the data on the men from adjacent counties while Table 6 gives the data on the firms from outside mid-Missouri.  Table 7 lists the three firms whose towns are not known.   
 
                                                              


TABLE 4

CARVERS OF GRAVESTONES:
THE THREE BOONSLICK COUNTIES
 


#

Name   

Town      

Dates  

1.

W. A. Frazier

Columbia

1866-1872

2.

E. Farley

Columbia and Marshall

1875-1885

3.

Edwards & Kirkman

Columbia

1875

4.

Wallace & Kirkman

Columbia

1877-1878

5.

J. B. Kirkman

Columbia and Gooch’s Mill

1863-1892

6.

Warren & Nichols

Columbia

1872-1873

7.

King & Warren

Fayette

1856-1864

8.

Wirt & Merifield

Columbia

1870-1874

9.

E. Eaton

Columbia

1881

10.

A. Baier

Glasgow

1877

11.

Philip Baier

Glasgow

1855-1860

12.

Elias J. Bedwell

Boonville

1854-1882

13.

G. G. Dunn

Rocheport

1855-1875

14.

James Gellatry

Rocheport

1858-1859


        

#  

Cemetery location of signed gravestones  
Number of signed gravestones

1.

Smith Chapel United Methodist Graveyard (H87)

2

 

Walnut Grove Baptist Graveyard (B33)

3

 

Riggs Union Graveyard (B11)

1

 

Mt. Nebo Cemetery (B45)

1

 

Union Primitive Baptist Graveyard (B48)

1

 

Fayette Municipal Cemetery (H64)

1

2.

Locust Grove United Methodist Church Graveyard (B36)

3

 

Mt. Horeb Cemetery (B6)

1

 

Rocky Fork Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B36)

1

 

Columbia Cemetery (B38)

3

 

Mt. Nebo Cemetery (B45)

1

 

Union Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B48)

1

 

New Hope Baptist Church Graveyard (H17)

1

3.

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (H71)

1

4.

Locust Grove United Methodist Church Graveyard

1

 

Walnut Grove Baptist Graveyard (B33)

1

5.

Goshen Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B62)

1

 

Reavis family burial ground (C62)

1

6.

Rocky Fork Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B26)

1

 

Columbia Cemetery (B38)

1

 

Locust Grove United Methodist Church Graveyard (B36)

1

7.

Roanoke Cemetery (H5)

2

8.

Oser farm (H74)

1

 

Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Graveyard (B7)

1

9.

Nashville Baptist Church Graveyard (B59)

1

 

Goshen Primitive Baptist Church Graveyard (B62)

1

10.

Richland (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H51)

1

11.

Richland (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H51)

5

 

Lisbon Cemetery (H53)

1

 

Haggerty Cemetery (H41)

1

 

Roanoke Cemetery (H5)

1

 

Lewis Cemetery (H46)

1

 

Washington Cemetery in Glasgow (H47)

1

 

Mt. Zion Methodist Graveyard or Stapleton burial ground (H69)

1

12.

Boonsboro (Disciples of Christ) Christ Church Graveyard (H54)

1

 

Clark’s Chapel United Methodist Church Graveyard (H57)

1

 

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (H71)

1

 

Family burial ground (H43)

2

 

Mt. Gilead Baptist Graveyard (H84)

1

 

Rocheport Cemetery (B34)

1

 

Locust Grove United Methodist Church Graveyard (B36)

1

 

Roanoke Cemetery (H5)

2

 

Lamine Graveyard (C6)

1

 

Sunset Hills Cemetery (C9)

1

 

Boonville Catholic Cemetery and Boonville Reformatory Cemetery (C11)

2

 

Big Lick Graveyard at Gooch’s Mill (C17)

1

 

Mt. Nebo Baptist Church Graveyard (C57)

1

 

Harris Cemetery (C69)

1

 

Masonic Cemetery in Bunceton (C78)

1

13.

Ashland (Disciples of Christ) Christian Church Graveyard (H75)

1

 

Big Lick Graveyard at Gooch’s Mill (C17)

1

 

Walnut Grove Baptist Graveyard (B34)

1

 

Fayette Municipal Cemetery (H64)

1

 

Locust Grove United Methodist Church Graveyard (B36)

1

14.

Rocheport Cemetery (B34)

1

 

Bethlehem Baptist Church Graveyard