HARVEY CEMETERY,  KEDRON RD., MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE


GEPHART, Ernest 1 Sep 1900 - no other date.
GEPHART, Iris K. 7 Mar 1913 - no other date.
 
Story about these 2 stones told by cemetery researcher Elaine Warren Miller.

These are surplus stones made available by a couple moving away and being buried elsewhere and not using them leaving them sitting in the Rose Hill Cemetery. They were given to me and I put them here about 4 or 5 years ago. I just laid them here to make Aunt Josie happy because of a burial space crises that occurred over the Harvey Cemetery plot usage.
Someone had been buried, can't remember who now, but there was an argument about who was going to be buried next to my grandmother, Minnie Lou Cole Brown. Aunt Josie was hysterical and called me. My response was: "Well I can make sure no one is buried beside your mom". She wanted to know how so I told her. I had placed approximately 67 tombstones on Confederate soldiers graves (mostly at Rose Hill). Several years before that I had been working at Rose Hill very hard with long hours on a really big project. The work got a lot of press and everyone was calling me. I was begging business for money and/or stuff to clean stones, grave sites, put down stones, Sackrete, anything I could get to aid in the project. More than anything I wanted volunteers. I felt my best talents lay in motivating others. The project was quite successful. With that a lady I worked with came to me and offered me free gravesites at RoseHill. I gladly accepted, on behalf of Captain James Madison Sparkman # 2363 Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The lady that gave them to me told this story. Her elderly mother married an older man named Gephart. Mr. Gephart's daughter was buried in this "family plot" and there were 2 other stones there. One for the wife and mother of the child and one for him. The wife (Iris) was buried elsewhere - unknown, and Mr. Gephart married this ladies mother. When Mr. Gephart died, this lady's mom buried him in her family plot elsewhere. When her mom died, she had her mom placed with Mr. Gephart and guess what - she was left with all these plots deeded to her and only Mr Gephart's daughter was left there so Mr. Gephart and his original wife then had two stones that were never used. She deeded the plot to us and I asked if it were okay to remove those 2 stones and she of course said okay as those two people weren't buried there. I had the stones stored so we could make good use of the plots. 

***** When my Aunt Josie wanted those two grave sites "reserved" what better way than to park these 2 stones temporarily here so no one else could be buried in the two spaces where the stones lye. I have every intention to remove them someday when I find the right use for them. *****
There is still a large center headstone with surname GEPHART in Rosehill that remains surplus. It was too big to move. In my research I found 16 tombstones for confederate soldiers proven to be buried at Rose Hill - exact locations unknown, but documented to be there so we "paved' the donated surplus plot with the stones of the soldiers we are sure are buried at Rose Hill in unmarked graves, their exact locations unknown. 
Story as told by Elaine Warren Miller, married to Alan. Today living in Columbia, South Carolina. 23 Aug 2008.
Photo by Wayne Austin 5 Aug 2008.