Sources: They Passed This Way, Page D-140, Marise P.
Lightfoot, Evelyn B. Shackleford, 1967; Maury County Tennessee Cemeteries, Fred
Lee Hawkins, Page 271, 20 Mar 1987. Added here before the resurvey 10 may 2009,
by Wayne Austin.
BOOKER CEMETERY, COLUMBIA, MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE
In Columbia, turn off Carmack Blvd. onto Polk St., go two blocks and turn
right. Cemetery is at edge of a (black) subdivision, near New Smyrna Cumberland
Presbyterian Church.
BOOKER, Richard M., born 14 Jul 1808 - died 14 Nov 1831. Age 23 yrs. & 4 mos.
(Son of Peter R. & Cornelia Booker.)
BOOKER, Lucy H., 11 Feb 1813 - Mar 5, 1837. Age 24 yrs. & 22 days.
BOOKER, Henry Leonidas, "companion of Mary Ann H. Booker, born 9 Aug 1814 and
died after a few months confinement for pulmonary consumption, 31 Mar 1841, in 27th
year of his age -- leaving wife;....joined Presbyterian Church...." (Son of
Peter R. & Cornelia Booker; stone now in many pieces and parts of it are
gone.) ,
BOOKER, Infant daughter of above, who died 5 Sep 1841. , Cornelia A., 28 Sep
1818 - 22 Nov 1822. Age 2 yrs. and 24 days.
BOOKER, Peter....Senior. Born....the 7th, 17-? (Only fragments of the stone remain.)
(He was born circa 1784 and died in 1839.)
Commentary by Fred Lee Hawkins 1987:
This cemetery was completely destroyed, and stones broken or dislocated, during the construction of a housing development. In 1986 the City of Columbia sent workers to repair the damage. They collected all of the stones they could find, built a small wall and poured a concrete slab. They then placed the stones in random fashion in the wet cement. It is now like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle to place the fragments together in correct order. This is not the ideal solution, but it at least brought a semblance of order out of chaos.
Peter Booker
Peter Booker was one of the first settlers in the new country of Maury. He was selected by the first magistrates to be the solicitor and was one of the men who ordered a survey to be made of the boundaries of the county in 1807. In 1811 he served as Captain of one of the companies of militia. In 1820 he was one of the builders of the first bridge across the Duck River. It is not known whether or not he was a trained lawyer but he served for a short time as solicitor. His later life was spent in various business endeavors. He was the father of five sons and four daughters. He was the owner of a large plantation just south of Columbia and built a large house, which was burned by Federal troops during the Civil War. His son, James, was the builder of 'Fairmount', the lovely old mansion which stands on the east side of Mooresville Pike, just after it crosses the Lewisburg Pike. Peter Booker died in Somerville, Tenn. in 1839 and it is thought that he was buried there. The stone in this cemetery, however, might refute that claim.