SHEEPNECK CEMETERY-MAURY COUNTY
TENNESSEE- MT. PLEASANT AREA
Mapping
& Describing the location.
Sheepneck Cemetery was once
the main burial ground for the area around Sandy Hook in Maury County,
Tennessee. Other than a few family burial grounds the majority of people from
that area were buried here. I am not sure when burials were ceased here but I do
know that the cemetery was eventually abandoned. There were not very many
burials after Arlington Cemetery opened in 1909. The last known burial was the
burial of Donna Fay Brannon who was interred here in 1940 and her grave was
marked. There are numerous burials here but most of them are only marked by
fieldstones. My great-grandmother, Mary Lindsey Brown, used to visit the
cemetery and tend to the unmarked graves of her sister and a niece. I do
not know who this sister or niece was at this point but they may have died as
infants. She told sometime before she died
that the graves used to have fences around them and she always kept fresh
flowers on them. Over the years, the cemetery became completely abandoned and as
far as I know the cemetery has not been entered since Fred Hawkins surveyed it
on 26 Feb 1988. I have been to the area several times but even in the winter the
woods are so thick that I was not able to enter. The cemetery is located off
Sheepneck Road on the left in a thicket beside the Orr�s Chapel Cemetery, a
black cemetery that is still in use today.
Marked stones are listed without any prefix.
*Indicates an unmarked grave
listing from death records.
+Indicates a person that is likely to have been buried here or other sources
say is buried here, but in an unmarked grave.
+Anderson, Ivy, 17 Dec 1901 -
before 20 May 1902 (daughter of Sydney L. Anderson and Musetta E. Lindsey)
*Anderson, Musetta E. Lindsey, abt. 1876 - 20 May 1902 (wife of Sydney
Lafayette Anderson; daughter of William L. Alexander Lindsey and Rhoda E. Neeley)
Brannon, Danna Fay, 28 Aug 1940 - 28 Aug 1940 (daughter of Daniel Brannon and
Eula McKennon)
*Holden, James P.,
b. 15 Oct 1869 - d. 24 Mar 1932,(son of David "Dave"
Holden and Louisa "Lou" Gilmore; husband of Ada Solon Holloway)
*Holden, Infant (infant child of James P. Holden and Ada Solon Holloway)
*Holden, Infant (infant child of James P. Holden and Ada Solon Holloway)
*Johnson, Mary E. Holden, 30 Jan 1887 - 30 Jan 1917 (daughter of David
"Dave" Holden and Louisa "Lou" Gilmore)
+Johnson, Sam H., 6 Jun 1860 - 9 Mar
1932. (husband of Sarah K Gibson Johnson.)
+Johnson, Sarah K. Gibson,
15 Nov 1860 - 29 Nov 1923, age 63, (wife of Sam H. Johnson; daughter of John & Lizzie
Grimes Gibson.)
+Johnson, John Ed, about 1880 - 1 Dec 1919 (son of Sam Johnson and Sarah
Gibson)
+Jones, Fannie Lindsey, 6 Jul
1886 - 2 Apr 1907 (wife of Dave M. Jones; daughter of William L. Alexander
Lindsey and Rhoda E. Neeley)
*Kennedy, Bertie Bennett, 14 Jun 1905 - 20 Nov 1923 (daughter of Elijah "Lige"
Bennett and Alice Ray; first of John K. "Johnny" Kennedy, who is
buried at Arlington Cemetery)
*Lindsey, Mary A. J. "Josie" Neeley, Mar 1858 - 1902 (2nd wife of
William L. Alexander Lindsey, J.P., daughter of George Neeley and Loucinda
Seaton)
*Lindsey, Ophelia, died Aug 1905 (daughter of Fred R. Lindsey and Josephine
Wright)
*Lindsey, Rhoda E. Neeley, 1859 - 13 Feb 1898 (1st wife of William L. Alexander
Lindsey, J.P.; daughter of George Neeley and Loucinda Seaton)
*Lindsey, Mattie E., 1878 - 1895 (daughter of William L. Alexander Lindsey,
J.P. and Rhoda E. Neeley)
McKennon, Infant, 30 Nov 1921 - 30 Nov 1921 (infant child of Edwin Cecil
McKennon & Easter Edith Kennedy)
McKennon, Infant, 23 Apr 1927 - 23 Apr 1927 (infant child of Edwin Cecil
McKennon & Easter Edith Kennedy)
*McKennon, Shelby Jean, an infant, died Friday 17 Sep 1936 (Daughter of
Edwin Cecil and Easter Edith Kennedy McKennon.)
McKennon, Madison Carl, 15 Nov 1921 - 15 Nov 1921 (son of Archie McKennon and
Easter Maude Holden)
McKennon, Rebecca Fay, 3 Jul 1932 - 23 Mar 1933 (daughter of Archie McKennon and
Easter Maude Holden)
*McNeal, Clyde Holden, 10 Jun 1903 - 22 Feb 1918, age 14 years, 8 months and 12
days (wife of Nealess McNeal; daughter of John W. Holden and Ella Kennedy) Note:
The obituary and death record I found for Clyde McNeal lists her mistakenly as
being a male.
*Odom, Billie Wayne, 14 Feb 1940 - 1
May 1940, son of Ollie & Reba (Estes) Odom. Death cause: Influenza.
Information from death certificate.
*Odom, J. B.,
b. 19 Mar 1932 - d. 25 Mar 1932, Premature Birth, (Son of Olie Odom and Reba
Estes)
*Odom, Reba Aleve, b. 19 Mar 1932 - d. 19 Mar 1932, Premature Birth, Twin to
J. B. Odom, (Daughter of Olie Odom and Reba Estes; Not sure about the name
Aleve.)
*Ray, Isaac J. "Ike", 7 Jan 1844 - 7 Feb 1918 (husband of Emily Neeley;
son of James and Nancy Ray of Alabama)
Wright, Martha E. P. Lindsey, 6 Mar 1851 - 6 Oct 1882, age 31 years and 7 months
(wife of Philip Hamilton Wright; daughter of John S. Lindsey and Martha Jane
Duke)
+Wright, Martha Reed, dates unknown (2nd wife of Perrin M. Wright, who is buried
at Bailey Cemetery) Note: Perrin was already remarried by 1880 to
his 4th wife. He married his 3rd wife Priscilla between Martha and Adeline.
Martha died sometime after 1876 when her youngest son, Jim, was born.
*Wright, Sarah E. Lindsey, 12 Jul 1859-13 Apr 1889 (2nd wife of Philip Hamilton
Wright; daughter of John S. Lindsey and Martha Jane Duke)
+Wright, Sarah M. Richardson, born abt. 1834 in Tennessee and died in 1860 (1st
wife of Perrin M. Wright; a family source contacted me (Rick Gray) and stated
she was told that Sarah is buried here)
Note: Perrin's 3rd wife (between Martha and Aunt Adeline) was named Priscilla.
They weren't married long before she died. No one has found a burial place for
her but she may have been buried at Sheepneck. The family lived in that area and
it was the most likely burial spot. If she were buried here the listing would
look like this:
+Wright, Priscilla J., dates unknown but died before 1880 (3rd wife of Perrin M.
Wright)
Below are other people that are possibly buried in this cemetery in unmarked graves or marked with fieldstones:
David "Dave" Holden and
his wife Louisa "Lou" Gilmore
Emily Neeley Ray, wife of Isaac J. "Ike" Ray and daughter of William
H. Neeley and Sarah A. Hines
John W. Holden, son of David and Louisa Gilmore Holden, and his wife Ella
Kennedy, daughter of Andrew Knox Polk Kennedy and Easter Louella Henderson
Elijah "Lige" Bennett and his wives, Alice Ray and Malissa Tennessee
Ray, daughters of Ike and Emily Ray
Melissa Tennessee Bennett, daughter of Elijah and Melissa Ray Bennett. I am not
sure of her age but know that she died young and her mother may have died in
child birth.
Except for Sam H & Sarah John Rick Gray has compiles this transcription from many sources and states it as 100% complete to the best of his ability. Accordingly all marked graves are accounted for above. Rick says there is no way to fully know how many unmarked graves are here or exactly who all the fieldstones belong to.
[Listing and information furnished by Rick Gray. Edited for publishing here by WA 19 Apr 2004. Revised again by Rick Gray 4 Jul 2004, Revised again 25 May 2009 to add the Sam & Sarah Johnson information sent in by Charlotte Colvett. Updated by Charlotte Colvett 18 Jan 2011