If anyone has heard of or has any information about Four Mile Cemetery southeast of Inverness, MS, and northwest of Belzoni off Highway 7, I would appreciate it. Currently, Four Mile Cemetery is located in Humphreys County at the intersection of Four Mile Road and Inverness Road along Four Mile Lake, but used to be in Washington County before Humphreys County was formed in 1918.

I have done some deed work to find out that one acre of land was sold by township officials in 1896 to the Four Mile Baptist Church. It is on the tax rolls as a "church" and is not taxed. But, there is no church, only an abandoned cemetery in front of an abandoned dog trot home. The land the home is on is owned by the Simmons Family.

We also came across deed work stating that the state took land through the middle of the cemetery sometime in the 1930s to build the current Four Mile Road. Did they plow through the graves or were of the graves moved.

Some of the names of persons buried there on the few visible markers are:

SHIPP (related to Hufstetler and Meek)
MEEK (related to Shipp and Hufstetler)
HUFSTETLER (also the name of one of the men on the township board who sold the land to the church)
UPCHURCH
WILLEY

I am interested in

* who is / was buried there ( I have searched the cemetery listings and see the few listed - above.),
* when was the road was placed through the cemetery (1930's?),
* were any graves moved,
* was there a Four Mile Baptist Church there,
* any history of the cemetery or church
* any people involved with the church from the early part of the century
* any reason no one currently takes care of that cemetery, etc.

I am actually trying to locate the graves of Junius Berryman Baker and Eliza Elmira Robinson Baker who lived at Bellewood Plantation in 1920 and were buried in the area. Perhaps they are buried in Four Mile Cemetery since it is close to where Bellewood Plantation used to be.

Perhaps someone knows something - no matter how small. Any help or assistance would be appreciated.

Irene

I have visited this cemetery- my great grandmother Jullie Ann MARSHALL Upchurch is buried there- I have pictures. I spoke with the county office and was referred to the Tax Collector's office to obtain information on who to contact to offer my assistance in cleaning it up. You are correct in that it is listed as church property. I have yet to speak with anyone who can give me further information. The road runs through it and some graves are on the "water" side of the road. When the water gets too high those graves are under water. I have not been able to find out if they moved any graves either. I plan to go back there and will be happy to look for the names mentioned in your inquiry and take photos if you need them. If you find out more, please let me know, too. There is also a Sky Bend Cemetery very close to 4-Mile that I have found Upchurch relatives buried in. There are some older graves there, too.

Thanks for replying. I checked with the Baptist History Assn. in Clinton, MS. They confirmed that there one was a Baptist church called Four Mile Church at that location. They have records of minutes referring to the Four Mile Baptist Church up until 1946. They suggested we contact the local Baptist association to see if they have any records. I have not done that. If you are in the area, you could try that.

The township officials who sold the land to the Baptist church (according to deeds in the court house) were OM Cresswell (his wife was Mary Meek a brother to the Meek buried there), JA HEndricks, and JM Huffstickler. All owned land in the area too.

I assume that since the land has not been sold, the Baptist Association still owns the land. Obviously, the church is long gone. Perhaps a tornado or a fire destroyed it and it was never rebuilt. A Mr. Simmons owns the dog run house behind the cemetery. His family has been in the same area for generations and knows quite a bit about the history of the Four Mile Area.

Possibly tracing down what the state did at the cemetery (moved graves, plowed through graves etc) when they put the road through the middle of the cemetery in the 1930s might help. Tom Turner is a good friend of my husbands (he grew up in Belzoni) has been helping us with this search for answers to the Four Mile Cemetery puzzle. Tom did not even know the cemetery was there. We had to help him locate it. My husband's great uncle is the Meek buried in Four Mile Cemetery. He was born at Swiftown.

We have visited the cemetery three times and have photos also. Are you the one leaving the flowers? What a nice touch.

Someone in the area should know about the cemetery. It is just a matter of finding that person. Perhaps someone at the Baptist Association knows. I'll bet the Baptist Association does not know about the condition of the cemetery. They do keep their cemeteries in good shape. If you know Tom Turner, he would not mind your contacting him about the cemetery.

If you find out anything, would you please post it? This is such a curious dilemma.

I was told while doing research for my Henderson line that a lot of them were buried there. Have not had a chance to come to Northern Mississippi to check it out thou.

My wife also has family buried in Four Mile. When I was researching several years ago another researcher told me that when the road was built the headstones were stacked along the water edge. I don't know if the remains were moved.

Yes, I read the same thing. Last fall, we could not locate any gravestones along the river side of the road. Only three headstones were standing and several were laying on the ground. JW and Ella Meek are our relatives buried there. Their marker is still there.

While the cemetery is in terrible shape. A nearby landowner does keep the jungle out of the cemetery and grass mostly cut. It is possible to locate the cemetery and walk around in it.

It is a shame this cemetery is so abandoned. Perhaps the Baptist Association for Humphreys County could assume responsibility. It seems the cemetery is still listed on the tax rolls as a church. As church property, the cemetery is not taxed. The cemetery is located in Humphrey County, but was originally in Washington County before Humphreys County was formed in 1918.

I contacted the Baptist Historical Assn in Clinton. They did some research and found that a Four Mile Church was built on the property and on church rolls until the late 1940s.

Betsy