Odd Fellows and Confederate Cemetery
Introduction
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Images
The Odd Fellows and Confederate Cemetery contains burials dating to the 1840s. Those interred here included Confederate soldiers and those who perished in the Yellow Fever Epidemic.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The oldest burials date to the 1840s and are located in the Odd Fellows part of the cemetery. Many of these graves are notable for having statues, cast-iron fences, above-ground mausoleums, and Woodmen of the World tree headstones. The Woodmen of the World (now known as Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society) is a fraternal organization, similar to that of the Masons; they became known for making headstones for members that resembled tree stumps. The graves dating after 1920 are more simple in design. As for the Yellow Fever epidemic, it devastated the community, killing around 360 residents including the mayor. For a town with just 2,000 people, the loss of life was significant. Many victims are also buried in the Yellow Fever Cemetery, which is located at the intersection of Wood and 2nd Streets.
Sources
"Odd Fellows/Confederate Cemetery." Mississippi Markers. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.mississippimarkers.com/grenada-county.html.
"Odd Fellows/Confederate Cemetery." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. January 20, 1988. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/87002341_text.
Both images by Fredlyfish4, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Odd_Fellows_and_Confederate_Cemetery