Friday, April 20, 2012

Some Old Cheathams

Yesterday we visited the New Prospect Baptist Church in Haleyville, Alabama. In the words of my cousin, Joyce Farris, the family historian and archivist:

"New Prospect Church is located about 200 yards north of Highway 195, two miles east of Haleyville. The church was organized in the fall of 1824."

"New Prospect is the oldest Baptist church in Winston County and believed to be the third oldest Baptist Church in the state of Alabama. The church is 50 years older than the Clear Creek Association, which was started in 1874."

Behind the church is an ancient cemetery, at least ancient by my standards. Here is one grave marker we found. Note that is not the original marker, but a recent addition by the Alabama Historical Society. I assume the information came from earlier markers and historical records.


Here's another old marker -- updated.


Some of the old headstones were well worn and hard to read. Some had been replaced by new markers.


Also buried in this holy ground are my dad's grandparents, my great grandparents. My grandpa's sister and his brother married the brother and the sister of my grandma. So my dad had "double uncles" and "double aunts." So this is a common resting place for a lot of the family going back several generations.


In addition, there a several of my great grandparents, uncles, aunts, and even great, great grandparents -- Stanley and Wilson.


This is my dad's only sister and only younger sibling. She died while her brothers were at war.


My dad's sister and his parents are buried in another graveyard a few miles away.




A lot of history, and a lot more photographs.

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