Cole Cemetery Report

Marc is happy to report that the Franklin County Cemetery Society plans to finish the Cole Cemetery project on Saturday, March 10, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Below is a synopsis of the project.

1. Thanks to a personal connection with one of our society members, permission was given the society to return, repair, and /or re-erect the known tombstones at the site.

2. An agreement with the property owner included that we would not remove any trees nor do anything “invasive”.

3. The site was found to contain a heavy blanket of periwinkle which has kept unwanted brush and tree growth at a minimum for these 150-plus years!

4. Late last year (2011) two large headstones of Mr. and Mrs. Findley (African-Americans) were reset at the site and two Cole family monuments were located there.

5. Research has proven that after the Cole ownership the site was used for the burial of African-Americans from the South Point community up until circa 1924; most of these graves remain unmarked.

6. Late summer, 2011 a tombstone from the cemetery was recovered from a barn in nearby Krakow, Missouri.

7. This week, headstones were recovered from a neighboring property where they had been placed out of harm’s way in about 1975.

8. As I write this, new bases are being fabricated for five Cole family headstones which will then be placed back on site on March 10.

9. Also, an aluminum brace is being fabricated to stabilize the headstone of Sallie Harrison Cole, which is in five pieces. With this method of repair, her headstone will stand again.

10. Sadly, several of the Cole family headstones are apparently gone forever.

The headstones to be re-set are:

1. Montraville W. S. Cole (stone located by probing site, in excellent condition)

2. Samuel L. Cole (stone from neighboring property, in excellent condition)

3. Sallie Harrison Cole (stone from neighboring property, in poor condition)

4. John H. Forqueran (stone from barn at Krakow, MO, in fair condition)

5. Leah M. Cole Graham (stone found on site, against tree, in poor condition)