Asbury Cemetery gets a makeover, thanks to the Warren County Board of Supervisors

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The Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society took to social media on Friday to thank the Warren County Board of Supervisors for their assistance in cleaning up Asbury Cemetery.

Below is their statement:

The Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the Warren County Board of Supervisors for their help in getting Asbury Cemetery cleaned. Asbury Cemetery was originally established in 1821 at the southern portion of Warren County and remained in use until October of 1942.

Years of neglect left Asbury in terrible condition and mostly forgotten until 1993 when Gordon Cotton and Hobbs Freeman rediscovered it and decided to clean and restore it. In 2003 it was designated an Abandoned Cemetery by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and since then the Historical Society has been its caretaker. Storms over the last year brought down a 300-year-old oak tree over the tops of the graves making it impossible for the Society to maintain the cemetery for the last several months.

We made a request to Kelle Barfield and the Board of Supervisors to see if there was anything the County could do to help us remove the tree, and as of August 1, 2022, they have agreed to clear the tree from Asbury. This act will allow the Historical Society to get back into the cemetery and make repairs on the damaged headstones as well as continue our regular maintenance of Asbury.

All cemeteries are sacred ground and should be honored appropriately. Thanks to our County Board of Supervisors and the County workers, those buried at Asbury will once again be able to rest peacefully.