The old city cemetery: Headstones under the house

The first city cemetery in Vicksburg was located roughly in the area north from Grove Street, south to Stouts Bayou, and from First North Street east to Second North Street. The cemetery was moved sometime around 1840 because Vicksburg needed room to grow eastward.

Map showing the approximate area of the first city cemetery in Vicksburg. Click the image to expand it.

I used to work at the Old Court House with Gordon and Blanche Terry, and believe me, between the two of them, things were never dull. One day Charles Riles came in, and I was telling him about the old city cemetery. He had never heard of it, then Blanche chimed in that one of her ancestors had bought some property with headstones on it. He didn’t feel it was right to remove the stones, so he built a house over them. Charles got all excited and wanted to see the house, so after work that afternoon, we went to Second North Street to show him.

A few days later, Charles showed up at the museum and proclaimed that he had found the headstones. He had found an older lady sitting on her porch and asked her if he could look under it, and of course, the lady was curious as to why this chubby, white fellow who was dressed in a suit wanted to look under her house.

Charles explained to her that the area used to be a cemetery and that there were headstones under her house. She got all excited and exclaimed, “All this time I’ve lived here, I’ve never been able to get greens to grow, and now you’re telling me that I live in a cemetery. I’m gonna move.”

When he returned a few weeks later, Charles said there was a for-rent sign in the window of the house, and he felt kind of bad about it owing to the fact that it was the wrong house and the stones were under another one.

At the Historical Society meeting that year, Charles brought one of the headstones from under the house to the meeting. It was a tall, thin stone for a young girl. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name, but he put it back after the meeting, so if anyone is curious, I’m sure it is still there to see.