The cemetery was first established in 1881, with its first burial in March of that year. The first acre of land bought for the cemetery was purchased wih the proceeds from a minstral show. 

   In 1885, two sections were added for the Colored population of the town. Another three sections were added in 1898 and a fourth in 1930. The cemetery now contains approximately 8-1/2 acres of ground, that houses some 4000 burials. Of that 4000, a little over 1100 are unmarked.

    Tonight, you will meet some of the more prominent people in our town, in their day and time. You will learn facts that you never knew and hear many an interesting story. Your guide will point out other interesting facts on your journey, we hope you enjoy your tour and ask plenty of questions.

    Good evening.  I’m Hannah Rice Owen, born and raised in McCracken County—mostly lived at 1010 Harrison Street in Paducah.  That is until I met and married John Jefferson Owen (known in these parts as J. J. Owen) and moved here to Fulton in 1899.  You see, I had a brother who ran a laundry business up in Paducah where John J. Owen was working.  One day I was walking through that laundry when something came sailing through the air and hit me in the back of my head.  Wheeling around, I met the gaze of that man—J. J. Owen.  Well, he was “smitten” with me and I’ll have to admit I took “aliken” to him. 
   John took me on a picnic one Sunday after church.  He seemed to be thinking of marriage, at least I secretly hoped his mind was going in that direction. Heading to the picnic spot we had to cross a creek, and not wanting to get the bottom of my new dress wet, I lifted my skirts.  It was a long time before I heard from John J. Owen again.  Come to find out, he had seen my ankles crossing that creek and wasn’t sure if I was the type of girl he wanted to marry!  We did finally marry in Metropolis, Illinois, on Nov. 26, 1899. 
   By then, John had started his own laundry business down on the State Line here in Fulton. Some of you “old timers” may have heard of the OK Steam Laundry.  It was the only one of its kind in this area, and we later had the first Sanitone dry cleaners.  Some  people had a hard time believing you could clean clothes without washing them in water!  J. J. Owen’s laundry was a success—so much so that we were able to build a fine 2 story house out on West State Line (where Buddy & Becky Caldwell live today), owned one of the first cars in Fulton, Model-A Ford if I recall, and raised 6 children.  My husband was even a licensed preacher in the Methodist Church, preaching mostly in the surrounding area for revival meetings.  That’s enough about John.  Let me tell you a little about myself. 
   You’re probably wondering why I carry this hatchet.  Have you ever heard of the WCTU?  That stands for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union—you know women who met to pray in large groups, marched into the local saloon and demanded the proprietor to close down the place.  If the answer was  “no” we used our hatches (or axes) to smash every liquor bottle in sight.   Now, you may think that’s a bit drastic.  Well, did you know that alcohol is the “root of all evil” and leads to the destruction of many homes! Sorry.  I got carried away.  Well, the WCTU is still in existence today.  I was an active leader here and  served as a Kentucky state officer for many years. 
   Before marrying J. J. Owen,  I was a school teacher up in McCracken County.  We had 8 children, but 2 died early in life.  We raised 6 right here in Fulton—3 boys and 3 girls.  They all graduated from Fulton High School and went on to college, which was quite an accomplishment in our day.  We named our children: Harold, Vernon Rice,  Nell, Johnny, Sara and Martha Jane (but we called her Polly because she repeated everything she heard folks say). 
   My dear husband, J.  J. Owen, would say to me, “Mama, which way do you think the garden should be planted?” “North and south, Papa,”  I’d reply.  To which he directed the servants to plant it east and west!  If I replied, “East and west.”  You guessed it, he say to plant the garden north and south!  You see, he always loved to tease and kept folks laughing—if he wasn’t preaching the gospel to them. 
   He enjoyed telling visitors at our dining table about driving the horse and buggy home from a revival meeting and offering a stranger a ride.  Hoping to lead the man to Christ, John asked, “Friend, are you prepared to meet the Lord?”  That poor man was scared John was fixing to “do him in” so he jumped out and ran off to the woods! 
   I could go on and on with stories about Owen, our children and our life together, but you have a schedule to keep.  It’s been delightful talking to you folks about the past.  Take care now.
 

   They called me Bess.  Plain, Simple “Bess” even though I was named Elizabeth.  I was born Sept 9, 1881, on my grandfather’s plantation, in Harris Station, Obion Co., TN.  My grandfather was a physician as was my father. My parents were Dr. N. G. “Nat” Morris and wife, Susie DeBow Morris who came from Sikeston, MO.  It has been said that I was a beautiful young woman and I’ll admit that early photos of me attest to that.  I grew up in Fulton – in fact spent my entire life here except when I attended finishing school at the elite Moscobel College in Nashville, TN.  I never married, remained a spinster my entire life.  Although there was one special man in my life, but that didn’t work out and I won’t say anymore about him! 
   As the years passed I became richer and some people say, more and more eccentric.  My cats and dogs became my best friends.  Why, I had a dozen or more living in the house with me at all times.  My home was on the corner of Cedar & State Line Road.  My pets even traveled with me in my car.  And the gossips were wrong when they said that one time I left a dead cat in the house for two weeks and I didn’t drive around in the car for two weeks with a dead dog either.  Now I will admit that I did take longer than most folks to dispose of pets when they died. 
   Don’t let the way I’m dressed fool you. I was no pauper. These diamonds are real!  I never cared much for clothes, or travel, but I did like my diamonds.  Never cared much for baths either- well what do you expect from someone who lived with so many animals.  I was one of the wealthiest people in Fulton Co.  I owned many businesses here and had a prosperous farm in Obion Co.  I had my faults but I was a generous person.  I tried to help the less fortunate.  Every year at harvest time I outfitted my farm employees with new clothes.  We’d go downtown to the store to buy what they needed.  My death certificate said that my occupation was “farmer” but I was way more than that let me tell you.  That makes me think of another gossipy tidbit about me.  I did have kidney problems and died of chronic nephritis and uremia.  I’ll have to admit that there were times when I was out, like at the bank or on the sidewalk, that I had to relieve myself.  Well, I’m not making excuses – just use your imagination! 
   Something else I need to tell you – I loved to gamble!  Didn’t make any difference if it was a punch board or a slot machine – I loved them all.  Made a little money at it too!  Why, I always made money.  That’s why when I died in 1961, I left money to the city of Fulton to build a new hospital.  It was supposed to be out on highway 45 just at the edge of town where Bill Fenwick lives now.  But I forgot one thing, I didn’t provide for the upkeep of the hospital and didn’t clarify a couple of things in the will.  My estate was about three quarters of a million dollars in land, money, stocks and bonds and my will directed that my sister, Carrie Estes, be cared for and then the remainder go to the city of Fulton.  Two lawsuits were filed by my sister Carrie and by attorney W. C. Tipton. Sister Carrie didn’t die until 1982 and her upkeep consumed  quite a bit of my money.  The city didn’t get my hospital but there was enough money to provide flowers every year for my grave.  One thing for sure, I’ve been dead for 45 years but people still talk about Bess Morris, whether it’s good or bad, they still remember me.
 

   On June 6, 1898, on a shanty boat, on the Mississippi River, off the banks of Ballard County near Wickliffe, a baby girl was born to a Cherokee father and a Seminole/Negro mother.  That girl child was me, Josie May Carman.  My father, William Carman, was a Cherokee Indian from Virginia.  I don’t know how or why he came to this area.  He was a fisherman and farmer and he had been married before he met Mary Cavitt, my mother.  Mother was Seminole Indian and Negro.  Shortly after I was born, my parents gave up farming; moved to Cario, IL, and relied entirely on fishing to support themselves and our family.  By the time I was 6, both my mother and her mother had passed away.  I, along with my brothers and sisters, came to Fulton to live with great-aunt Emily Hayes.  During this time, schools were segregated.  I graduated from Milton High School here in Fulton in 1916.  Milton was over near what used to be called Missionary Bottom. 
   I then went to Chicago, IL for vocational training and after graduation there, I enrolled in Nursing school.  I returned to Fulton and started private duty nursing in 1923.  I met and married Mr. Spivey, my first husband.  We had a daughter, Louise.  I  continued private duty nursing in black homes.  Four children from a white family contracted typhoid fever.  Dr. George Major couldn’t find a white nurse who had had the fever so he called on me to nurse those babies.  You see, I had typhoid fever several years before that.  I eventually worked fulltime, from 1941 to 1950, as a LPN at the old Fulton Hospital here in Fulton.  I met and married my 2nd husband, Carter Black.  He was a dining car cook for the Illinois Central Railroad.  My, that man could cook!  He passed away in 1968 at the age of 75 and is buried here beside me. 
   I helped raise several children and the last two were little twin girls Innette & Jeanette – such cute babies.  I guess my claim to fame in the area is that I was the only licensed midwife in Fulton Co., KY and Obion Co., TN.  Some of you young ones may not know about midwifery.  In the old days most babies were born at home not in a hospital.  I started delivering babies when I was 23 years old At first I would go to the ladies homes and deliver their babies. Most of the babies delivered were Negro babies however I did delivery to some white mothers. 
   Later, I started bringing the expectant mothers to my home for their delivery.  The mothers would stay in my home for 3 days.  I charged $50.00 for a baby and if they were twins – why then I double the price to $100.00.  I seldom had problems with my mothers and babies but when I did, I didn’t hesitate to call a doctor or take the mothers to the hospital.  One of the saddest, saddest times of my life was in the early 1970’s when I lost a very young mother and her baby.  They buried that sweet babe in its mother’s arms! 
   On July 28, 1962, I became an ordained minister.  I never pastored a church but preached many a sermon in area churches. Yes, I’ve had a life of service.  I’ve nursed the sick, delivered babies, cared for the mothers and helped bring the sick at heart to God.  On Jan. 1, 1982,  I met my glorious Maker. 
 

   It’s surely good to see you people here today. My name is Emerson Bruce Eddings.  My ancestors were from Virginia.  They migrated to Tennessee.  I was born in Gibson County, Tennessee in 1830 and grew up in Trenton, Tennessee.  There was a dark side to my life.  I killed a man.  This happened because I was extremely upset by what happened to my sister.  She was a teacher at a private school and had chastised a small boy.  The parents had her arrested for supposedly mistreating their son.  She was honorably acquitted, but I just could not let it go.  I lived in Lexington, TN at that time and rode horseback to Trenton to visit my sister.  One day as I rode past the place of business that the boy’s father ran, I heard someone laugh.  Thinking that he was laughing at me, I became enraged, walked in, and shot him in the heart.  He died instantly.  I gave myself up and was jailed.  In a few days some other prisoners and I escaped.  A posse was formed and after some time I was located in Arkansas and returned to Trenton.  After 2 years in prison, a petition for a pardon was circulated.  It was signed by the judge who sentenced me, the jury, and Tennessee Governor, Isham G. Harris. 
   Upon release I enlisted in the Confederate Army for twelve months.  At that time, nearly all prison doors were opened for that purpose.  Shortly after the Civil War in 1865, I came to this community.  It was know as the “End of the Line” because it was where the rail line stopped.  Later the town was known as Pontotoc, then Fulton Station, and finally in 1892 incorporated as Fulton.  Across the state line in Tennessee was a community known as Jacksonville later named South Fulton. 
   I married Sarah Elizabeth Hayes who was from Henry County, Tennessee.  She and I were blessed with a son, Hayes Eddings, born 1866.  My dear wife passed away shortly after in 1867.  She is buried in the Carr Cemetery.  That was the burial ground then.  It is located right by the side of the First Christian Church, just a short distance over there. 
   When getting started in business, Ben Carr and I formed a partnership. I think some of you met Ben at last year’s cemetery walk.  We owned and operated the first General Merchandise Store here. Also in business for myself, I bought and sold grain and livestock.  Ben and I “laid out” the town of Fulton as well as this cemetery right here known as Fairview.  As you can see it is a lovely place.  Maybe this was a little egotistical of us but we named two of the main streets in the west section, Carr and Edding streets.  We were in hopes that this would turn out to be a nice residential section. 
   I was the first Railroad Agent for the new railroad line running to Paducah.  It was called the Paducah and Gulf Railroad.  I also served as post master in Fulton.   In 1870 Mary Frances Cobb and I were married.  We built a home on the creek bank, right about where the Fulton Bank is now located.  It was a large two story frame house.  We planted a large orchard next to it.  That orchard was really pretty when it bloomed.  There were willows all along the creek bank.  But sadly, that house burned.  We rebuilt and again fire took its toll.  We built again on Eddings Street. We were blessed to have a large family, all born here in Fulton.  Our first child Sallie was the first white child born in Fulton after it became a township.  She lived to be 94, lived her entire life in Fulton and died in our home on Eddings street.  My life was active and interesting.  I always had the best interest of this town in mind.  I passed away in 1907 and was buried here in Fairview, in the cemetery I helped design.
 

   Hello ladies and gentlemen, I’m glad to see you attending our little gathering today.  My name is Samuel Adrian McDade and I was born on September 21, 1870 on my parents’ farm about 5 miles southeast of South Fulton in Weakley County, Tennessee.  My parents were Darcus Amanda Conner and Dudley W. McDade.  In 1885, at the age of 15, I left the farm and came to South Fulton to live with aunt and to attend her school.  After graduating, I decided to remain here.  Farm life was not for me.  I prefer city life. 
   On November 10, 1896, I married the lively Miss Jennie Brann.  She was the daughter of William and Eliza Jane Webb Brann.  We had one son name Adrian.  I don’t know if you know the story of how we obtained our son.  He was born on Christmas Eve, 1925 and was left in the depot at the train station here in Fulton.  Since my wife and I didn’t have any children, we took him and raised him as our own.  Our beloved son, 
Adrian and his wife, Joyce Ashbridge McDade are buried across the road at Greenlea Cemetery.  I was a member of the Frank Carr Odd Fellows Lodge and a Master of Robert’s Masonic Lodge Number 172. 
   Here is a picture of my home in South Fulton.  It is still standing on the corner of Forestdale and East State Line Road.  I served 3 terms as Mayor of South Fulton, but that is not what I’m noted for, instead people know me as Squire McDade, the “Marrying Squire.”  During the 21 years that I held the office of justice of the peace in South Fulton, I married over 8,000 couples.  The first couple that I married was Becham Enoch and Ella Mullins on September 8, 1918.  The oldest two people were 79 and 86 years.  The youngest girl I married was 13.  She weighed 165 pounds and was accompanied by her father.  I also married several preachers.  I broke my own record for the most marriages that I performed in one day on December 24th, 1938.  Previously the record was 13, but that Christmas Eve, I married 21 couples.  Someone asked me one time, if there were every any shotgun weddings?  Sure, there were many of them, but I never married a drunken couple.  I wouldn’t do that. No sir! Marriage to me is sacred.  Everyone here probably knows someone that I married: your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles.  I was known far and wide.  People talked about coming to Fulton to get married but actually they were coming to So. Fulton to get the job done. 
   Why, just before World War II, one Yank stationed in Hong Kong couldn’t live without his sweetheart anymore, so he caught a plane to the states, got his girl in Indiana and flew back to Paducah.  There they paid for a cab to Fulton.  After the ceremony, they got back in the cab and dashed away to catch the next flight back to Hong Kong. 
   I lived a full and rewarding life, but after being in a coma for several days, death took me at 8:50 on the morning of April 4th, 1957.  My Jennie died on November 2, 1958 and we are together again in this mausoleum.  Thank you for coming.  I hope you enjoyed hearing about my life.  Come and visit again sometime.
 

     (BILLY)   Good evening ladies & gentlemen.  I am William James Boone, but you may call me Billy.  With me is my lovely wife and helpmate Anna Blanche.  Both of us were born in nearby Feliciana, KY.  For those of you too young to remember, Feliciana was once a thriving town located near Water Valley.  My grandfather, Bryant Boone, born in NC in 1789, moved to Nashville, TN, about 1810.  While living in Nashville he participated in the War of 1812.  In the early 1830’s, he brought his family to Graves Co., KY.  This included his mother, Mary, who lived to be nearly 100.  My father, James Boone, born in 1815, married Catherine Latta from a well known Graves County family.  Both my parents and grandfather Bryant and his second wife, Martha are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery near Water Valley. 
     (MOMMA BOONE)   Billy, let me tell these good people a little bit about my family.  I’m Anna Blanche Clanton Boone and we Clantons have always been proud of our heritage.  John W. Clanton, my Grandfather, also fought in the War of 1812.  My father, George W. and his brother Marcus were part of the historic 49’ers gold rush.  They didn’t find their fortune in gold.  Marcus died in California and my father returned to this area.  Later, with the rank of Major, he served under that wonderful Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest during the War of Northern Aggression.  Yes, I know that some people call it the Civil War.  Unfortunately my father was on the loosing side and was never the same after the war.  He died in 1872.  My mother was Sarah Amanda Mickle, a very kind and beautiful woman.  The family owned slaves and it’s been said that she taught the black children to read, even though it was against the law at the time.  She died in 1878, having fallen from a horse and being dragged to her death.  With our parents dying so early, the younger children were raised by their bachelor uncle, Robert Mickle, in his home near Feliciana.  Later the family moved into Fulton and Uncle Robert owned a jewelry store on Lake Street.
     (BILLY)   A few years after our marriage in 1875, Blanche & I decided to move to California, along with my twin sister, Jane Ann, and her family.  Can you image how long that train trip was in the late 1870’s?  Fortunately, we only had on child, Bertie, at that time or the trip could have been worse.  After a few years and the birth of two more children, Ernest Eugene and Earl Clanton, we moved back to Kentucky where our last child, William Cecil, was born in 1888.  The home where we lived then is still standing over in Hickman County on highway 94.  I believe a family named Swift lives there today.  The house doesn’t look exactly as it did then and it has been moved from another location.  Blanche can show you a picture of the house and our entire family.
     (MOMMA BOONE) Yes, this was the family in our younger days.  Sadly, Billy did not live many years after this picture was taken.  He died May 2, 1904 and was laid to rest right here.  He was only 53.  After that, I struggled to raise the children alone. My descendants are scattered throughout the country.  You may have heard the musical talents of Pat, his brother Nick, who recorded as Nick Todd, and Pat’s daughter, Debbie.  They sang what you young people call, “Rock n Roll”.  I have some descendants living right here in Fulton too.   On May 9, 1930, I joined dear Billy and have been at rest here with him since. 
Thank you for coming tonight. 
 

   Pardon me, have you seen my husband?  They called me Virginia Provost and my husband is, H. J. Provost.  In December, 1961 we checked into the Fulton Plaza Court Motel.  Within a few days I died.  My husband made my funeral arrangements and then he left town.  He didn’t return for my funeral. 
   Have you seen him?  The FBI couldn’t find him. All of the information he gave about us was fictitious. 

   I am Samuel Goodhue Patterson.  Some people call me reverend, others call me doctor.  I am both.  My life was graced by the fortune of wide ranging experiences.  I was a Methodist preacher – but not what they called a traveling preacher.  I did missionary work in the Indian Territory, as Eastern Oklahoma was called back then.  I was also a medical doctor and a businessman.  I was born may 31, 1811 in New Hampshire, but like many young men of my day I longed for new frontiers, and thus I went west, by way of Indiana.  I eventually settled in southwest Missouri where I owned a mill, practiced doctoring, and sometimes worked as a preacher.  Now, I confess that I was southern in temperament during the late War Between the States.  Missouri was one of those places where ardent sympathizers on both sides of the conflict.  Missouri in particular was a place where a lot of guerilla warfare took place.  Guerilla raiders would travel about to pillage and destroy.  On one raid, sympathizers of the northern variety destroyed my mill and my home.  So it was that after the War Between the States was concluded, I, along with my family relocated here in Fulton. 
   I was in my mid-fifties at that time.  I doctored here and I also opened a general merchandise (or dry goods) store.  Both my medical practice and my business flourished.  I suppose I grew rather wealthy.  I bought land on the Tennessee side of the border, sub-divided it into lots and sold them.  Some have called me the virtual father of South Fulton.  By the time I got here I was not doing too much preaching anymore.  However, I was one of a group of townsfolk who got a Sabbath School started in Fulton, and eventually the school grew into a church – in particular – a Methodist Episcopal Church.  I was a very busy man what with the preaching, doctoring, and merchanting, and yet, somehow I also found the time to get married twice and to also father and rear seventeen children.  As you can see, my life was full, rich and very busy.  So you can imagine that eventually I got quite wore out, and thus it was that on December 22, 1894, I lay down and died having lived just a tad more than eighty three and one half years. 
 

   Two hundred years ago, on September 19, 1806, in Rockingham, NC, a baby boy was born to Charles and Elizabeth Norman.  That baby was me, Noah Norman.  My brothers, Pleasant & Bethel, and I were still very young when our father died.  When new land in the west became available, we along with some of Mother’s relatives migrated to the Nashville area in Davidson County, Tennessee. Times were tough for a young widow and her 3 small sons.   I became the “man” of the family and unfortunately had little opportunity for a formal education. However, I did learn the beneficial lessons of industry, frugality, honesty, and faithful citizenship. 
   When I was a young man of 22, my family moved even farther west and settled here in Fulton Station in 1828 on 50 acres.  The land was east of the railroad and north of East State Line.  We built our home in the southeast corner of my property.  In the front of the house, I planted a cedar tree that my mother wanted.  When Fulton laid out the Norman addition, that cedar tree was cut down to make way for a street – thus Cedar Street was named.   Six years after coming to Fulton, I returned to middle Tennessee to court my childhood sweetheart, Mary Fields. 
   Mary and I were first cousins, being as our mothers were sisters.   Mary agreed to become my wife.   We traveled from Nashville to Fulton by horseback.  Over the next 10 years I acquired an additional 600 acres here in Fulton and approximately 400 more acres in the county. My farm extended to the Graves Co. line.   Mary and I raised our 6 children in the home on Cedar Street.  Daniel, our first, was born in 1838.  Mary was the next to arrive, then Elizabeth.  Henry Thomas was born in 1843 and Caroline arrived in 1848.  Daughter Elizabeth only lived to be 18.  Our son Benjamin was killed during the first day of the Battle of Guntown in War Between the States. Caroline married William Terry – a name very familiar to you in Fulton.   Mary married R. E. Smith.  Henry Thomas married Martha Clark and they lived in the family home on Cedar Street for many years.  Unfortunately, the house has not survived. 
   In 1870, we built a 6 room house, plus separate kitchen, off highway 45 just northeast of here.  In 1900, we began remodeling this cottage and turned it into the stately 2 story home that it is today.  A few years ago, Brenda Drury purchased it from our great granddaughter, Mrs. Kathryn Terry Willingham.  Ms. Drury lives there today.  Another home that you’re probably familiar with and that is connected to our family is the 3 story home on East State line of Dr. Ed  McWhirt, his wife, Beth and their children.   Our son, Henry Thomas moved from the old homeplace on Cedar Street to a fancy brick structure on this site.  The original home was torn down and in 1910-1911, Mr. J. C. Brann built the home which stands today. 
   Henry was a prosperous farmer and a very generous man.  He donated 2 lots on Walnut Street for the early Methodist Parsonage.  He and his brother-in-law, William Terry, gave 2 acres for an Elementary School named after them, the Terry-Norman, on Walnut Street.  Many of you remember it. 
   During my lifetime, I wore many hats.  Besides farming, in 1830, as a young man of 24, I was appointed Constable in Hickman Co.  Later, I was Overseer for the road, leading from Mills Point, now Hickman, to my farm at the Graves county line.  My job was to keep the road in good repair.  I was one of the organizers of Burkingham Baptist Church, later named First Baptist Church.  I helped establish Terry Norman School and served on its Board of Education.  I also had a street named for me, Norman Street.  It’s now Martin Luther King drive.    Life was good but I eventually was laid to rest here next to Mary and my mother.