Culp – Kirkland Cemetery

By
Barbara Bostick Sherrard

The Culp-Kirkland Cemetery is located on Co., Rd. 57 between Co. Rds. 99 and 53, about a mile south of the Oakey Grove Baptist Church. This small, closed cemetery is unique to most of the cemeteries in Henry County as it is neither private nor church affiliated although many members of the Community believe this is the original cemetery for the Oakey Grove Church. Instead, it sits alone surrounded by farmland although it is easily accessible from Co. Rd. 57.  This one acre cemetery was created due to the generosity of William Turkett Kirkland who donated the land to serve as a cemetery for the residents of the Oakey Grove Community, and virtually every family who has resided in this community since the later half of the nineteenth century has ties to this cemetery. The land was sold to the Culp family in the late 1800’s with the provision the acre would be preserved for a “grave yard”, and since then has been known as the Culp-Kirkland Cemetery. The earliest known burial was 1865 and the latest in 1982.

Several years ago, I began a genealogical survey of the cemetery to honor my great-grandmother, Martha Herring Bostick.  As with so many of our early cemeteries, there are both unnamed and unmarked burials within the cemetery.  A number of burials were marked with names and dates on wooden markers that are no longer present, and unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any official records with a listing of burials. Although I have received information of eight individuals buried in unmarked graves from family members, the task is far from complete, so if anyone has further knowledge of unmarked burials not listed below, please contact me at the address posted below. Over the years, the cemetery boundaries have eroded and some of the land has been reclaimed to farming. Pam Taylor, Sue Beasley and I have begun a process to restore the cemetery to it’s original boundaries. In doing so, we have had the land surveyed and it will now appear on the Henry County Platt.

Gone are the days when families gathered together for a day of “tending” cemeteries and the cemetery is presently being cared for by the Oakey Grove Church, a task greatly appreciated by all descendants of those buried there, but looking toward the future, a Culp-Kirkland Trust fund has been established to restore and preserve this cemetery that is a biographical history of the Oakey Grove Community.

List of Known Burials

Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Send to :       Culp-Kirkland Cemetery Trust Fund
in care of:     Pam Taylor, 2065 Co. Rd. 99, Newville, AL. 36353

Send information to:

Barbara B. Sherrard
1311 Sussex Dr.
Ocean Springs, MS. 39564
[email protected]