Palmer Cemetery
Lincoln County, Missouri

Location: Just south of Elsberry on Highway 79, on the Department of Agriculture Research Farm property.

Complete Transcription: Submitted 4 May 1998 by Patricia Dawkins SummersSmith who visited the cemetery on 7 June 1996 and copied inscriptions from the gravestones. All visible gravestones were transcribed.

Comments: Actual cemetery area appears to have been larger at one time. Very few stones remain standing; most remaining stones are broken off. Many of those flattened to the ground had been run over by agriculture equipment and were further cracked or broken. Those on the ground were either fully or partially grown over. All stones that are still visible were copied. The faces of some stones were unearthed, cleared and washed so they could be copied. From the gravestones that are still visible, the earliest burial in the cemetery was 1863 and the latest in 1954. The names below are listed in alphabetic order.

Note: "OSSW" = Inscriptions appear on the same stone


BANTEEN

William H., husband of Isabel Banteen, died Aug 9, 1865, aged 35yrs. 7mos. 18d.

 

BRUMAGIN

Infant - J.W. & A. BRUMAGIN died July 2, 1890

Infant - J.W. & A. BRUMAGIN July 22, 1882

Alma, wife of J.W. BRUMAGIN died Nov 12 -- [Broken stone, date unreadable]

 

CARTER

[OSSW]
CARTER
Father - John C. CARTER, Feb 14, 1820 - July 23, 1892
Mother - Eliza A., July 4, 1831 - Oct 19, 1887

 

DAVIDSON

Infant dau of J. W. & A. Davidson? (Brumagin?)died June 22, 1882
[Comments: Stone was difficult to read -- year may have been 1884.]

 

GILILLAND

J. K. GILILLAND, April 13, 1852 - June 28, 1907

 

HAMMACK

[OSSW]
HAMMACK
Jos. M. HAMMACK, died Mar 23, 1869, aged 50yrs 8mos 24ds
Catherine, wife of J. M. HAMMACK, died Dec 25, 1871, aged 48yrs 11ms 16ds
Nancy J., wife of Jos. STEVENS, died Aug 24, 1873, aged 28yrs 7mos 17ds
Louis M. HAMMACK, died Aug 29, 1878, aged 31yrs 5mos 12ds

[ADJACENT STONE]
James Westley HAMMACK, Nov 6, 1872 - Mar 10, 1908.
Dearest husband, thou hast left us. Here thy loss we deeply feel;
But it is God who has bereft us, He can all our sorrows heal.

 

KNIGHT

Augustus KNIGHT, born May 2, 1817, died Mar 19[?], 1867, son of Alex[?] Knight

Evonie, dau of J. B. & J. A. KNIGHT, died Apr 1, 1872, aged 14yrs. 8ms. 14d.

Joseph KNIGHT, died Dec 17, 1869, aged [unreadable]

 

MAYS

Eddie E., son of _?_ & S. M. MAYS
[Comments: Broken stone - no dates visible.]

 

METTS

Beulah, daughter of James W. & Mary M. METTS, died Oct 12, 1892, aged 50Yrs. 22Ds.

 

PALMER

Albert W. PALMER, 1873 - 1954 [Masonic emblem]

[OSSW]
PALMER
Father - Mother
Alexis PALMER, born June 30, 1791, died Jan 3, 1872,
Rebecca PALMER, born Mar 10, 1801, died Feb 1, 1863

Francis, son of Willliam J. & R. J. PALMER, died June 26, 1880, aged 13 days

James A., son of Wm & S. B. PALMER, born Oct 21, 1854, died Feb 27, 1862

John A., son of W. & S. B. PALMER, born July 31, 1860, died Dec 30, 1864

Rebecca PALMER, born July 18, 1831, died Mar 28, 1896

Rebecca, wife of A. PALMER, born __?__
[Comments: Stone broken and remainder unreadable.]

Sarah B. PALMER, born Nov 15, 1824, died Sept 23, 1865

William PALMER, born July 14, 1825, died June 14, 1902

Wm. Westley PALMER, born Feb 19, 1858, died Dec 10, 1886

__?__ PALMER Jr., Born June __?__, died Dec 20, 1870
[Comments: Stone mostly unreadable.]

 

POOR

Rachel POOR
[Comments: Dates on stone unreadable.]

 

SITTON

[OSSW]
My Mother
Eletie SITTON, wife of Clifford B. SITTON, born Mar 12, 1814, died June 7, 1869, aged 55yrs 3mos 18dys
Clifford B. SITTON, born May 10, 1809, died Apr 13, 1863, aged 54yrs 12ms 3dys

 

STEVENS

Albert A., son of W.D. STEVENS, died Sept 15, 1870, aged 3y 3m 17ds

Nancy J., wife of Jos. STEVENS, died Aug 24, 1873, aged 28yrs 7mos 17ds
[Comments: Inscription on HAMMACK family stone.]

 

STRUBEY

Wm. Strubey, died Jan. 2, 1884, aged 70y 8m 18ds, born Indiana.
[Comments: No gravestone was found in this survey. However, his name is included in the listing because Lincoln Co. MO Register of Deaths, vol. 1, p. 5, records his burial in "Palmer Graveyard."  Correctly spelled, his name was "William H. STRAUBE."]

 

ULERY

Elizabeth Ann, wife of J. D. ULERY, born Mar 3, 1828, died Apr 21, 1856
[Comments: Stone hard to read -- may have been inscribed "dau of".]

 

WITHINTON

Catharine, dau of _?_ & M. A. WITHINTON, died Oct. 12, 1865, aged 7ys 8ms 16ds

 


Closing comments:  An earlier census of this cemetery was completed by Marion, June and Keith Groshong on June 20, 1978. (Listing appears in Wm. L. Douglas Jr.'s Gone But Not Forgotten, Vol. 1, 50 Lincoln Co. MO Cemeteries, pp. 65, 66, 67.)  They wrote about the cemetery condition in 1978:   "This cemetery in good condition and has easy access to the area." 

An second census 18 years later in 1996, finds the cemetery is no longer in good condition, but several of the stones enumerated in 1978 are no longer in place.  Further, several of the stones mentioned in 1978, enumerated again in 1996, were broken and the dates are now unreadable. There is some discrepancy between the name spelling and dates read between the two enumerations.


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Copyright © 1998 Patricia SummersSmith.  Used on Lincoln Co. MO Cemetery Page by permission.