The Apple Tree Cemetery
Article & Photos by Angela L. MSSPI
Marker inscribed TJC
b. Apr 1, 1811
d. Nov 17, 1862
In the fall of 2008, two of my brothers were deer hunting in North Central Mississippi a few miles east of Holly Springs, on what is a combination of National Park and private owned lease land.
They had lost a deer and since it was getting close to dark, they set out on foot to look for it. One of my brothers tripped over a buried headstone and fell smack into the middle of a small overgrown cemetery. They of course had to tell me about it, knowing how much I love exploring historic, lost cemeteries.
So, my brother Daniel took Tony and I on about a half mile hiking trip up some old 4wheeler trails off a dirt road that we had driven for at least a mile off the highway. I could not find it again without his guidance. Anyway, at the time we went , after the hunting season ended and before it was quite warm enough for snake activity,we set off into the woods to find it. There were numerous huge trees that had been layed down by recent tornado and straight line wind damage. After climbing through heavy brush and covered foot trails, we located the cemetery.
Daniel & Tony B. Survey the tree damage. Photo by Angela L MSSPI
My brother, who is also a curious history lover, had inquired with the elderly African American woman who owned the property, as too the history of the cemetery. This is his account to me.
From what he had learned from the woman, who's name is being kept confidential for privacy reasons, the story of the cemetery is that, at one time, the land was owned by her family. There was a small cabin to the north of the cemetery where her family lived, which no longer stands, except for a lonely chimney, out in the woods. They had a large apple orchard and set up a fruit stand near a main road every year to sell apples. Their small place was known simply as The Apple Orchard. There was also a small wood framed African American church that sat at the top of the hill near their home. It had long ago burned down and the only thing left of it now is an old well hole. The name of the original church was not remembered. The cemetery sat near the church. It is not known as of this date what the original name of the church or cemetery was or how many bodies are interred there. So, for now, we refer to it simply as Apple Tree Cemetery.
Photo by Angela L MSSPI
What is known, is that there are several children buried in the cemetery, who died in the yellow fever epidemic in the 1870's.
The photo above is a row of small children who died during the times of the fever epedemic.
We uncovered several readable stones and some that had no markings at all. The gravesites being marked by large heavy field stones.
One of several field stone markers with no inscription.
Photo by Angela L MSSPI
My brother stated that he avoided walking near this area while hunting because he always got the feeling he was being watched and on several occasions thought he had heard laughing and things moving in the shadows.
While Tony and I were there, and I took some photographs, we had our digital voice recorder running. There were two possible EVP recorded as well as a personal experience that happened at the same time. In the first evp clip you will hear what sounds like a young African American woman speak. In the second clip, a few moments later, I felt as if I had a cobweb on my right arm and while trying to brush it away you will here the second voice, a laugh which sounds like a young child.
Click Here for clip 1It definately gave me the creeps when I heard it.
If you have any trouble hearing the whole clip please email us and let us know, we have had some reports that occasionally the players do not play the entire clip. Please be sure and allow enough time for the player to load the file before hitting play. If you still have problems let us know so we can fix it. thanks
We have not been able to go back to investigate this cemetery further due to the State doing tree clearing work and the arrival of snake season. However, I would like to go back to try and do more research into this beautiful, lost cemetery. as of the time of this trip we counted approxamately 15 grave markers and I'm sure there were more that we did not discover due to the heavy brush and downed trees. However, this was a remarkable place and I appreciate Daniel taking the time to show it to us.
Fallen headstone, Apple Tree Cemetery
Photo by Angela L MSSPI