Walking 30 minutes a day is often recommended for good health, and if you're motivate
d to walk when surrounded by beautiful scenery or interesting things, Cookeville offers several great places to do just that. One of those places is the Cookeville Cemetery.
It's conveniently located between Spring and Stephens Streets, west of Walnut and east of Willow. You can wind in and out of the trails and make for a good 20 minute walk at a moderate 3 mile an hour pace, or go past the cemetery office, cross Walnut Street and
take a stroll in Walnut Park for a nice 30 minute walk.
It's interesting to note the ages of people when they died. Many of the tombstones are from the 1800's, and you'd expect people to die younger then. But there are many markers for people who died young in the 1900's, as well as many for people who lived to a ripe old age in the 1800's. Makes one pause and appreciate where you are and offers hope for the possibility of a long life in one's future.
Tombstones tell stories. About people. About families. There are stones for couples, like the one for the wife who was born in 1920 and died at 59 in 1979 and the husband who was born in 1927 and is still alive in his 80's. The McDonald family has markers for 4 siblings, all born between 1907 to 1915 and died between 1928 to 1936. Except for Lorena, who lived to the ripe old age of 81. The Montgomery family has a set of three partial above ground concrete vaults. For Laurie Marie Poisont Montgomery, born in 1920 and died in 1991, her husband, a World War II vet, born in 1915 and died in 1984 and their son Ronald born in 1954. Ronald died in 1985 at the age of 31 a year after his Dad. Laurie's stone is beautifully inscribed "Pour ma jolie Maman nothing is more beautiful than a mother's smile. Je t'aimerais tourjours. Nicky" You stop and think of the grief both Laurie and Nicky's experienced.
There are flat bronze markers provided for soldiers by the Veterans Administration.
Raised markers and an occasional above ground vault. Freshly dug graves with no markers yet. Tombstones for babies with lambs atop, like the two for the Starnes family dated 1923 and 1934. Many markers are over 100 years old. Older stones show wear and tear and their inscriptions can be difficult to read. Newer ones are bright and clear. They come in all shapes and sizes. And each one tells a story.
About the Herbold family – Judy is still living, Jack was born in 1949 and died at 56 in 2005. Mitchell was born in 1979 and died 2009 at age 30. Jack died young, but not long enough to see his son die at so young. Markers for the Bilyeu family tell about Glenn, Pvt. US Army Korea, born in 1930 and died at age 44 in 1974, and his mother Lula, born in 1886, who died one year later in 1975. The stone for James Kyle Farley, who died in 2003 at the age of 15, is a large cross with Psalm 139:13-18 inscribed on the back. On the ground just beside it is a flat plaque for James Farley, who died just 3 years after his son at the age of 42. You pause to think about grief of parents whose children died so young, and before they did.
Some of the stones are hand written. Some markers tell us what was important to those whose bodies lay b
eneath them. Like the one for Dale Jones, born in 1962 and died in 1996 at the age of 34, with the simple inscription "father of Levi and Joseph". Or the one for Robert Ament who died in 1990 at the age of 34, inscribed "Oh to live on Sugar Mountain with the Barkers and the colored balloons". I'm sure he's there now. There's an eloquent memorial to Confederate soldiers with an inscription honoring those whom it says "died for freedom". But the marker that takes me most aback is the one for Gilbert Mayer McGee CoH 34 Inft. 7Div Born 1/27/1897. Died in France 10/28/1918. Next to him are Addie (1868-1936) and Robert (1866-1945). A soldier killed in World War I. Was this their only child?
One day as I walked a young man in a City of Cookeville truck pulled up alongside of me asking if he could help me find anything. We began talking about the cemetery. "A lot of the graves are of young people who committed suicide" he remarked. He pointed out some of the more interesting markers, and told of a set of 7 markers from one family who all died on the same date. "From a house fire".
It's Fall, and the trees in the cemetery are brilliantly colored. Leaves cover the ground and Winter is on its way. Then Spring comes with its beautiful greens and fresh blooms and the circle of life continues.
.
d to walk when surrounded by beautiful scenery or interesting things, Cookeville offers several great places to do just that. One of those places is the Cookeville Cemetery.It's conveniently located between Spring and Stephens Streets, west of Walnut and east of Willow. You can wind in and out of the trails and make for a good 20 minute walk at a moderate 3 mile an hour pace, or go past the cemetery office, cross Walnut Street and
take a stroll in Walnut Park for a nice 30 minute walk.
It's interesting to note the ages of people when they died. Many of the tombstones are from the 1800's, and you'd expect people to die younger then. But there are many markers for people who died young in the 1900's, as well as many for people who lived to a ripe old age in the 1800's. Makes one pause and appreciate where you are and offers hope for the possibility of a long life in one's future.
Tombstones tell stories. About people. About families. There are stones for couples, like the one for the wife who was born in 1920 and died at 59 in 1979 and the husband who was born in 1927 and is still alive in his 80's. The McDonald family has markers for 4 siblings, all born between 1907 to 1915 and died between 1928 to 1936. Except for Lorena, who lived to the ripe old age of 81. The Montgomery family has a set of three partial above ground concrete vaults. For Laurie Marie Poisont Montgomery, born in 1920 and died in 1991, her husband, a World War II vet, born in 1915 and died in 1984 and their son Ronald born in 1954. Ronald died in 1985 at the age of 31 a year after his Dad. Laurie's stone is beautifully inscribed "Pour ma jolie Maman nothing is more beautiful than a mother's smile. Je t'aimerais tourjours. Nicky" You stop and think of the grief both Laurie and Nicky's experienced.
There are flat bronze markers provided for soldiers by the Veterans Administration.
Raised markers and an occasional above ground vault. Freshly dug graves with no markers yet. Tombstones for babies with lambs atop, like the two for the Starnes family dated 1923 and 1934. Many markers are over 100 years old. Older stones show wear and tear and their inscriptions can be difficult to read. Newer ones are bright and clear. They come in all shapes and sizes. And each one tells a story.About the Herbold family – Judy is still living, Jack was born in 1949 and died at 56 in 2005. Mitchell was born in 1979 and died 2009 at age 30. Jack died young, but not long enough to see his son die at so young. Markers for the Bilyeu family tell about Glenn, Pvt. US Army Korea, born in 1930 and died at age 44 in 1974, and his mother Lula, born in 1886, who died one year later in 1975. The stone for James Kyle Farley, who died in 2003 at the age of 15, is a large cross with Psalm 139:13-18 inscribed on the back. On the ground just beside it is a flat plaque for James Farley, who died just 3 years after his son at the age of 42. You pause to think about grief of parents whose children died so young, and before they did.
Some of the stones are hand written. Some markers tell us what was important to those whose bodies lay b
eneath them. Like the one for Dale Jones, born in 1962 and died in 1996 at the age of 34, with the simple inscription "father of Levi and Joseph". Or the one for Robert Ament who died in 1990 at the age of 34, inscribed "Oh to live on Sugar Mountain with the Barkers and the colored balloons". I'm sure he's there now. There's an eloquent memorial to Confederate soldiers with an inscription honoring those whom it says "died for freedom". But the marker that takes me most aback is the one for Gilbert Mayer McGee CoH 34 Inft. 7Div Born 1/27/1897. Died in France 10/28/1918. Next to him are Addie (1868-1936) and Robert (1866-1945). A soldier killed in World War I. Was this their only child?One day as I walked a young man in a City of Cookeville truck pulled up alongside of me asking if he could help me find anything. We began talking about the cemetery. "A lot of the graves are of young people who committed suicide" he remarked. He pointed out some of the more interesting markers, and told of a set of 7 markers from one family who all died on the same date. "From a house fire".
It's Fall, and the trees in the cemetery are brilliantly colored. Leaves cover the ground and Winter is on its way. Then Spring comes with its beautiful greens and fresh blooms and the circle of life continues.
.
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