HOW YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE HISTORIC PEEBLES CEMETERY
GREETINGS!
THE PEEBLES CEMETERY IN WEBSTER COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, IS AWARDED A CERTIFICATE OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
I would like to inform all that may be interested that I have just recently been informed by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History that an application that I had filed pertaining to the historical certification of the Peebles Cemetery in Webster County, Mississippi, has been approved!
The Peebles Cemetery has now been awarded a Certificate of Historical Significance, which means that this historic cemetery is now eligible for appropriation of discretionary funds from the Webster County, Mississippi, Board of Supervisors to be used for the restoration and preservation of this important site.
Under current and pending legislation in Mississippi, the Webster County Board of Supervisors, may in their discretion, spend monies on this project.
I am writing all to encourage you to please contact the individual members of the Webster County Board of Supervisors and urge them to support this project.
I have included two letters below:
1. The first is a copy of a letter that was posted on the Internet and will be printed in area newspapers. It contains the correct mailing address and names of all the Webster County officials that must be personally contacted.
2. The second is a copy of a letter that I just mailed to one of the members of the Webster County Board of Supervisors.
I would very much appreciate any efforts that anyone could make regarding this project. Please write these people if you are able. It is vitally important that we work toward the goal of informing the Webster County officials how important this project is, not only for the county, but for the State of Mississippi.
I want to personally thank all who have shown their support and encouragment.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the following address and numbers:
James Wiley Bailey, Jr.
3216 West Esplanade Avenue #276
Metairie, LA 70002
PHONE: 504-669-8650 or 662-327-1818
EMAIL: neworleans59@hotmail.com or neworleans59@yahoo.com
COPY OF ARTICLE THAT WAS POSTED ON THE INTERNET AND IN AREA NEWPAPERS
I would like to take this privileged opportunity to inform all concerned that the Peebles Cemetery, located in Webster County, Mississippi, has just recently been issued a Certificate of Historical Significance by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History at their meeting held on 20 October 2000 in Jackson, Mississippi.
This Certificate of Historical Significance now makes the Peebles Cemetery eligible for discretionary funding appropriation by the Webster County Board of Supervisors, under House Bill #780, to be spent for the specific purpose of restoration and preservation of this important historical site.
The Peebles Cemetery roster, as well as color photographs of all the cemetery headstones, is available for viewing on the WEBSTER COUNTY USGENWEB site at the following address:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mswebst2/peebles.html
I would encourage all to view this site so that you may personally see the enormous work that must be done to save this now declared historic cemetery.
I would also like to encourage all to write the individual members of the Board of Supervisors of Webster County, Mississippi, as well as the Circuit and Chancery Clerks, and respectfully ask them to please support the Peebles Cemetery restoration project to any extent possible.
The appropriate names and addresses are as follows:
County Courthouse
P.O. Box 398
Walthall , MS 39771
Larry Crowley
County Supervisor
Lynn Lamb
County Supervisor President
Stanley Pepper
County Supervisor
Casey Weeks
County Supervisor
James Woodard
County Supervisor
Lady Doolittle
Chancery Clerk
Deborah Neal
County Circuit Clerk
The Peebles Cemetery was established in the early 1830's by Alpha Peebles, and several of the earliest pioneer families that settled in this area of Old Choctaw County are buried there.
Some of these pioneer families include Alpha and Amanda Peebles, who established the Peebles Cemetery. William R. and Celia L. E. C. Peebles Bailey, who owned and operated one of the first trading posts in the area near present day Stewart, Mississippi. Douglas Franklin Forrest and Ann Olive Forrest, a distant cousin of Nathan Bedford Forrest and a CSA Civil War Veteran.
In recent months the Peebles Cemetery has enjoyed a strong renewed interest in preservation, as many of the living descendants of those buried at the cemetery have stepped forward and contributed their time, money and labor to help save this important historic site.
However, the work needed to save this cemetery and restore it to a condition worthy of its value to Webster County, and, indeed, the State of Mississippi is enormous. And this restoration and preservation project could only benefit more from the strong support of all the officials and concerned citizens of Webster County.
The historical importance of this site to Webster County cannot be overstated. Buried at the Peebles Cemetery are some of our founding fathers of Old Choctaw County, and present day Montgomery and Webster Counties. Many of you that live in present day Choctaw, Montgomery and Webster Counties are directly descended from these early pioneer families.
I would therefore strongly encourage all good citizens who have an interest in preserving their heritage and history to please rally behind this effort to restore and preserve this important historic site.
Unfortunately, the Peebles Cemetery endured decades of apathy, indifference and the ravages of nature. We now, however, have a chance to save this site and preserve it for all future generations to see and learn from. If we allow this cemetery to be overtaken by our indifference again, we may never gain another opportunity to save it. At some point, unless we act now with firm resolution, nature will eventually win its never-ending battle to reclaim this cemetery. And that would be a tragic loss of history to Webster County and the State of Mississippi if that were allowed to happen.
I want to personally thank all in advance for any support that any can lend. Just a hand full of people who are not indifferent will make the difference in whether or not this project succeeds.
Please call me if you have any questions about this project. I can be reached at the following address and numbers.
James Wiley Bailey, Jr.
3216 West Esplanade Avenue #276
Metairie, LA 70002
PHONE: 504-669-8650 or 662-327-1818
EMAIL: neworleans59@hotmail.com or neworleans59@yahoo.com
COPY OF LETTER SENT TO MEMBER OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF WEBSTER COUNTY
Larry Crowley
County Supervisor
WEBSTER COUNTY COURTHOUSE
POB 398
WALTHALL, MISSISSIPPI 39771
RE: NOTIFICATION OF CERTIFICATION OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PEEBLES CEMETERY LOCATED IN WEBSTER COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.
Dear Mr. Crowley,
My name is James Wiley Bailey, Jr., and I would like to take this privileged opportunity to personally inform you that the Peebles Cemetery in Webster County, Mississippi, was recently issued a Certificate of Historical Significance by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History at its meeting held on 20 October 2000. (Please see the enclosed copy of this letter of certification.)
I understand from the MSDAH that this certification will qualify the Peebles Cemetery for possible discretionary funding at the county level for clean up, restoration and preservation under House Bill #708.
I would therefore like to personally urge you to support this important restoration project, as the Peebles Cemetery is one of the most important of the historical cemeteries that are located in Webster County.
This is evidenced by the fact that many of the first pioneer families of Old Choctaw County are buried there. Some of these early and notable pioneer families include, Alpha and Amanda Peebles, a wealthy plantation family who once owned the land on which the Peebles Cemetery is located, William R. and Celia L. E. C. Peebles Bailey, who owned and operated one of the first trading post near the Natchez Trace in the early 1830's, Douglas Franklin Forrest and Ann Olive Forrest, a distant cousin of Nathan Bedford Forrest and a CSA Civil War Veteran.
The historic Peebles Cemetery was most likely established even before the Old Greensboro Cemetery, and very well may have been the first cemetery to be established in that part of Mississippi. Its historical importance to present day Webster County cannot be overstated.
Not only are there many pioneer families buried at the Peebles Cemetery, but there are also many unmarked graves of African-American slaves buried at the site. There is very little doubt that burials were occurring at the Peebles Cemetery as early as the early 1830's.
Unfortunately, the Peebles Cemetery is in desperate condition today and faces serious challenges to its preservation because of years of neglect, apathy and the constant and unending reclamation by nature.
Currently, several dedicated descendants of the families that are buried at the Peebles Cemetery are engaged in a concerted effort to preserve and restore, to the best of their limited abilities, this most treasured historic site. This is proving to be a very big project, as the Peebles Cemetery has endured decades of indifference to its condition. Unfortunately, nature has taken a very big toll on this historic site.
We are, however, making great progress and hope to eventually restore the Peebles Cemetery to a condition worthy of its value to the great history of Webster County.
It would also be of great help if we could count on whatever support you could lend to this important historical preservation project.
I would also like for you to know that I have recently had a copy of the Peebles Cemetery roster, along with color photographs of all the headstones, placed on the Internet via the WEBSTER COUNTY USGENWEB SITE at the following address:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mswebst2/peebles.html
Please take a moment to view these photographs so that you may personally see the current condition of this cemetery. As you will see, we very much need your support and help to fully restore the Peebles Cemetery to a condition that is worthy of its historical value.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the pioneer citizens buried at the Peebles Cemetery is Celia L. E. C. Peebles Bailey, wife of William R. Bailey, and daughter of James Peebles. James Peebles was the older brother of Alpha Peebles. Celia L. E. C. Peebles Bailey kept an important diary that dates from 1851 that has also been published on the Internet via the CHOCTAW COUNTY USGENWEB site at the following address:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mschocta/celiapeeblesdiary.html
I would encourage you to read this diary as it offers a rare glimpse into the lives of these brave pioneer families, who are in many cases, the direct ancestors of many of the people who still live in the Webster County area of Mississippi.
Again, please let me thank you for this opportunity to write you about this important matter, and I look forward to hearing from you with a positive response.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 662-327-1818 or 504-669-8650.
Sincerely,
James Wiley Bailey, Jr.
