Walton Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

I took advantage of the recent sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures to locate and do the preliminary studies for a photographic inventory of Walton Cemetery, Itawamba County, Mississippi.

The historic portion of the cemetery lies on top of a hill with the newer burials surrounding it. The oldest portion of the cemetery is beneath a canopy formed by huge cedar trees. [Proving again the old adage that if you wish to find the oldest part of a cemetery, go to the large cedar trees.]

Below are directions and a map to Walton Cemetery as well as five general photoggraphs of the cemetery. Links to photographs of all of the grave markers and an alphabetized inventory of the names and dates from those markers will be posted here within the next few days

Directions to Walton Cemetery from Fulton, Mississippi, on U.S. Highway 78, Take the Peppertown exit just west of Fulton and west of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Water. After you get off the exit ramp and onto the old highway, take an immediate left on Peppertown Road. Go up the hill past the Methodist Church for about 0.7 miles and veer left on Walton Cemetery Road. Cemetery is on the left about 1.5 miles. It is well marked. Left click the map above for a larger view or go to the Mississippi Department of Transportation county road maps to view an unmarked Itawamba County map at goMDOT.com.

The oldest portion of Walton Cemetery is at the top of the hill beneath the large cedar trees (center).

The small historic center of Walton Cemetery is easily found because of the older style markers and the large cedar trees.

The grave markers have all been photographed. Names on the markers have been transcribed and placed into an alphabetized index with links to the photographs. An index to the burials at Walton Cemetery will follow in a series of articles about this historic burial ground in Itawamba County.

Sources:

Itawamba County, Mississippi Map snippet modified from the official county map available online, Mississippi Department of Transportation, at goMDOT.com.

Photographs of Walton Cemetery, March 4, 2010, by Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi.

Additional reading:

History of Walton Cemetery, by Mack Riley, posted at the Itawamba GenForum by Donald Pate, Message Number 5547, July 30, 2001. [ Also see The Settlers, the quarterly journal of the Itawamba Historical Society, Volume 19, Number 2, Summer 1999, where Mr. Riley's essay was originally published.] At the same GenForum article there is also an inventory of the burials at Walton Cemetery which seems to be based upon Betty Burton-Cruber's inventory from the 1970s with annotations and a few additional names added.

© 2010. William T. "Terry" Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. All Rights Reserved.