Walker Memorial Cemetery
Surveyed 03-23-02
by Barbara Bonner, Shannon Knight & Marylee Knight

This cemetery is located within the city limits of Carthage.  From the South East Loop around Carthage, so eastbound on Hills Lake Road. Bennett Drilling Services, Inc is located at 1122 Hills Lake Road and has a high cyclone fence around their equipment yard.  At the east end of this fence, there is a green and white sign on the right hand side of the road indicating Walker Memorial Cemetery.  Turn down the road where the sign is located and travel approximately 300 yards to the front gate of the cemetery.

The cemetery occupies all of Blk 644 of the City of Carthage.  On the date of this survey, there were 135 graves that were marked in a fashion that revealed either full or partial information.  The graves are believed to be totally that of African-Americans.

The oldest marked grave in the cemetery is that of London Wilson, who died on Sept. 21, 1895 at the age of 52.  London's grave, along with those of Mary Roland, Jennie McCuloch and Jennie's daughter Rhoda Manson are under the overhanging branches of some large trees right against the
back fence of the cemetery, slightly over half way toward the far end.Although not easily seen, they can be found with only a little effort.

Perhaps the most tragic grave in the cemetery is a small, unmarked one under the big tree nearest the front of the cemetery.  The body of an unidentified newborn child was found in a dumpster at the end of Reese Street.  When the investigation by the Carthage City Police failed to determine the parents of the child,  Jack Reese, who was caretaker of Walker Cemetery, gave the baby a final resting place in Walker Cemetery.

There is an exceedingly large number of unmarked graves in the cemetery.  Most are identifiable only by the grave indentions that almost completely fill the center of the cemetery on the far end.  What is now the back half of the cemetery was, at one time, the entire cemetery.  As there because no more available space, more land was purchased and became the front half of the cemetery.  The newer graves line the front fence row of the cemetery.  Older graves, many now unmarked, continue down the front fence and across the far end.  Many graves in the cemetery are marked only with clumps of white iris.  Some very large cedar trees dot the cemetery and were, undoubtedly, grave
markers at one time.

According to Gladys Reese Holland, daughter of a former care taker, Thomas Jack Reese, at one time the cemetery was in very bad shape. Three former Carthage residents: Rip Gray from Chicago, Robert Gray from Ft Worth and Mose Riggins from Dallas, all three ministers, came home and cleaned off Walker Memorial Cemetery as well as Mt. Zion/Oddfellows Cemetery.  After the cemetery was cleaned, first Jack Reese and later Cleveland Brown took loving care of the cemetery, making sure it stayed neat and clean.

The Memorial Day for Walker Cemetery is the Saturday before May 31st of each year.  A church service is usually held in conjunction with the Memorial Day at the cemetery and people travel great distances to participate in the events.