War of 1812 veteran unknowingly selected the site of his grave in 1860

Grave of War of 1812 veteran Daniel Witherington.

Last Thursday afternoon I got the itch to get out and ride around, and I struck out north on Highway 83. Not long after I tooted my horn at Thad House on my way past the Quick Stop, I turned west on Bookers Mill Road and eased toward the old Witherington Cemetery. I’d driven by this cemetery a couple of weeks ago, but did not stop because I had another destination in mind that day.

Over the years, I’ve read quite a bit about this old cemetery, which is on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register, but I’d never taken the time to pay it a visit. Last Thursday afternoon, I eased off the highway and passed between the two short brick columns that mark the entrance to the long driveway leading to the cemetery grounds. As I passed by, I noticed a plaque on one of the columns, which said the cemetery was established in 1860.

A long, well-maintained drive leads into the cemetery, and it’s bordered on both sides by thick underbrush and a scattering of short pine trees. I parked at the end of the drive, got out and looked around. Off in the distance, I could hear a logging crew hard at work, but I was otherwise all alone.

I swung open one side of the heavy-duty batwing gate at the cemetery entrance and stepped inside. Over the course of the next half hour, I walked slowly among the headstones, looking for names that I recognized and anything out of the ordinary. Among those graves, I found many bearing Masonic emblems and headstones denoting the final resting places of veterans of World War II, World War I and the Civil War.

In the older part of the cemetery, I found several graves that were marked head and foot by large pieces of weathered iron rock. Not far from there, I found what I believed to be the oldest grave in the cemetery, the grave of Daniel Witherington. According to his headstone, Witherington was born on July 5, 1795; served in the War of 1812 and died at the age of 65 on Aug. 21, 1860.

I later learned that Daniel E. Witherington was the son of William Witherington Jr. and his wife, Sarah. Young Daniel served as a private in the Louisiana Militia during the War of 1812 and was discharged in New Orleans. His family owned a plantation near the cemetery and he was in fact the first person to be buried in what would become the Witherington Cemetery.

One story goes that in 1860, Witherington had a sick grandchild and at that time they were living far away from their traditional family cemetery near the Sepulga River. Thinking that the child would die, Witherington went out to pick a patch of dry high ground for a new graveyard. He marked the spot for the child’s grave with a broken stick.

As things go, the child got better and didn’t die. However, three weeks later, Witherington had a fatal heart attack. Somewhat ironically, his family buried Witherington on the spot that he’d marked earlier with a broken stick.

As I explored the cemetery, it began to cloud up a little, reminding me that I needed to get back in the truck and return to Evergreen. As I drove back to the office, I began to wonder what Witherington would think about the state of world affairs today. What would he think of modern-day Conecuh County and Evergreen? The Good Lord only knows, but one thing is for sure: Much has changed in our world since the day he unknowingly marked his own grave with a broken stick.